A new direction

I'd like to thank The Liberated Quilter's Web ring for inviting me to be a member. Such wonderful quilters. And while I was at it, I rearranged my blog a bit. I have moved my reading list to a link. I'm trying to list some of my books on the librarything web site now.

Now, on to the adventures of my fungly quilt. I had sewn on most of the binding on Saturday night, and completed it on Sunday morning. I had the luck to notice one of my neighbors outside and she was kind enough to hold the quilt up for a photo. In the afternoon, my daughter came over and I showed her the quilt. "Perfect for my new Hammock!" she said. They have a hammock under a canopy in their yard. So that quilt was finished and found a home on the same day.

Now on to my quilting. Above is a photo of a Dresden plate pattern pillow that I made quite a few years ago. The little cross stitch house has snow on the roof (no snow where I live)--but never mind. Dresden plate is one of my favorite patterns. Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I made a Dresden plate quilt. It was hand stitched and quilted one block at a time, and then I joined the blocks together. We used it to tatters. Anyhow, I thought that I might like to make another Dresden plate quilt, but not that kind, even though I have the plastic template and everything. So I purchased Jan Mullen's book, "Free & Eazy Circles." I wanted a liberated version. Then I tried to make a sample block. Jan Mullen calls for a cotton batting as a foundation for the ring. Well, I don't have cotton batting, and even if I did, it would make so much lint in the bobbin. I don't know why, but she never thought of a muslin foundation. I tried that and it worked fine. You then hand applique the wonky result to a block. I like it. I will probably make a quilt of these circle things. About muslin, I used to sew with it a lot, and my old Dresden plate quilt was made with it as the background. I still have a bunch of it laying around here and there. But lately I've gotten fancy and I generally use "quilter's cotton" in a neutral color instead. I remember the days when the old Montgomery Ward store used to advertise white cotton sheets for $2.50 during white sale days (they were loosely woven, not tight like the sheets they sell now). I would phone the linen department at opening time and ask the lady if she had any of those sheets in the ad. If she did have any, she would only have a few, they were a loss leader. I would say, "This is Rosalyn, and I'm coming right down, hold one for me." I would take that sheet, wash it, and cut it up for my quilts.