One quilt is finished

I made a second purse (it was suppose to be a smaller version of the one I made earlier) yesterday. Had cut out the pieces earlier. Well, everything that could go wrong, did. I forgot the batting, most of the pieces got sewn together backwards, which I ripped out and sewed correctly. The handles are too long, the closure is on the wrong side. Good grief! I hate projects that mess up that way... It wasn't even worthy of a picture of its sad self.

So, I floundered around looking for something that I could finish ... successfully!

I made three long overdue labels for a few of my quilts and sewed them on, correctly. And finshed the binding on a quilt I had started earlier. Pretty benign, but also hard to mess up. I think I'm going to sit down before I hurt myself and bask in the sunshine of what I did accomplish....

My Weekend Projects 09-23

I cut out and started sewing a new pajama top out of some fun flannel that I bought last spring. Oh, yes, I will be wearing it at retreat in November, 'cus how can I resist such a fun print?

I really liked the bag purse pattern that Joyce has been making so I downloaded the tutorial from Welsh Quilter (her postings are from June 2007) and gave it a go. It is all scraps from my current quilt project (no, not done yet) and I love the fabric. I think the purse is a bit big and am thinking of modifying it and making another one that is more shallow. I do like how the prints work together. It was a fun and easy tutorial to follow and make.

I used a bead I had laying around and the grosgrain ribbon (also laying around) to make a closure.


added in the afternoon:
And it is done and ready for this winter!

WIP Weekend 9-16

Whew! I did a lot this weekend, including sewing! I really like when I have good energy!

Have I slobbered on enough about Superior Threads Master Piece thread yet? I've been using one spool so far, it is the 600 yard, 50 weight one. I pieced the entire quilt Amy Butler & Friends Modern Quilt including the back (granted the back was only one seam, but hey...). I only needed to fill two bobbins for that one.

And now I am piecing the next one! I love it! That spool is still going strong. I've filled one bobbin and what is left on the spool should finish it off. I have no idea how much I will be able to sew with what I have left.

I am a convert to Master Piece Thread! Wow!

....uhm, about the King Tut quilting thread. Honestly, other than the color being perfect for my quilt I couldn't tell a difference on that one compared to my other quilting threads. Though I do believe that the long staple will reduce the amount of lint. It might also make the quilt stronger. For now I will most likely buy it again only if it is a color I need to complete a quilt top. The other thread I've been using is Coats & Clark mercerized cotton 50 weight 1200 yards, also known as Star Machine Quilting & Craft. And Mettler 40 weight on rare occasions.

This is the pattern I created:

And the results so far:
(I am feeling so smart, because I am using up the fabric left over from the other quilt! So far the green flowers and the purple fruit are all gone)

TOPIC: What Tools & Materials work for your Quilting?

- When it comes time to quilt your top, what to you do?
- What have been some your solutions and discoveries?
- What wouldn't you do or use again?

Tamera had this great question for me, so great that I thought I would also share my answer here.

When it is time for me to quilt my tops I have really evolved over the years. My first ones were hand quilted because I didn't trust the old machine that I had. Then I got my current machine, nothing glamorous, a Singer "FM-22 C" (it was sold as "student" model for fashions students so it built very durible, perfect for me since I am so hard on things)

Boy, have I put some miles on that baby....


I use a mini-sandwich made with some extra fabric and batting for my stitch tester and warm up (think of it as doing stretches before playing sports). 40 weight quilting thread is a good place to start. My machine will skip stitches if I use to fine a needle so I have to use a 100 heavy duty. But, I usually piece with a 90 or 80 sharp. I have had to try out different needles and fiddle with my tension too. Again, it depends on the thread and material. I am a huge Mettler cotton thread fan (Google it for mutiple links to web sites), but have now just discovered King Tut cotton quilting thread (by Superior Threads). I am currently quilting my first quilt with it. I used Master Piece by the same company and luuuuved it! I will have to get back to you on what I think of the King Tut.

