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[motomom]

Ok, I lied, I am going to make one more point about quilts.

I have witnessed in my lifetime the absolute loss of craftsmen (I mean women, too) in our society.  Our factories are disappearing by the droves, along with the men who knew how to build and operate the machinery.  When a factory in the US closes, most of the equipment is being sold to guys from China who come over and snap it up and ship it out.  And then the old dudes who knew how to work on the machines die.  And we become more and more ignorant every day.

Not too many years ago, I decided that I was going to begin buying everything that I needed from "Made in the USA" stuff.  Not possible.  You can't do it.  Fabric, in particular, and more importantly, the thread that it is woven from, is no longer manufactured ANYWHERE in the US that I know of.  The one possible exception to this is there is a company making really crappy knitted cotton in TX, and a few small factories still operating in North Carolina that the employees have purchased and are trying to make a go of it.  I have searched really hard for USA made fabric, and I can't find it.  When I call the companies, they always admit to me that they have the fabric made overseas and they just warehouse it and sell it.

That means, my fellow TMMers, that if TSHTF, and we can no longer get imports because, say, the crazy Iranians have blocked the Straits of Hormuz or something, we are gonna be SOL.  And that is just fabric.  What about all the other stuff we can't make anymore?  Like shoes?  How long would it take for factories to not only get started again, but build the tooling needed for those factories?

I guess we wouldn't have to worry about unemployment anymore.  Except that most of the Americans will be far too stupid to build a factory from the ground up.

So, I quilt.  It was the thing that I could do to keep a little bit of craftsmanship in my life, a little bit of the old culture of my mom and grandma to pass on to my granddaughters.  Like a living history lesson, sort of.

Plus, I thought it would be good for me to make my own freakin' quilts instead of being constantly pissed off at my step-mother for selling my mom's quilt.

[gaurdduck]

I have a quilt I started back in 2006 that I never finished. It was a windmill pattern in black and blue denim with plaid centers.

[motomom]

I have a quilt I started back in 2006 that I never finished. It was a windmill pattern in black and blue denim with plaid centers.

Cool.  Although denim quilts, once finished, tend to be really heavy to sleep under.  Pretty good if you are in a place with cold nights, but they tend to get too hot in TX.

[iloilo]

Motomom,
Thank you very much for this beautiful sharing.
I remember as a young girl being invited to quilting bees with my grandmother.  I would go along more to eat the home made snickerdoodle cookies and drink the sweet, hot tea than to learn to quilt, but I learned anyway.

I haven't made a quilt in 10 years, no longer have my quilting frame (I think I could make one, though) and think you have made a very healthy decision to do quilting rather than worrying or trying to keep up with the fall of the nation. 

But, I must add: several of those wonderful, kind-hearted elderly women with whom I spent a lot of time as a child were always well-armed and could really shoot very well.  So, keep up your practice and maintenance of your firearms even as you enjoy quilting.

Thank you, thank you for the beautiful photos.
ff

[gaurdduck]

I have a quilt I started back in 2006 that I never finished. It was a windmill pattern in black and blue denim with plaid centers.

Cool.  Although denim quilts, once finished, tend to be really heavy to sleep under.  Pretty good if you are in a place with cold nights, but they tend to get too hot in TX.

Where I lived at the time it got down to -40^oF in the winter and the heat wasn't so good.

[motomom]

Motomom,
Thank you very much for this beautiful sharing.
I remember as a young girl being invited to quilting bees with my grandmother.  I would go along more to eat the home made snickerdoodle cookies and drink the sweet, hot tea than to learn to quilt, but I learned anyway.

I haven't made a quilt in 10 years, no longer have my quilting frame (I think I could make one, though) and think you have made a very healthy decision to do quilting rather than worrying or trying to keep up with the fall of the nation. 

But, I must add: several of those wonderful, kind-hearted elderly women with whom I spent a lot of time as a child were always well-armed and could really shoot very well.  So, keep up your practice and maintenance of your firearms even as you enjoy quilting.

Thank you, thank you for the beautiful photos.
ff

Yep, I'll keep up my shooting skills, no problem.  I actually enjoy shooting enough that it won't be a problem.  And I am keeping up my preps, too. 

You can make a quilt frame easy.  If you look closely at the picture of my daughter-in-law's quilt, you can see the corner of my frame hanging from the ceiling.  My Aunt's original frame she gave me sat on 4 little miniature sawhorse-type things that you could move around.  But the house I am in right now, I didn't mind poking some holes in the ceiling for some hooks, so I hang it like my grandmother did in her time.  I really like it hanging better, less to trip over in the living room, and I can raise it up out of the way when not quilting.

