KatyQuilts

This and That Tuesday

Posted on May 17, 2016 by katyquilts

I disciplined myself to work on this UFO yesterday.

It took a good chunk of the day, but I got the top done.

I tried to finish cutting out the rest of the pieces for my log cabin blocks, but I ran out of the white fabric I was using. So this is stopped until I can get back to Ikea.

I got most of my laundry done. This is only notable because it was the first time this year that I could hang it outside!

Our lilacs are blooming and smell glorious. I’m glad the snow on Sunday didn’t kill them!

I hope you have a wonderful day!

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Hello friends! I hope you all had a great weekend. We did, in spite of that snow yesterday! I finally spent some time in the sewing room and instead of working on projects already started, I began cutting for something new. No discipline, I tell ya!

I’ve been wanting to make a quilt with 60 degree diamonds for a while and since my Civil War scrap tub was sitting out, I started cutting. I am using these dies.

The block above uses 4 of the smaller diamonds. I will eventually cut alternate diamonds out with the larger die. I focused yesterday on cutting the sets of smaller diamonds.

I don’t really know where I am going with this, as usual. I really should be working on these:

Or these:

Or this:

I did make more progress on my Gwennie inspired Medallion for the QAL. I’ll share more of that when I get a bit further along.

Just for fun, here is one of my grand dogs enjoying the quilts I made for her.

Have a good one!

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

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Civil War Repro Quilts, Scraps, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Slow Stitching Sunday

Posted on May 15, 2016 by katyquilts

I am making progress on my Gwennie Inspired Medallion QAL center.

My stems are all appliquéd down. I will appliqué the basket today and hope to finish prepping the other bits to add to the stems. This is the plan I’m going with:

In other news, yesterday I got some new shoes.

These were not cheap, but I’ve been trying to up my walking and good shoes are important. Hubby and I tried out our new shoes last night. They felt great! I reached a milestone with my Fit Bit yesterday, I’ve walked 500 miles since I got it at Christmas! Go me!

Off to church, some family time, and then my slow stitching! Have a great day!

Linking up with Kathy’s Quilts

Posted in Gwennie inspired Medallion QAL, Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Saturday ~ Gwennie Inspired Medallion QAL

Posted on May 14, 2016 by katyquilts

Have you started on your basket for our little QAL? I hope so! I confess, I didn’t work on it much this week. With graduation, moving my daughter, and work, not a lot got done. But I have been thinking about it! I love basket quilts, but since I try to avoid the A word (applique), I felt a little stumped. I didn’t want an empty basket for the middle of my medallion. Then I decided to put a print there. I made this block:

Hmmm….doesn’t look very Gwen. At all.

Okay, I might get brave. I grabbed some freezer paper and cut a basket-ish shape.

Then I dumped out my little box of leftover A shapes from previous attempts.

No need to reinvent the wheel, right? Time to play a bit.

I’ll need to prepare some more shapes. I chose that print for the basket because I thought it was reminiscent of a woven basket.

Tulip shapes are too small!

Better. Still not sure about this. Anyway, I thought I would show you how I made my stems. I remembered from one of Gwen’s books that she doesn’t necessarily cut her stems on the true bias and it works. So I cut some angled 1 inch pieces.

I folded one side a little over halfway up and pressed.

Then I folded the other side down and pressed. Then I gave it a shot of this and re-pressed from the top side, curving the piece as I went.

Not a bad curve!

I’m hoping to finish prepping this for some slow stitching tomorrow. This QAL is pushing me in ways I had not planned!

Happy Saturday!

Posted in Gwennie inspired Medallion QAL, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ The Minky Quilt

Posted on May 13, 2016 by katyquilts

Okay, I am not sure this is technically Minky fabric, but Minky Type quilt doesn’t have much of a ring to it :). This quilt is for my nephew and his bride to be. The wedding is in July. You may remember this Tina Given FQ bundle given to me by Daughter #1 for Christmas. She also gave me a Tina Given layer cake for my birthday.

I found the minky like fabric when I was out in Arizona and as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be the perfect backing for these fabrics. It took me a while to come up with a plan.

And I had to recut fabrics for the sashing when I decided this just wasn’t right. But I finally got the top together and this week I got it quilted.

I used a low loft poly batting by Pellon as the backing made this quilt pretty darn heavy to begin with. I had read that the backing really needed to be loaded with the least stretchy direction between the rollers. I didn’t have enough fabric to load it this way so I broke the rules. Nothing new there! LOL! I did make sure to load it loosely and I did not tighten the rollers anywhere near as much as I normally do. I used Glide thread in the top and Magna Glide pre-wound bobbins. I only had one thread break on the entire top and no tension issues whatsoever. I used my current favorite panto, Any Which Way. The quilting was trouble free and made me wonder why I put it off so long!

Here is a look before washing.

I had a tough time getting good finished photos, this quilt s very heavy and I didn’t think the pant hangers are normally use would be adequate. So here it is on my deck.

