Finish It Up Friday – Bright HSTs!

Posted on March 11, 2016 by katyquilts

What? You were expecting Goose in the Pond? So was I. But that quilt is humongous and the ground is too wet for me to drag it outside by myself for pictures. So hopefully next week, I will be able to share pictures of that all done.

This is the last of the 5 donation quilts I have been making for Quilts Beyond Borders. I used a variegated thread from Superior Threads. I love variegated threads, but honestly, there aren’t a lot of places where they work really well on a quilt. If one color blends with the background, it can look like your stitching has dropped out in places. Not a good look! This quilt is all about color and it doesn’t really matter.

I used this Ikea print for the back.
 And here are my five donation quilts ready to be packed for shipping.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, A Quilted Passion, Confessions of a Fabric Addict , Dizzy Quilts, Fort Worth Fabric Sutdio

Posted in Donation Quilts, Finishes, Quilts Beyond Borders, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Learning Something New!

Posted on March 10, 2016 by katyquilts

Do you ever wake up in the morning with an idea that demands your attention? That happened to me yesterday. So I grabbed this pile of hand dyed fabrics.


And this ruler.

And this pattern.

I can hear the collective gasp, yes, I used a pattern! You kind of have to with this ruler. Both are from Jenny Petigo and the team at Sew Kind of Wonderful.

These patterns require sewing and trimming. I had to do more trimming than normal because I cut my corner triangles too big.

I had to use my die cutter somewhere!

I’m not gonna lie, there is a learning curve here (I love puns!). My hand dyed fabric starts out as Kona PFD and it is a bit beefier than regular quilting cotton. I think this made my curves a bit trickier to sew. And I surely need more practice. You can see here that things didn’t always line up as they should!

However, using the same fabric in all the corner triangles disguises this a bit. I didn’t do it for that reason, but it seemed to really help.

Want me to let you in on a dirty little secret?


Yep, I used white thread for the whole thing because I was too lazy to change the thread in my machine.  And here is my finished table runner top!


I can’t wait to play with the quilting!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Hand Dyed Fabric, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

WIP Wednesday 

Posted on March 9, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve been working on the last of the HST donation quilts.   This is the pantograph I am using.
 And this is the thread I am using.
 I got some happy mail the other day! New rulers for my long arm! These are from Linda at The Quilted Pineapple


When I got to the end of the HST quilt, I had a bit of extra batting and backing so I had to try out my new toys.
One of these days, I am going to get my Metropolitan Fair quilt quilted! I decided to try a few designs out that might work for that quilt. Here’s a peek at in progress in case you have forgotten.
IMG_1556

Not sure I am in love with any of these, but it was fun to play!

 I will say that I am really impressed with these rulers and templates. most long arm rulers only have parallel lines. Linda has designed hers to have measurements both the length of the ruler and parallel to the edge. I have another arc ruler that I have never liked that well, these will be a great replacement for that.

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication

Posted in Machine quilting, Pantographs, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Another Scrappy HST Top

Posted on March 8, 2016 by katyquilts

I wanted to make more of the blocks I showed you yesterday, but this pile of triangles was staring me down.

img_1340
If I can get one more quilt made, I can ship a pile of them off and make more room in my sewing room. I can also cross one item off my UFO list for the year. I’m listening to an audio book called The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton and it really keeps me sewing! I really like her books. I got the top pieced while listening.


I had to cut two more triangles, but now that pile is GONE!


For some reason, the colors look dull on my computer screen. It is screaming bright!   Happy Tuesday!

Linking up with Free Motion by the River, The Quilting Room with Mel, Quilt Story, She Can Quilt

Posted in Donation Quilts, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Posted on March 7, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve got several projects going now that my Goose in the Pond quilt is nearly done. I finally started piecing a few of these blocks.


I had gotten them all cut out before I left for AZ. These are big 18 inch blocks. I thought I could have a lot of fun quilting with that size. So far, I have 4 finished.


I also got one more of my scrappy rectangle blocks done. I’m up to ten now.


I am piecing pairs together as leader/enders. When I get a pile done and 20 minutes or so free, I stop and make a block.

I found out my nephew is getting married this summer. Since he lives in northern Wisconsin, I wanted to make a very cozy quilt for him and his new wife. I decided to use these.


Daughter #1 also gave me a Tina Givens layer cake that matches really well. I decided on a very simple pattern and have the bits all cut for this quilt.


I love cutting out quilts with my die cutter. It goes so fast and I love having all my pieces for a quilt cut and ready to sew. When I get down to it, this will go together very quickly.

What’s on your design wall?

