quilt

Honoring the past with cutter quilt #3

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Projects honoring the third Calvert family cutter quilt is the subject of today’s blog post. This quilt is probably my favorite. It reminds me of the curvy stitching on multiple baseballs. Go Houston Astros!

The hand pieced quilt is 73″ by 59″ with a vintage white backing. The narrow borders are red, white, and blue. I have so much respect for the maker of this quilt. So many fabric pieces and precision piecing. Just look at all those curves. I know experienced quilters that stay away from patterns with curves. And yes, I am the one at the keyboard raising my hand! The quilt is in relatively good shape with a few holes. It was hand quilted with several different colors. Close your eyes and imagine several ladies sitting around a quilt frame many decades ago contributing their “signature” quilting thread color.

With so many quilting projects gathering dust in my head that have nothing to do with cutter quilts, I decided to tackle just two projects. The first, a handful of mini-quilts with the printed psalms. I started with six-inch square pieces of the antique quilt. The off-white psalms were stitched onto one of the sides. On the reverse side, I stitched a heart … just because. Then I stitched the two sides together.

Next, I tackled more double-sided nine-inch tall crosses like the ones made with the second cutter quilt. I have shared the crosses with quilting friends and they really seem to connect to them. I only have a few left from the second cutter quilt. This morning I filled ten crosses with rice, stitched them across the top, and affixed the front of each cross with a inspirational charm. The front of each cross also has a heart stitched on it. Shout out to my friend Michele for gifting me a jumbo bag of rice for the crosses.

Finally, I have also become buddies with my pinking shears. Either my right hand is developing muscles, or I am just powering through the pain.

Next up … Stay tuned … I’m working on a new collage quilt pattern!

Honoring the past with cutter quilt #2

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If quilts could talk what would this Calvert family quilt from east Texas tell us? First, I am 84″ long by 68″ wide. My maker must have run out of fabric for the binding. The backing was used for the top and bottom with scrappy side bindings. My quilt pattern is a four-patch (I know not my name), placed on point, with triangles set in long vertical rows 6-1/2″ wide. I was hand pieced and quilted decades ago. I am also in better shape than most with my binding intact and a few holes throughout. Stains are also minimal. My fabric appears to be old shirts in red, navy, black, off-white, with a smattering of pink, which I quite like. It can be assumed of the 20 plus quilts that have traveled to Life’s Loose Threads’ abode, I am newer than most.

The following is how I honored this quilt – I made Christmas ornaments, heart-shaped pillows, Christmas stockings, and crosses (two-sided) stuffed with rice (most adorned with a heart). The last photo are mini-quilts (six inch squares are two-sided) with inspirational sayings. I found a panel on Shabby Fabrics that had a dozen psalms in white and off-white and sewed a pink heart on the back.

What I learned – Pinking shears are not kind to human hands. However, they make a lovely finished edge. After creating a few of the small heart-shaped Christmas ornaments, I switched to larger items like the crosses, heart-shaped pillows, and Christmas stockings. I also traced with a heart-shaped cookie cutter pink fabric from my stash and added one to some of the crosses and all the pillows. I found the pink hearts are also great for covering up a little worn spot on the cutter quilt pieces.

A quilty friend is inspirational to a project – A few months back, Janet texted me with an idea to make double-sided crosses stuffed with rice out of cutter quilts. She was thinking of a friend going through a tough time and thought it would be a nice gift. Janet created a template and asked if I was game. We had the best day creating a prototype cross. They are 9 inches tall, and because of the added weight of the rice, fit nicely in the palm of a hand. I’ll be making lots more of these.

2024 was all about the Journey!

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It’s kinda fun once a year to reflect on what’s been happening in the sewing room. In 2024, I attended a quilt retreat and was given a quilting journal (thank you Janet). It allowed me to keep track of the finished chaos that can sometimes be quilting/sewing projects. I don’t blog about all my projects, so the journal was a great reminder.

In 2024, I completed 8 quilts (one of them a Quilt of Valor), embellished two jean jackets (so much fun), created one new collage “cake” pdf pattern (which included two prototype quilts), honored a couple of “cutter” antique quilts, a block was created/submitted/and accepted for the 2024 Texas Agriculture Matters quilt for the Texas Department of Agriculture, made three burrito-style dinosaur pillow cases with French seams for the Michigan grands, made a Christmas pillow for a good friend, and four piped-edge pillows (piping on pillows is not easy; just saying) with canal house fabric purchased in Amsterdam last year. 2024 was all about the journey!

