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Saturday, May 29, 2010

Frugal Heritage quilt...

Wow, this is a heritage/memory quilt if I have ever seen one! Becky used fabrics and batting from old family quilts and fabrics. Be sure to visit her site for more fun stuff...



My name is Becky Hogue. I am 30 years old, and I am a fairly new quilter. I have made 3 “human” quilts and 2 doll quilts.  Here is the story of my favorite quilt so far, mostly because there is such a story and so much history in it. I posted about it in two separate entries on my blog http://www.beckyanndesigns.blogspot.com/ too. I love the idea of your new blog. I have several quilts that I have inherited (robbed from my mama’s cedar chest) that nobody knows any history on. It is so sad that we know they came from somewhere in our family but know absolutely nothing beyond that point.



My youngest daughter Abby really helped me with bringing me the next blocks that I needed to sew together so I didn’t have to keep hopping up and down from my sewing machine.


All of the fabrics except the red are from my Great Aunt Bertha. The white one was an old feed or flour sack. I literally cut it apart myself so I could use the fabric. How awesome is that! The solid teal and the white with the blue and teal flowers were pieces of fabric that she (or someone) had purchased and used part of already.

The size right now is 42" x 56". I really like to have plenty of quilt to wrap around me when I watch TV so I am going to try to find some fabric that will coordinate well to use as a border to make it a little larger. But, here it is for now.

Here is the pattern I used by Quilting Treasures.

They have a lot of free quilting patterns on their site.

This was a very frugal quilt. I only spent less than $15 total, including the thread. Now I wouldn't pay even that for a plain throw to use for myself on the couch, but to be able to produce a piece of living history to use and then maybe pass on to another family member one day, I think that is pretty thrifty.


I started with a quilt that came from somewhere on my Daddy's side of the family. With it's solid fabric top and 4 random pieced fabrics on the back, this was definitely a quilt made out of necessity not one to be used for display somewhere. Jay and I used it on our bed in the winter until last year when it was too badly torn to use anymore. I couldn't very well just throw it away, I had to re-use it for something. So, I took pictures, then carefully disassembled it. I used the blanket that was in the middle for my batting, and also one of the large pieces of white from the back for the border of my quilt. After cleaning this piece really well, I could make out the shape of an eagle with it's wings spread and the words Corn Starch, but only vaguely.

I also had some gorgeous fabrics from my Great Aunt Bertha, my Mama's aunt. The solid dark teal, the white print, and the teal flowers (my favorite of all) are all from her fabric stash. So is the lighter teal binding. Apparently she had used the solid dark teal, teal flowers and lighter teal to make something out of and these were the scraps because you could tell there were clothing shaped cutouts. The white one with the print was an actual feedsack, still sewn up. How cool is that!


So like any good quilt maker or sewer, I decided to use all of these family pieces along with a few of my own to make a new quilt. I purchased the red fabric at Heirlooms and Comforts quilt shop in Central, SC, and Donna at Mudpies and Memories with a little help from Angel helped me choose the green paisley backing at Hobby Lobby. Donna really had to convince me to buy it and even promise to buy it from me if I hated it the next day. It ended up being the perfect fit for the quilt. Except for the fact that I should have bought 3 yards but miscalculated and thought I only needed 2 yards. Oops! So, along came the stripe running down one side of the back, which I also turned out to absolutely love. Reminds me of a railroad track.


Almost forgot, this is the first quilt I have ever actually machine quilted. I string tied both of the quilts I made for the girls. I love the look of actual quilting and how they get all crinkly after washing them.


Whew, I finally have all of this documented so that when I am old and senile or laying somewhere with daisies growing on top of me, whoever ends up with this quilt will know the history of it. I have also completed another one of my goals for the new year to finish at least one quilt this year.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Are YOU the winner winner?

See these lovely patterns? Well we have a winner of 5 of them!

And that winner is
Thank you so much for your kind comments!  Please contact us and we'll get these out to you!


And winner of this stack of fat quarters
Get in touch and these FQ are yours!!