Although I will use my walking foot for quilting straight lines, free-motion quilting is my current quilting drug (other than fabric). If you want to try out free motion quilting you need to figure out how to drop the feed dogs on your machine. My machine uses a little plate that covers the feed dogs. It takes some practice getting your stitches even (which is where the mini sandwich comes in handy) but once you do, I am telling you that you won't be able to get enough. Meander is my standby and I use it for just about everything.

There all kinds of methods and gizmos you can use to help you, but my current favorite aid is the Machingers gloves. They have grippie finger tips that help to push the quilt around under the needle. (again, please Google the products I mentioned, many do not have specific sites)


The only specific thing I can think about with batting is stay away from high loft batting when machine quilting. I've never been able to quilt with it without it pinching the backing and generally being too fluffy to sew with.

Oh! I baste all my tops by hand. I've had bad luck with safety pins ripping my fabric and am not sure I want to risk using the spray stick. It only takes me a couple of hours for a double or queen size.

I'm pretty easy going about my materials and methods, and am always open to trying new techniques. If there were actual Quilt Police then I would be on America's Most Wanted Quilt Rule Offender. But, I am learning better and better techniques as I go along.

So... what are your quilting stories. How do you get through that necessary step to completing your quilt? I would love to hear your ideas.

WIP Weekend 8-26

I finally got the top done, the border is a little different than I had first imagined it. I sandwiched it together and am ready to start quilting it.

Also am working on my Timon quilt at a feverish pace again! I am glad I am inspired to keep going on it.

I now have two more of these areas filled in and currently working on Timon's left eye

WIP Weekend 8-19

This is what I've been up to. Last weekend I decided I needed to get going with my projects again. After all it is a billion degrees outside and I certainly didn't want to be out there!

One of my routines while I am sewing is to use canned air to clear out the dust bunnies from my machine, I like to do this when ever I change a bobbin. So that's what I started off doing. Except there was this one particular tough bunny I couldn't blow free. I could see that I might be able to reach it better from the bottom of the machine and preceded to flip it over. Lo and behold, there is a cover on the bottom of my machine! Now, I consider myself more mechanically inclined than your average bear, but I never noticed this detail of the machine I've been sewing on for the last fifteen years! "Okay, this is easy" I said to my self, eye balling the two little screw I would need to loosen to take the bottom off.

Can you image my surprise when I got the bottom off!?!?!?! I was amazed to find a nether region of my machine that I had never explored! Many times I have fearlessly taken the top plate off to oil the mechanical workings for my machine. I have total confidence in my ability to service my own machine! How could I have possibly missed this very important area???

This is the HORROR that I found from years of neglect!

So I spent only about thirty minutes completely airing out this nastiness....

Gorgeous! This area will be on my list of areas to maintain, that's for sure!!!

Okay, so I finally settled into my projects and found that I really have misplaced my Pin Ring, again, for good I think. So I couldn't just make one, I had to make eleven. My plan is to use them as quilty crafty gifts for my friends that lean that way.




Oh yeah! I did work on my Happy Retro Modern quilt top for a while too, the border is almost on if I can keep myself from being distracted even more.

WIP Wednesday 6-06

Well, I finally "allowed" my self to cut loose on this project. It contains some of my currently favorite fabrics, I think I've slobbered on enough about how much I love them, and the fact that I got most of these out of print lovelies for only $4 a yard! It is going together fast! I have a lot left over and a thinking of making another one....



I am also itching to quilt my favorite junkie-stippling-swirly stitch all over it too, so I can snuggle under it soon!

PS, I have more Details on my other blog, it is more a running journal of each project so some things will be repeated.

Yeah! New Project

One of the things I just love about starting a new project is the excitement of sewing together the first blocks. I may have spent hours drafting and picking out fabric for the new project, but nothing gives me a bigger thrill of seeing that first piece of fabric completely surrounded by seams from other fabric connected to it. What a rush!

