Hobby Thread - March 22, 2025 [TRex]

Welcome hobbyists! Pull up a chair and sit a spell with the Horde in this little corner of the interweb. This is the mighty, mighty officially sanctioned Ace of Spades Hobby Thread. We gave the Ace of Spades Wheel of Hobbies(TM) a spin. Turns out, the Wheel got stuck and stayed on last week's theme of quilting. The Wheel must have needed a rest, so who are we to argue with the Wheel?

What are you hobbying these days? Does spring weather open up new options for your hobbying? As per usual Hobby Thread etiquette, keep this thread limited to hobbying. Your participation does not need to limited to the theme. All hobbying is welcome. However, politics, current events and religious debates can live in threads elsewhere. Play nice. Do not be a troll and do not feed the trolls. Pants, as always, are optional (but most of the quilters on this thread could probably make pants if needed).

A hearty "thank you" to those from the Horde that submitted the quilting photos you will see below. Amazing. Beautiful pieces and great stories.

It is fun to see Horde hobbying. Whether consistent with the theme or not, feel free to send photos of your hobbying. Happy to show it off. The Horde is always interested to see what other Horde hobbying is happening.

Top photo - courtesy of Annie Rose - She used this as backing for a Duckworth quilt (more below on that). She says there are fabric designers who are very popular in the quilting world. These fabrics are more fun than the limited cotton solids, calicoes, and muslins of forty years ago. Theresa-Rex is from designer Tula Pink's "Roar" collection. (Designer TRex? Naturally.)

If you don't like your TRex in pink, the "Roar" collection also offers a green version (Kermit Rex?)

If a triceratops is your dinosaur of choice, they have you covered.

They may have non-dinosaur patterns. Not sure. I got a little distracted once I saw the dinosaur patterns.

What's a Duckworth quilt?

From Annie Rose:

This is a Duckworth quilt named after the designer, Joanne Merrill-Duckworth, and is roughly Queen size. It's made from leftover fabric scraps and is very easy to make, as it doesn't require precise piecing or measuring to make the blocks. It's meant to use up the scraps that we continually have leftover from making all of our quilts. I guess I like turquoise, aqua, and teal fabrics a little bit! The best part is looking at each scrap and remembering what I made and who I made it for through all my years of quilting. Each scrap tells a story.

More from Annie Rose:

This one below is a gridded quilt design and measures 16" x 16". I learned this technique from a teacher, Cindy Seitz-Krug, at the annual AQS quilt show in Paducah, KY. Over 40,000 quilters from all over the world descend each year for the show and workshops. Using a grid made with a water soluble marker, you quilt designs in various patterns to fill in background areas of the quilt, going from line to line. Then you just remove the marker with a spritz of water.

I asked last week whether people really keep their quilting scraps in neatly organized shelving or whether that just happened in magazines. Apparently some do. Photo proof from Gouverneur Morris:

She made this bag, presumably to transport quilting supplies to her intended quilting location.

Are quilting bees BYOB? Just asking.

What does Gouverneur Morris make with all those scraps?

This is a quilt I started for my son 20 years ago, put in the UFO (unfinished object) pile, then finished for my grandson.

I love the UFO terminology in the context of hobbying.

She made this quilt for a next door neighbor.

These were made by her small group for chemo patients.

From SkyWch:

Designed and made this lap quilt for friends of mine who sail. I machine quilted it on my Juki, which I am still getting the hang of, but can no longer hand quilt.

From Lirio100:

My grandmother saved all the pieces her mother hadn't finished before passing away, and gave them to me when I started making quilts myself. This pattern is called Dresden Plate; it became popular in the 1920's and is supposed to be "reminiscent" of the crown trademark of the actual Dresden plates. My great grandmother was German so I guess it makes sense she'd pick that one! She had finished the plates (fabrics all 1930's and 40's ) but hadn't gone further. I appliqued them onto the squares and made the quilt. It ended up as an oversize twin bed quilt, with a couple of plates left over. I made them into pillows.

From Teresa in Forth Worth:

I made a quilt top for my little sister with 12 panels of cross-stitched flowers (they were all in a booklet with that as the ultimate goal). I made it for her college graduation, but once the top was assembled, doing the quilting was quite a daunting task.

Paul's grandmother quilted, so a few years later - with daughter #1 in tow - I journeyed down to her house, where she had set up a big quilting frame in her living room.

I had done some of the quilting already on each individual assembled square, so all we had to do was quilt the joining strips and the border. I found a pretty pattern for the stitching parts, so it took us about a week to complete the rest of the quilt.

When my sister passed away in 2012, I got the quilt back. It is now on the bed in our guest room, and I have already promised it to daughter #3 and her husband in lieu of a big cross-stitch wedding sampler.

From TecumsehTea:

She made this gift for her sister in law. It is a Twisted Pole pattern. 54x48 throw.

From KT:

Here's a clear example of quilting done on a long-arm quilting machine, from my quilting friend: "This charming Peter Rabbit fabric has been begging to be sewn into a baby quilt. The bunnies are so darn cute! Telling secrets, jumping rope, having a bath in the wash tub, a lullaby from mother rabbit, and doing their chores all framed in coordinating prints. A soft furry backing stitched in daisies is the perfect finish."

