Finished my version of an Amish nine-bar quilt top. The violet doesn’t quite show up well in the photo. I did this quilt in order to practice my running stitches. The plan is to quilt each of the three colored bars with different patterns. I’m thinking vines, chains and crosshatch and a double chain around the border. It will measure ~ 46 x 46 inches when the binding (true red) is added.

Very nice! I hope you'll be able to get pictures of the quilting!

It is beautiful Steve... I have never seen one before and I really like it...

I love the visual impact of the Amish quilts. What color thread will you be using to quilt? Hand or machine?

Hand stitching is what I like to do when quilting, though am unsure about traditional thread color. I've been reading an Amish Quilt book, but information on thread seems strangely missing from the topics. From the pictures of similar quilts it looks like the thread matches the background, but then again the pictures are quite small compared to actual size and it's hard to tell. I think I'd better research it a bit on the net first, unless one of our quilters here knows?

I pieced the back tonight and got it all set for basting and marking in the morning before work.

Oh, and thanks for the kind words. I know it's a simple piece, but that's the idea.

Beautiful! I love Amish quilts. You're going to have fun with the quilting. I can't wait to see it finished.

Steve,
I've never seen one before - I really like it. Can't wait to see it quilted. :thumbup:

I like it. sometimes, simplicity is more dramatic than a more complex pattern. You did a good job. :thumbup:

I’ve decided against the pieced back that I did last night since it has a small pattern. Since the Amish traditionally don’t use patterned fabric, and I’m shooting for something close, I set the back aside for the next one. Though the local store doesn’t usually offer much selection they fortunately they just got several bolts of solid quilt backing fabric in, and there was a red that fit perfectly. Cool beans.

Thanks for the information on the thread Loretta. I think I’ve colors enough to do it, though I might have to dig for the lavender.

Steve, WOW!!! What a great quilt. Can't wait to see it finished. :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: :D Pam

Have finally figured a quilting pattern for the cables (under run of the string to each segment), but ended up with another question: do I quilt each bar from the center out, or radiate out from the center? I would think at first that radiating outward would make more sense, but then the pattern markings are likely to rub off from the constant move of the hand frame. Using the hand frame I can keep it tight and flat, and if I work out on the bars it should eventually hit the frame without distortion of the back, right? Any thoughts folks?

I seem to remember that the older Amish quilts I've seen are quilted in black thread.

What ever color thread you decide to use it should be fun to quilt. The quilting makes a simple quilt like yours come alive!

Are you going to draft your own patterns?

I never use a frame, but baste everything securely, then quilt in my lap. That said I think I would quilt each bar from the center out. There would be fewer interruptions in your quilting that way.

Am using both, stencils I've picked up since starting last summer and cross hatch (nothing much really to draft on that). I've double small cables for the green, cross-hatched on the red and then vines for the violet. The border gets a large double cable but I'm going to double each line on those. Also am outlining each bar. I've read that the Amish try to quilt every square inch, so that's the goal. My stitching is already improving which was why I wanted to do this quilt to begin with. Cool!

I've decided that the each bar method is the most plausable solution too. I am however making sure the back is flat every time I move the hoop. Am about halfway through the center bar already. :D

Beautiful quilt! This past summer, we cruised through Amish country and stopped at a number of quilt stores. They have some gorgeous quilts. Of course I had to bring home several pieces of their work. Since then I too have been in the mood for making Amish like quilts.

Hope to see more of your work. :)

Thanks, I appreciate the kind words. The only thing I regret not doing on this one was putting on a double border and cornerstones. The nice part is I get to do that on the next one should I get half a mind and remember. HA!

I'm thinking of giving it to dad when I go back to Oklahoma this summer. He is so hard to please as far as presents go. I’ll just put it on his easy chair and when he asks, "What's this?" in a gruff manner like he inevitably will, just say "Something to keep you warm while you work crosswords next winter." Sounds like a plan huh?

The cables aren't near as hard as I was thinking. Once I figured how to travel with the needle (thanks to the hints on the ‘questions, questions’ thread) the quilting just started sailing right along. You folks are a great source if information and a wealth of inspiration. Thanks again!

