Project Quilting Off Season Challenge June: Panel

How is this for outside my box?  I bought a kit and followed the directions exactly.  Now that it NOT my usual pattern. 

I bought the kit to make for Mr-I-am-from-Michigan-and-only-moved-to-Ohio-because-even-the-dog-license-was-less-expensive.  I didn't put it together because I was very stressed about sewing the panel in place evenly and getting all the little patches to line up. I've been practicing.  So when I remembered that I had it and that  this month's challenge was to use a panel I decided to go for it. 

I know.  A lazy offering and it isn't even finished.  But there is a reason for that.  Some one else WANTS to quilt it.  And I'm not going to turn that offer down.  So this one is finished enough for me even though it doesn't qualify for the challenge.  Be sure to head over to Persimon Dreams to check out all of the really cool FINISHED projects from this month's challenge.

Luna-see Quilt

 
Well, I did it!  I managed to finish the luna-see quilt.  It was almost named the bad word quilt but it really is deserving of a better name than that. 

The quilting turned out better than I had hoped.  I did a simple cross hatch across the blocks and a couple of straight lines to frame them.  (The faded spots are actually sunlight that filtered through the trees and was picked up by the camera.)

To fill in the scallops I drew a kind of-sort of lotus pattern that I figured I could repeat with a degree of consistency.  Fortunately, the variations don't really matter. I am almost (but not really) sad that I did black quilting on black fabric because it doesn't really show up all that well.  But then, that is why I did it.  So it wouldn't show up that well. 

 It took me quite a while to get the hang of sewing the scallops on both by machine and then again by hand.  I did quite a bit of quilt wrestling to get it finished.  Actually, I would stitch about two and half scallops and then I had to walk away.  It took me about two days to get it all done. 

To stitch the binding you have to clip the low points almost to the seam allowance, bunch up the quilt and sew straight across.  You do the same thing for the hand sewing and then it all falls neatly into cute little tucks.  No need to miter anything.  Well that is the theory.

By the end of the quilt I was able to stitch across pretty reliably.  The same with the hand sewing.  I kept wanting to pull the binding too tight.  That was a double problem since I refused to make a bias binding which is REQUIRED for scalloped edges.  Phoey.  My curves were gentle enough to make it work out OK but it probably did require a wee bit of extra fussing. 

The details:  This quilt measures 40 x 44 inches.  It is made of 100% cotton quilters fabric with the exception of the binding which is a cotton poly blend.  The batting in cotton.  It will be a lovely baby quilt or table topper.  This one is destined for the shop or the shows I am doing later this Summer and Fall. 

Flimsy Parade

This is the latest in my quest to move fabric to flimsy.  This was a set of  fabrics I bought several years ago.  I finally settled on a design.  I think it is fun.  I have backing for it so it should be quilted in short order.  I'm not sure what color thread.  The backing is a cream/black print and the front is just plain wild.  Suggestions? 

A Banner Day

It was a banner day around here yesterday.  I found this Freaky Geeky fabric and thought it paired perfectly with my chalkboard fabric.  So I made a chalkboard banner. 

It made me happy!

  And tomorrow if I'm not happy, I can erase it and write a different message. 

Here you can see a but more of the fabric. 

What fun! Something to note about working with chalkboard fabric and probably paint and paper too...  it needs to be conditioned.  You have to evenly coat it with chalk and then rub it off before you write on it.  Otherwise the first writing will stick around.  If you decide you are going to buy a chalkboard fabric item you should always ask if you are getting one that has either been conditioned or has not been written on.  You don't want to pay for the ghost of some one else's message.

So here is the question.  I put this one together with the chalkboard and fabric alternating.  You can have a message on both sides.  Should I really make them so the fabric is on one side and the chalkboard is on the other?  What do you think?  

 

Oh, and I finished up another banner that was sitting in my WIP pile!  

 

This is a pink and green one like one I made for a silent auction basket.  This one is going to the craftster raffle. 

One of these days I am going to have to make one of these for me.

Lunacy

I always say "We will finish no quilt before it wants to be done".  Some quilts really do not want to be done.  We call them WIPS.  But there is almost always a reason they get put back on the shelf. 

Then there are the quilts that pop up and say MAKE ME NOW!!!  Not something I experience on a regular basis.  Today was the exception. 

I was looking through my stash for something else.  Sadly, I can't even remember what I was looking for.  A charm pack fell at my feet.  It is a black and white set of Half Moon by Moda.  It insisted that it could be sewn together in short order.  Even better, it would be GREAT practice for precision sewing.  I know all the pieces are cut properly so any variations will be due to operator error.

