Henry Knox, David Taylor, and Happy Friends

Last night there was a meeting of the Quilters' Connection Guild in Watertown, MA. As we walked toward the entrance, we passed this stone marking the journey of Henry Knox and his men. I was stopped in my tracks as I had never noticed this stone before. On the 17th of March we celebrate St. Patrick's Day and also the Evacuation of Boston. In case you don't know Knox's amazing story, let me briefly explain. In May of 1775, Ethan Allen and his Green Mountain Boys captured Fort Ticonderoga in NY. The British surrendered the fort and fled to Canada. Meanwhile, Boston was under the control of the British army.  George Washington, the commander of the Continental Army, along with his troops occupied high ground in Cambridge. Things did not look good; in fact, things were dire.

Then twenty-five year old Henry Knox had an idea. On December 1, 1775, he and a large contingent of Continental soldiers headed to Fort Ticonderoga, a distance of 300 miles.  Once they reached the fort, they dismantled the captured cannons and other heavy equipment, a total of 59 pieces of heavy artillery, and loaded them onto forty heavy sleds which weighed 5400 pounds each. I won't go into many details but they faced terrible problems with the weather. . . snows so deep that the oxen at times could not move the sleds forward and rivers often not frozen solid enough to bear the weight of the artillery, sleds, and oxen. After nearly two harrowing months, the men and artillery made it back to Cambridge.

On March 4th, Washington's gun batteries in Cambridge distracted the British while several thousands soldiers maneuvered into position the canons and other artillery up to Dorchester Heights. They also painted logs to look like there were more canons than there actually were. When British General Howe looked up at Dorchester Heights the next morning, it is said that he remarked, "The rebels did more in one night than my whole army would have done in one month." On March 17, 1776, British troops began the evacuation of Boston. If interested, you may read more about General Henry Knox here or here. And so ends today's history lesson. :-)

Okay, back to last night's guild meeting. David Taylor a master of applique quilting was the speaker.  Go to the Gallery page of his website to view some of his amazing pieces. I was fortunate enough to have taken a two-day class with this wonderful teacher back in 2016. This is my applique piece from that class.

David admonished us not to save our special fabric or more precisely, he said, "Listen, sisters, cut up and use your good fabric. If you die, the members of your guild will end up with it!!!" :-)

The folks from Bits & Pieces Quilt Shop in Pelham, NH, also vended at the meeting. I did my part to help the economy.

Finally, if you have read this far, I offer a lighter note. I've been trying to go through and get rid of a few things. No, not in the Marie Kondo way; that definitely would not bring me joy. Anyway, I came across this vintage hair clipper in a drawer in the cellar. I was about to discard it when I read what it said.

 

HAND CLIPPERS

MAKE HAPPY FRIENDS

EVERYWHERE

Make friends, not just any friends, but "Happy Friends." We all need happy friends, so you guessed it, I'm keeping it! :-)   Hair trim, anyone?????????????????

Hummingbird Quilt - Hand Applique

 

Tonight I finished the hand applique hummingbird quilt which I began in a class with David Taylor last August in New Hampshire. 

 

David provided his pattern, the background fabric and the fabric for the hummingbird. The hummingbird appeared to be so intent on something that I decided to add a flower to the lower right corner and also used a green wood fabric to create a frame for the piece.

 

I mentioned in the last post that I had used a hera marker to create the crosshatch pattern. When it came to quilting the frame, I used a quilting bar. I made my first quilt in 2003, but this was the very first time that I had ever used it. So simple . . .  who knew????

Humming Along Nicely

 

In my ongoing attempt to finish things, I have been working on this hand applique piece that I began in a David Taylor class last August. You can read about that experience here.  I finished the hummingbird quickly, but the piece had taken up residence on my spare bed along with a number of other UFOs. (For non quilters, UFOs are unfinished objects ;-). I just didn't know how I would quilt the background as my free motion quilting skills are rudimentary at best, and I didn't want to take a chance of ruining the piece. Knowing that it would just stay there indefinitely, I decide to do a simple crosshatch pattern for the background. The internet was full of tips and various methods for crosshatch quilting. You could use the bar which came with your machine, blue one inch painter's tape and stitch along the edge, or do as I did and use a hera marker.

 

Because my blog also acts as a journal for me, I'll explain what I did and learned in the process in hopes that it may help others and perhaps refresh my memory the next time that I do cross hatching. First, I layered and pin basted my top, batting, and backing. Next, I placed a yardstick diagonally for my first line which I creased with the hera tool pictured above and then proceeded to stitch it using a 3.0 stitch length.  I made another line one inch on each side of the first line. I had read that it is a good idea to alternate the direction of your stitching. . . the first line went from the top left to the bottom right, the second two lines on either side of it went from the bottom right to the top left, the third lines from the top left to the bottom right, etc.  That is done to help keep things straight and flat; I hope my explanation of the process makes sense. After I finished all the seams in one direction, I started on the opposite direction. As you can see in the photo above, I only had a few more lines to quilt when it occurred to me to take these reference photos. The finished piece will be 25x23 inches.

So, now the middle of the piece is completed and I only need to quilt the borders, add a hanging sleeve, and finish the binding. By the way, how do you like the eye of the hummingbird? In photography, we always try to have a 'catch light' in the eye to give the subject life. I could have created it with a dab of white paint, but I found the perfect little piece of fabric to create the desired  effect.

Another "Quilty" Getaway

I headed up north to the Center Harbor area last Thursday. Why was I on the road again so soon after my Maine getaway ? I was attending an all-day quilt workshop on Friday with the very talented David Taylor. I have long admired his amazing work and was fortunate enough to be in attendance at the Houston Quilt Festival last year to see in person his "Beneath My Wing" which won first place in its category. If you are not familiar with his work, take a moment to visit his website and view his gallery of prize-winning quilts.

My friend Laurel also attended the workshop, and we both had a wonderful time.  David Taylor was a fun, excellent teacher who shared his process for making his hand applique quilts. 

The workshop was sponsored by Keepsake Quilting, one of the largest quilt shops in New England. This weekend was their second annual QuiltFest.  On Saturday morning, a sales representative from Wilmington Fabric presented an outdoor trunk show of quilts featuring the company's various fabric lines.

It was interesting to see how the choice of fabrics could completely change the appearance of a particular pattern. All three quilts above were made from the same pattern. Here are a few of the other quilts. 

Speaking of patterns, if you click on Wilmington Fabrics and look under the "Projects" tab, you will find many free patterns including some for the above quilts.

There were other quilts made by customers displayed along the porch along with sale fabric and kits. Let's just say I scooped up a healthy supply of bargains. :-)

To add to the festive atmosphere, the King Arthur Flour truck was also in the parking lot. I loved the giant rolling pin on the front bumper and the spatula and mixing bowl on the roof. . . very cool! The truck travels across the country attending fairs and other events. They were offering warm, delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Donations received would then later be donated to a local charity. To find the recipe for these positively yummy cookies, click here.