Steve - I'd love to be a fly in the corner watching your Dad find his gift!

The quilting is coming along fine though marking the crosshatch gave me fits at first. One inch marks are were way too small to fit this piece.

Steve, I've studied over and over and I can't figure out what your new avatar is. Your brain on drugs? LOL

Ho Kathy, it's the nephew in dragon outfit going down a kiddy tunnel at the park. Artsy yeah, but the tennis shoes make it. I'll try to dig up the bigger picture for you of the 2-year-old dragon AKA Quentin Elliot.

Oh btw my brain doesn't the need stuff, life is interesting enough as is (see quilting and Quentin). :wink:

Dragon Quentin for you...

What a cutie! He looks like a lot of fun to be with. And.....I also like your quilt. I love the simple lines. I think your dad would love to cover up and do crosswords with it. What part of OK is he in. We lived in OKC for a couple of years when our son was little. My husband's family came from the Haskel area. They moved to Haskel from Arkansas in a covered wagon in 1918, then on to Texas in the 30's. His grandmother had lots of interesting stories about dust bowl days and the depression.

Steve - your quilt is awesome! Your avitar - now makes total sense and the "gremlin" is darling! I like your "how to surprise Dad idea". Good Luck!

Well, I’ve finished the center green and one of the cross-hatch red bars, and I thought the cross-hatch to be easier than the cable (or leaves) that were in the middle, yeah right. What I found to be the stickler is not so much the quilting as the marking. All the red bars will be crosshatched the same and trying to line them to match up is a bugger. I’m only marking each bar as I get to it so that the soapstone marks won’t fade as I manhandle it in the frame (hand held). I want them to be as close as possible and thought they’d mark the same, but slight variations from the stitching is getting me only so (sew) close.

I guess crosshatch was easier on block pieces because the blocks will guide the stitching. It’s coming along but this has been another hard fought lesson in perseverance. In the end I simply let the 45-degree triangle assist down a centerline and spot-checked them like a T-square over the one that was complete. Looks pretty good but the moment of truth will come when I finish it.

Lots of learning going on, well at least that's the story I'm sticking with! Live and learn, and learn, and learn, etc...

Steve, we must have all been wondering about your avatar because I kept thinking it looked like something from ghost busters or something.
So what part of OK are you from? I grew up in OKC but moved away back in the mid 70s. My family still lives there, all around the state in fact.
I really like your quilt.
Jo

Was born in Claremore. Yeah folks, for those who liked the musical it was the “big” city with the train station outside of Skidmore (I never knew if that town ever really existed). Only spent a few years there total between the moving around as a kid but the folks settled there, thus I call it home. Yes indeed, home is where the heart is.

Anyway thanks, the quilting is coming on fine. I think I'm developing a new callus on my thimble finger, which is just dandy, since I was doing this piece to develop my quilting stitch. I can see now why the Amish quilts are so prized, since it's a heck of a lot of stitching.

I know for some of you this exercise in quilting might be like beating a dead horse since machines are so popular, for me though I’ve a lifetime of non sewing to catch up on so it works. Silly yes, but that ‘is’ my middle name.

Steve,
I really like hand quilting, both the doing & the finished piece. I am never completely satisfied with the things I machine quilt but then I don't have a long arm quilter. Maybe the long arm would change my mind, hard to say.
Jo

Steve,

While machine quilting may be faster and for some the only way to get a quilt completed, hand quilting is by far the prettiest!

Beautiful quilt, Can't wait to see the quilting.

Have the center three bars done and with each completion, even with my clumsy quilting, it's taken my breath away. My dad is going to have one heck of a nice quilt if I can keep it up.

I'm marking the vines and starting the quilting on the lavender tomorrow. It's taking about 4 hours per bar, which considering my inexperience I think is pretty good. Trying to keep the stitches even, but every so often I still get a long run, and usually butted up against a seam. Kind of hard to start a run when you have a lot of material to make the first stitch in.

I’m finding my preference in needle size getting smaller the more I do; can’t load as many stitches, but I’ve better control.