KatyQuilts

This and That Tuesday

Posted on April 26, 2016 by katyquilts

Hubby found a garage sale with fabric last weekend and I got 20 FQs of 30s repro fabrics. I’ve been wanting to do something with these again. Maybe a Dresden plate?

I also got a new iron last weekend. I’ve been through a gazillion. I have no good suggestions. I’ve been disappointed with pricy Rowentas before, but this one was under $40 at a local discount store. It does get hot. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Still trying to decide if I want to set these block to block or add sashing and cornerstones.

And I finished those 4 log cabin blocks. I really like them, but how many more do I want to make?

Have a great day!

Linking up with Free Motion by the River, Quilt Story, Mel’s Quilting Room, Blossom Heart Quilts

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

DWMonday

Posted on April 25, 2016 by katyquilts

I wanted to do some machine piecing last night and I wanted to try out my log cabin die. The way the die is set up, one pass creates enough pieces for one block. But the lights would be all the same and the darks would be as well. I didn’t want to pull a bunch of different fabrics, so I went looking for one interesting piece. Here it is:

Perfect! I bought a 6 yard piece of this from Ikea a while back for $5. I chose white for my light and cut.

Turns out, I rather like piecing these once the bits are all cut.

I didn’t get very far, but I am liking this already.

I have a few rounds left to go. I’m not sure what this will grow up to be yet, so stay tuned.

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

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 19 Comments

This and That and a Bit of Slow Stitching

Posted on April 24, 2016 by katyquilts

It has been a great weekend here so far. After church, I may be taking a road trip with Daughter #3 for some shopping. So that meant casting about for a hand project. I pulled out this oldie that I haven’t worked on in ages. I think scrap quilts will always be my favorites.

I would be happy to just get that partial row finished. Right now, this is about 48 by 56 inches or so. I’m not sure how big I want this to be.

I joined a Facebook group for people buying and selling Accuquilt dies etc. Its called Accuquilt Sales. Someone posted a note that this die was on clearance online and they got it price matched in the store.

I know, I know, I said no more log cabins for me. But this is not paper piecing and the cutting will be a breeze. The logs finish at an inch wide.

I stopped at a little antique shop last week and found this vintage pants hanger.

It’s perfect for hanging my little quilts. Now to find a place to hang the hanger.

I haven’t done any piecing in over a week and I’m looking forward to doing some this week. But first, I’m going to take some time to smell the daffodils.

Have a wonderful day!

Linking up with Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Kathy’s Quilts

Posted in Uncategorized | 12 Comments

Another Baptist Fan Quilt!

Posted on April 23, 2016 by katyquilts

I have another quilt quilted with the Baptist Fan design to share with you today. This one was made by my husband’s grandmother, Effie. It has lots of wonderful 1930’s fabrics.
I love the string blocks mixed with the 9 patches. This has seen a lot of use and it has been mended here and there. It seems to be quite fragile. The fabrics in some blocks have completely worn away to reveal the batting.

Two corners have been rounded off. I have no idea why! The backing is a plain muslin. It was hand quilted in a frame. You can see on the back that they worked the fans from opposite sides and met in the middle.

Here you can see it on my guest room bed.

I hope my quilts look like this someday, after a lifetime of use and love!

Posted in Uncategorized, Vintage Quilts | 8 Comments

Finish It Up Friday ~ Beachballs

Posted on April 22, 2016 by katyquilts

I started this quilt last week on a bit of a whim. I have no need for yet another baby quilt, but I ran across a small stack of my hand dyed fabrics and had an idea suddenly pop into my head. Tell me I am not the only one this happens to! I should have been doing something else, but I started cutting.

And then I started quilting.

And before I knew it I was binding and it was done!

That’s a bad picture if you are looking for quilting details, but I thought it was kind of a fun shot. Here is a better one.

And the back.

A few detail shots:

I had a lot of fun playing with the quilting on this one.

I shared a picture of this cutie, Little E, the other day, but I can’t resist a few more. I call him Mr. Squishy because I just want to squeeze him!

That face!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, A Quilted Passion, Sew Can She, Lizzie Lenard Vintage Sewing

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes, Free Motion Quilting, Hand Dyed Fabric, Uncategorized | 31 Comments

More Quilts of Valor!

Posted on April 21, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve powered through and finished quilting the QOV tops from the Stitching Sisters group. I didn’t make any of these tops so I don’t know names and I don’t have any patterns to share with you.

