WIP Wednesday

Posted on March 7, 2018 by katyquilts

I feel like I’ve been moving from project to project this week. I finished these four blocks from the pieces I had found. I think I will just add them to the box of orphan blocks for now. Someday I’ll put them all together into a random sampler of sorts.

I worked on some repairs to this old top and got it basted for hand quilting.

And I made ten more of these blocks. I’m up to 30 now. They finish at five inches. I still don’t have a plan for them, but they think I will cut some more out tomorrow.

It has t been all quilting around here. Daughter #1 and I took the littles to the dinosaur exhibit at a local museum. They loved it! We had a great day!

Hope you all have a great day too!

Posted in Uncategorized | 8 Comments

Scrappy Trips and Diamonds Progress

Posted on March 6, 2018 by katyquilts

Thanks for all of your thoughts regarding my diamond quilt top yesterday. Hubby is out of town so that means staying up late and sewing! I managed to finish this top late last night. This photo shows my background choice.

I can’t wait to get this top on the frame. But I have to finish my Scrappy Trips first.

This is the panto I’m using. It is from Urban Elementz . My machine has an 18 inch throat and this panto is a bit too big. It can be done, but it takes a bit of finagling. I wouldn’t use it on a quilt any bigger than twin size. I need to remember that I’m much happier with pantos 12 inches and less with my machine.

Having said that, it does look good!

Have a great day!

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Posted in Long Arm Quilting, Longarm Quilting, Pantographs, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

DWMonday ~ Diamonds

Posted on March 5, 2018 by katyquilts

I decided to work on these blocks and realized I had made more than I thought.

I pulled some things out of my stash to audition as backgrounds.

The beige-y ones blend too much. I’m leaning toward the green right now.

But of course, that could change!

Have a great day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday ~ Star

Posted on March 4, 2018 by katyquilts

I came across this vintage star block recently and pulled it out to ponder what to do with it.

It’s a full inch longer on one side than the other! I thought it would make a good addition to my wall of red, white, and blue minis if I finished it. So I added some strips of vintage fabric around the edges and squared that up. I didn’t want to trim the block at all.

I marked it with this stencil. I will go back and freehand extra lines of quilting once the marked grid is done.

I basted with safety pins since I had something else on the long arm frame. I much prefer thread basting.

I’ll quilt this little one without a hoop. I hope to have it done just in time to baste my pink quilt.

Have a great day!

Posted in Doll Quilts, Hand quilting, Uncategorized, Vintage Fabrics, Vintage Quilts | 4 Comments

This and That

Posted on March 3, 2018 by katyquilts

It took three movies, but the quilt deconstruction is complete! I ordered Quilters Dream batting for it. Now to decide how to quilt it.

I’m still working on my leader/ender 4 patches. I’m up to 225 of 800.

This funky little angel block was made for a collaborative project. I made mine to reflect the fact that I used to be a librarian.

I found a little box in the sewing room this week. It had pieces cut for four of these 8 inch blocks in it. I’ve sewn the first up and will try to finish the other four this week. I have no idea what this will grow up to be, but finished blocks are better than random pieces floating around.

I took the girls to get groomed this week since the weather was finally warming up.

The next day it snowed again. Ugh.

Have a great weekend!

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Broken Dishes

Posted on March 2, 2018 by katyquilts

Today I can cross another item off my UFO list! This quilt was made with blocks from the last Fun with a Barb block swap.

You all know my mad love for Baptist fan quilting, so of course I had to do it again! This time though, it is all done on my long arm.

First, I quilted the entire quilt on the long arm using these design boards .

Then I went back and free handed an extra arc between each one that was already quilted. You can see the difference here.

It is far from perfect, but I still love it!

I got rather hooked on the look of the close arcs while hand quilting using the stencil that Barb created.

I’m very happy with this little quilt. It is now hanging in my hallway. I’m also looking forward to receiving my blocks back from the current swap!

Have a great day!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts , Confessions of a Fabric Addict , Busy Hands Quilts , What a Hoot Quilts

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Finishes, Swaps, UFOs, Uncategorized | 21 Comments

New Quilt!

