Quilts, Etc., Made So Long Ago, I Almost Forgot About Them

I love it when people send unexpectedly me pictures of quilts I gave them. Especially when it's something I made long ago (= more than a month) and pretty much forgot about. 

A couple of weeks ago, my cousins in Arizona, sent me a bunch of photos like this:

 

They're time lapse photos of their cat emerging from underneath a quilt. It's one of the first quilts I ever made, more than two decades ago, which I hadn't thought about in a long time. Here it is flat:

Thank you, I know it looks okay from a distance, but let me assure you I had no flipping idea of what I was doing. Solids and prints were combined with reckless abandon. The pink and lavender fabrics came from the bargain bin, so cheap you could see through them. The black-and-white inner border print was scratchy and therefore likely - horrors! - polyester! I used a classic book on Seminole piecing to create the effective 3-D folded ribbon effect, so I take comfort in that. But the muddy brown and green squares. contrasting with pastel cornerstones, makes me want to weep, and not from happiness. 

Poor decisions notwithstanding, the cat photos convinced me that the quilt survived more than two decades of happy marriage and lively pets. The fact that the bargain fabric is intact is a miracle. Maybe the Arizona air mummified it. 

And speaking of mummies, a couple of weeks ago, I received two more photos of something wrapped: 

Not a mummy - that's my yummy new grand-niece Skyler, the best dressed baby ever, whose mum is a fabric industry fashionista! I knew this baby would need a stylish quilt, so I sent her the minimalist black-and-red-and-white baby quilt I made using Cheryl Lynch's brilliant Curvalicious ruler (no financial affiliation). 

It's so much happier to see it wrapped around a baby! And speaking of wrapping girls, another project I showed while back was an appliqued silk dupioni prayer shawl, a commission for a bat mitzvah, based on a vintage map of Jerusalem. (Tutorial here.)

What I couldn't do for this commission was embroider the biblical quotation that the family wanted on the shawl's collar, because I don't own an embroidery machine. They found someone local to embroider it, plus a date along the bottom. 

And who wouldn't love getting a picture like this after the happy occasion?

While we're discussing Judaica, here's a challah (bread) cover I designed and started selling as a pattern in 2010. 

In recent months, two people who bought it (it's in my Etsy shop), sent me images of the covers they made based on it. Jan wrote to me that she is not Jewish, but she made a simplified version for her Jewish daughter-in-law and grandkids. This was her first experience with machine applique, and it went well. 

 Another correspondent, Orit,  made a more detailed version:

Like all pattern designers, I get a huge kick out of seeing what people do to make them their own! 

And moving from Judaica to crosses....many months ago, I sent a picture of my "Blue Cross Blue Shield" all-jeans upcycled quilt to the Studio Art Quilters' Association, as part of their "Cross Purposes" member exhibit. I was beyond thrilled when the photo came back to me in their magazine. 

A tutorial for making a quilt like this starts here. (Those are non-denominational crosses.)

Moral of the story: If you're the recipient of a quilt, it's never too late to snap a picture of it and send it to the maker. If you're a quilter, don't be above asking your giftees for pictures of your quilts in action (even if they're just hanging on a wall.) And if you make a quilt from a pattern, the pattern designer would LOVE to see it! 

"Sew Jewish" Book Review

One thing I love about Jewish tradition is that it requires plenty of textiles. Important occasions are marked not only with prayer, gratitude, and (usually) food, but also fabric creations. These include:

•      Marriage - the ceremony requires a chuppah, a wedding canopy, 
•      Bar or Bat Mitzvah - the child needs a tallit, a prayer shawl; people need kippot, headcoverings,
•       Sabbath, aka Shabbat, which comes every week - the challah bread wants its own little bedcover,
•      Passover - The ceremonial matzoh cracker needs a cover; the people need theme pillows and kippot,

...And much, much more! I won't even describe here the fibrous imperatives of  Rosh Hashanah,  Purim, Sukkoth or Chanukah - but  they are surprisingly compelling once you start thinking this way!

Today, one of the most significant gathering places for like-minded people is the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework, a nonprofit organization approaching its 40th year. Members include quilters, needlepointers, embroiderers, knitters, weavers, beadworkers - you name it. All skill levels are welcome. (Learn more here.)

And one of the most exciting new voices in the world of fibrous Judaica design is Maria Bywater of Hudson Valley, N.Y. Maria is a professional huppah-maker, who rents out wedding canopies at huppahs.com, and blogs at SewJewish.com. She recently sent me a complementary copy of her book, "Sew Jewish."

