So here’s the crazy quilt I’ve been working on in my spare time. I watched half of Luther last night with the girls and stitched away. This is my new alternative to wasting that time on the Internet while watching movies, because I can’t just sit and watch a movie; I get antsy and twitchy and inevitably end up walking out of the room to find something else to do before the movie is over if I don’t have something else to do.
I’m not exactly sure how big I’m going to let this thing get. It’s already starting to get a bit out of control, but I’m sort of going for a double-size quilt, so I’ve got a long way to go.
And it just sort of occurred to me that after I get the top pieced together I’ve got to do something about a middle layer and a backing. And then a binding. Oh, and the quilting, which I’ve never done before. I really don’t want this project to turn into the Braided Rug of 2003.
You see, I started a braided rug for one of the girl’s rooms back in Colorado. That project spread into 2004 and by the end of 2004 we began making our plans to move, so that project got packed away and never finished. I found it the other day and it is a symbol of pretty much the way I do everything: gung ho start, fizzled finish.
I keep thinking one of these days I will finish it. Maybe I should just call it done now and consider it a small rug instead of the intended room-sized rug it started out to be. Yeah. That might be a good idea.
Anyway, so the quilt. I’ve now got four girls very interested in the progress of this thing, so it’s kind built-in crafting accountability; they are totally ready to curl up under it and watch movies with it, so I need to get it finished while they are still all living in our home with us.
Now that I’ve learned how easy it is for me to engage in both conversation and mental processing while doing a fairly mindless project with my hands (one that requires no pattern to follow, just stick two pieces wrong sides together and sew them up!), I’m planning to take my basket to a class Craig and I are taking at Covenant this weekend ( Music and Theology with Denis Haack). I haven’t had a class since last spring, so I’m looking forward to it, and anything by Denis Haack or Jerram Barrs is high on my list for filling out my remaining 9 hours on my Graduate Certificate.
My parents are coming into town tonight to hang out with the girls and I have a whole list of grunt work jobs opportunities for my dad to do while I’m sewing in educational heaven. We will probably also eat dinner out tomorrow, thereby putting a one-day halt in our consumption of canned diced tomatoes.
Last thing: today I got an email in which I was given a real live writing assignment (i.e. the kind that pays per word). Then we get to go to the class this weekend and I can sew. This has the potential to be a really great weekend. *Grin*
Half-Pint House 
very nice. i tie my quilts. which makes them seem less quilty, but i fear the actually quilting process. maybe i should try it on a small one.
and for great ease, i have used a flat sheet for the back of a quilt before. sometimes you can even find decent ones at a second hand store.
and, great fabrics. me likey.
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Love the quilt – I’d love to talk to you about finishing it. Because I’m the *expert* since I’ve finished exactly ONE quilt. LOL
And congrats on the writing assignment! I’m eager to hear all about it.
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You are very talented, Megan. You should make those and sell them! 🙂
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Neat quilt! Love the fabrics! You should “tie it” rather than machine quilt it. Your girls could even help tie all the little knots and I think it would look really cute.
And, you could sandwich batting and a backing with it and sew around the edges like a pillow-flip right side out and handstich the little part that’s left open. (just make sure and put the 3 layers in the right order-practice first on scraps!)
A big piece of flannel would be a great batting if you have it in your stash, or there are lots of choices of batting at the fabric store. If you use the above method, you don’t need to worry about a binding, it’s done for you. I often sew an inch or so in from the edges on my machine before tying, gives it a nice finished look.
Hope this helps, I LOVE to quilt though I don’t have time often. Email me if you have questions!:)Jen
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I have similar issues with finishing projects. I’ve gotten a little better, but I actually have a quilt all pieced, backed, and basted with pins, waiting to be quilted on my machine. I even bought this nifty little foot for my machine to use to do the quilting, but then that didn’t fit my machine, and I wanted to take it back, and then we moved. Much like the rug of 2004. 🙂 But I actually practiced a little machine quilting on some scraps I had laying around….so maybe, eventually, once I’m not at the hospital every fourth night, will finish it. I’m glad you are having such a great week!
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I love the quilt… Since this is all about using up scraps… my grandmother would take an old “normal” blanket (not a thermal) that was worn in the middle, slice it in half and put the thicker outside part toward the middle for the filler. For the back, if you have several larger pieces, or get some remnants of good size, then you can piece them in larger crazy blocks for the back… If you don’t want to quilt or tie, you can bar tack with the machine, or by hand, every so often. Then, if you decide to really quilt it someday, you still can..
On the other hand… my very favorite quilt is a blue jean quilt with other kinds of slack fabrics (chino style, not knits) on teh back. You might consider a “used” fabric “quilt” for the back – pieces of clothes that no longer can be passed along- the girls will remember those outfits forever when they look at the quilt. If you do jeans, consider not using a filler – it gets heavy enough without it.
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very nice. i tie my quilts. which makes them seem less quilty, but i fear the actually quilting process. maybe i should try it on a small one.
and for great ease, i have used a flat sheet for the back of a quilt before. sometimes you can even find decent ones at a second hand store.
and, great fabrics. me likey.
LikeLike
Love the quilt – I’d love to talk to you about finishing it. Because I’m the *expert* since I’ve finished exactly ONE quilt. LOL
And congrats on the writing assignment! I’m eager to hear all about it.
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You are very talented, Megan. You should make those and sell them! 🙂
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Neat quilt! Love the fabrics! You should “tie it” rather than machine quilt it. Your girls could even help tie all the little knots and I think it would look really cute.
