Happy Valentine's Day.... Remember this from the 40th anniversary quilt?

 

 

This is the only crazy quilt that I have hanging on a wall and it is my favorite.

 

 

 

 

For more close ups go to http://olderrose.blogspot.com/2017/04/eye-candy-while-im-gone.html

Eye candy while I'm gone

Just some close-ups and details of the anniversary quilt for you to peruse while we are on our anniversary cruise from Vienna to Amsterdam.

Here is the entire piece..  many of these hankies belonged to my late mother-in-law.. The base is a vintage table linen with crocheted edge.  The entire piece is about 34" square.

 

We had our first date on Halloween and flew to Hawaii 3 weeks later on Thanksgiving and got married.  It was definitely love at first sight.  We met at a bridge game and 40 years later he tells me almost daily that I'm still his favorite partner.  Here are close ups of different sections..

Here you can see the button trail upper right.

I'm really happy with the way the border turned out.

This brooch is one I have save for years and years and this was the perfect spot for it...

 

And as a recap my inspiration for this project was this counted cross stitch sampler I did when we got married in 1976.

 It is less than a week now until we leave on our long awaited and long planned anniversary cruise.  I wanted to do something special for the 40th anniversary and  it became my most beloved piece of CQ.  ..  

The inspiration for this project was a piece of cross stitch I did for our first anniversary.   So I began  by doing the main focal point  of a floral heart and bluebirds.

Now what to use for a foundation?  I had an vintage tea table cover of lace and linen.. The linen had several holes and was stained spots.  I had just waiting for the perfect project...  The linen center is about 20" square so it is a substantial piece.  It not a piece I can carry about to work on.






I had been collecting hankies for years and had all these lovely hankies.. and with all the hearts and roses it seemed like a match made in heaven.  Many of the hankies belonged to my late mother-in-law.

Once I got started the rest just seems to follow...I surrounded the focal piece with laces and began the secondary bluebird images. Except for replacing one hanky that didn't work, there were really no big problems or decisions...  It all just flow from my heart.  I never worked on it that I didn't think of our marriage and all the memories.

Our first date was Halloween 1976 and we eloped 3 weeks later Thanksgiving weekend...flew to Hawaii and got married..  Everyone thought we were crazy but it has been the best decision I ever  made...

 

Finished at last ....

Finished at last and just 10 days before our 40th anniversary.

Here is the entire piece..  many of these hankies belonged to my late mother-in-law.. The base is a vintage table linen with crocheted edge.  The entire piece is about 34" square.

 

We had our first date on Halloween and flew to Hawaii 3 weeks later on Thanksgiving and got married.  It was definitely love at first sight.  We met at a bridge game and 40 years later he tells me almost daily that I'm still his favorite partner.  Here are close ups of different sections..

Here you can see the button trail upper right.

I'm really happy with the way the border turned out.

This brooch is one I have save for years and years and this was the perfect spot for it...

 

And as a recap my inspiration for this project was this counted cross stitch sampler I did when we got married in 1976.

"French Facing" and I really do have an iron...

Slowly but surely I'm getting to the finished piece.  I did not want a traditional binding on the outside edge and opted to use a technique called a "French facing".  Allie did a tutorial about it on her blog and another for the CQMag online.  I used this technique on my suffragette quilt and loved the nice clean tailored edge it gave.  I actually thought I had blogged about it but couldn't find it...

First I cut four 4" squares and folded them diagonally, one for each corner.  Then I cut four strips (one for each side (each 2 1/2" wide)

I also trimmed some of the batting away at the corner to eliminate bulk.

 
I also cut each side strip about an inch shorter also to eliminate bulk. 

When it is all sewn, turned and  the edges if the facing strips are turned under... it looks like this.  If you are interested in trying this, use Allie's tutorial as it is much more detailed than mine.

For years I have used just a little travel steam iron for all my CQ work  etc., but it doesn't steam that well anymore so I went in search of a proper iron because I wanted to give these facings a really good pressing...

... Absolutely none to be found in the house but I found three in the barn... They probably qualify as genuine antiques.

I am treating myself to some uninterrupted painting time this week and first on the list are finishing some very special cats for a couple very special ladies.  Yesterday was eye injections and painting time is my reward making it through another session.  Except for twice when the eye was not completely numb, the injections themselves are not the problem... It is the antiseptic betadine.  I am among a small percentage of patients with an adverse reaction to it.  My eyes literally burn with pain for 12-16 hours after application and my whole face swells and itches horribly.  And it seems it is necessary to prevent infection with the shots..