Linking up with Patchwork Times, Cooking Up Quilts, Love Laugh Quilt, Em’s Scrapbag

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Goose in the Pond Progress!

Posted on March 6, 2016 by katyquilts

One day last week, I got the borders added to my GITP quilt.


Yay!

I knew I wanted to quilt this with the Baptist fan pattern. But dang, it isn’t easy on a long arm! I even bought a panto once, but I wasn’t thrilled with it. I bought this stencil from Barb  over at Fun with Barb.


It is a bit bigger than will fit my 18 inch throat. So I decided to scooch (technical term) it down to the second arc. You kind of see it in the picture above. I ended up using this to mark with.


It gets a bit messy and I cleaned my stencil every row or so.


But overall, I was pleased. Until I ran out!


Perhaps I was a bit  heavy handed! I got this a couple years ago at Tuesday Morning. I don’t know if it is still available anywhere.

The first fan, I free handed.


The next one I used a curved template to guide my stitching.


Not perfect, but good enough! And no, I didn’t rip out the first one. It took most of the day on Friday to get this quilted.


I wish I had used a slightly darker thread. I love these huge fans! In fact, I have a vintage quilt top that I have wanted to hand quilt. I plan to use this stencil for it.

My binding is made and getting this on and the hand sewing started is my goal for today.


I can’t wait to finish and wash this. Happy Stitching!

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted in Bed Quilts, Civil War Repro Quilts, Machine quilting, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

Donation Quilts

Posted on March 5, 2016 by katyquilts

This week I quilted a couple quilts for our local women’s shelter. The tops were pieced by members of my local guild. 

 

Sorry for the bad pictures, the weather this week is not conducive to good pictures.
  
  
And here is the second one. 

 
  
  
The quilting on the one above was freehand. I would have used a panto, but the backing I was given was rather skimpy. I wanted to work from the front of the machine to make sure I wasn’t running into any pins or my leader grips. I was sweating all the way to the end, afraid I would run out of backing before running out of top!

I read a really great blog post on  From My Carolina Home on why your long armer needs extra backing fabric and the work that is involved before the machine quilting even begins. You can read it here. It’s a very well thought out post with lots of pictures. I wish every person that sends a top to a long armer would take a minute to read this.

Posted in Donation Quilts, Finishes, Machine quilting, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Purple HSTs

Posted on March 4, 2016 by katyquilts

I have one more donation quilt that I finished before I left for AZ. I decided to wait to post it as I wasn’t likely to have any big finishes this week! I’m still recovering!

I present, the purple quilt!

I sewed up all the HSTs and then just randomly grabbed them to sew together into rows. I ended up having only two like pieces touching! I call that a win. The pantograph I used to quit this is called Whoosh and it is from urban Elementz.

I used purple thread on the top and back. I think it looks great against this backing fabric.

I have one more donation quilt to make and then I will send all five off to Quilts Beyond Borders. You can click here to learn more about how you can help to cover kids in orphanages with pretty quilts.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, A Quilted Passion, Quokka Quilts, Fort Worth Fabric Studio

 

Posted in Donation Quilts, Finishes | 13 Comments

A Little Cheddar 4 Patch

Posted on March 3, 2016 by katyquilts

I love two color quilts! And I have been wanting to make a cheddar/off white quilt for some time. I have loved this combination since finishing this vintage top   last year. But of course I was squeezing this in among other more important things while preparing to leave on my trip. So it had to be a small quilt.


It had to be a 4 patch!  These blocks finish at 2 inches.


I pieced the top and quilted vertical lines with my walking foot.

 But that wasn’t enough. So I completed the cross hatch.

My lines are wonky. I don’t measure or mark anything when I do this and don’t mind the imperfection at all. It adds character :).

I finished the binding on the trip out to AZ.  And I got to take finish pics in sunny Arizona!


I sure wish it was sunny here. This is the current view out my back door. 

Time to plan my next trip!
Have a great day!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Doll Quilts, Finishes | 9 Comments

WIP Wednesday

Posted on March 2, 2016 by katyquilts

Still trying to recover from my trip. And yesterday we had a huge snowstorm here. All the schools were closed but I still had to go to work. I shoveled the driveway twice and will have to do it again before work today. I am so thankful that I was able to use hubby’s 4WD truck!  To get back into sewing, I decided to get this donation top quilted up. It will be for our local women’s shelter.


I’m using this Glide thread.


And this pantograph.


This is a great panto for a beginner, or a weary traveler with little brain power. This top was made by a member of my local guild. I hope to finish this today and get another one loaded.

Happy Wednesday!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication

Posted in Donation Quilts, Pantographs, Uncategorized | 5 Comments