Posted on March 1, 2018 by katyquilts

My birthday was last weekend. While visiting Daughter #3 and SIL, we hit up a few antique stores. I found this quilt and had to rescue it, so hubby bought it for my birthday gift!

This gorgeous old top had been finished at a much later date with polyester batting and a poly/cotton blend backing that bearded terribly.

Aren’t the double pinks fabulous? To add insult to injury, this 1970s era pink binding was added.

See that pilling? That’s the poly batting coming through. Ugh.

This lovely top practically begged me to take it home and fix it. I’ll be taking it apart completely and requilting it by hand with 100% cotton batting and a cotton muslin for backing. I will finish with either a vintage fabric for binding or an appropriate reproduction fabric.

I couldn’t wait to rip open a corner, just as I suspected, the hand piecing stitches are tiny and beautiful.

I need to set this aside until my other hand work piece is completed. But I am really looking forward to this one.

Have a great day!

Posted in Hand quilting, Uncategorized, Vintage Quilts | 16 Comments

February/March Goals

Posted on February 28, 2018 by katyquilts

This month has been very productive for me. I attribute that to staying home and saying to heck with housework! Here are the goals I set for myself this past month.

1. Finish my Redwork quilt. Done!

2. Finish my Granny Square quilt. Done!

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3. Quilt 5 QOVs. Done! Actually, I only quilted four as that was all they had for me this time.

4. Finish my Broken Dishes quilt made from swap blocks. Done! I’ll share this finish soon!

5. Make one small quilt l pinned from Pinterest. Done!

And I made a tiny quilt from the scraps.

6. Decide on a design for a wedding quilt for my niece. Done! I’m going to do a version of this quilt by Painted Quilts.

7. Finish my hexi quilt. Done! 

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I also completed the quilts for my siblings.

Wow! I can be so productive when I set goals and the weather stinks!

Time to set some goals for March.

1. I want to finish my Scrappy Trips quilt.

2. I want to get back to work on this quilt.

3. And I’ve been wanting to get back to this UFO as well.

4. Quilt 5 QOVs.

5. Make one thing from my Pinterest boards.

6. Finish the little vintage bow tie quilt that I am hand quilting.

I might even start a big tumbler quilt.

Have a great day!

Posted in Goals, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Slow Stitching Tuesday

Posted on February 27, 2018 by katyquilts

Mr. Wonderful and I went to visit Daughter #3 and SIL this past weekend. I’ve missed them so since they moved to the west side of the state! I needed a car project and had planned to do a bit of knitting. But I really wanted to quilt. So at the last minute, I grabbed this small top and got it basted.

It is only about 29 inches square and far from perfectly pieced! I wanted to use this smaller hoop in the truck.

So I decided to use this stencil without the rope border. I’m also adding an extra arc in between each one marked with the stencil.

I’m using this vintage piece for the back.

I have my next hand quilting project already chosen so I want to hurry and finish this little one. I’ll be sharing that one soon!

Posted in Hand quilting, Vintage Quilts | 5 Comments

Scraps

Posted on February 26, 2018 by katyquilts

Remember when I used my die cutter to cut up all my scraps and emptied my scrap bins? Well, I found that I missed my scrap bins. So I decided to make more scraps! I pulled out this basket that held mostly fat quarters.

I pressed them in piles of ten because I can cut ten layers at a time with my Accuquilt Studio Cutter. Then I cut strips about 6 1/2 inches off one edge of each.

I knew I needed more 1 1/2 inch squares for my leader/enders so I cut 6 from each of the 110 different fabrics I had in the bin.

This is the die I used.

Then I cut two 4 1/2 inch tumblers out of each for another project I want to start.

This is the did I used for that.

I carefully placed my pressed piles back in the bin. It will be easy to grab a stack and cut for another scrappy project and it was high time I started using these FQs.

Scrap quilts really are my favorites. I might start going through some other bins and chopping up more FQs.

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Accuquilt, Scraps, Uncategorized | 4 Comments