The book is geared to beginners on up. Most of the 18 projects are not quilts, but they draw on the same basic sewing techniques. They cover the Jewish lifecycle and calendar: 

• For weddings, she offers not only simple chuppah directions, but also a bridal veil, kippot, tallit, tallit bag, and teffilin bag.
• For Shabbat, there's a challah cover, and, when Shabbat ends, a havdalah ritual spice pouch. 
• For Chanukah, there are directions for a dreidel (spinning top) game kit, complete with cut-out labels that explain how the game works. 
• For Purim, there are bright and cheerful mishloach manot gift containers.
• For Passover, a matzoh cover, and handwashing towel.
• I especially like her detailed prayer shawl pattern/instructions, which answers all the questions beginners and beyond have been asking me for years about construction. 
• For the home, there's a pattern for a mezuzah case; a tzedakah (charity) jar wrap; a mizrah (which marks the Eastern wall); a "Shalom" pillow; and an aleph-bet (Hebrew alphabet) cuddle blanket, and this lovely, whimsical hamsa (a hand-shaped good luck wall hanging): 

The book is clear and beautifully illustrated, There's an entire chapter that covers the most basic stitching concepts. 

Find it  on Maria's Etsy shop or Amazon,  in paperback or downloadable PDF.  The Etsy site also sells more tallit collar patterns, and a different hamsa wall hanging than the one in the book. (No financial affiliation with any of this!)

I am thinking that this book would be a terrific present for a teen, especially a bar or bat mitzvah who is interested in sewing; for newlyweds; for people who are celebrating conversion; for new retirees; and for anyone who wants to sew and is interested in Jewish heritage and ritual. I also think it's a must-have for synagogue and Jewish school libraries. Maria, yasher koach, well done! 

Interested in seeing more Judaica? Go to Pomegranateguild.org, and also check out my own Judaiquilt.com website. 

           

Old Dog Learns New Trick & Recycles Old Trick for Quilted Stars

Sometimes I think that quilts are just an excuse to show off buttons. Here's a commissioned challah bread cover that I made last week, pre-buttons.

It started when a friend called to ask me if I had any extra challah covers lying around that she could buy to give a family that loves to travel. I looked in my UFO drawer and found three kaleidoscopic stars that I'd made years ago. They looked something like this,

but they were made from this Jewish-themed novelty fabric:

I had used the Magic Star Six by Mace McEligot, a tool that I bought in the late nineties, and which as far as I can tell is no longer made, though you may be able to find old ones on etsy or ebay.

However, you can do the same thing with Sara Nephew's Super 60 tool, which has the exact same configuration of angles, and is widely available. (Find it here. No financial affiliation.)

Start by placing hinged mirrors (an inexpensive notion found in many quilt stores) on top of the fabric, and slide it around til you like what you see. Place the template between the mirrors, with the 30 degree angle inside:

 Remove the mirrors to see the view:

Replace the template, and mark it with a china marker showing where the designs land. With the template in position and a rotary cutter, cut out six identical kite shapes, sliding the template to the correct location each time. Here's how each petal looks (with yet a different fabric! Sorry I keep switching fabrics!)

Now comes the magic: When you fold the petal in half,

and stitch the upper left and upper right sides together,

Press in position:

Trim the seam allowances, then turn the top area right side out (a ball-tipped stylus helps to extrude the point), voila!

The back before the final press

The front. (I know the print is wonky - I just made this for demonstration purposes. Be more careful than I was.)

Rinse and repeat five times. Sew two groups of three petals each. Join the halves, and press the central seam allowance open. You wind up with a neat little six pointed-star frisbee, with finished edges all the way around! Back:

Side:

I'd made three stars from the Judaic print. First, a nearly Celtic star:

A tiny star:

And a white star of stars:

To button or not to button? After some agony, I decided to go for it, with vintage buttons. This elaborate mirror-glass metal button went on the curly star:

A tiny, elegant metal button went on the small star:

And a metal-and-mother-of-pearl and metal shank button went on the white star: 

On the back, I put a travel-themed suitcase tourist label fabric, plus an African fabric with brownish stars. 

So what's the new trick? That blue-and-white fabric around the edges is a facing. Instead of my usual binding or satin stitch, I tried facing for the first time. It creates an edge that's like a pillowcase turn, but no need to stitch together an awkward gap. Facing has grown increasingly popular among art quilters. I found a terrific tutorial on the Silly Boodilly blog, here. Thank you SO much, Victoria, for teaching me how to do this!

Here's the overall cover with the buttons added: 

The freemotion quilting is a cross between leaves and candle flames.

It will be hard to say goodbye to this piece, because I love my kaleidoscopic stars and vintage buttons, like Gollum loves the Ring.  (Except he had only one Ring, and I have approximately two trillion vintage buttons). I hope the new owners will love them as much as I do, or at least not throw them into that Mount Doom lava pit thing.

More of my challah cover ideas and patterns are on my Judaiquilt website, here. I have tried to contact Mace McEligot for this article, but was unable to do so. If anyone knows how to reach her, or if they know a vendor who is selling the Magic Star 6 tool, please let me know.

Recently Remembered Quilt: Running Around Like Cubic Chickens

You know those famous newsmen who got into trouble recently for claiming they were in combat, when they actually weren't?