A close up after washing:

The backing:

This next one is the best for showing true color.

I threw it on my guest bed for a few shots as well.

Love the soft light coming in this window.

While the quilting was trouble free, piecing the backing and the binding were not. I hat shredded thread and skipped stitches everywhere.

This took way longer than it should have due to all the fixing and rethreading. I used my Bernina 1030 last time I used minky and ended up having to have my machine retimed! My Singer 301 didn’t like it much better. It feels wonderful and was a breeze to quilt, but I’m over it. Love the way this quilt turned out, but I won’t use minky again.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Sew Can She, Quokka Quilts

Posted in Bed Quilts, Finishes, HQ Avante, Longarm Quilting | 14 Comments

Throwback Thursday ~ MySpace

Posted on May 12, 2016 by katyquilts

Remember way back, before Face Book became huge, there was a social media site called MySpace? That’s how long ago I made this quilt! I know because that is what I called it back in 2007.

I remember that I used a huge wedge ruler to make the fan sections.

I quilted it with a walking foot on my domestic machine.
I had a terrible time trying to get a decent picture of it!

My how time flies! I wonder what the next big thing will be!

Have a great day!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Art Quilts, Throwback Thursday, Uncategorized | 20 Comments

WIP Wednesday

Posted on May 11, 2016 by katyquilts

I finished quilting the wedding quilt yesterday.

Today, it is time for binding.

My old faithful Bernina doesn’t like this minky like backing. So I think I’ll be using one of theSinger 301s. I have to work today so I have to get moving if I’m going to get this done!

Have a great day!

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabtrication

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Vintage Fabric

Posted on May 10, 2016 by katyquilts

I mentioned yesterday that my dad and mom pulled some vintage fabric for me from my great aunt’s estate. I thought I would share some of that with you today. This first pile is all a bit heavier than quilting cotton, more like home dec weight.

This next piece is at least 4 yards, all 36 inch width.

A pretty vintage sheet! New in the package until I opened it.

The next two are same print, different color ways.

I love these border prints. My aunt loved her aprons!

And this last group might be my favorite. There are at least 3 yards of that 30s green!

Not sure where all of this will end up. There is more, but these were my favorites.

Yesterday, I took Big E and Stinky for a long walk while Daughter #1 helped #3 work on her apartment.

We waved at the mail man in his truck and he waved back! So exciting!
After she took her boys home, I helped #3 some more with unpacking, hanging stuff etc. it was a great day. And my Fit Bit thought so too.

That is NOT my normal day! But I have been working hard at getting all my steps in.

Time to get some quilting in before work. Have a great day!

Linking up with Mel’s Quilting Room, Free Motion by the River

Posted in Uncategorized, Vintage Fabrics | 8 Comments

DWMonday

Posted on May 9, 2016 by katyquilts

I feel as if I haven’t been in the sewing room for days and not much is likely to happen today. Laundry is piling up, the kitchen needs cleaning and I’m going to have a fun day with Daughter #1 and 3 working on the apartment. Such is life. But I do have a couple projects in the design stage. This is what is on the design wall at the moment.

I didn’t get far on the wedding quilt for my nephew yesterday. I have gotten the backing loaded and the batting cut and I do hope to start the quilting today. But there is another design project on the horizon.

I picked this chair up while thrifting with my sister when I was in Wisconsin. I want to reupholster it in patchwork. I have no idea what I’m doing here. My sister is the upholstering queen and she gave me some tips. She assures me I can do this……

My dad not only saved the two sewing machines for me from the estate of my great aunt, but he grabbed a few boxes of fabric as well. In one, were these fabric samples.

They might find their way into this project….. This is a job I’m going to have to really think about. The chair will live in my sewing room and I want it to be wild and funky. And I want to do some free motion quilting on it. I have redone a couple small rockers and this seems fairly simple, but it is still a bit (a lot) out of my comfort zone.

Have a wonderful day!

Linking up with Em’s Scrap Bag , PatchworkTimes, Love Laugh Quilt, Cooking Up Quilts

Posted in Uncategorized | 19 Comments

Slow Stitching Mother’s Day!

Posted on May 8, 2016 by katyquilts

Happy Mother’s Day to all of you moms out there! I hope you all have a lovely day ahead. I hope to get some slow stitching in after church today on this.

I have gotten a bit farther since this photo was taken. Later on, we will be going over to Daughter #1’s house for a cook out. After that, I’m hoping to finish loading this quilt and get started quilting it.

Yesterday, this happened:

Beautiful Daughter #3 graduated Summa Cum Laude with a BA in Communications. She already has her job lined up and will start after a well deserved week off. We spent Friday night and some time last night getting the last of her stuff moved to her new apartment. Monday Daughter #1 and I will go help finish unpacking and getting her settled. This girl is nothing short of amazing! She is a world changer!