Two more Quilts

The weather finally cooperated and I was able to photograph two of the larger bed quilts that I finished this winter. The first is Cassiopeia. It is an original pattern gone awry. Made mainly from 3-1/2" squares and half square triangles. I had all the rows sewn together before I realized that I had flipped the third row down. I debated for a few days whether or not to un-sew it. The "W" formed by the two gold and three green stars reminded me of the constellation Cassiopeia. So, I finally decided to leave it as is and call it a design element. This quilt was made for DH's cousin Jennifer. 

The second quilt is Jamestown Landing from a workshop I took with Bonnie Hunter in May 2013. The pattern can be found in her book String Fling. I chose purples instead of blues as this quilt was made for Elizabeth, the daughter of our dear friends. I really like how string piecing the neutral blocks makes the quilt dance. Not to mention that it is a great way to use up those fabric scraps.

Til next time,

Mary

Making Progress

I created a list of projects to complete(PTC) by the end of 2014. I began with 7 at the beginning of October. 2 have been completed and 1 is in the process of sewing on the binding. Included on the list are Jamestown Landing and Smith Mountain Morning from the classes I took with Bonnie Hunter when she was in Maine in May. Almost half of Jamestown Landing is on the design wall. All units are sewn. It is just a matter of sewing them into rows, and then sewing the rows together. I have continued labeling the upper left corners of the blocks as a guide to which unit is sewn to what. Good thing, as I mixed up some sections, but the labels set me straight. You can see them as the little circles on some of the blocks.

I received a picture of the quilt I was hand quilting as we traveled across country in September. It is the perfect size for the back of their couch. 


This is the best photo I have of the quilting. Small fans with five lines each, approximately 1/2 inch apart. I really liked the pattern of quilting. Next, I will try it on the longarm, a step up from my meandering.
Til next time,
Mary

Finished!

Orca Bay is quilted and bound. Tomorrow will be two years since beginning the mystery with Bonnie Hunter over at Quiltville.com. That means, I am free to participate in this years mystery Celtic Solstice beginning tomorrow.

Til next time,
Mary

Cassiopeia

I've finished the quilting on Jen's Cassiopeia quilt. I decided to do an all over meandering pattern. The binding  and label are attached, all that I need to do is sew the binding to the back. I really like this pattern with the colors and scrappy background.

Progress

Kitty, my long arm, is all settled into her new home. Fitting better than I had planned with enough room for me to get around both ends and the back. An alcove instead of a closet was included on the far end to maximize my available floor space.
I have never been able to get the SLR to work on this machine. I took all the parts to Carol's to test them on her machine; they worked just fine. But when I installed them back on Kitty, nothing. I resigned to the fact that  I would have to quilt without an SLR. 

 After testing my stitches, I decided to give the SLR one more try. Maybe, just maybe, reassembling the frame and machine would set something right that had been out of sync. I held my breath as I flipped on the SLR and moved the carriage... it worked! I did a happy dance. After half an hour of adjusting the max/min speeds, I loaded "Granny's Hankie", a 2011 BOM from Denise Russart. Each day, I quilt for an hour, taking my time learning the rhythms of the SLR. 

I quilted this quilt before the basement renovation, then sewed the binding on last week. The pattern is Majestic Mountain and calls for a Jelly Roll, but I used strips from my 2-1/2" scrap strip bin. The quilting is a clam shell design using a template. This quilt will be going to survivors of Super Storm Sandy. 

Orca Bay is ready to be quilted. This photo shows it hanging sideways, as it is too long vertically. I found that if I worked on it just a few rows at a time, it didn't seem so overwhelming. Now, I need to make the backing.
My new quilting studio is so much fun. Thank you DH. You're the best! 
Til next time, 
Mary

Latest Project

I'm still here. We lost internet service for two weeks just after my last post. So I fell off the blogging wagon :) These table runners are the only projects I've completed since then. 

 They are both from the same pattern, Fun & Done! Speedy Stars, a technique I will be teaching at the end of January.  

 I really like table runners as projects to do. They are quick, easy to quilt on a domestic sewing machine, and make wonderful gifts when visiting family and friends. I particularly like the Fun & Done series as they are quilt as you go. No UFO's here.  

Til next time,

Mary 

The Featherweight Room

I travel with DH about four times a year for his work as a consultant. I consider each of these trips as mini retreats. No cooking(ok, anyone who knows me knows I don't cook), no housework, and all day to sew. I always have my trolley packed with Charlotte (my featherweight), a travel iron, Best Press, a project, and my box of accessories. Notice, the Scotch Re-stickable Strip ready to guide my fabric.

So, when I saw our room number I had to laugh. I told DH that this was a Featherweight room. 222 was right across the hall. For those who may not know, the model numbers for Featherweights are 221 and 222.

The only place for me to work was the coffee table, as DH was using the desk for work. If you have ever tried to sew on a coffee table, you know that it causes pain in the lower back. I thought of buying a table, but I already have two at home. Then the idea hit me, bed risers! Off to Walmart.

The risers raised the coffee table 7 inches, enough to take the strain off my lower back. I will add them to my list of items to bring when I travel. Now, I was ready to get to work. 

