Weekend sewing

Before I show pictures of some sewing I did this weekend, I'd like to comment that my camera seems to  be not taking very good pictures! I've had this camera for years, and while I don't think its possible for a digital camera to "break", there definitely is something off with the colour and exposure of the pictures its taking.  So, a little tweaking in a photo program is needed, but I still think that I haven't got a very true picture!

On Friday, I was able to put together the third row of Jacqueline's Album.



Then I tackled the centre of my version of Stars and Sprigs.  Because of the lost applique blocks, and because mentally I had put block making for this quilt far behind me, I decided to make the quilt square.  This actually works out ok for me, as it was already getting very big...it will finish at about 90" square.  I have a good idea on a pieced border,  that will take a bit of time and a lot of math, so I'm not sure where it sits on "the list".  In the mean time, I know I have a centre pieced and the border fabrics saved.



 

I've been working way on the quilting of Daydream on the Farm.  All these pieced blocks gave me a challenge for how to quilt them.  I don't much like stitching in the ditch with a free motion foot, so I decided to highlight the piecing by connecting curved lines to various part of the block, as shown in the few blocks in the picture below.



 

This week I'd like to get the quilting finished for Daydream on the Farm, and I'm working on the third embroidery block for Snow Day!.

 

 

 

Jacqueline's Album and applique methods

I've completed the first two rows of Jacqueline's Album (pattern by Lori Smith) quilt.  There is supposed to be an American eagle type design in the second block, second row.  I substituted that with a different Lori Smith block, one that I thought my Aunt Jacqueline my like.

 



 

I'm using the back basting method of applique...here's the back of one of the blocks....it really amazes me how accurate the placement and shape of applique is achieved with this method!  There are plenty of tutorials around the web on how to back baste...Gayle at Sentimental Stitches is a good place to start.



 

There are many methods of hand applique preparation, and I think I've tried them all.  Backbasting did take some practice and trial and error finding the right needle and thread for the backbasting sewing.  I'm now using Star hand quilting thread and a size 7 sharp needle.  The hand quilting thread is quite stiff and thick, the sharp needle has a thick diameter from tip to end, these two in combination leave a good enough hole in the fabrics to follow when sewing the applique piece.  I also find that doing the backbasting several hours before the applique seems to set the holes to follow.

The great thing about backbasting for me was the accurate placement, especially for those symmetrical designs.

And then I recently received a copy of Jeanna Kimball's Red and Green, An Applique Tradition.  Jeanna provides many terrific stories and information about the history of applique and how various patterns may have been developed.

What I really took from this book was that Jeanna encourages the applique maker to develop her own designs, taking the templates and layouts provided and arranging them in a way that appeals to you...not necessarily following a traditional layout for a block.



 

 

This puts a whole different spin on my efforts to duplicate exactly  the Jacqueline's Album design.  I'll continue along as I have been on this quilt...but I can see an applique quilt in my future where I'm not going to think too much about exact mirror image symmetry!

 

 

Basket blocks

I've been sewing scrappy basket blocks for an idea that may end up looking something like this....or not!

T Shirt Quilt

Early in the summer my oldest son dropped off a bag of T shirts and asked if would make him T shirt quilt.   As I was preparing the shirts (ripping off the back and sleeves) I was thinking of how these could be set.  The answer was pretty easy!  All the bright cartoon like colours...the shirts are a collection of "Grimm" punn-y scenes...made me think of the solid bright jelly roll strips I had bought months ago on clearance.

Almost all the drawings on the shirts fit nicely in a 12" block, except for 2 which I joined together in to one block.  And, Fraser had given me a total of 14 shirts...which mean 12 for the quilt and a faded one for the back. A bit of doodling on EQ and here's the centre...the quilt can be done as a Christmas gift.

[caption id="attachment_1209" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Fraser's T Shirt quilt, centre[/caption]

 

I still have to design and make a border.  Pressing the seams was difficult because of the interfacing on the back of the shirts, and the t shirt "paint" c an't be touched at all with the iron (but a pressing cloth helps).

I think the quilting will be the challenge for this quilt.  Anyone know of a batting that can be quilted 12" apart?!!

 

Blue and White Dear Jane

Yesterday I finished up the 84 setting blocks for my Dear Jane quilt.  I had been making these blocks in "batches" during the summer.

 

I had got to a certain point in the Dear Jane quilt when I decided I just didn't want to make any more blocks!!  I had looked through the Dear Jane book at the various settings others had done, searched for pics on the web of various Dear Janes, and realized that some of the Janes I liked best weren't the ones that used all the blocks in the original setting.

