238. Firm Foundation

Quite a few years ago, I found an Etsy seller, Fancy That Designs, who had designed tea towels with words from old familiar hymns as the design. I always meant to start collecting them with the goal of making a quilt. But it never happened. 

Then she was signed by a fabric company for a new fabric line, and Songbook was created. I bought a fat quarter bundle of the entire line and a panel that including the hymn designs, similar to the tea towels. 

I came across the pattern called Firm Foundation by Anna of My Wandering Path, which used the panels and fabric from the line. You can see more great photos and read the story behind the quilt design here.

While I didn't take any photos during the construction phase, we took the quilt out for some photos. It was Mark's idea to go to First Congregational Church, or Big Red Church as it is lovingly called. It was the perfect rusty red for the background. And I had forgotten about the beautiful green arch over the front door--also the perfect sage green.

The backing fabric is from the second Songbook fabric line, Songbook: A New Page, which has snippets of lines from many different hymns. 

I chose a Baptist fan design for the quilting.

It has been donated for charity auction in April to benefit MCC  Third World relief.

Name: Firm Foundation

Design by: Anna of My Wandering Path

Made by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 68" x 89"

Completed: February 2023

237. Rock 'n Roll

 I think I began collecting Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts back in the 1980s. The first one was probably either from San Francisco or Dallas. I'm really not sure when I realized I had a "collection" and things kicked into high gear. 

I began adding more t-shirts, and friends and family began adding to my collection as well. I always told travelers not to go in search of a HRC, but if they happened to pass by one, to please get me a shirt and I would reimburse them. I have documented each shirt with the name of who added it to my collection, along with the date. 

My friends and family have traveled the world. And there are some interesting stories behind the 95 t-shirts  (!) that are included in this quilt. 

I put off making the quilt for many years because I just knew it was going to be enormous. But because most of the t-shirts are the "classic" style with the logo and name of the city, I decided to conserve space by using the city name only. Once I had a plan, the quilt went together really quickly. 

Ready for some information about this quilt? 

The very first HRC was opened in London. The first HRC opened in the United States was in Los Angeles. 

I have t-shirts from Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal and Toronto, but the only HRC currently open in Canada is in Niagara Falls, and I don't have that one, although I do have the American side.

I have a couple of "counterfeits": Jerusalem and Athens. 

My friend, Maggie, was visiting Beijing, a huge city. She took a taxi to HRC and then charged me for the taxi ride. :)

My parents got me a t-shirt from New Orleans one week before Hurricane Katrina leveled it. 

Mark and I took a bus ride to the HRC in Lahaina on the island of Maui during rush hour, and were a bit concerned that we would not make it back to the cruise ship in time.

While on a tour in Cartagena, we briefly left our tour group to pop into the HRC, and when we came out, we weren't sure which direction the group had headed--a few moments of panic.

I have received the most from Aaron and Christa, either separately (she spent a semester in the UK) or together. In fact, the last one I received was from Aaron when he and Stacie visited Iceland in September 2022.

Quite a few of the t-shirts I have (by my count, 28) are from locations that have since closed so this is definitely a collector's item. Also, at roughly $20 per t-shirt, this is definitely the most expensive quilt I have ever made! 

Mark and I took the quilt to the Guitar Center, a local business that sells electric and acoustic guitars, among other things. It was just the perfect backdrop!

For the back of the quilt, I added a border fabric with electric guitars, and Darby used a music note motif for the quilting. I'm so thrilled with this quilt (and I'm glad that the collecting has come to an end). 

This quilt would not have been possible without all the cool t-shirts from around the world. 

Title: Rock 'n Roll

Made by: Cindy Wiens 

Collection started in the 1980s, quilt completed in 2022

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Size: 55" x 66" 

236. Holiday Homies

 At the beginning of the year, three of us decided to do a block of the month quilt designed by Annemarie Chaney called Hygge. 

I chose the Holiday Homies flannel line by Tula Pink.

Stephanie, Pam and I sewed together virtually for the first few months, and then as often happens, "life" got in the way. Toward the end of the year, because my fabric had a wintry, Christmas-y feel to it, I decided to forge ahead and complete the quilt. 

One of the blocks involved a series of skinny, appliqued knitting needles and I decided there was no way I was going to attempt that with flannel, so I switched those two blocks out for more of the tree blocks.

I didn't have anything in my stash for the backing so I ordered some "mammoth flannel" by Robert Kaufman. 

The quilt went together quite quickly. Darby was able to fit the quilting into her schedule at the beginning of December. I used black flannel for the binding. 

It has been gifted to our pastor and his family, and I hope they enjoy its coziness.

