A Lesson Learned - I hope. . . . .

A Lesson Learned – (I hope)

I’m making this quilt for Elizabeth and Brady’s wedding, the last of my 5 children, and the 26^th queen size or larger wedding quilt.  This is the first quilt that was not done from a pattern, I designed it myself.  I took a refresher class on paper piecing to make a mariner’s compass in the center; I measured twice (sometimes 3 times) and cut once; I did everything the way I was taught.

When it came time to machine quilt it, I was pretty excited. This should be a piece of cake (kinda – as easy as quilting any 105” square quilt on my home machine can be) but I quilt in the ditch so not a lot of maneuvering.  So I set up my dining room table with all its leaves, turn my chairs around to put the chair backs against the table to keep the quilt on the table and not dropping to the floor, fill a few bobbins and off I go. . . .for a while. . .

I’m working on the 3^rd side on the square; everything has been going smoothly – though I seem to have to increase the size of my stitch as I go along because no matter how fast or how slow the quilt goes past the needle the stitches are getting smaller. That should have been my first clue – but hey it must be me – maybe not letting it feed itself and pushing the quilt – or holding it back – or it’s something I’m doing.

Alright – its getting a little like work here – better take a break and come back to it right?  And so I return to it the next day.

Starting up again – re thread the machine – change the needle – wind a few more bobbins, ready to go.  I’m up to the 1 ½” border and start stitching.  Well it starts to buckle – almost a gather as I go down one side of the border, so I’m thinking I must have really added this border wrong – or the other 3 sides all came together to mess up this 4^th side. . or What Did I Do?  I figured that if the fabric drifter down one side if I turned the quilt around and stitched the other side of the border from the other direction – maybe it would smooth it out again.  No – it didn’t smooth anything out – the stitches got smaller and every time the walking foot hit a bump like that at a normal seam (not like I was hemming jeans or something) the walking foot got stuck (and made more microscopic stitches as it stood still in the same spot)  Raise the pressure foot, lower it again to get it unstuck and off I go again – until the next seam.   Now after getting stuck twice, the third time the foot falls apart.  It seems the metal pieces attached to the top of the foot and the metal pieces that hold the feed dogs on popped apart.  Wow I must be working this foot hard. . probably because I am trying to stitch this second side of the border in the other direction – which means I have to roll ¾ of the quilt up as tight as I can to get it to fit in the throat of the machine (and my Brother Quilting machine has a pretty big throat) but I’m guessing it’s acting up and being so weird because I’m stuffing it all through on the right side.  My fault again.  So now I have a broken walking foot and it’s 9:30 on a Saturday night.  Both sewing machine stores that would carry a Brother walking foot are closed on Sundays.  The Brother website has them, of course, but it’ll take 10 days to be delivered.  I don’t have 10 days!!  So I give good ole Amazon a try – they had it, and it was cheaper, and it qualified for Prime free shipping and it was delivered Tuesday morning.

So while I’m waiting for Tuesday, I decide to figure out how much of this bad small stitching has to come out for me to get it to lie flat again. . .spent Sunday taking out 2 105” rows of stitching, hoping that’s enough, and I had to use a tweezers in spots to remove those microscopic stitches.  Monday I made the label.  Not too much wasted time, but my confidence is shot.  How can I think I’m a good quilter if I can’t sew a simple stitch in the ditch on straight seams?  I’m making such amateur mistakes (but I’m still not sure what mistakes I've made – feeling really dumb).

Tuesday the foot arrives – I practically met the mailman at the curb.   I open the box and assure myself it’s the right foot.  I re thread the machine and re-position the bobbin.  I put the walking foot on. Still not knowing what I did to break the last one, I tentatively put the new foot on the machine.  So far so good.  Took a practice piece of fabric with batting and tried a few stitches.  My stitch length is still set to large (to help compensate for the microscopic stitches) but now it actually is sewing with large stitches.  Put the size back to where it should be and the practice piece actually goes through by itself – I don’t have to push or cajole and coax or beg, it moves by itself – like it’s supposed to.

OK – it test time – I decide to stitch the border the way it should be with the bulk of the quilt outside the throat to the left of the needle. Line everything up and give it a try – it moves by itself – with just the gentlest of guidance on my part – an NO PUCKERS.  I go back up to the top and stitch down the other side of the border and everything is lying flat – like it’s supposed to.  What could I have possibly been doing wrong to break a sewing machine foot and almost ruin a quilt?