Thank you so much for everyones lovely comments and for all our new followers.  We are so giddy over this new blog, we hope you are checking back often for inspiration.

Please check out Nicole and Brooke's quilts from this week.  They've created some great pieces and offered excellent advice!

Thought about submitting your quilt?  We want your quilt and stories to feature here on Quilt Story.  We want to hear tips and advice, quilts made for loved ones, what you did right and wrong...it is so much fun to hear how everything comes together.  Check out our submissions page for details, and don't be afraid to contact us with questions!  (Contact info on the sidebar)


And finally, PLEASE LEAVE COMMENT LOVE to those we feature :)  We all love to get feedback on things we've put so much sweat and tears into, so let's hand out those pats on the back!

Thank you!  We have a new feature quilt this weekend!

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Bright Fresh flower quilt from Nicole....

Nicole from Keepin' The Castle made up this darling little quilt. Make sure to check out her blog to see what else she has been up to...

So there I was blog hopping (which is where I get the majority of my inspiration for quilts - google.com's images!) And I won't lie I should have been doing the dishes about an hour earlier but "once you [start], the fun don't stop!"


Back up: I have tried to make a quilt for all of my friends for their first child. And baby number 256 (over exaggeration) was well on the way. I came upon this beautiful tutorial from Piece N' Quilt on Moda Bake Shop's blog. "It was perfect but man, who gives a queen at a baby shower," I thought. And the level of procrastination had already mounted to set me up for disaster. But I was addicted to the "I'm blushing" pattern. I had to do it. So I went to Jo-Anns and picked out perfect colors and prints and went to town on my baby version on the pattern!


The piecing only took me an hour but figuring out the measurements from just the pictures on line took me FOR-EVER! Every quilt you learn a lesson. This quilt taught me many.

A - don't procrastinate (Oh wait, I learn that every quilt)

B - Jo-Anns has fabric just as cool!

C - When in doubt just sew it together and give it a whirl and

D - My new best friend is Elmer's Adhesive


Check out my post here and enjoy! I hope baby H enjoys my little treasure!


Nicole from Keepin' The Castle

Thanks so much Nicole!  And remember, our giveaway is still going on for FIVE FREE patterns and a stack of fat quarters!  You have until Friday May 28th to comment, follow and submit.  Check out this post and make sure to enter!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Brooke from Pitter Putter Stitch, cute bright happy quilt!

Hi all, I found this blog when I was blog hopping around the little world we all share. This quilt caught my eye immediatly, I love the bright happy colors and prints.  Make sure to go check out Brooke of Pitter Putter Stitch!

Thanks Heather and Megan! I’m excited to have my quilt featured here on Quilt Story.


I fell in love with the Make Life fabric line by Sweetwater the moment I saw it featured in a quilt online. I ordered the fabric and went to work on a baby quilt that I could use to practice free-motion quilting.

Since I used a charm pack (42 pre-cut 5” squares), I wanted to see what sort of variety I could come up with instead of laying the squares out in a simple grid or nine-patch setup. But, I also didn’t want to spend too much time piecing the top in case the free-motion didn’t turn out. (No one wants to ruin a quilt that they’ve spent so much time on, right?) I sewed the squares into a nine-patch and then cut them all in half once on the diagonal. I then paired each new triangle with a different triangle. You can see the entire process by visiting my blog, Pitter Putter Stitch.

The amazing thing to me about this quilt is that I was able to get it all pieced in one night. That never happens! Since I work full-time from home, my day is filled with work and taking care of my two little ones. I only get sewing and quilting in after the kids have gone to bed. Usually, my quilting process averages a couple months per quilt, so you can imagine how accomplished I felt piecing the top in one night and finishing the entire quilt within a week!


For my quilt guild activity that coming Saturday, two of the girls were going to demonstrate some free-motion quilting techniques. After the demonstrations, I thought stippling would be a piece of cake; after all, they made it look so easy. Boy, was I wrong! I brought the quilt home and, a little bit discouraged, put it away for the day.


I pulled it out a day or so later and decided to just tackle it. Stippling will be harder for me to master, but I think I can get loops down after a few more practice sessions. It turned out better than I thought – not perfect by any means, but certainly usable.