There was surprisingly little operator error.  The center panel went together in no time at all.  The seams ironed out correctly... now that never happens.  It was finished in a flash.

Except...  one charm pack makes for a pretty small quilt.  Barely big enough to call a stroller quilt.  This baby needed something else. 

I headed to my stash thinking either a red border or a border of brightly colored squares.  I have plenty of those.  Certainly something will work.

Except... this quilt had other ideas.  It kept saying "Scallops.  I would look so elegant with scallops."  It refused to play nicely with any of the reds in my stash. 

But on the top of the pile was a black kona remnant.  It is a piece of wide backing that is too narrow for most quilts that need a wide backing.  A little time with the graph paper, ruler and some light math and it became clear that there was enough fabric for an 8 inch border AND enough for the backing as well.  Score!!!

So, the top is pieced.  I have the backing and batting.  Spud 1 is on his way home and can help with the basting.  This quilt is going to be finished in a flash.

Except... that I have to figure out how to draw the scallops.  I've listened to the talk at the LQS a couple times now.  I understand it in theory.  I have paper and tape.  The scallops won't be a problem.

Except... that I have to figure out how to quilt that vast expanse of black border.  And that is a problem for another day. 

And... and I can see that this is going to be another quilt that is going to be impossible to photograph.  All that black on black quilting will hide.  It will either hide my multitude of sins or it will hide from the camera.  Either way, it won't be impressive on the intertubes. 

One Block Short of a Full Quilt

Or:  Sometimes you remember why it is WIP instead of a quilt.

I made these blocks eons ago.  I don't have any of the fabrics left.  I have 23 blocks.  Twelve Ohio Stars and thirteen Michigan stars.   I embroidered the Missouri Mule to make it up to two dozen but now it seems I am still short.  See that big white space in the middle? 

 And the other issue is the white sashing I sewed on one side of every single of of those blocks.  If I recall correctly, those are goofed up in some irritating way as well.  I think that I am going to go all the way around each block with it.  Square them up (because the stars are pretty whack-a-doodle in terms of size) and go from there.  

Well at least it is on the design wall staring at me rather than in the WIP pile haunting me.

The fun thing about these blocks is that looking at them I am able to see how much my technique has improved.  I have a long way to go but I have certainly learned a lot!

Alphabet Blues

This is actually all stitched together and I am trying to decide if it needs a border.  If it weren't for my complete inability to manage the ruler and rotary cutter on angles, I think all of my quilts would become triangle quilts.  I LOVE sewing these together. 

And Side by Side

After much figuring and ripping, I finally finished piecing one.  It went from one long string of blocks to this diamond pattern.  Spud 3 approves!  It is a twin sized top.   I need to find backing and figure out how to quilt it.  I am open to suggestions.  I want it to be vaguely historic. 

I keep naming this one different things.  So much so that I have a couple different picture folders.  One is called Riverbed.  The other is historic trip around the world.  I wonder what it will be once it gets quilted.

End to End

I am challenging myself to convert fabric stash to flimsies, to try new things, to make bigger quilts and to continue to work on technique.  To that end,  I pulled out a bunch of historic-ish fabrics from my stash to make an historic-ish twin-sized quilt.  Mostly to learn how to construct it and to determine what goes into making one. 

There it is pieced end to end.  Enough 3.5 inch blocks to make a twin sized quilt.

  

And here it is all rolled up.  Yes, there is a madness to my method.  I will try to explain it some time but it will require some input from Mr-I'm-the-mathematician-sew-here-trust-me-the-seam-ripper-is-your-friend.

=

Low Volume or "Next Time Use More Contrast"

I had the opportunity to join the St Louis Modern Quilters on a sewing day yesterday.  It was wonderful.  We went to the  meeting room in the Webster Groves Library. It was a very nice facility and perfectly arranged for us to work as much or as little as we liked.  I have to say it was a fantastic day.  I really enjoyed getting to know these ladies better.  It was even more amazing to see the quilts they were working on.  What incredible quilters! 

Never having been before, I took a BUNCH of projects.  I figured seven hours of sewing time would be more than enough to get at least two or three projects done.  HA!

I spent the entire time I was there sewing and trimming the half square triangles for this quilt.  I know.  There aren't even that many there.  I even skipped lunch.  OK so there was a major fire in the area and getting out to find lunch seemed more hassle than not but I still stayed and sewed the whole time.

In my defense, I was an hour late and had to leave an hour early.  But still I spent five hours making half square triangles. I do have to say the time was well spent.  Ever since my precision sewing crisis during the craftster.org block swap, I have been making a conscious effort to do better.  It was absolutely horrifying to me to see how far off these blocks ended up being.  I used my swanky hst ruler to mark and cut them.   The original blocks were pretty darn close to accurate.  And still the final blocks were off by as much as a quarter of an inch.  Not any more.  They are all the same size now.