And, you could sandwich batting and a backing with it and sew around the edges like a pillow-flip right side out and handstich the little part that’s left open. (just make sure and put the 3 layers in the right order-practice first on scraps!)
A big piece of flannel would be a great batting if you have it in your stash, or there are lots of choices of batting at the fabric store. If you use the above method, you don’t need to worry about a binding, it’s done for you. I often sew an inch or so in from the edges on my machine before tying, gives it a nice finished look.
Hope this helps, I LOVE to quilt though I don’t have time often. Email me if you have questions!:)Jen
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I have similar issues with finishing projects. I’ve gotten a little better, but I actually have a quilt all pieced, backed, and basted with pins, waiting to be quilted on my machine. I even bought this nifty little foot for my machine to use to do the quilting, but then that didn’t fit my machine, and I wanted to take it back, and then we moved. Much like the rug of 2004. 🙂 But I actually practiced a little machine quilting on some scraps I had laying around….so maybe, eventually, once I’m not at the hospital every fourth night, will finish it. I’m glad you are having such a great week!
LikeLike
I love the quilt… Since this is all about using up scraps… my grandmother would take an old “normal” blanket (not a thermal) that was worn in the middle, slice it in half and put the thicker outside part toward the middle for the filler. For the back, if you have several larger pieces, or get some remnants of good size, then you can piece them in larger crazy blocks for the back… If you don’t want to quilt or tie, you can bar tack with the machine, or by hand, every so often. Then, if you decide to really quilt it someday, you still can..
On the other hand… my very favorite quilt is a blue jean quilt with other kinds of slack fabrics (chino style, not knits) on teh back. You might consider a “used” fabric “quilt” for the back – pieces of clothes that no longer can be passed along- the girls will remember those outfits forever when they look at the quilt. If you do jeans, consider not using a filler – it gets heavy enough without it.
LikeLike
Hi Megan!
This is quite out of the blue….in fact I’m not sure how to begin explaining this! 🙂 Alright, think back to a looong time ago, when you were a camp counselor at Eagle Lake. I believe it was the summer you first met Craig, and he was leading all the music for the camp. Well, that summer I was a camper in your tent with another girl from Estes Park named Chelsea, and the only other name I can remember is a girl named Casey from Texas.
Anyhow, I’m married now, and my husband and I are in the Peace Corps on an island called St. Kitts in the West Indies. And tonight we were sitting here talking about our childhood camp experiences, and I looked up the Eagle Lake web site to show him. Then I started thinking about you, and wondering how you were doing….I googled “Craig and Megan Dunham” and up came a website for a church, and a picture of the two of you with your 4 beautiful daughters!! =) And when I clicked on your name, up came your website!
Since I’ve now ‘website stalked you’ ;), I think it’s only fair to give you our web address– especially since I can’t send you a picture with this message. We really aren’t very good with keeping our blog updated, partially because we have to be really careful what we say in it and how we say things. (As technology has hit the developing world full force, we never know when someone from the island might come across our blog entries– and especially since it’s an island of just 36,000 people, unintentionally offending someone would not be a good thing!) http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Matt-and-Lauren/
I hope you and your family are all doing well!
Take care,
Lauren
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Love the quilt! Dare I say, it’s groovy?
Also, color me envious about your class with Denis Haack. How was it? I’m guessing it rocked. Hee hee, get it? Music…rock…ha ha.
Yep, it’s late, isn’t it? 🙂
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Hi Megan!
This is quite out of the blue….in fact I’m not sure how to begin explaining this! 🙂 Alright, think back to a looong time ago, when you were a camp counselor at Eagle Lake. I believe it was the summer you first met Craig, and he was leading all the music for the camp. Well, that summer I was a camper in your tent with another girl from Estes Park named Chelsea, and the only other name I can remember is a girl named Casey from Texas.
Anyhow, I’m married now, and my husband and I are in the Peace Corps on an island called St. Kitts in the West Indies. And tonight we were sitting here talking about our childhood camp experiences, and I looked up the Eagle Lake web site to show him. Then I started thinking about you, and wondering how you were doing….I googled “Craig and Megan Dunham” and up came a website for a church, and a picture of the two of you with your 4 beautiful daughters!! =) And when I clicked on your name, up came your website!
Since I’ve now ‘website stalked you’ ;), I think it’s only fair to give you our web address– especially since I can’t send you a picture with this message. We really aren’t very good with keeping our blog updated, partially because we have to be really careful what we say in it and how we say things. (As technology has hit the developing world full force, we never know when someone from the island might come across our blog entries– and especially since it’s an island of just 36,000 people, unintentionally offending someone would not be a good thing!) http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Matt-and-Lauren/
I hope you and your family are all doing well!
Take care,
Lauren
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Love the quilt! Dare I say, it’s groovy?
Also, color me envious about your class with Denis Haack. How was it? I’m guessing it rocked. Hee hee, get it? Music…rock…ha ha.
Yep, it’s late, isn’t it? 🙂
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Small rugs can be good as welcome mats, kitchen sink rugs (to cushion your feet), and bath mats. Or next to the bed. Or one might be handy in a very short hallway.
I have declared “finished” a quilt that was supposed to be of a flowering cactus but is instead a nonflowering cactus!
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Small rugs can be good as welcome mats, kitchen sink rugs (to cushion your feet), and bath mats. Or next to the bed. Or one might be handy in a very short hallway.
I have declared “finished” a quilt that was supposed to be of a flowering cactus but is instead a nonflowering cactus!
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