Well, I sympathize, because I thought I was selling this quilt as a pattern, and just discovered that I'm not: 

 I made this quilt  around 2003, using mostly batik fabrics, paper foundation piecing, and bleach discharge. The words read "Shabbat Shalom." meaning a peaceful Sabbath.

Poetic Rabbi Abraham Joshu Heschel explained: "Six days a week we wrestle with the world, wringing profit from the earth; on the Sabbath we especially care for the seed of eternity planted in the soul….Six days a week we seek to dominate the world; on the seventh we try to dominate the self."

From the sublime to the ridiculous, I interpreted it visually this way: Six days a week we run back and forth, from right to left, like abstract rectangular cubic chickens. On the seventh, as the sun  sets, we  stop, take a deep breath, and look at a candle flame and think deeper.

The blocks are all paper foundation pieced. For the lettering, I cut Hebrew letters from freezer paper, and ironed them to a black fabric strip. Then I painted the strip with dishwasher gel. (These days, you're better off using Decoulerant - much less toxic). In five minute increments, I washed more and more of the gel off the strip. Yes, it was a mess! But it worked, with a nice gradated result.

I liked this quilt so much that I drafted an 8-page single spaced pattern for this quilt. I churned out 10 dense, single-spaced pages of directions, including this map:

And paper-piecing patterns for the blocks: 

A wonderful quilter named Joan Garland of Georgia, even tested it for me! 

She found some errors, which I am pretty sure I corrected. Thank you Joan!

I hadn't thought much about this quilt for a long time, but quite by accident this week, I came across photos. My first thought was, "Didn't I make a pattern from this quilt?" My second thought was, "I don't think it's been selling very well." So I checked my my pattern page to see if it's for sale - but it wasn't! Hmmm, that probably explains why sales have been so slow. 

A dozen years later, I know I will never wring profit from this pattern. So I think I'll donate it to the archives of the Pomegranate Guild of Judaic Needlework (pomegranateguild.org. Unpaid endorsement!)  But in order to do that, it needs many hours of fixing up. Are enough people interested? Is it worth my time?

Striving to Dehoard Extra Challah Covers

I rarely sell my premade quilts - most of my sales are commissions - but a few weeks ago a cyberfriend asked if I have any challah (Sabbath bread) covers available for quick purchase, which forced me to do something I've long feared: Go through my stack of quilted challah covers, figure out the ones I would be willing to sell,

 It's so hard - I get attached. So I made myself come up with a pile of 10, and photographed each one for her. Your job: Guess which one she bought. (I don't expect you to buy one. Really, I know you can make your own.) First:

The leaves are cut from a seperate fabric and appliqued to the dark blue background. It took many, many hours.

The next two were early prototypes for my Log Cabin challah cover pattern: Hand beaded with large purple and gold beads, hand painted (the lettering) Heavily quilted. 16.75" x 16.75". The words are the blessing over the challah.

 The words are outline quilted and painted with gold metallic paint. The challot are echo quilted.

Next one is made from the same pattern. Tiny seed beads, gold and holographic purple, embellish the challot.  (Purple for regular raisins, gold for golden raisin). It's 18" x 18".

The letters are outline stitched with a variegated purple/turquoise thread, then filled in with gold metallic thread. This is NOT done with an embroidery machine - I don't have one - it's all hand-guided, and boy did it take a lot of time to do neatly. I think this was the last time I ever did that.

This next one is more of a mat than a challah cover. 20" x 15"

Quilted with emanating holographic and variegated threads.

This  next one is stencilled - "Who brings forth bread from the earth," in Hebrew and English. It was made while developing my Whole Wheat Challah Cover pattern (scroll down a bit on the page). Background is hand painted, with sun-sensitive paints; then exposed to sun created the dark areas on the front. Heavily quilted. Multicolored yarn trim. 22" x 24".

 Here's the same stencil, but the central wheat is not done in reverse. It's heavily hand-embellished with embroidery stitches and French knots.The background is hand-painted. It's 21.5" x 18". There's une boo boo with the paint in the upper left corner, tragically. 

 Very simple - Shabbat on one side...

Chanukah on the other, 19" x 17" plus 1.5" fringe all the way around.

This is a small mat, probably works better going under a wine cup than over a challah. It's 13" in diameter.  It's heavily quilted and hand embellished with unusual buttons and green lace.

Very traditional. Pieced star, extensively quilted with holographic and gold threads, with the words "Shabbat v'yom Tov" (Shabbat and Holidays) quilted into the white side strips. 20.5" x 14" .

Next, a harvest challah cover, using the same wheat stencils shown above. It's hand painted, stamped, and stencilled,

...and very heavily quilted. The colors are muted, more like the above photo than below. 18" x 15 1/2" plus 2" beaded trim all the way around. 

Can you guess which one she bought? I bet you can. She immediately bought the first one, traditional and elaborate. I had to fold up all the rest and put them back in their boxes. That was a bit of a bummer, after I'd already mentally said goodbye.

Do you have a favorite way of selling your overstock?