These pictures show them all laid out on the design floor.  Spud 3 came up to work his color positioning magic.  I was pretty close.  He didn't have to shift much but he did identify one pin wheel that didn't follow the 'rules' for this quilt.  On his way out the door he said, "next time use more contrast." 

(This is a project for a special person.  I'll tell you more about it when I can.)  

On the Work Table

Finally something I can share.  A simple quilt to raffle at our Spring Tea.  The top is pieced.  I just need to quilt and bind.  you can also see some other projects in the corner.  The pink is the start of a bunting for the same tea.  The ninjas are new patches available at the Flying Monkey show in Huntsville tomorrow and soon to be in the shop.  The green fabric is for the bunting and the rest of the stack is for making dice bags.  And for the record, this is the neat part of the work table today.  There are scraps and threads and pins on the floor, piles of fabric everywhere, all of the embroidery threads I've used for the last week, random bobbins and scissors everywhere.  I am SO happy to be sewing again! 

I Got Nothin'

This project has been sitting on the work table for a couple weeks now.  First I stalled out because I needed some more fabric (I knew buying 1/4 yard was crazy but I was trying to be conservative.  When I found it again it was a remnant and I ended up with another whole yard.)  Then we started in on the kitchen re-do.  I just haven't been able to get to my machine to get much of anything done beyond the essentials.  Now the projects are stacked up and I don't know where to start. 

Hmmmm

I have an idea.  It works in theory.  Now I just need to figure out the details. 

The Mystery of the MIssing Stitches

I was working on an a batch of patches for a customer.  I finished the first tray.   They were beautiful.  I love her little bird design.  Then I had to shut down for a day.  I set up my machine to finish the order.  Awful.  I hadn't changed a thing on the machine, the design, the thread, the fabric, Nothing.  So out came the trouble shooting.  New needle.  Clean everything.  New bobbin case.  New design.  Re-thread.  Re-load.   Twenty, count them, TWENTY test patches later and nothing worked.  It kept dropping the same stitches.  The same stitches that came out perfectly the day before.  UGH.  I was ready to haul the machine off to the shop. 

And then I noticed something.  There were ripples in the fabric between the patches.  In the perfect batch, the ripples were vertical.  In the crazy skipping batch they were horizontal.  The fabric has a light stretch too it.  (It was the only white pair of jeans I could find.)  By rotating the design on the fabric so that the direction of the stretch was 90 degrees off it came out perfectly. 

Crazy.  But lesson learned. 

Shamrock Quilt

This is a quilt I made for a charity raffle.  I was only able to get a couple quick pictures last night. 

It is made from one charm pack and a bit of additional fabric.  I digitized the shamrock you can see in the middle.  The rest of the quilt is quilted with a smaller version of the same.  It is about 40 x 52 inches.  I used a fusible batting for this.  It worked pretty well and held together through all of the rough treatment it received running through my embroidery machine. 

Welcome to Leaf Springs (PQ 4:5)

The challenge for Project Quilting this week is to pick up a magazine, turn to page 28 and draw your inspiration from there.  I, quite foolishly, asked my husband to pick the magazine.

Yes, page 28 of Four Wheeler is a lovely article about Leaf Springs and how they can improve the speed on your four wheel drive.  The image, while relevant to the article, was not exactly inspiring.  I stressed until Wednesday.  I briefly contemplated cheating (GASP!)  I did look at a second magazine.  This one was the AAA travel mag.  Page 28 had a gorgeous picture of a Kentucky horse farm with graphically interesting stark white fences on brilliant green.... curved seams... NOT happening.  Back to leaf springs...  Wednesday and not an idea in sight.

Well, I drove a 1953 Willys Jeep CJ3B.  It seemed the logical choice for this.  Finally an idea, then a rough sketch.  That required pulling out almost every green, blue and grey fabric in the stash.  Fortunately the red, white and black were easy.   What a mess.

Did you know that you can use your front door as a light box?  Well you can.  Although it does make the neighbors look at you funny.  (So what else is new?)  Lots of machine quilting.  I used Heat and Bond light.  While I like the ease of using it, it is too thick for a quilt that needs to drape fortunately this is a wall hanging. 

Frantic stitching Friday morning.

 

A few stitchy details and loose leafy embellishments.  

Photo shoot on Saturday.

And it is finished!

Thus you have it.  Welcome to Leaf Springs.


