Clam Shell Quilt Update

Hand quilting has been the order of the day/week/month around here.

As you can see I'm getting closer to being finished.  I have made MORE progress since this photo was taken.....

YIPPEE!!!

Overwhelmed

Stale..........dull...........stagnate.........tired........uneventful...........no enthusiasm..........in a rut..........something needs to change.

These words describe some of what I have been feeling lately. I love my quilts and quilty projects (which are many), but I seem to be getting tired of it. I have always been a creative person with many many other interests.

I used to paint pictures, I used to do mosaics (I have a little house full of dishes....yes really!), I used to travel around and junk hunt (yes, it is the thrill of the hunt), I used to re-do antique pieces and work on getting my 100 yr old house finished. Soooo many things in my house have gone neglected.

I've become lazy in my housework (quilting was MUCH more important!) and I have piles of boxes and items I am struggling to go through and figure out what to do with.

In less than a year I have cleaned out 2 whole estates in 2 different towns. One of these being Mr. Brown Dirt's dad's house. Both houses got sold before we even listed them or even had them cleaned out, so we had to fast and furiously get them cleaned out.

I am pooped and now get up every morning looking at the STUFF piled and stuffed all over my house, including stacks under my carport (can get my pickup only half way under it).

...........sigh.........what to do with it all.........

All this being said, I think I will get by beee hind up and out of my quilting chair and do something else for a change..........in fact, I've already started. I needed the change. I must go outside, leave the quilting cave and be adventurous again.

Maybe I will share some of my new creative endeavors.........maybe something soon.

In the mean time, below are a couple of photos showing the progress with the hand quilting I'm

doing on my Clamshell quilt.

It's already looking soft and all crinkly without even being washed yet. Maybe the new batting I am trying out.

See finished clamshell top HERE.

CLAMSHELL QUILT TUTORIAL HERE.

Hand Quilting Clamshells

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to ALL my quilty friends!!! Today is a day I will be quietly quilting on my clamshell quilt while MR. BROWN DIRT waits on me HAND and FOOT!!!!......HA! Do you think you can believe that????

CLAMSHELL QUILT TUTORIAL HERE.

CLAMSHELL UPDATE

OH MY GOODNESS........LOOK...LOOK...it's finally becoming a REAL quilt top and not just a bunch of weird looking shapes that had me scratching my head more than once as I experimented and worked my way through to this point. So far the larger piece shown above is 65 " x 37" with 3 more '2-row' sections ready to sew on. YEAH!
For my Clamshell Club update I thought I would share some more tips and processes I used. Kind of a part 2 to my TUTORIAL I posted about here.

I took Gina's tip and made a large template/grid to pin to my ironing board. I drew a line across the bottom of the paper and then traced my clamshell pattern, tracing them on in the manner they would be sewn. NOTE: the clamshell pattern I used to trace here was the one minus the seam allowance on the rounded top edge. Thanks Gina, I really think this helped me!!

I folded my clamshell pieces in half and finger pressed a crease down the middle. No worry, by the time you 'man handle' and sew all your pieces together this crease will disappear.

Using the creases to help line up top and bottoms for a good vertical straightness. Pin pieces into place...pushing pins down into your ironing board to hold down your lined up clamshells. I like these big balled pins, they really help hold everything together good....especially if you push them all the way down. You will have to push them down at an angle, but be sure not to distort you lined up pieces.

When you have your ironing board template/grid full, pin your clamshells together using your tiny sequin pins.

After pinning...be sure to flip over and always check the backside. You need to be sure all your seam allowances line up and look good. You don't want to be ripping out and having "do-overs" later....trust me...I am speaking from experience!!!!!!!!

I only pinned and worked with 2 row sections.......see first photo again.

When I was ready to sew my "2-row" sections to the rest of my ever growing top I just laid out the larger section onto the ironing board template/grid.

Lining up the bottom of each clamshell like I've shown here.

Using the faint crease lines to keep the clamshells vertically straight.