I remember purchasing this amazing fabric while visiting Amsterdam in 2023. I couldn’t tell you how much I purchased. They don’t sell fabric in yards (maybe meters?) in Europe. The fabric is tightly packed with adorable navy blue canal houses. After a year patiently waiting on the shelf, I got this idea to make pillows as Christmas presents for my family. I wanted to pipe the edges and had Erica at A Needle and Thread teach me. I’ve had Erica previously make a University of Alabama pillow with piped edges. But did I want to have her put together four pillows? It’s the old story of what do you want to do … give a man a fish … or teach a man to fish! I came prepared to her sewing lounge with yards of bias binding and cording and nearly had a entire pillow finished by the end of our teaching session. I could do this! Each completed pillow looked better than the previous one. I had learned to fish!

I had the most fun embellishing a couple of blue jeans jackets. At Houston’s 2024 International Quilt Festival, it clearly was one of the trends. I was stopped a couple of times at the festival by quilters asking to take a photo of my jacket. It was super easy (the zipper foot was my best friend) and I’m not finished adding to the Texas or Christmas jackets. Someone asked me if I was going to bedazzle it. Seriously, that kinda scares me!

One of my favorite 2024 quilts was “Elephants on Parade.” It is a Laundry Basket Quilt pattern and easy breezy to make with the elephant template. The last quilt I made from LBQ was similar in appearance but with multiple butterfly blocks. Sewing the elephant quilt, I perfected my button hole machine applique. I finished the last block while on a quilt retreat. While laying the blocks on the design wall, someone suggested I should make one of the elephants face the other way. I loved that idea!

My friend, Cynthia, came across a press release requesting quilt blocks for the Texas Department of Agriculture. Every two years, they request quilters make a 10-1/2 inch block for a themed quilt. A few pieces of fabric are supplied which must be included in the block. Creating a block about Texas agriculture was a challenge. I know nothing about the subject! Although they did not settle in Texas, my mother’s side of the family were dairy farmers. I decided to create a block honoring my heritage. Accompanying the finished block to the agriculture department, I wrote the following: “My mother and her family left Holland after WWII for the United States. My grandfather and uncles were dairy farmers and continued until retirement. In 2022, Texas was fourth in U.S. milk production. The Holstein cow is the top dairy breed. It produces 9 gallons of milk per day per cow. The churn dash red and white block is often associated with butter churning, a milk product.”

Big shout out to my friend, Sally, for making my quilt labels for over 10 years. She continues to wow me with her designs. Each quilt label is my favorite! And then there are the longarm ladies that continue to amaze: Lisa and Val. All these ladies make my quilts look so much nicer!

Honoring the Past

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Many months ago, my dear friend, Cynthia, told me about 20 antique quilts that were going to be donated to parts unknown, likely Goodwill, and did I want them. I am not a quilt historian, and will be the first to admit, I do not have any experience with very old quilts. So, of course, I said, YES!

After taking possession of the quilts, this is what I learned. No quilt had a label or information as to who made them, location, and the year they were made. The quilts were residing in Lufkin, Texas on family property owned by Pat and Gene Calvert. The property had for many years belonged to Gene’s side of the family. His aunts and uncles lived there for many years. I betcha nine dollars the aunts had a hand in creating the quilts. Several old homes were nestled together on the property and filled with quilts and antiques. 

The quilts probably date back to the 1930’s or 1940’s (my best guess). They were all hand pieced, quilted, and not in the greatest shape. The bindings were mostly shredded and there were many holes and random staining. Despite their condition, I felt there were areas that could be salvaged. After a little research, I learned about “cutter quilts,” a way that tired quilts can be repurposed. The first thing I did was have them all cleaned. My thought was to somehow honor these quilts. But I had to noodle on that for a while. I knew it was going to be emotionally difficult to take a pair of scissors and cut into the quilts.

It is my plan to work on a few quilts a year. The first quilt I tackled was a red 8-pointed star pattern with an orange and red burst. I don’t know the name of the quilt pattern. The quilt measured 63-1/2 inches wide and 69 inches long and hand quilted with navy thread. The backing is a blue and white plaid and might be cotton, but maybe not.      

I decided to start by making three Christmas stockings by fussy cutting the star and sewing a red binding/hanger at the top. Next, I used cookie cutters to trace and cut out two sizes of hearts for Christmas ornaments. One thing I noticed was how physically difficult it was to cut into the quilt with pinking shears. My thought was perhaps the batting was super dense, or maybe I need to invest in better pinking shears. As I was struggling with the cutting, I imagined this quilt had to be super cozy and warm during those East Texas winter nights. On the larger heart shapes, I sewed a cute ceramic button in the middle of each heart. The buttons have been gathering dust at my house for decades. It seemed right to finally use them. I sandwiched two hearts for each ornament and placed a ric rac loop between the two layers before sewing the layers together with red thread.