 The details:
Raw edge applique fused on to a base of muslin.  All the fabrics are quilters cottons.  It is machine stitched and machine quilted in black thread using a straight stitch.   The binding is exactly 4 inches of my most favorite fabric ever. 
(Asked Spud one to measure it for me.  "1.1 x .6 cubits."   True measurements  14 x 20 inches.   Way off in his cubit estimation.  Blames it on a growth spurt!)  It is finished with fast finish triangles for hanging.

Go check out the Project Quilting Flickr page.  And check out all of the cool Project Quilting projects from past seasons. 

Be sure to check out my give away while you are here.   It is part of the Beat the Blues blog hop hosted by Michelle at Quilting Gallery. 

Page 28

From This

To this..

Making progress on my page 28 project.  Not there yet, but I have hope of finishing by noon on Sunday.  

Swamped

And trying to match some green fabric.  Why am I always one block short of a dozen?

(At least this time it wasn't because I messed up but because there weren't enough pieces in my 99 cent charm pack.)

Now I have to fill in a hole. 

Project Quilting 4:4 Seeing Stars

This week's entry in the Project Quilting: Seeing Stars challenge.

This is made using the tutorial  by Janice from Better off Thread at Sew Mama Sew.   The directions in the tutorial are clear and simple. The piece went together easily.  I didn't cut half square triangles for the stars.  I just laid scraps across the blocks, made sure they would cover and stitched them down.  It was easiest to square up when I left the entire background block intact before trimming.  However, that left a little more bulk in the seam.  Not really a problem except in a couple of spots where I had to iron against the bulk in order to get the seams to nest.  I left the last bit of the smallest star as a strip rather than separate blocks.  There are a couple other places where that would work and I would probably do that if I was going to us the block for a larger quilt.

I tried this pattern because I have been working out some different designs with blocks of different sizes in my head and I wanted to see how these fit together.  I think I have a handle on the strategy and will be trying some of those ideas in the future. 

The quilting is wonky stitches with pearl cotton.  It probably needs more quilting.  However, it really needs to have beads or buttons and I don't have the correct type of either at the moment.  

The Details: 
The block measures 20 x 20 inches.  It is made from a dark blue (navy?) Kona and scraps from my stash. The backing is muslin.  It is hand quilted with #12 Pearl cotton.  There are no hanging devices on the back as yet. 

I still have to get a decent picture of it.  Here is a slightly different angle with a closer view of the stitching.

I will post more details and pictures tomorrow when the sun is out.  Unfortunately that won't be until after the PQ deadline of noon.  Thus, a quick shot. 

Time Enough for Love

Finally the time has come that I can share the little quilty I made for my first entry into the Little Quilt Sew Vote Swap swap on Flickr.  This is actually the third quilt I started and the first I finished for this swap.  I started one for the December swap but got hung up on it.  Time ran out for that swap.  I am still hung up on it.  I didn't do something right and I can't figure out how to get past it.  The second idea wasn't much better.  It is a cute wee quilt (even the LQS lady thought so and she is pretty tough).   But  I need to rip out and re-do some part but I can't decide which one.  So it is awaiting and not revealing on the off chance I enter it in the next round.  Time to move on.

The deadline for this round was the 15th.  Time was short.  As I sat staring at my stash on the evening of the 13th, It finally occurred to me.  I was going to make a bright happy pieced and appliqued quilt with a boat or a village on it.  Yep.  Hot pink, lime green, turquoise!  All the brightest.  I could see the whole thing mapped out in my mind.  As I pulled out all of my cream and beige text prints.

Uh Huh!  a bright pink and red pieced heart would be perfect on  this background.  Of course that Madrona Road print just had to stick itself to the heart pattern.  All it needed was a bit of brightly colored ribbon to set it off.  Perhaps the wide purple?  The lime green?  Aah, the white eyelet.  Absolutely!  Thus the too short beige crocheted lace.  But I would use buttons.  Bright Red Buttons.  That would make it perfect.  Bright and Cheerful all the way.  Yep!  Nothing like a muted baby blue button placed just so. Now the binding, that was going to be easy.  I have a lovely, already cut, stitched and ironed piece of contrasting text just waiting to be set aside for the uncut blue.  Exactly the way I pictured it right from the start! 

Yep.  Nothing but the brightest cheeriest prints for my low volume ode to Valentine's Day.  Can you tell I was watching the Maker and the follow on video about the glass blower?  OK probably not, but go watch it.  Then you'll understand.  And the name too.

The details:  12 x 14.5 inches.  Made from low volume quilter's cotton.   Machine pieced and quilted.  Embellished with antique crocheted lace and an assortment of vintage buttons.  It has fast finish triangles on the back for hanging.