Paper mockup to check full size scale (since I designed it on the computer and had only seen it on my computer screen until then)

PS,
I had designed the quilt for large scale prints, based on a design I had created earlier. I didn't have this quilt in mind when I bought the fabric, I bought them because I loved them so. But, once I got them home I dug out an old design I had sketched up and they were a perfect match.

New design inspired by earlier quilt:
"Piet's Trip Through the Cosmos" ©2002

What if I created my own Fabric...

My Day Job is not that pesky, really, I like that it allows me to fund things like a nice home to cover me a my two old-man kitties and ALL my fabulous fabric, as well as the ability to purchase more fabulous fabric.

But, I've been sketching a lot in the last two days after seeing the show and want to do more than just fondle my fabric. I would love to stay home for a week and just cut and play and sew and make stuff. I have so many ideas ... waiting...

A friend of mine just released her second line of fabric, WOW! So, naturally I am thinking the next obvious thoughts...

What kind of fabric would I design if I could create any pattern?

What fabric cannot I not find that I would like use?

Would it be a reproduction, new idea, inspired by my favorite artist/designer?

What would be the subject?

How could it be used?

Is it a Graphic Pattern?

Is it a Blendy, Impressionistic Pattern?

I would like to see a range of shades with good contrast

Are my doodles worthy of the permanence of fabric?

Do I really need to create my own fabric when there is so much else out there?

My guild has an Art Bee, I would like to start attending, I am failing at the Stashbuster Bee. I am already abandoning my projects and designing the next (thus creating more UFOs). I have to come to make peace with this way that I work so that I stop beating myself up each time my mind races to the next exciting idea.

Soooo, the next exciting idea.... I have a really nifty design worked up to show case my treasure trove of recently purchased fabrics (Amy Butler, Jane Sassaman, Valori Wells, Martha Negley) . I want each beautiful print to be showcased in the quilt and not cut up too small. I have a design I created about five years ago with some other fabrics, but have repurposed it to work with these.

Tonight I've finished drafting the design and am really excited by how they fit together. The design will involve these fabrics

I came - I saw - I spent

The bus trip to Paducah was just what I expected, a great show, beautiful quilts, lots of walking, lots of spending!
This is my fabric diet for April...

..but it was a planned binge.

And here is the LOOT that I brought home from the show


We had an hour after the show to stop at Hancock's of Paducah. They have a back room of flat fold, bolt ends for 3.98 a yard. I went a little NUTTY! 24 yards! (you do the math.... that's a hundred clams) I really need to find a pattern that will show case the loveliness of these great fabrics that won't require me to cut them into little pieces. They are so out of character of the other fabric I possess, but right in character with how they make me feel

(A bit of a weird reference to 24, but I sort of felt like Jack digging through the flat folds and dodging other eager hunters at the store. And then I came up with the magic number of 24 yards... and I do like the show. "I promise to do everything I can to get the fabric home safely and not let if fall into an enemy's hands, I promise")

The pictures I took at the show were the quilts that inspired me the most, and were all detail shots. I bought the show picture catalog so I will have a quick visual of every quilt at the show.
These are two of my favorites were more abstract in design; "Evergreen" and "Loose Curves"


Most of the quilts chosen for this year's show were symmetrical, more traditional than in the past, and many quilters were adding crystals to their quilts. Wonder how the Nashville AQS show in August will go...

Dahlia Crazy

Oh how I love Amy Butler's Ginger Bliss line!!! It has been out of print for a while. I have been fortunate to have found some of the prints I really like, but I want more of these prints!

I have it BAD for the Sun Dahlia pattern, it is very out of print and what is out there is VERY expensive, and I've looked for it for a long time. My February fabric diet is faultering because of this itch I must scratch, maybe I will get out bid. Maybe someday a large piece will land in my lap that I can properly love.

Oh, I've got it bad this week....