Is it time to make a traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden?

 

I have been thinking I'd like to make a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt, but I wasn't sure I was ready for all the work involved. I've never done English Paper Piecing (EPP) before. Was I ready for all the work this would be? It is really an ambitious project. Heck, I didn't even know if I would like this technique.

 

I've done paper piecing before, but this was very different. The only real similarity between the two techniques, is that both require removing the paper in the final project.  

 

With EPP, the paper is a simple template that determines the shape of the fabric piece. Once pieces are constructed, they are sewn together, often by hand. With paper piecing, the paper is a portion of a shape, which determines where fabric is cut and sewn together on the sewing machine to form intricate designs.

 

Even after quilting for more than 20 years, I still consider myself a newbie, likely because there seems to be an endless supply of skills and techniques I have yet to learn. So, when in doubt, make a table topper. I love table toppers because they are just the ticket for practicing new skills.

I find I am attracted to hand-sewing. I love that zen feeling that comes over me when I'm stitching. So, I bought a set of templates that included a couple different sizes of hexagons, watched a few YouTube videos, and decided to tackle this new task. 

 

I Googled 1" hexagon shapes and found a downloadable sheet of 8.5" x 11" hexi shapes. I printed a couple pages onto freezer paper sheets. I simply, but carefully, cut them out. Because the shapes can be reused a couple times, I am now well-stocked with papers.

I liked the glue stick method, rather than basting the fabric around the template.  I also like to press them to make them really crisp and easy to sew together. I admit that makes it a little more difficult to get the papers out, but I can always print and cut out more if I need to.

I decided to make a couple of "flowers" using 1" hexis out of one of my favorite fabrics, a paisley print that for some odd reason I've never been able to use in any other project. I have often picked it out to use in a pinkish quilt, but it just never quite fit. The fabric always read "peach."

 

No worries though; I decided that it didn't really matter with the sampler project I was planning to use for my EPP practice piece.

 

Hah, no matter how I try to tell myself colors don't matter, I just can't fool myself. Colors will always matter. But, I decided to play a little trick on my own eyes and everybody else's, by adding bubble gum pink fabric as a background color. It worked too. No one would ever mistake this as too peach-colored.

 

This is a trick I learned when I was putting tile down in our old house. I bought some pink tile that ended up looking very peachy. I was really disappointed when I got it home. But, I put it on the floor and painted a burgundy accent wall and wallpaper with tiny pink flowers. The peach vanished. These tiles were pink!

 

I have finished this project and am pretty happy with how it turned out. I hand-quilted it just for fun and I really like it.

 

All-in-all, I decided that I like English Paper Piecing. I'd like to do And, I like hexagons. I like hand-sewing. I'm just still not sure I want to make a whole quilt with them. Maybe if I used bigger hexis, or a less than traditional pattern than the typical Grandmother's Flower Garden. The jury is still out. 

I just love, love, love this quilt

This morning I woke up feeling proud, accomplished, and satisfied. Last night at 9 p.m., I knotted my thread, cut it, and let out a sign. I finished hand sewing the binding to the back. After 18 months, I finished my quilt.

This one was my favorite—no really. I know I say that each time I work on a quilt, but this one is special. This one challenged me. This one honed skills I didn’t have when I began more than 18 months ago. This one has certainly beefed up my quilting resume.

My only disappointment, and that may be too strong a word since I’m elated with this quilt, is that it wasn’t my own design. I’m not sure why I’m stuck on that element, because I only choose to make quilts from patterns I love and want to complete, but creating my own design is the one thing I want to master. I want to sit down with graph paper and colored pencils, or at the computer keyboard and let my imagination run wild.

I’m not sure this will ever happen. After all, every quilt I make since my first quilt was complete in 2003, is uniquely my own, always one of a kind; it is similar to others, but always different. Despite all the people who have sewn this quilt commonly known as Afternoon Delight, no one has this one. The pattern, designed by the late Sue Garman, will have been made by hundreds, and perhaps even tens of thousands of people. Mine is but one of those, but still, this one is all mine. Though it was Garman’s pattern, I collected all the fabrics. I picked the the colors. I decided on the quilting designs. And, of course, I did all the cutting, piecing, hand applique, and quilting.

I have no way of knowing if I will ever achieve this element of my quilting journey—designing my own quilt. I’ve modified existing designs, which could qualify as making them my own, but in my mind, it isn’t quite the same. I hope I can someday achieve designing, but who knows. If I never do, that is OK too because I love quilting. I love every quilt I’ve ever made.

And the list is long for those I still want to make—traditional patterns—like Grandmother’s Flower Garden, Double Wedding Ring, and so many more. I plan to stay busy as long as my fingers still function and my eyes still see, despite a growing difficulty.

I’d have to go pretty far though to love a quilt as much as this one. I loved making this one. I’m enamored with this quilt. It turned out so much better than I imagined.

Finishing a quilt is always joyful, but this one has taken my breath away. I’ve loved every stitch.

Joy of the finish!

In this case, the finish is my latest quilt top; it is not quite a completed quilt, but to me, it is epic all the same. Once it is quilted and a completed quilt, I have no doubt it will be my favorite.