 

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Anniversary Project Progress

To recap just a bit on how I got this far... I did this on the linen center part of an old tablecloth with this lovely hand crocheted edging.  But when I laid it on a backing my "Inner Allie" said the needle work absolutely needed to be integrated with the backing... I bought this blue fabric for the backing and I love the moire taffeta but HATED the color.  It was a country blue and just dead against the piece.  I put it away for almost a year and finally resigned myself to the fabric and then at the retreat I saw Cathy Kizarian walking around with another color of moire taffeta and it was soooooooooooooo perfect...big hug again to Cathy for trading her color for mine.

Now to integrate the piece and the backing I decided to use the elements from this motif...









And that is just what I did in the mornings at Seaside, Oregon...by the window watching the tide come in and go out. This is what it is going to look like with the indentations filled.

Now my "Inner Allie" just kept pushing me along... and of course she a simple binding will just never do... so I gathered some more trims to use along the bound edge...  I must admit that my quilts have improved immensely with her as my inspiration and inner voice.

 

Now a little history on that roll of trim... In 2002 we were in New Zealand and someone told me about a sari fabric store in Auckland that had good prices on trims.  I bought quite a lot of lovely trims, all of which I used years ago.  But I never could find the right spot for this and I had a whole roll because it was a close-out price and I was beginning to think I was going to have to be buried with it ...and as you can see it is perfect here.... only had to wait fourteen years...

 

This sampler I did the year we were married was the inspiration for this project.  My original plan had been to add this phrase and our names and the year of our marriage with tiny petit point cross stitch to the piece... With my vision problems that is now an impossibility so I had to come up with another plan.

I am going to transfer the original text from the sampler to fabric and applique it.  Haven't figured out the details but I'll make it work somehow.

Recap of Anniversary Hanky CQ

 

The inspiration for this project was a piece of cross stitch I did for our first anniversary.   If you look closely at the bottom you can see it says... Ron and Gerry Krueger . 1976.  It has had a prominent place in our living room for the last 40 years...

I wanted to do something special for the 40th anniversary coming up this year..











I had been collecting hankies for years and had all these lovely hankies.. and with all the hearts and roses it seemed like a match made in heaven.

 

Now what to use for a foundation?  I had an vintage tea table cover of lace and linen.. The linen had several holes and was stained spots.  I had just waiting for the perfect project...  The linen center is about 20" square so it is a substantial piece.  It not a piece I can carry about to work on.

 

So I began  by doing the main focal point  of a floral heart and bluebirds.

Once I got it done the rest just seems to follow...I surrounded the focal piece with laces and began the secondary bluebird images. Except for replacing one hanky that didn't work, there were really no big problems or decisions...  It all just flow from my heart.  I never worked on it that I didn't think of our marriage and all the memories.

 
 
And where am I now... well except for a few bits and bobs the center piece is finished.  After a long an extensive search I finally found a piece of moire' taffeta the perfect color to mount it on.  In the indentation where you see the arrow will be embroidery.

 

 The embroidery is elaborate and dense and will be in harmony with the floral part of the main focal point. After spending about 18 months on it, I don't want to hurry it now but hope to have it done by our anniversary in November.

 

So can you find the bluebirds and their nest on the whole piece? ...it gives you a sense of the  scale and

of the size of the piece

 

 

The bluebirds have landed and the popcorn ritual...

All the bluebirds are stitched on the anniversary quilt. Once I finish the foliage I can start on the embellishment in earnest.  I have a large collection of my most special treasures saved for this piece.

I have the dubious talent of turning a simple project into something complex and time consuming.  I had planned for just two birds and now I have 8. Now I want the foliage by the birds similar to  the foliage in the focal point which will mean about 400 French knots.

But for a couple days it is going to get a good stretch and rest on this foam thing I found in the barn..

It is something left from days we had a booth and it folds.. It opens quite large which is great as this piece is too large for my bulletin boards.  Sorry about the lighting.

Our dogs love popcorn and my husband has preparing it down to a fine art and he shares with the dogs.  They eagerly watch while he is popping it and the minute he sets 2 paper towels on the floor, they position themselves and wait... They each get a few kernels in turn until it is all gone.  They wait patiently for their turn and stayed glued to their spot...

Back to anniversary/hanky piece

Now that the suffrage piece is finally done I can start thinking about what is next in line.... First up is back to the hanky quilt which is really my anniversary piece.

I have all the additional stumpwork bluebirds done and ready to cut out and applique onto the doily areas... I worked on them while sitting with mother...

 

In case you had forgotten, I posted a sampler I did in 1976 to commemorate our marriage.  Since we are coming up on our 40th anniversary (40 wonderful years I must add) I wanted to do a special piece of needlework that incorporated both CQ and bluebirds... plus lots of hearts and flowers...  Hopefully I'm starting soon enough to take my time to add all the special detail I want and also to get it done in time.