I have also fussy cut a stack of six-inch squares highlighting the eight-pointed stars. That project is still simmering on the back “inspiration” burner. I do have an idea! Future blog post alert!

Happy Birthday collage quilt hanging

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Hot off my sewing machine is another version of the “Eat Cake” collage quilt pattern. This time, instead of an inspirational quote on the cake layers, I opted for red icing drips of varying lengths down the layers. I also found several fabric prints with cakes, donuts, birthday candles, party hats, presents, and threw in random colorful novelties. Can you spot the signature Tula tuna can? I have been known to include one or two in a collage quilt just for fun!

In my earlier Instagram (@lifesloosethreads) post, I played around with a couple different backgrounds for the cake. I opted for the brightly-colored balloons from the Henry Glass & Co. fabric line entitled “This Calls for Cake.” The yellow cake layers are from Wilmington Essentials. The fabric’s texture kinda reminds me of a Moda Grunge.

At the last minute, before gluing the cake down to the background, I changed the cake stand bottom base to the blue fabric. The M&M fabric was not playing nicely with the balloon background. The completed quilt top was double-batted and custom quilted by Lisa Taylor at Kingwood Quilts. I love how it turned out. The wall hanging is 36″ wide by 50″ long! Add a quilt sleeve and it will be perfect as a backdrop at your next birthday celebration. The pdf pattern “Eat Cake” is available for purchase on my Etsy shop.

Two Chicks lost trying to find Two Chicks

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Today, April 30, 2024, is the final day of the very first All Texas Shop Hop. Over 100 Texas quilt shops participated which began on the first day of March. My sister and I participated this past weekend for just one day!

It was an interesting adventure that had some steep downs and lots of ups. It all started on Friday evening after checking into our country hotel. Gretchen and I were catching up in our room … Room 104. Suddenly, there was a little “eke” from my sister’s bed. And then … “there’s a bed bug on my bed.” After a frowny face at the front desk, we were offered another room and a large discount.

“We will check it out and let you know,” I sternly said.

It was far away from Room 104. It checked out fine and we reluctantly stayed. It was late and the thought of checking out and going to another location was not appealing. I mean, what if we encountered alligators in the bathtub? What would we do then?

The following morning we headed out to Two Chicks Quilting. We decided the back roads were our best route! The thing about back roads is there are lots of twists and turns. Unfortunately, we both have no sense of direction. When we wound up at the end of a long dirt road there was an entrance for someone’s ranch. Obviously, we knew something was amiss. The sign read “No Trespassers.” Yep, our maps program had let us down. These two chicks would not be going to Two Chicks. Maybe next year, we said, and turned around!

We did make it to four lovely quilt shops: Yorktown’s Seams Like Home, Shiner’s The Square Quilter, Hollydee Quilts in Luling, and Fiberworx Fabric Studio in McQueeney. At the shop in Yorktown, we noticed someone had dropped off Flat Colleen (kinda like a Flat Stanley). We offered to take her to our next quilt shop destination. Flat Colleen rode in the backseat and was a wonderful travel companion. We could tell from all the signatures on the back of Colleen, she had traveled to lots of quilt shops!

Road trips are so much fun! Road trips to quilt shops, even better, especially when there are sisters involved! We are going to do this again next year. This time we may even make it to Two Chicks Quilting.

Presenting Quilts of Valor

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This week I was honored to present my first Quilt of Valor quilt to a 95-year-old World War II veteran. While the ceremony was just beginning, I remember seeing my veteran sitting across the room in the audience. We made eye contact more than once. I wondered if he knew I made his quilt.

That night, there were four quilts presented to veterans at the VFW Post 4816 in Porter, Texas. This was also the first time Quilt of Valor quilts had been presented at the VFW hall. It got pretty emotional in that hall after the first quilt was presented. It was also my first time to set foot in a VFW hall. It was quite something! Did I mention we happened to be attending during “steak night” and were treated to a lovely and delicious dinner? My friend, Susan, who heads up Quilt of Valor for our guild, Peace by Piecing Quilt Guild, also made one of the beautiful quilts.

Quilt of Valor is a national organization that has given veterans quilts since, I believe, right around 2004. As of July 31, 2023, 354,712 quilts have been wrapped around the shoulders of service members and veterans. The mission of Quilts of Valor Foundation is to cover service members and veterans touched by war with comfort and healing quilts. Not only are the quilts wrapped around the shoulders of recipients like a “hug” during the ceremony, we also give them a little hug!