I am continuing to work on my Oklahoma Backroads quilt that I took to Oregon with me. There are 1600 pieces in the 100 blocks of this quilt. I drew lines on 180 neutral 2 1/2 inch squares. 

Then, those squares were pinned to 180- 2.5"x 4.5" bricks making sure that half went left and half went right.

Now, I had to sew those 180 units. Notice my seam guide, I don't have to remove it because the fabric glides right over it. Once, the units were sewn, I pressed, flipped, pressed, trimmed, and pressed the units. 

Tomorrow,  I will begin to match up the units to create the additional 70 blocks to go with these 30. This is going to be a Happy quilt.

Til next time,
Mary

Progress on Orca Bay

   I love my new work space. It inspires me to work on projects that have been tucked away for months.I can't say years as I've only been quilting for 6 years. 

   These are some of the pieces for Orca Bay , set out to be sewn. After I took the photo, I realized that every other set of geese should be flying in the opposite direction. Otherwise, the wouldn't have the right effect.

   The geese should all fly towards the light background Ohio Star blocks. I have sewn all these into rows, which I am hoping to assemble today. Next, will be the borders.

   During our visit to Wisconsin in June, my cousin Karen gave me a cute pincushion. It sits next to Frances, my first Husqvarna/Viking sewing machine. The pincushion is perfect. It holds a ton of pins, a small pair of scissors, and  stilettos between the petals. 

Til next time,

Mary

   

Back to Sewing

In the midst of all the redoing and building, I have managed to work on some projects. 

  Last week, Carol and I did some wool applique. I am new to this form quilting/sewing. The first one had die cut pieces, but this one I had to cut my own. I selected a project from the book Pennies from Heaven. I like the embroidery around the center, but the green looks a bit empty. Wool definitely has a nice feel to it.

  The second project is an older block of the month called The Queen and Her Court from A Wing and A Prayer Design. I made block 1 in May(upper right), but didn't have a chance to do June(upper left) or July (lower right) til this week. Notice the difference in color palette from the pattern. I have also completed August, but not when I took this photo. I am now all caught up until September.

  Now I am returning to work on my Orca Bay. It was a Quiltville Mystery last winter that I convinced Carol to do with me. She has finished her top, mine is only half done. So, I am planning to have it completed by Thanksgiving. One year, start to finish.

Til next time,
Mary

Two Projects Finished

After all the traveling and building, I finally pick up some fabric to complete a couple of projects. First are a set of hot pads. The blocks are from Eleanor Burns Day & Night. I made a pillow runner for my Mom and these were the left over pieces. These are thick, very thick hot pads which make great gifts.


Hot Pad “Filling”
Materials:
  Lots of scrap strips of varying widths(1/2" to 1 1/2") and lengths.
  Foundation approximately 1” larger than your desired finished size. It can be any cotton fabric.

1. Place one strip at the right edge of the foundation.
2. Lay the second strip so that it overlaps the first and stitch the length of the strip. You can use a straight or zig zag stitch.
3. Lay the third strip so that it overlaps the second and stitch.
4. Continue adding strips until you have covered the entire foundation.
5. Rotate the block and add strips just as you in Steps 1-4 until the entire square is covered.
6. Repeat two more times. You will have 4 layers plus the foundation( 5 total). This is your hot pad “filling”. DO NOT trim. When you have completed your hot pad “crusts”, you will trim to size.


Hot Pad “Crusts”
You will need 2 “crusts” for each hot pad, which can be made from any block pattern. If you have orphan blocks this is a great way to use them.
1. Take each of your blocks and quilt it to 1 layer of batting. The batting should 100% cotton or 80-20 cotton/poly, but NOT 100% polyester, as it could melt. Threads used should also be 100 % cotton.
2. When you have finished quilting, trim your “filling” and “crusts” to the desired size.
3. Layer crust right side down, filling, crust right side up. Baste together the edges of the three layers. The layers of the hot pad will be held together with the binding. 
4. Finish using your favorite binding method.

 

The second project finished was Strip Twist from Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. I love making scrap quilts and her patterns are a lot of fun. I really like taking fabric that might be considered "trash" worthy and turning it into something useful. If it's beautiful as well, all the better.

I tried to make the quilting in the inner border look like a braid. The corners presented a challenge, but overall I am satisfied. Each Half-Square of each block had feathers as seen here. The outer border had piano key quilting.

Til next time,
Mary

Sew Time

It has been overcast and rainy the last two days, but that didn't stop me from setting up "Charlotte" on the porch to sew. It was a bit chilly, but socks and a sweatshirt made it comfortable. I've only had time to sew on her twice since we left Maine; Indiana and Wisconsin. So, I was enjoying my time with her.

I have been working on Oklahoma Backroads from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville Site. I began the quilt in October 2011 while in Pennsylvania, as my traveling project. There will be 100 blocks in the quilt of which 30 are shown. I love how the colors bounce around. 

The wind began to pick up,taking my pieces for a ride,so I moved my work station to the hall in the cabin. Just enough space to work comfortably.

I finished sewing the corner triangles to the rectangles(100 of them!) and the remainder of the center four patches. Then I called it a day, time to get ready for my niece's wedding this afternoon. 
This is my gift to her and her new husband:

The pattern, Warm Wishes, is from Quiltmaker. I titled it "Warm Wedding Wishes"

Til next time,
Mary