So I got to work on an Electric Quilt file of what I might do with the 90 ish blocks I had.  My favourite turned out to be using this "x" block as an alternate block.  I drew it in EQ, using various widths for the X band, and tried it both with the white band, blue triangles and with blue band, white triangles.  I played with various colours and arrangements.    Once I was happy I had to figure out how to sew the block!  I used the EQ rotary cutting directions to determine the cutting width of the X bands, and the dimensions to cut the triangles.  I did end up having to cut the triangles a little larger, and I cut the X bands about a 1/2" longer than necessary so I could just trim the block into square later.

When I finished sewing the block, I marked a line down the centre of each X band and use my newest cool ruler to square up the block.  I bought this Tucker Trimmer ruler last spring, not so much to square up half square triangles but to square up blocks that has two diagonal lines.  I love the clear markings on this ruler!



 

Once I got those darn setting blocks finished, this morning I had to see what a few rows looked like!

Works in progress

Keeping up with Just Takes 2...here are the blocks so far for the third quarter...I think this quilt is going to be a stunner!

 



 

And, just six more applique blocks and some star blocks for Stars and Sprigs.  I'm pretty sure I'm changing the setting.  The original has a marvelous applique border.  But since I like my quilts to be mostly useable, I don't think that the border would be all that practical.  So I finally came up with the idea of embroidering it with an outline stitch; then, I came up with the idea of medallion setting with the applique border on the inside of the quilt; then I thought maybe I'll embroider that inner border.  So still thinking.



 

 

[caption id="attachment_1162" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Stars and Sprigs by Kim McLean[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1163" align="aligncenter" width="300"] EQ sketch of Stars and Sprigs medallion[/caption]

 

 

 

 

Waiting to be a grandmother!

Our first grandbaby is ready to be born, likely sometime tonight!  I've been nervously waiting for text updates from my son at the hospital...waiting for when we can come!  The hospital is just under an hour away, so he's waiting till things are really progressing before calling in the parents!!  I think I'm beginning to relate to those fathers from years gone by who weren't allowed in the labour and delivery rooms!

I did put together the Garden Fence quilt top...during which I made way too many cutting errors on the borders as my thoughts were definitely elsewhere...but I did end up with a quilt I'm thrilled with!

 

[caption id="attachment_1133" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Garden Fence, 66" x 66"[/caption]

 

Weekend sewing...and un-sewing!

Here's a pic of my first Grandmother's Choice block.  I finally settled on purples, with black sashing.  I find its a good idea to sew the sashing on as the blocks are made; makes less work when your ready to set the quilt together!  I'll be using the same background throughout the quilt...its part of the reason I decided to go with the purple colours.  I bought about 5 yards of this background fabric, thinking it was a lovely tone on tone background blender.  But its got this odd grey hue to it, everything I've tried to put with it so far has just not looked right,...but purple and black seem to be the one colour that plays nicely with this background.

[caption id="attachment_1127" align="aligncenter" width="296"] Grandmother's Choice, week one[/caption]

 

The other project I got accomplished this weekend is getting My Whimsical Quilt Garden blocks sorted out.  I got them separated from the batting, and made setting blocks.  I think I'll be calling this quilt Garden Fence.  There'll be a light inner border and a red outer border.

 

[caption id="attachment_1128" align="aligncenter" width="404"] Garden Fence layout, hand-applique blocks from My Whimsical Quilt Garden[/caption]

Would you cut up a quilt?

I did!  I tried to quilt the Whimsical Quilt Garden...really tried!  I put a nice free motion curvy stitch on the skinny border frame, I put some nice doodling loops around the applique after outlining the shapes.  But, as seems to be happening to me too often, lately,  I just wasn't into this quilt...I didn't like it, and as a result my stitching wasn't as good as it could be; my enthusiasm for getting it quilted, that enjoyment of seeing the quilting stitches bringing the fabric to life - - was not there.  Yesterday afternoon I hung it on a hanger and shoved it to the back of the closet.

A few hours ago, I felt that darn quilt calling me again.  Those applique blocks were a lot of work, the effort and thought that has gone into the quilt so far...I didn't want to leave it mouldering in the back of the closet.  I brought it back to the machine, sat down and gave it and me a good talking to - what lovely applique stitches!  the quilting will bring it all together!  someone will really like this quilt when its done!  But shortly after starting, that gloomy feeling returned.

I took a deep breath, flung it on the cutting board, and proceeded to cut it up!  I cut out 13 blocks, enought to re-set it with the ideas I have n mind.  The rest I'll keep to maybe make a mini or something.  There will need to be some unstitching done.

I feel great at having done this, like a weight is off my shoulders.  I can start fresh when I'm ready, and no longer have to think about how to work on the quilt as it was!

Until they meet again....

Yesterday afternoon I started quilting the Farmer's Wife meets Jane quilt...a nice sort of decorative stitch that stills goes forward only for dual feed, in the sashings of the centre part of this quilt.  A little voice in my head starts saying... I don't like this quilt, I don't like this quilt...the sashings are boring, the setting triangles are boring, and yes I shouldn't have put a final border on it cause then it would be way too big (over 100" square)...I don't like this quilt.