A few things that I learned making this baby quilt:


• Trying something on a smaller scale (a baby quilt) makes it so you can get a lot more done in less time. My quilting attempts before this were all on a larger scale.

• I need to be less arbitrary in my selection and placement of colors. Sometimes I think that if you use pre-cuts from the same fabric line it’s easy to think that everything will mesh together just fine without you having to make conscious decisions about where to place certain blocks or pieces. My quilt has a few sections that are too heavy with red, dark brown, and white.

• Pay attention to your binding fabric when you sew your strips together. The binding on half of this quilt only shows the dark brown, yellow, and green paisleys while the other half shows all the other colors too.

• When free-motion quilting, it was definitely easier for me to push the pedal all the way down and try to move the quilt slowly. This felt strange at first because I’m used to pushing the pedal down completely and then moving the fabric quickly under the needle when I’m piecing. It took a while to re-train my brain to take things slowly.

All in all, I think this “first” was a success for me. I enjoyed the process of making a smaller quilt and completing it within a shorter timeframe. If you’d like to see more of my quilts and check out what other sewing projects I try to tackle, come on over to Pitter Putter Stitch and say hi. I’d love to meet the rest of you quilting bloggers out there!

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Spring Quilt festival entry....

Hi all, welcome to Quiltstory. It is Heather and Megan from FRESH POPPY DESIGN, Here is my entry for PARK CITY GIRL'S blogger quilt festival...



This quilt is for first and only baby boy. I have four daughters, and finally got a sweet little man. I made this one for him. He has been spoiled. I think he will end up with five baby quilts if my sister ever gets her butt in gear and finishes hers for him.

It is a cute pattern made by Heather of Anka's treasures.

Here it is in the process, laying it out and stitching it together. It was a really fun quilt to make, and pretty quick to put together...

I hope you like Weston's quilt. He does :)  Now on to some fun stuff...  Quiltstory is a blog where everyone can submit and share stories about their favorite quilts.  Look around our site a little we hope you like what you see and come back often.   We are also having a giveaway...

Pick any five of these patterns...


Giveaway 2 is a cute little stack of 5 blue, grey and brown fat quarters. All wrapped in a bow!


You all know the drill. Enter a comment and you have one entry. If you become a follower, you have 3 entries, and if you submit a quilt and little story, you get 5 more entries. Just let us know in your comment if you became a follower, and if you would like us to contact you about submitting your quilt in the next couple of months.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Be Featured!

Would you like your quilt featured on Quiltstory? We would love to feature you! We are looking for all kinds of quilts from original quilts to ones made from patterns. Modern quilts with wonky layouts, traditional quilts, applique, hand quilted, you name it we want to see it! As long as it's considered a "quilt" it qualifies!

Being featured on Quiltstory is a fun way to show your quilt off to more people than your own followers. You will likely get many more followers after your quilt is featured. In your feature, we will link back to your post and a couple of links from your site. (Posts we like, tutorials, your shop etc.) When you are featured on Quiltstory you will be sent html code for a special "featured on Quiltstory" button to decorate your blog.

All you need to do is send us an email with your blog link of the quilt you want to feature. Alternately you can send us photos with a little write up about the quilt. We will get back to you and let you know if there is anything else we need (more photos, details etc.) and let you know your feature date. Don't be intimidated by the word "story". Every quilt truly has a story, even seems insignificant to you, it may be impactful to another reader.

What will help you get a quick feature date is photos. Great photos. Take your quilt out doors and take the photos in natural light. Take several photos, full, and close up. Be creative with your photos, take different angles, hang on a tree branch etc. Rarely when you submit we may do basic edits in photoshop, brighten, crop etc. (Please let us know when you submit your photos if you don’t want any editing)

We normally book a few weeks out. We love when we refresh our inbox and see more submissions. Keep them coming!

Heather and Megan
email: myquiltstory{at}gmail{dot}com

By submitting to Quiltstory, we may use your photos and post as advertising, or linking to other sites.