Jennifer Haston Quilts

Quilt Top

Feels like fall is officially here. Although the sun was out, it was a bit chilly. It was the perfect day to sew. I finished this quilt top. It’s made up of approximately 1” strips of my scrap quilting fabrics. It will fit over a queen size bed, but won’t hang over the sides very much, maybe about 6″ inches. This seems to be the size I’m most comfortable making. Compared to my last quilt top, it came together pretty quick. I need to pick out a back fabric, and commit to a quilting design. I think it will be vertical, irregular rows following the stripes. I also see maybe a vertical loop-to-loop pattern. I’m interested in pursuing some of the floral traditional quilt stitching patterns. I haven’t tried any of those yet. As much as I want to try something traditional, I don’t think that would work for this quilt. I’m already thinking about my next quilt, and how I can incorporate a tradition floral quilt stitch into a more modern quilt top.

Pretty Much Done

It's good enough for now. — It’s good enough for now.

I have one more of my mom’s paintings to hang. The metal cabinets are too heavy to hang on the wall. I need to find something else to put them on. That might take a few weekends of antique/thrift shopping to find the perfect thing. For now, a broken chair will work. I think it’s time to get back to sewing in my improved sewing corner.

Sew Corner

My sewing corner is feeling more like a special place. I had a quilt top that belonged to my husband’s granny on the wall. It was covering up a wall that needed to be painted. It never really looked that great. As time passed it started to look worse than the wall. I painted the wall in a flat white, and the table and chair in a gloss white. My husband and I had an idea to hang antique medicine cabinets in the bathroom. We found our first one. When we got it home it didn’t work at all in the bathroom. I finally hung it in my sewing space. I use it as a thread box, and I love it. I hung up some of my mother’s paintings around it. Now I have to fix the area you can’t see in the photo. I don’t think it will take to much time to finish it all up.

What a Mess

beforeafter — The table before and after I painted it.

My husband and I are both lucky enough to have large studio work spaces, but I prefer to sew in a small corner of our house. It makes me feel cozy. The other day I thought it might be nice to post about my project that I am working on with a picture of my workspace. When I looked at the photo I realized how bad my corner of the house looked. It was time for a sewing space makeover. It’s going to take me more than one weekend to get things looking pretty, but happy with my start. I made the table I sew on when I was in college. I liked working in the wood shop in my free time. I never put a finish on the table because I could never decided on a stain. A little paint can make a big difference. I need another weekend or two to finish getting it to how I want it to be, but feeling better about it already. More photos to come.

Working On A New One

A forth of the way finished.

I finished Jolene, and she is for sale.

When I first decided that I would try to sell Jolene, I thought maybe $500.00. As I continued to hand appliquéd the price went up. I feel $700.00 is a good price for this lovely lady. She is a real heirloom. Jolene has lots of love sewn into her many colors. She fits over the top of a queen size bed, but not hanging over the sides. Her dimensions are 64″ x 80″. I sew with only 100% cotton fabrics, and 100% natural cotton batting. She is for sale now, but I would like to enter her into the Tennessee State Fair. I can’t think of a more appropriate place to show her off.

Quilted

I was petrified to quilt over her face. I keep go back to look at her. I think it works, but I have to keep checking to make sure. I have one more trip to the fabric store to get the fabric for the binding.

Trying to get back to it.

It’s been a busy summer. I’m currently reconnecting with my sewing machine. I’m finally pinning together my Dolly quilt. I’m making myself a new bag. Plans for a machine pieced quilt are in the works. Should have something worth photographing soon. In the meantime, I’m trying to keep myself from getting distracted by my new kitten.

Quilting While Away

I belong to the Music City Modern Quilt Guild. A few meetings back we had a how to sew hexagons workshop. We were all making a preplanned project. As usual, I had my own ideas. After finishing the Jolene quilt top, I wanted to take a break from handwork. I’m away from my sewing machine for a couple of weeks. I had to leave Jolene at home. I needed a project to work on during my downtimes while I’m away. I’m back to handwork. I’m working on my hexagons. I’m going to use them as a border. The center panel will be another appliqué. One of the fabrics I am using for the hexagons has a print that includes a man and a woman hiking. I want to use them as part of the center design. I want this to be a camping quilt. I was just visiting a friend who had a cute little camper. I think I will include that camper in the narrative.

Quiltin’ Time

I have finally finished my Jolene quilt top. It’s ready to be quilted. I’m a little nervous about how I’m going to quilt it. Sometimes making things can be scary. I think I’m going to do a simple diagonal grid. Hopefully I can finish it in time to enter it into the Tennessee State Fair.