Also, I have started one project on a lap frame like this....

http://www.thimblelady.com.au/pages/Thimblelady-products-demo.html  (scroll down to the bottom video)

I also am using her thimbles and technique.  It is a really great thing, her quilting method really takes the strain off of your wrist and hands.  She is in Australia so it is a bit expensive to buy, but well worth it.  I've never bought any of her fabric or anything, but the hoop and thimbles are wonderful.  And it doesn't take up nearly so much room in the living area of my small place.

I will always keep the old quilt frame, though.  If TSHTF, we will want to have quilting bees again.

[coloradohermit]

Thankyou for that wonderful break from gloom and doom, motomom!  Your quilts are beautiful and so is your memory of your mother's quilt.  Few people anymore have those treasured memories of craft and love.  I have several of my MIL's quilts because my stepdaughter didnt want them. I'm hoping her 3 daughters will appreciate them one of these days. What will kids today have to treasure? Some chinese crap from Pottery barn kids?  In so many ways we've already come to TEOTWAWKI.

[Zookeeper]

I love to quilt, It is very calming to me. I hang my frame too. I have a spot out on the deck where I quilt during the summer that has a beautiful  view and breeze. Motomom I really like the colors and pattern of the fabric you've used in your quilts. PKL Ive found that the denim quilts are great for camping and picnics. My life has become a bit Insane lately, Grabbing a hoop and working on a baby quilt helps.

[Wyomiles]

Awesome, beautiful, artistic work !

[padre29]

Thankyou for that wonderful break from gloom and doom, motomom!  Your quilts are beautiful and so is your memory of your mother's quilt.  Few people anymore have those treasured memories of craft and love.  I have several of my MIL's quilts because my stepdaughter didnt want them. I'm hoping her 3 daughters will appreciate them one of these days. What will kids today have to treasure? Some chinese crap from Pottery barn kids?  In so many ways we've already come to TEOTWAWKI.

Yes they are, basically motomom is creating a work of art and I really do appreciate her sharing her work with the rest of TMM.


Motomom, I find the attention to the stitching detail amazing, did you ever make clothing items out of whole cloth?


I ask because you appear to approach a quilt in the manner a tailor approaches a raw suit, tight stitches, attention to how it lays..wonderful stuff and thanks for exposing your efforts.

[motomom]

Thankyou for that wonderful break from gloom and doom, motomom!  Your quilts are beautiful and so is your memory of your mother's quilt.  Few people anymore have those treasured memories of craft and love.  I have several of my MIL's quilts because my stepdaughter didnt want them. I'm hoping her 3 daughters will appreciate them one of these days. What will kids today have to treasure? Some chinese crap from Pottery barn kids?  In so many ways we've already come to TEOTWAWKI.

Yes they are, basically motomom is creating a work of art and I really do appreciate her sharing her work with the rest of TMM.


Motomom, I find the attention to the stitching detail amazing, did you ever make clothing items out of whole cloth?


I ask because you appear to approach a quilt in the manner a tailor approaches a raw suit, tight stitches, attention to how it lays..wonderful stuff and thanks for exposing your efforts.

Padre, I've been sewing all my life, and I have a small bit of tailoring.  I'm sure my efforts were amateurish. 

I find that quilting is kind of the epitome of sewing, and the blending of the elements of survivalism.  Being able to take some very small scraps of cloth that are too small to do anything else with, and make something not only useful but beautiful as well, is something that gives me great pleasure. 

And being able to create with nothing but a few scraps and a needle and thread is very satisfying. 

Thanks to everyone for the compliments.

[motomom]

Another quilt block finished for my Dear Jane Quilt.  This one is A-1.  I drafted the pattern on this one myself, as I did not agree with the one in the Dear Jane book.

[motomom]

I am hand-piecing my Dear Jane quilt.  Each block is 4 and a half inches square finished size.  There will be a muslin strip in between each block.

On Jane Stickle's original quilt, each block was a different fabric, and there are no two blocks or triangles that use the same pattern.  I decided to hand piece mine for 2 reasons.  One, I am immensely calmed by doing hand stitching.  Second, more than wanting to just recreate her quilt, I wanted to experience the time and effort involved in making it, to maybe get inside her brain a bit.  She must have been incredibly intelligent to have come up with this design.

[motomom]

Here is a quilt top that my daughter and I designed.  It is going to be a gift for a dear friend who is planning a summer outdoor wedding.  The quilt will be a large lap-sized quilt.  Daughter will do the actual quilting, I did the applique work. 

[motomom]

This is the first block of a "Storm at Sea" quilt that my daughter and I have begun, I'll do the piecing and she'll do the quilting.  It will be the main theme of the quilt, but interspersed in the storm at sea blocks will be some "Ship" quilt blocks that I inherited, that were made by my grandmother.  Should be cool.  I love how this block gives the image of circles, even though everything is actually straight lines.  Each block will be 12" x 12", finished.