Aren’t these lovely? I’m so glad to be part of this group! I will deliver these today after work and then I have another big project to power through.

I hope you are making lots of progress on your projects as well. Have a great day!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 7 Comments

Using Pantographs

Posted on April 20, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve been quilting lots of pantographs lately. I thought I would share a bit about how they are used and how I space the rows of the design. This first pictures shows a Quilt of Valor loaded and ready for quilting.

I have some heavy vinyl laying on the table of my frame. I lay the paper pantographs underneath that. It keeps them in place and I use a grease pencil to mark the pattern as needed. A dry towel is all I need to erase the marks. I purchased this from JoAnn’s in the home dec area.

I always mark a line where the edges of the quilt are so I don’t go off quilting in mid air.

This shows the first row of the pantograph completed.

When I finish a row. I move the machine so that I can drop the needle in the highest point of the pattern.

You can see in the next picture, that the laser light is on the corresponding part of the paper pattern.

I leave the needle down, turn the rollers to advance the quilt until the laser light is now on the lighter gray area of the pattern. This corresponds to the previous row. The machine moves as I roll the quilt.
See how the machine has the needle down in the same spot of the quilt, but it is now close to the back bar?
Now everything is lined up for the next row. I will use smooth everything out and then machine to baste the edges of the top to the batting/backing ad I am ready to go.

See the little arrow I marked with a grease pencil? Sometimes, I can’t complete a row. If I mark an arrow, it is easy to remember which way I am going when I come back. It isn’t always easy to see which way you are traveling on a complex pattern. You don’t want to sew on top of a previously sewn line and then have to rip! Ask me how I know this…

The pantograph I am using here is called Elongated Meander. It is a 13 inch panto and that is about the biggest I can do on my 18 inch machine.

I hope this makes sense. I am going to try to do another posting on choosing and purchasing pantos soon.

Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts, Quilt Fabrication

Posted in Long Arm Quilting, Longarm Quilting, Pantographs, Uncategorized | 16 Comments

Quilt of Valor Week

Posted on April 19, 2016 by katyquilts

I spent a good chunk of my weekend quilting QOVs. These tops were all pieced by members of the Stitching Sisters group.

They do such beautiful work! I love quilting these. I have four more to do. I hope to get them done while hubby is on his business trip.

Have a beautiful day!

Linking up with The Quilting a Room with Mel, Free Motion by the River, Blossom Heart Quilts

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor, Uncategorized | 11 Comments

DWMonday ~ Procrastination and Social Media

Posted on April 18, 2016 by katyquilts

I’ve been procrastinating on the sewing for a quilt I cut out some weeks back. All the prints are from a couple lines of Tina Givens fabrics.

They seem to play well with each other but not so much with fabrics by other designers. I cut what I thought was the perfect background color.

But now, I’m not so sure. I think this is what has been keeping me from working on this. I found a piece of a very odd color of Kona in my stash and it might be better. It’s hard to see the difference between these two fabrics, the second has a rosy tone to it. I have exactly three yards of this, it might be enough.

I cut a few pieces of the second fabric for a side by side comparison. I think this shows the truest color. The backing will be a chocolate brown minky.

Thoughts?
In other news, this happened on Instagram last week.

Who knew that many people cared what I am sewing on any given day? Daughter #2 encouraged me to get an IG account just for quilting a couple years ago. I have really enjoyed it as a way to connect with other quilters and find inspiration for projects. I keep a separate, private IG account for family photos.

It doesn’t replace blogging though, or reading blogs. I love both. For the last few years, I have used Bloglovin’ to keep up with the blogs I follow. There are some things about it that I don’t care for. I know many people use Feedly, but apparently it doesn’t always play nice either.

I have Facebook, but I don’t post much quilting stuff there. I mostly use it to keep up with friends and family. Some quilters have FB accounts for just quilting, but I think that is more than I want to keep up with. If I end up long arming as a business at some point, I may change my mind.

Have a great day!

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

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Uncategorized | 26 Comments

Hands2Help 2016 Update

Posted on April 17, 2016 by katyquilts

Today is the day we are to share an update on our quilts for Hands2Help 2016. I am happy to say that I have one done. Here it is:

And the back:

The second one is my slow stitching project for today. I just have the hand sewing on the binding to go and then I will ship them out!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day here! It was warm and sunny. I worked in the morning, but in the afternoon, I sat in the backyard and did a bit of handsewing. Later on, Daughter #1 came over with Big E and Little E. Little E was a wonderful quilt model!