This morning I continued along with the stitching on the sashings, now the little voice is saying...this is an ugly quilt...what a waste of batting...and backing.

So what do I do?  Take apart the quilt sandwich, trying to save as much of the centre part of the batting and backing where the stitching was done...the stitch I had chose made it very difficult to do this...then sit on the porch in the shade on a very warm morning and start taking the quilt apart, sections first.

What transformation will these blocks see next???

At Home and Away - ready for binding

I finished the tying of At Home and Away. I'm also done quilting the centre of Folk Art Finery, and have a good plan on how to quilt the borders, so I might have that done by the end of the weekend. Then its miles and miles of binding - my fingers are sore just at the thought. The At Home and Away top was finished about a year ago. It has two final vertical borders of pinwheels - I remember when piecing this quilt that I designed, struggling with what to put on those last two borders. I think I spent weeks designing on EQ, laying blocks and the top on the floor, test sewing. I think I must have been pretty fed up by the time I got to actually piecing those pinwheels. While I was tying the first long border (93") - I'm thinking, gee this is sloppy - crossed points, blunted points, straight seams that didn't line up. I'm trying to hide them with my knots, but I'm getting madder and madder, 'cause all I can think is that the centre is just about perfect, but the pinwheels are like some one else sewed them. So on to the second side, about a third way through, there was some major cursing and stomping of feet as I realized that this just wasn't making me happy. The whole quilt risked being seen as poor sewing quality, all because of these darn pinwheels. I ended up ripping out the tying, and the two long borders.

The picture above shows a section of the pinwheels - yes, I might be being picky but up close the piecing "mistakes" do show more obviously. I've saved these long rows as they would make into a border or part of a strippy quilt.

I'm not sure I'm happy with the resulting "balance" of the quilt, but it was better than including yucky piecing. Here's an EQ drawing of the resulting design -

The quilt is now about 93 x 67 - odd size because the two long borders are gone - but the rules do say "tied bed quilt - any size". :)

The other odd thing about tying this quilt, is I have no idea what the judges might be looking for in a tied quilt. Do they ties have to be evenly spaced (mine aren't - its a sampler quilt so I put them as close together or as far apart depending on the design area I was covering). Do they all have to be cut the exact same length? (I tried here, but no, they aren't). I do think its important to do the quilt in a way that will make you happy, first, and the judges second. I hand basted the edges to prepare for the binding - without the security of quilting nearer to the edges, I wanted to be sure there wasn't going to be any rippling or sliding of the backing while I sewed on the binding.

Here's a picture of a section of the tied quilt, where maybe you can see how the ties are evenly spaced within a type of block, but each type of block has its own spacing -

Tomorrow I'll have some pictures and stories about the Folk Art Finery quilting - I've learned a lot from this adventure.

Almost Log Cabin

I finished this top on Friday - the log cabin block design is by Judy Martin; I designed the secondary block and the quilt layout.

This will be a table topper for our dining room - we have a living/dining room combination, and I don't much like our dining table - putting a pieced quilt on it, rather than a table cloth, brightens up the room quite a bit.

An oops turned good

I finished piecing the centre of the Sally Post quilt yesterday. This quilt design was made available to quilters from Gayle at Sentimental Stitches - I believe the pattern will be again offered as a free download later this year, or as a purchase all at once.

The original pattern called for 36 blocks, set 6 x6 with sashing including an outersashing. I wanted a rectangular quilt for the church donation, so I made 30 blocks and set is 6 x 5. I've ordered the border fabric and hope to quilt it by early September.

My son is holding this one for me - but he's still not as tall as his Dad (!) and I couldn't get the whole quilt into the picture.

The oops? - well here you go. I had already sewn 18 of the blocks, complete with sashing and corner squares set to the right side and bottom. When I went to cut out the sashing and squares for the last 12, I decided - wrongly - to not look at the pattern and merrily cut then 3 1/2" wide. They should have been 4" wide! Grrr.. Meanwhile, I was thinking about the border and binding, and decided to go with the peach colour, same as the sashing, but a tone on tone instead of solid, and the red floral for the binding. The order was sitting on my computer while I was cutting. When I realized what I did, I thought, well thank goodness I hadn't press send yet because I can order more sashing fabric if I've run out because of the oops. So I recut and thankfully I had enough and pressed send on the order.

The next day, while sewing the blocks together, I realized I didn't account for the outside sashing! I should have ordered more solid, and now the order has been processed and its on its way (this shop is fantastic - Fabric Shack - excellent service and help when you need it). Back to EQ to look at how I can fix this and I discovered that it looks way better with just the border and no outer sashing - I had never even thought of this as the original doesn't have a border and I had just kept the outer sashing on the design when playing with the finishing ideas. So all's well that ends well.

I'm just about done the Almost Log Cabin...so back to the sewing room.