When I joined the guild a few years ago, I knew at some point I would make a Quilt of Valor. Just one though. Each quilt is a huge project. There are also lots of specific requirements. The quilt has to be a certain size: larger than I usually make quilts, and machine or hand quilted, not tied. Longarm quilters donate their services on behalf of the guild. Lisa Taylor did a fantastic job on my quilt! There is a patch stitched on the back with information such as who is receiving the quilt, date awarded, who pieced it, and quilted the quilt. We make a pillow case for the quilt to be stored in when not in use. Everything also has to be washed. The six color catchers I used came out purple. Thanks Susan for the heads-up on the color catchers!

I purchased the quilt kit at Stitchin’ Heaven in Quitman, Texas a couple of years ago. After the quilt top was finished, I purchased a wide back quilt backing with a patriotic-theme from My Favorite Quilt Store. The kit sat on my project shelf for a year after reading through the instructions. I noted the kit could be made with, or without, the central panel with the eagle. The instructions stated the quilt could be made with six-pieced blocks and the panel, or twelve pieced blocks with no panel. After finally piecing one of the blocks, I decided the quilt would be made with the panel. The pieced blocks were very challenging. There were lots of biased pieces. Six blocks vs. 12? Easy decision on my part! I almost had to go to confession over a few of them.

After the quilt top was finally finished and handed to Lisa for quilting, I decided I had made my one and only Quilt of Valor. I just checked it off my bucket list. Except … wait … after presenting my quilt this week … stay tuned … I betcha nine dollars I’ll be making another Quilt of Valor next year!

Quilts … a look back at 2014

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Four entire quilts were cranked out in 2014! Pretty good year for me. Two were gifts … one donated to charity and I’m keeping one. Not sure what 2015 will hold!

The first quilt was for our first grandbaby, Jake. I finished it before he was born and named, so it doesn’t have his name on it. I bought the pattern and kit at the International Quilt Festival in 2013. It was so fun to make and with Kim Norton of A Busy Bobbin to quilt it, I loved how it turned out. The pattern also includes a quilt with a flamingo, monkey and, I think, a frog. A future grandbaby?

The next quilt was donated to the Village Learning Center for their annual gala. I like to make something totally different for them every year. It was the first time I’d worked with so much black fabric. Made me a little nervous. It was sold in the silent auction to a very nice lady who was so worried she didn’t get the high bid at the end of the night!


Santa Baby was the most challenging quilt I’ve made to date! I chalk it all up to not reading the directions carefully. A valuable lesson was learned … and still the quilt turned out great. This is the only quilt this year that was custom quilted and I love the feathers quilted by Kim Norton. I dub her the Queen of Quilted Feathers!


The last official quilt completed in 2014 was the contemporary one for my adorable daughter, Katie! We collaborated on design, size, fabric choices and quilt name. It was an awesome experience! She has the perfect spot in their house to hang it.


I started my 2014 Texas Row-By-Row quilt in 2014. During the summer, quilters were able to stop by participating quilt shops all over the United States and pick up a free row pattern, and purchase a fabric kit, designed by their shop. It takes 8 rows to make a quilt. My sister, Gretchen, picked up a row pattern and kit for me in Victoria, and my friend, Sally, picked up one or two from her Texas travels. The finished jar row is called “Harvest Time” and is from BJ’s Quilt Shop in Bay City, Texas. The quilt shop even had all fabric pieces cut so all I had to do was sew. Don’t you just love the bug jar?


I’m putting together the sailboats now. The block is called “Regatta!” from Quilter’s Emporium shop in Stafford. By the way … they have an awesome quilt shop! This row is a little challenging with the bias edges, but I’m making it work! Only six more rows to go!

Latest quilt top finished!

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Every year I make a quilt for The Village Learning Center’s gala which occurs in early November. Among other endeavors, they run an awesome day center for adults with special needs that my daughter, Mimi, attends. I try and make them something each year I’ve never done before … either with color, design or pattern.

When I saw this quilt top made up at last year’s International Quilt Festival, I thought it would be perfect … eye-catching and a little wacky! Certainly not for everyone but I really liked it. Surely someone would love it … and 10 hours of quilt lessons to the person that purchases the quilt!

The quilt show booth offered a kit and I was hooked. The pattern is called “Urban Cabin” and is by Atkinson Designs. The directions were great and it sewed up nicely and fast!

Visually, it is stunning the way Kaffe Fassett’s fabric (purchased in a collection of 2-1/2″ strips, we call them “jelly rolls,” with the kit) pops like a bag of microwave popcorn in the microwave. And it was the first time I’d worked with so much black, so there you go.

I’m also using a Kaffe Fassett fabric for the binding.

And now that a few yards of quilt backing fabric is purchased, I’ll have it professionalled quilted in a couple of weeks by my favorite longarm quilting lady, Kim Norton, of A Busy Bobbin!