Ah here comes the moral of the story.  I DID NOTHING WRONG!  Again – it wasn't me it was the foot.  I was bested by a tool. And then realizing how I've been compensating for this foot for at least 2 queen size quilts ago. Always blaming my piecing, or too many pieces make too many seams, or the fabric is too shiny and keeps slipping apart.  So the moral is – I really shouldn't jump to the conclusion that I’m to blame.  I really may have done nothing wrong.  I may actually be a good quilter.  I would never have thought to blame the tool even though it is 7 years old and I have quilted 8 queen size quilts with it.  I clean the sewing machine after 2-3 quilts but never check the feet, especially never the walking foot.

I have finished the quilting and now only have the binding and label to do.  It will be done a week before the wedding.  I now love this quilt – maybe a little more than I loved it before the foot fiasco – because it taught me a lesson.  I hope I remember it the next time I’m hitting myself over the head because the machine isn't working.  

Rant ended – sew along. . .

Time for an update

My rambling mind has been on overdrive. . and yes there are many updates, quilting and otherwise.  

With the wedding of my son Kevin to Michelle, I've hit the 25 queen size or bigger quilts in 24 years.  I know the average is a quilt a year but lately I have made 2 a year (to make up for the years I didn't have any weddings in the family). That's a lot of quilts!  Just finished 6 quilts for the middle 3 grandchildren too.  Have bed size quilts planned for the older 3 grandchildren and one for an anniversary (which I just bought the fabric for). . all this in the making while I wait to see if the last of my 5 kids will announce her engagement any time soon. . giving me a year to plan the last wedding quilt for my kids. . . and I wonder why I'm tired :)

Another challenge in my life lately is a new laptop. . . Windows 8 is a bear to learn - especially if I don't have a swipe screen on my laptop. . . it isn't intuitive. . things I've done for 25 years of computer use just don;t work like that anymore. . UGH.

keep posted. . .I'm trying to sort out this rambling mind of mine and will post tidbits as they organize . .

keep quilting!

Comfort Zones. . .

I was invited to be part of a retreat planning committee. . . since I was interested in finding out how to plan a retreat I said yes. . . it was so much more!

I had been praying for God to let me know what he wanted me to do with my life. . . I got my Master's in Religious Education, knew alot about 'church' stuff, but nothing was obvious. . I didn't know what I was supposed to do. In the past, when I prayed for guidance I would get a big AH HA moment. . more like a hit over the head moment. . . I wasn't getting that this time. I figured that, just in case God was whispering this time (no lightening bolts) I had better say yes to every opportunity or request made because that might be the thing God wants me to do. . . logical right?

So the past 4 things I said yes to didn't pan out. . .either I was obviously not a match or I surmised they really wanted to invite my daughter and got my number instead. . . .and along comes an email from John. Would I like to be part of a retreat planning committee for the Employment Ministry at our parish? Well, I don't know much about 'employment' as I've been unemployed more than I've been employed, but I did want to know how to run a retreat. So once again I said yes. . . . .

There would be 6 sessions of planning and then a 6 hour retreat. We would be expected to give 'talks' - I was hanging back. . .I didn't have any work related event I could talk about. . .I didn't want to relay stories that were really my husband's experience (that I lived through vicariously) I didn't have anything to offer. Then the question came. . .I was asked my topic. . .I said I would register people, I would facilitate a table discussion, I would bring breakfast - but no talk. . .I had nothing - blank.

Then Julie asked me, "What about quilting?" Quilting? that's just something I do, something to keep me busy, I've always done hobbies - now it's quilting - but that's not a job!

I was then asked "Is quilting work?". . well yes - but - not like a job hard - I don't make any money. . . that was the zinger - money gives it worth? pay makes it worthwhile? I need to do some more thinking about this - I'm WAY out of my comfort zone.

So I wrote a 'talk'. . .figuring it might be unconventional, but this IS what I do. . . so here it goes. . . My Talk:

I’m one of those lucky people. I get to work at what I love. I make quilts. In 1989, while being a stay at home mom to 5 kids (and babysitting for 3 others) I took a class at a quilt shop and made 2 Christmas stockings. Two months later I made a beautiful queen size quilt…just for me! And that’s when a passion for quilting was born.

I’ve taken many other classes, expanded my skills to include hand and machine techniques, and in the past 21 years, I’ve made 22 queen size quilts (20 were gifts), I’ve made 5 Christmas wall hangings…AND those original 2 Christmas stockings have increased to 20 with 3 to be made for this Christmas for my 3 new grandchildren!

In 1998, a small group of friends who are also quilters went to Cape Cod for a Quilter’s Retreat. Over the past 10 years, we have expanded to 10 really good friends who go away for 4 day weekends twice a year. We bring our own projects (many of those gift quilts were started on these weekends.) and have lovingly been told we look like a sweat shop as we set up 9-10 sewing machines!!!