Using the same process used for the '2-row' sections. Only this time you can't see the top of the template/grid.

So this is what I did...stick a pin in the top of the clamshell. Holding the pin down into the fabric.

Flip over and line pin up with the marked lines.

Just add your '2-row' section.....still using those crease lines as your guide for lining everything straight. By doing the process in '2-row' sections I'm not having to man handle or carry around the whole quilt top as I work on it. I know some will think this seems like a lot of trouble but I have tried all types of ways to keep the clamshells straight and this turned out to be the best way for me. I usually pin a bunch together and have several sections ready at a time. I must say...I don't like the standing at the ironing board part but this process works pretty fast for me.

I hope I have explained this clearly. Please feel free to leave any questions in my comment section and I will get back with you through email.

I've MISSED EVERYBODY......I know I have been missing in action lately. Lots going on, but I'm hoping things will settle down soon and I can get back to normal.

Clamshell Tutorial

Back in March I started a Clamshell quilt. See here and here. I Googled one day to see what was out there about the Clamshell - NOT MUCH.....but, I did come across Jossie's blog and discovered she was forming a CLAMSHELL CLUB.....YES, I joined!!! The last day of each month we post our progress. Today is the first post and I decided to give the tutorial everyone asked about in March when I first posted about it........SO......here goes! The above photo shows to pick your pattern. My Clamshell pattern measures 5 inches across it's very widest and is 6 inches long. If you clicked on the 2 here's above, you will find the history on where and when I got my pattern from.

I made 2 patterns pieces just alike.....trimming the top seam allowance off of one. I use self laminating pages to help stabilize my pattern pieces.

Using one of your patterns with all the seam allowances, trace onto your fabric, making sure you line up the grain of your fabric with the arrows on your pattern....very important!
I use what they call a mechanical pencil...the kind you add your own lead to...for tracing my patterns. These pencils make very sharp thin lines. I also use a quilters Sandpaper Board to lay my fabric down for tracing. These are soooo great, your fabric stays put and doesn't pull or bunch up while you are trying to trace.

Cut out using a small rotary cutter. The blade on this cutter of mine measures 1'' across.

Now.....take your pattern that is minus the top seam allowance and line up the bottom edges.

I simply used my left hand to hold down.........

then I used my right hand index finger/fingernail to fold down the top edges to form a nice crease all along the rounded tops edge. You could also use a hard object like this small ruler to form you crease, but I found my fingers worked better and it was a lot faster.

I usually started at the top/middle and worked my way all the way down.

See the nice crease I made all along the top! You could then use a washable glue to tack it down......be careful......too much glue will make your fabric sooooo hard and stiff you won't be able to get a needle through it. There are some nice glue pens out there, but I am just using what I have on hand.

Or your could hand baste it down like I've shown.

I take one Clamshell and lightly fold in half at the top and bottom and line it up vertically using my creases as a guide to help line it up using the graph lines on my June Taylor mini ironing pad.....remember, at this point I am working from the backside. Take 2 other Clamshells and place as I've shown.

Using the graphed lines and 'eye-balling' the 2 pieces, you can line them up fairly straight. I am not overly concerned with having pristine straight rows......after all, who is going to 'whoop' out a straight edge to see if you are all lined up.

I am still 'mulling' over some other ideas to improve this step. I'll let you know if I work out something better.

I then use small tiny sequin pins to attach my 3 pieces. I guess you could use glue here too....I've not tried!

UPDATE: I ended up using dots of glue to piece the clam shells together instead of using the pinning method. You must be careful not to use too much glue or get the glue too close to the edges for it will make the fabric hard and you will not be able to get a needle into it. I liked the glue method. It made the pieces stay together a lot better and there was no slipping around with your placement.

If you do get too much glue and it turns hard, I filled my washing machine with cold water and put my top in and just let it have a good soak to remove the glue. NO washing, just soak and then let your machine drain and spin at the end of the wash cycle. I then took it outside and laid it flat out on the grass in the sun and let it dry naturally. When it was dry I lightly pressed it to make it smooth so I could sandwich it with my batting and the back.