There was some discussion last week about quilting machines. I started to do some interweb searching, thinking that I was going to include a nice piece of helpful content on comparing quilting machines and sewing machines.

It quickly became clear that I am well out of my element. Gotta manage your throat space, walking foot dual feed, straight stitch needle plate, high shank or low shank, stitch regulator, and don't forget to calibrate your pivot feature. Jumbo bobbins sold separately. I gave up when the site I was looking at said the "stitch width dial" is self-explanatory.

For lack of anything else, here is a $8,000 quilt making machine for sale on Amazon. That seemed like a lot until I found one for $13,499.

My small dinosaur brain hurts.

Quilting museums? Yes, there are quilting museums (or at least museums with quilts).

Virginia Quilt Museum (Dayton, Virginia - between Staunton and Harrisonburg, near I-81)

The Textile Museum at the George Washington University Museum (Washington DC - Foggy Bottom)

The Quilters Hall of Fame (Marion, Indiana - between Indianapolis and Fort Wayne)

The National Quilt Museum (Paducah, Kentucky - 2025 Quilt Week is Monday, April 21 to Saturday, April 26)

The International Quilt Museum (University of Nebraska Lincoln, Nebraska)

The New England Quilt Museum (Lowell, Massachusetts)

The Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum (Golden, Colorado)

The Missouri Quilt Museum (Hamilton, Missouri)

Iowa Quilt Museum (Winterset, Iowa - southwest of Des Moines - June 4 to June 6, 2025 is the 2025 Iowa Quilt Festival. On June 7, the town of Winterset is turned into an art gallery adorned with quilts gracing the Covered Bridges of Madison County, churches, and historic buildings. The event is pictured above and called Airing of the Quilts.)

Any missing museums that are Horde favorites?
Has anyone been to events like the Airing of the Quilts?
When you visit any of these (or others suggested by the Horde), send me a note and trip report. Include a photo or two. I'll post on a future Hobby Thread.

Ben Had mentioned learning to weave on a loom last week. I'm skeptical that we'll have a Hobby Thread theme on looms in the near future, so here are two videos to ensure we don't leave looming out.

Looks like sorcery. No wonder weavers were accused of witchcraft in colonial times.

The Hobby Thread mailbox periodically receives business proposals. This one arrived yesterday:

Dear Purchasing Manager:

Hello, thank you for taking the time to read my letter amidst your busy schedule.

We are a manufacturer of knitted hats that integrates scientific research, production, sales, service, and culture. Our main products include various men's and women's children's printed knitted hats, fashionable beanie warm hats, double layer thick knitted hats, ribbed warm winter hats, knitted ski knit hats mask, knitted warm hats, scarves, gloves, and three piece sets.

Our company has excellent production equipment and a professional team with rich experience, strong technical skills, and serious and responsible work to ensure product quality.

The knitted hats, scarves, gloves, and other fabrics produced by the company are soft, comfortable, breathable, warm, and come in a variety of styles. We can provide you with the best products using the best craftsmanship.

If you are interested, please do not hesitate to contact me and we will provide you with product information.

We look forward to your reply

I'm glad the sender appreciates my busy schedule and the role of culture in knitted hat production. Who can object to comfortable, breathable, and warm hats that come in a variety of styles? But is the subject matter coincidence? or does the interweb spam universe know we're doing textile arts on the Hobby Thread? Hmmm...

This has nothing to do with quilting, but thought Hobby Threaders might enjoy.

Watch this two and a half minute video:

Then read this: "It was chaos": The history of San Francisco's most unforgettable TV ad

Once Fallon accepted the pitch, the reality of the logistical challenges began to sink in. First, they had to scour the country to acquire the 250,000 bouncy balls needed to create the critical mass.

"They bought every bouncy ball west of the Mississippi," said Ranahan.

"There was not a single bouncy ball in any machine in America for a couple months. I felt so bad for the poor children," said Fuglsig.

On the first day of the shoot, six cannons were mounted on trucks bolted into the ground at Filbert and Hyde streets. Another six were positioned at Jones and Union streets for a second blast. According to Fuglsig's memory, each mortar contained about 25,000 balls.

I want to know what happened to all those bouncy balls afterward. Some were saved by residents as souvenirs, but there a lot of bouncy balls involved.

With apologies to KT and the gardening thread, a discussion broke out on the overnight thread last night about vanilla. (The overnight threads are unpredictable and chaotic at times, but the rabbit holes of knowledge are impressive.)

I never thought of harvesting vanilla beans from home grown vanilla orchids. If anyone does that, that would qualify as a hobby. Does anyone do this or know someone how does? Fill us in.

Did you miss the Hobby Thread last week? We talked quilting. The comments may be closed, but you can re-live the content.

Notable comments from last week:

Words of wisdom:

"Because despite all our troubles, when things are grim out in that wide round world of ours, that's when it's really important to have a good hobby." Posted by: tankascribe at June 22, 2024 07:41 PM (HWxAD).

If you have trouble finding something in the content or comments that resonates with you, hijack the thread for your hobbying as you see fit. We will feature a different theme next time (or maybe we'll just keep doing quilting). What are you hobbying? We love showing off Horde hobbying. Send thoughts, suggestions and photos of your hobbying to moronhobbies at protonmail dot com. Do mighty things. Did ya catch the mystery click?

posted by Open Blogger at 05:30 PM

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