Quilt: Holiday Homies

Pattern design by: Annemarie Chaney

Pieced by: Cindy Wiens

Quilted by: Darby Myers

Completed December 2022

Size: 64" x 76"

235. Flower Shop

 So long ago, 2008, I was part of a 1930s reproduction fabric block exchange with friends from church. We used a really great pattern booklet by Terri Atkinson called Confetti in the Corner. Each block had the same components but depending on how you assembled the blocks, they could look entirely different from each other. It really was genius and I have often thought it would be fun to make a solids version.

We each made extra blocks, and someone assembled them together for a quilt for the MCC charity quilt auction. So many years ago...

I never had an idea of how to put my blocks together, which is why it took so long to put the quilt top together. I had 13 blocks (because I had a duplicate of the block I had made). And then I saw this beautiful quilt by Mendy Slone, using 13 blocks, and knew I had found the setting for my quilt.

I am not proficient in applique, so I used some foundation paper pieced patterns by my friend, Amy Friend (@duringquiettime). The flowers were various sizes but I had plenty of the green solid fabric and was able to fill in the negative space to make it work. 

For the backing, I had some panels by Cori Dantini in my stash called The Makers. They were really cute but I had never quite known what to do with them. They were the perfect colors for this quilt. 

Most of these women no longer go to our church for various reasons, so this quilt is a special one for me.

I had initially thought I wanted some kind of flower design for the quilting, but Darby thought that might "fight" all the pots of flowers so she suggested something swirly. I'm glad she did. 

We were in San Luis Obispo (central coast of California) in early November, and while eating lunch I noticed this little flower shop across the street. I had already named the quilt Flower Shop, so what could be more perfect?!

Mark's brother, Scott, took some behind-the-scenes photos:

I was happy that Amy seemed to like the photo op as well , because it was her patterns that really made the quilt special.

Quilt: Flower Shop

Block pattern: Confetti in the Corner by Terri Atkinson, with foundation paper pieced flower patterns by Amy Friend of During Quiet Time

Quilt top pieced by: Cindy Wiens

Size: 52" x 62"

Quilted by: Darby Myers

234. Peanut Butter and Jelly

 When Aaron was little, he sang a little song: "Peanut, peanut butter and jelly, jelly," and he always whispered the "jelly" part. I thought it was so cute and made him do it over and over.

I joined Moda Blockheads 4 this year. I have never done a Moda Blockheads sewalong before, where a new block pattern is released each week, each by a different designer. I had a stack of fabrics that was just waiting to be used so I thought this might be fun, if only I could keep up. I named it Peanut Butter and Jelly and thought of Aaron the whole time I was making it.

I did a good job of staying on track throughout the whole sewalong, kind of remarkable for me!

The blocks were 9" finished, and I completed all 42 of them. There were several setting options but I opted for just sewing the blocks together without any kind of sashing. 

As usual, Darby did a great job on the quilting.

When we were in San Luis Obispo (central coast of California) in early November, I had brought the quilt along just in case a photo op popped up. The bricks in this building seemed like the perfect place to photograph.

A behind-the-scenes photo taken by Mark's brother, Scott:

Quilt: Peanut Butter and Jelly

Pattern by: Moda Blockheads 4 (a sewalong with various designers)

Pieced by: Cindy Wiens

Completed: 2022

Size: 54" x 63"

Quilted by: Darby Myers

233. Rosa

 Rosa is a quilt made with a fat quarter bundle I had had for quite a while--Rosa by Crystal Manning. When I saw that Riley Blake Designs was doing a block challenge, it seemed like a good fit--a block once a week using this beautiful line of fabric. 

It should be noted that I am notoriously unreliable when it comes to any kind of sew along. I rarely keep up, and sometimes I don't even begin the sew along until it has been completed for months. However, this time around I kept up weekly.

The fabric was so pretty and both colorways, the blue and pink, played very well together.

I added some cute selvages in a couple of places.

When it came time to do the setting blocks, I chose the layout using Irish chain blocks. I had a very pale pink solid in my stash and decided I liked the look of very subtle blocks, allowing all the pieced blocks to shine. 

For the backing I used Social Climber in pink, one of my favorite Anna Maria Horner prints.

It's a long quilt, and therefore, kind of hard to photograph. In retrospect, I might have left off the top and bottom rows. But no matter--I hope to find a pink lover and this will be a nice quilt to snuggle with.

Beautiful quilting:

Quilt: Rosa
Pattern by: Riley Blake Designs block challenge 2022

Pieced by: Cindy Wiens

Completed: 2022

Size: 70" x 90"

Quilted by: Darby Myers