But we do more than our own quilts for our families and friends. . we make placemats for Meals on Wheels of Hunterdon County to distribute with meals. We’ve made over 30 pillowcases to donate to the Million Pillowcase challenge; they are given to sick children or children affected by tragedy. And most recently we’ve made quilts to send to Quilts of Valor where quilts are given to wounded service men and women in military hospitals around the country.

We also minister to each other – we’ve gotten through breast cancer, (twice), kids with problems, and numerous marriages and divorces. Three and a half years ago, my house burned down – well not to the ground, but the inside was gutted. We were very lucky (I still say God was watching over us – big time - that day) no one was hurt and 3 of us should have been home and we only lost ‘stuff’ (but as my brother-in-law said – it was nice stuff). We didn’t lose anything of real sentimental value as the photos were saved by being in the garage, put there when we cleaned up for Christmas. But I did lose 2 quilts (my first hand stitched quilt and the quilt I made for my husband for out 25^th wedding anniversary) I also lost my sewing supplies, fabric, sewing machine, all gone. The insurance company paid for a new sewing machine and gave me money toward fabric, but how do you start over – collecting 20 years worth of tools? On the very next quilters’ weekend away, my friends threw me a Quilting Shower! They replaced all the things I lost and then some. One of them reached out to a quilter’s blog she belongs to and I got gifts from all over the country. We are church to one another. And our love and our troubles are unconsciously sewn into each and every quilt.

When I create a quilt, I plan that quilt around the person who will receive it. While doing this more than a little piece of me goes with it. Whether I used the Marine Corps colors for the nephew who served in Dessert Storm, or added pine trees to the log cabin quilt for the nephew who loves to hike, I feel I am doing what God wants of me – I use my talents to give joy to others; for all of us quilters, this becomes a way of expressing our love. This reminds me of a passage from Colossians, “Whatever you do, do from the heart” (3:23)

I am particularly proud to be able to say that my quilts are all over the country. AND, last September my first quilts went international! I gave 3 quilts to a close friend and 2 family members in Ireland.

I have been asked if making a quilt is a lot of work. . .I’m reluctant to say yes because I love it so much. But YES…it is work…work that demands a lot of concentrated effort…from the first steps of planning a pattern and picking the fabric to the last stitch that goes into sewing the label on, takes me approximately 6 months. It takes a lot of math, a lot of color theory, a lot of elbow grease and can be a little back-breaking. (pause)….but the look on someone’s face when they receive a hand made quilt is like nothing else I’ve ever experienced. It is a labor of love. As we hear in First Corinthians, “whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God”. (10:31) And it’s the best work I’ve ever done.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

OK it's the fifth - but it's the weekend!!

June was a total success - the wedding in Jersey was wonderful - got to go to the Palace in Somerset for the first time - WOW - certainly a bride's dream come true!!

The wedding in Chicago was a great time - Brian's friend's son got married and a good time was had by all!! I would certainly like to go back to Chicago just to visit - got some glimpses of great places to go - when there's time.

Last weekend was the Reavey Centennial Reunion - everything went off as planned - no hitches or glitches - it was wonderful.. The people who bought the 'old house' in Brooklyn were wonderfully gracious and let us (yes all 48 of us) come in to see 'what they did to the old place' - It was unrecognizable! It just goes to show you what a little imagination can accomplish!!

Last night - the 4th - we went to see the Mets play the Phillies in Philadelphia - unfortunately the Mets lost but it was a great game and lots of fireworks in spite of the rain - I guess if you're in Philly on the fourth there isn't any chance of the fireworks being cancelled or postponed....

Well I'm spending the rest of the weekend planning out my new sewing room - lots of organizing and a little imagination should do it - Brooklyn inspired me!!!!

Peace and all Good,
Mary-Frances

June update. . . .

the busy June calendar has begun to unfold. . . .we have a wedding in New Jersey this weekend, a wedding in Chicago next weekend and the the Centennial Family Reunion the last weekend in June. . .

we have BIG news. . . Matt and Heather got engaged yesterday . . we are so happy for them and can't wait to begin the planning. . . another quilt to make!!

I'm gonna keep this short tonight. . .lots of planning and packing to do.

Peace and All Good,

Mary-Frances

In the beginning. . . .there were quilts!

So here I am. . .wanting to jump into this blogging thing with both feet - unfortunaely they are stuck on the edge of the pool.

" 'Hope' is the thing with feathers That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without words And never stops - at all."
- Emily Dickinson