Here is the side you will be hand stitching the pieces together. I simply try to match my applique threads with the printed Clamshell fabric and use a basic applique stitch. I start at the right hand side there and stitch down to the bottom middle and then back up again to the left hand side stitching the 2 muslin pieces to my vintage printed piece.

Here is a view of how your back side will look after you've stitched them together.

I usually work in groups of 3's and 5 Clamshells. I find it is more 'portable' this way and can be good handwork when I travel. My design wall here shows you the different size groups I work with. When I have a more extended period of time to work on them I sew all the groups together to start forming my rows. So far, this has proved to be a very fast and easy system for me.

I hope this is clear and simple enough to follow. Please feel free to email with any questions you might have. OK.....I'm off to work on 'a few' before the day is over. Run over to Jossie's and check her sidebar and click on some of the gals who are also creating this little Clamshell project. HAPPY CLAMMING YA'LL!!!!

Projects A Plenty With Clamshells Too

It has been very busy and a lot of projects going on around here at Brown Dirt Cottage. One project is this baby quilt in progress. I am short one block but my brain got tired so I started on the zig zag border. This is my first zig zag border, but I am wondering if I would have liked the black and whites reversed...???? Love Gwen's version.

I have a deadline on this project and I have a lot more done on it since I took this photo. This quilt will be auctioned off at my 35th H.S. class reunion on June 12. I was kind of volunteered to make a quilt for the auction to raise monies for our next reunion. I must say I had a hard time deciding on what type of quilt to do, but I finally decided to make it an original, one of a kind 'folksy' fun lap size......maybe someone will like it....?????

I have made quite a lot of headway on my clamshell too. This is going together a whole lot faster than I ever imagined. I think if it had been the only project I had been working on it would have been finished already.

I received a GREAT package from Sharon over at Indigo Threads. She told me she had started a clamshell way back and it was still a work in progress and she wondered if I would like some of her 50's and 60's vintage fabrics to add to my clamshell. Well...HECK YE-OW!! Aren't these just FAB!!! Thank you soooooo much Sharon!!! I love each and everyone and have already included them in the quilt.

Some close ups..........love these.....

Oh my..........yum...yum....

Wow............wow.......

......... Love the plaid............

I have also been thumbing through and enjoying some of my new books. What great inspiration!

I did manage to get a trip to the library in. I would KILL to own these 2 Texas books!!! I have checked these out numerous times. Some great inspiration as well!!!

Ok......so these are all the 'inside' projects I have going on. There will be some major exterior work done on the ole homestead. Would you like to see some 'before' and 'after' photos??? After I meet all my 'quilty' deadlines and serve on jury duty...uuugh.....I need to start some 're-do' on the inside too.....after all, it has been around 14 yrs. since anything has been painted. I am most definitely tired of Mr. Brown Dirt's mustard colored office (yes, that's the color he wanted).

I'm off to clean my kitchen window......now that's a project that has been way over due!!!

Oh.....and Goober says to say 'HEY'........

CLAMSHELLS

I have been cutting out these little Clamshell pieces like crazy. I determined to try and use only my older vintage fabrics I have had stashed here and there. I also decided to make my pieces larger than the pattern......WOW WEE.....I would have had to cut out a bazillion cazillion of these suckers by 'their' instructions!!

I have been wanting to make this quilt for a l-o-n-g...l-o-n-g time. This photo is from a book of mine called America's Heritage Quilts by Better Homes and Gardens...copyright shows 1991. This particular quilt shown is dated back to 1936. Clamshell quilts were said to become popular in the East but then became a favorite through out the rest of the country.

Here is one of my favorite vintage pieces....see, it's waffle fabric. The blue flowers are j-u-s-t right!!

Now.....all I have to do is finish cutting out the vintage pieces and then get on to cutting out the muslin/neutral pieces to fill in between the rows........AND THEN.....get to hand sewing all of these together............sigh...........I know this will be a long term project....it will be worth it though................won't it???