No, really. I know; I always say that about each project, as my friend Nancy points out to me with every quilt I make and deem my favorite, but this is different. I love everything about this quilt. I loved making it. I’m crazy about the varied fabrics, need for precision, and wide range of colors. But mostly, I am so grateful for all that it has taught me.

To be honest, if I would have seen this quilt in a magazine ten years ago, I probably would have thought it amazing, but would have kept on turning pages. I would not have decided to make it back then. I would have thought it to be too busy, too colorful, and just not to my liking. In my early days of quilt making, which actually pre-dates those ten-years by about double, I liked to make simple, almost Amish quilt designs. I leaned toward mono-chromatic color schemes. Admittedly, I may have been afraid of too many colors. I had little experience with applique and was not very good at it. So, I wouldn’t have had an interest in making this quilt years ago.

That was then; this is now.

Quilting has been a huge learning experience for me, with each project presenting its own unique challenges. I have always loved a challenge. Whether a new project presented a new design, colors, patterns, or skills, each quilt I have made has taught me something. Each one makes me a better quilter. And yet, there is still so much to learn, so many quilts I’ve yet to make.

In short, I grew into this one. This pattern was “The Quilt Show” 2020 Block of the Month, called “Afternoon Delight.” It was designed by the late Sue Garman. Her directions were impeccable and easy to follow.

This quilt top took about a year. All of the applique was done by hand. I learned to love needle-turn applique. I tried all kinds of different processes for preparing the pieces for applique. I’ve found that the best one for me is simply needle-turn, where the needle is used to turn the fabric under so it can be stitched to a background fabric or other piece.

This was a scrappy quilt, using fabrics I already had. The fabric and colors were of my own choosing, although a kit with the pattern and fabrics was available. I bought some new fabric as well. This project is retired now and no longer available on “The Quilt Show” website but it can be purchased elsewhere.

This quilt taught me to love a variety of colors. I no longer think this quilt has too many. I now wonder if there is such a thing as too many colors. This quilt compliments my sunshiny yellow walls and would do the same for any decor, since it includes a rainbow of colors.

In addition, I believe this is the first quilt I’ve ever made that is actually large enough to fit over the pillows and drapes over the sides of the bed.

Now, the only thing I have to decide is if I want to machine- or hand-quilt this quilt. I’m leaning toward hand-quilting. I believe less is desired, given the complexity of the design. We’ll see.

Never touch the bobbin tension, they say

That was the advice from every sewing machine repair person, sales person to quilting enthusiasts. I’m here to tell you, pay them no mind.

I was finishing the blocks for a quilt top, with just two to finish, when suddenly I noticed my sewing machine acting up. I am not even sure what exactly I did when I noticed a difference, but it seems that suddenly something was terribly wrong with the tension on my Janome DC2014 sewing machine, a workhorse that has never caused me any problems. I started adjusting my tension and there was no difference until I turned the dial down to “1”. The stitches looked adequate, but barely. They were uneven and there were some skipped.

I started trying to diagnose the problem. I reasoned that it could be a worn out needle, since I had been sewing madly for the last couple days. I was finishing the last of 64 9-patch blocks which would complete the “Afternoon Delight” quilt top, a Sue Garman pattern that was the 2020 Block of the Month project from The Quilt Show.

9-patch block

After changing the needle, there was no difference. I took out the bobbin case and cleaned out all the lint. I added a drop of oil onto the bottom of the bobbin case. I re-wound a bobbin and popped it into the bobbin case making sure it was caught in the tension spring; re-threaded the machine, again, taking care that the thread wound around through the tension spring and take-up arm, as it should be. I turned the sewing machine off and on again, (that usually works with my computer). I even looked at my sewing machine manual. Nothing worked.

Finally, I put in a new bobbin, one with a different thread and different color than the 50 wt. white Aurifil I was using in the top. I set the stitch tension back to the middle. It worked. The stitches were a tad uneven, but at least the bobbin thread wasn’t just lying on top of the fabric. The stitch was actually formed and was fairly acceptable on both top and bottom. I reasoned that my problem could be a new set of bobbins I had just purchased.

So, I took the purple thread off the latest bobbin; there was only a little there. I rewound my ‘suspect’ bobbin onto the new (previously used) one and began to sew. There were about 3 stitches that were good and then again, the thread just lay on top of the fabric without catching to form a stitch. Again, I set the tension to #1 to get a stitch to work.

I checked out You Tube videos, Googled my problem, and did as much sleuthing as I could.

I decided that the one thing I would try, that I hadn’t, was to change the tension on my bobbin case.

I didn’t bother with a quarter turn, I did a half turn, set the top tension back to between 4 and 5, and started to sew. Voila, the stitch was perfect. In fact, it looked like it did the day I bought my machine. I happily finished up my last two quilt blocks.

I was surprised this fix was such an easy one. And, I’m grateful to be able to sew again without having to worry about being without my machine for weeks.

Now, for those setting triangles and borders…What a great quilt this is going to be. I just can’t wait to finish the top and begin quilting it.