Easy Street: Step 4

My journey down Easy Street continues.  This week was a bit difficult since the Christmas chaos has begun in earnest here.  My sewing room and guest room are both serving as sleeping quarters.  I managed to finish my blocks before family arrived, but you might be able to tell that the pictures were taken on the bathroom counter and I'm posting from a folding table in my bedroom.

This step was a bit of a reality check of my sewing abilities.  Apparently my seams are not as consistant as I wanted to believe.  Some of the blocks seem a bit small.  We'll see how it all turns out in the end.  I may need to remake some of them.  On the positive side, I'm liking the color choices more with each step and still enjoying the journey.  I haven't done any of the "extra credit" cutting at the end of each step, so I may have more work further down the line.  But time was running short; the room needed to be transformed and I didn't want to rush things.

So, that's enough excuses.  (One more: sorry for the bad picture)  Here they are:

In case you've stumbled onto this post, let me give some background.  I'm participating in Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt.  Each Friday she gives the instructions for a set of blocks and then on Mondays we link up with her blog - here.  We don't know what the final quilt will look like - that's the mystery.  She did mention this week that we are about half way through.  She has an Easy Street tab at the top of her blog where you can check out the past details, or join in if you choose.  

Pillow Presents

I decided to make a few pillows at the last minute to sort of round out my gift list.  Pillows are fun to make for me.  It's a small project that can be completed in a short time and usually I have the supplies on hand.  Here's what I came up with:

For a fish loving family member:

(Maybe someday I'll learn how to tile pictures.)  That's the front and back of the same pillow.  And I got to use my ten cent/yard bargain find cording.  Also on my "some day" list is learning how to get the binding tighter.  I use a zipper foot, but perhaps I need a cording foot?

This next pillow was made for a family member in a nursing home.  I was hoping that the shape would be useful for positioning.  I embroidered their name on it since things in nursing homes have a way of disappearing.  I put paper over the name in the picture for privacy.  This one is made out of flannel for softness and purposely has no binding to prevent pressure points.

Easy Street Correction

It appears that I've mixed up my blog friends.  I credited Miss Thimble for the encouragement to get involved in Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt.  She graciously told me that I was mistaken and indeed she is not traveling Easy Street. 

I owe Nancy at joy for grace  both an apology and a BIG thank you for posting about Easy Street which resulted in my participation.  So sorry about my confusion!

On a positive note, it sounds like perhaps Miss Thimble has become interested in the mystery quilt idea.  I guess there are several ways to pass on inspiration.

Walking Down Easy Street

I'm late to the party, but all caught up now!  A mystery quilt was on my "some day" list.  So when I read Miss Thimble's (please see correction here.) post about joining in on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt I decided to check it out.  At first I dismissed it as being too large a time commitment at this season of the year but it kept calling to me. So I jumped in with a few changes:  I'm only making half the blocks hoping that I can make this into a child sized quilt as a donation (more on that when I get to my 2013 goals).  And I tried to lean toward primary colors for the same reason.

First let me say a BIG thank you to Miss Thimble for the nudge and to Bonnie for the experience.  I am SO enjoying the journey.  As someone who is usually anxious to see the finished product the mystery part helps me to focus and be satisfied with the product of one step at a time.  And the practice is great.  These might be the most precise blocks I've ever made. Bonnie's directions give great detail.  I'm not so sure that I've made good color choices since determining "color value" is an emerging skill for me.  But, time will tell.

And I think the added task has amazingly made me more productive overall.  Not only am I caught up on my blocks, but also on my decorating, shopping and after today hopefully my wrapping!

Here's my progress thus far.  I'll be linking to Bonnie's post:

Quilting Inspiration

Quilts are composed of many elements that come together for the final look that we love so much.  First there's the fabric and the colors they bring together, often influenced by availability.  Then there is the choice of pattern we choose to use, from scrappy to more organized to minimalistic.  Then we choose batting - thick or thin - cotton or poly.  Then we decide how to quilt the piece: free motion, edge to edge, long arm, home machine, and a million other options.  Lastly we choose a type and style of binding.  Given all the choices (Oh, I forgot to add size: lap, twin, double.....) I would expect that no two quilts are alike. 

The inspiration for our designs is much the same.  We look at each others quilts and are inspired to either make the same one or, more likely, take an idea and change it slightly to suit our tastes or to please the intended recipient.  That's one reason the Internet is such a great quilting tool.  We get to browse each other's ideas and then create our own. Often we take elements we like from many different places and blend them together to something new and different.

So, last week I had a first.  A reader shared her quilt with me which was inspired by my pirate quilt!  My pirate quilt was inspired by another blogger's pirate quilt.  So, here are three generations of inspiration....

This quilt:

was inspired by this quilt:

which was inspired by this quilt by Helen at Quilt Bindings:

Each quilt borrowed elements from the previous one and added or changed elements according to tastes, availability of product and ideas gleaned from other quilts. Although they resemble each other, they're not alike (sort of like family resemblances),

So....I would encourage all of you out there in quilt world, if someones quilt has inspired you in some way to create one of your own, tell them.  It's very nice to see your own creation spark an other's creativity.

The Virginia Quilt Museum

I'm still not back to the sewing machine.  My days have been pretty full lately with seasonal activities.  I've also spent quite a bit of time researching new sewing machines!  But this weekend my sister and I paid a visit to The Virginia Quilt Museum.  It's a museum devoted to quilting through the years and through different cultures.  They have special exhibits that change regularly.  The current exhibit is from a mostly Latina quilting cooperative in California and depicts scenes of family life, border crossings and life in Mexico.  There is a also a room devoted to Civil War quilts, to quilts made by groups, quilts from several generations of a local family, a room filled with old sewing machines and a small library.  The gift shop is filled with quilting related items.  I decided to become a member which allows me free admission for the year as well as some other benefits.  No pictures were allowed in the museum but if you follow the link above there are some nice photos of some of the exhibit quilts.

Admission is $7 for non members.  If you're in the area (the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia) it's definitely worth the visit.  The skill and detail of the older quilts made with a hand needle or one of the primitive machines really made me think about my desire for a new sewing machine that "does more"....than my present 34 stitches!  These ladies had so little to work with and created beautiful pieces.  And their quilts were not only pretty but had to be useful and stand up to the stresses of the day.  I really admire their work.

And, I'm a little late but I'm hooking up with the small blog meet again at Lily's Quilts. What a great way to "meet" other bloggers!

Strufoli

Strufoli (often pronounced "strew-fulls" by my family)  was a special treat from my childhood.  My mother made these every Christmas.  In fact, it was a group project.  It's an Italian sweet made with an egg rich dough that is cut into small balls, fried and then coated in honey and decorated with sprinkles.  When she could, my mother bought the honey from an old lady in town who kept some hives in her back yard.  Believe it or not, I found a picture online (Isn't the internet a remarkable thing?):

I've never made them myself, but was starting to wish I could taste them again and was considered trying to recreate this memory.  Imagine my delight when son #1 showed up at Thanksgiving with some!!  He had found them in an Italian bakery and remembered them from his childhood visits to his Nana.  I was SO excited.  In fact, I may have eaten the entire package over several days.