KatyQuilts

May Wrap Up and June Goals

Posted on June 1, 2015 by katyquilts

It is that time again! This year is just flying by! Here are the goals I had set for May and my results:

1. The SQT group challenge for the Month is to make a Log Cabin quilt. I think that makes it a perfect time to finally finish these 4″ blocks and make the quilt already! Not done! But I did finish making the blocks and got all the paper torn out.

2. I also signed up for the small quilt swap being hosted by Lori over at Humble Quilts so I need to get something made for that. I have been toying with a few ideas and made a few HSTs before work yesterday morning. Done! And received by my swap partner.

3. I want to get this Quilt of Valor completely finished. I have a recipient in mind and time is of the essence! Done and presented!

3. I would like to make a baby quilt for a gift from this fabric. If I run out of time, I have another baby quilt already made that I can give.

I didn’t get this quilt made but I gave one that I had done last fall so I would call that a partial finish! Here is the quilt that I gifted:

4. In pondering the SQT Log Cabin challenge, I remembered this vintage top that Mr. Wonderful gave me for Christmas in 2013. I would love to quilt this up this month as well. Done!

5. I also have these lovely Amy Butler strips patiently waiting to be pieced into blocks. Done! And I have started piecing them together.

6. I signed up to do a Pay It Forward gift on Instagram. I would like to get those packages together and sent this month as well. Not done.

Now, what else did I get done this month?

I finished this small quilt:

And I quilted two QOVs.

On to my goals for June!

1. I have one more QOV top that needs to be quilted.

2. I want to finish my 16 patch top. The biggest hindrance here is deciding how big I want this to be and what to do about borders.

3. I have an idea for a flag quilt made from hourglass blocks that I want to make for my entry way. I have the pieces all cut. I would love to have this complete so I can hang it for the Fourth.

4. I am going to make a quilt for each of my sisters this summer. I have fabric for both but need to make some decisions on designs. I want to have at least one of them to the piecing stage this month.

5. I want that darn log cabin done this month!

6. I also want to start putting these blocks together.

I was given these by a dear blog reader, Jan, last year and I want to see them in a quilt this year!

That is probably enough, given that summer brings surprises of its own.

Linking up with Lily’s Quilts for Fresh Sewing Day , Free Motion by the River for Linky Tuesday, and I have to Say for Show and Tell Tuesday.

Posted in Finishes, Goals | 11 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Posted on June 1, 2015 by katyquilts

My weekend just flew by! I did get some hexies sewn, but no progress on the 16 patch or the quilt on the frame. Hopefully I will get to those today. I did cut out pieces for a new small project.

Last summer, someone on the SQT group shared a little tumbler flag quilt they had made. This year they are talking about it again. I love flag quilts and thought it would be a fun project that would also be quick. Here is my layout.

This will finish pretty small. The template I used creates tumblers that are 2 1/2 inches tall finished.

I have to get some housework done today. My reward will be to sew!

Lining up with Patchwork Times and Cooking Up Quilts. I am also trying out a new linky party today at That’s what Che Said.

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Doll Quilts | 9 Comments

Frankenbatting Part Two

Posted on May 31, 2015 by katyquilts

I was a wee bit surprised at all the love on my Frankenbatting post! I decided to do a follow up post to answer your questions. So if you want to clean up your scraps, this is all you need to know! I am using small bits for demonstration purposes but the process is the same.

First, trim the edges of your batting so they are straight.

Most batting containing any cotton is either needlepunched and/or has a scrim (a very thin membrane) to hold it all together. This means the two sides are not the same. It doesn’t matter which side is up here, but you want both pieces that you are joining to have the same side up. Lay the two pieces side by side.

See how neatly they fit since I trimmed them? Now take them to your machine and set it for a wide zig zag stitch. You are not satin stitching here, keep the length pretty long as well. Center the join under the needle when it is in the middle position.

And zig zag away! Simple as that!

I do use my walking foot for this. If you overlap your pieces, you will get a ridge. You don’t want that. They should be just touching.
I have not joined poly batting this way. If I needed to, I would probably do a very loose whip stitch by hand. I am so glad I took the time to do this. I only wish I had taken a picture of the “before” mountain of batting! Here is the “after” including a shot of my trash showing the trimming and bits I am throwing away.

Hubby and I did venture out to the antique festival today. Here is my only purchase:

I thought it would make a perfect trash can for my sewing room. It does seem too nice for trash though. I could use it for scraps…….

Thanks again for all the lovely comments. I hope this helps you to tame your scrap batting bits!

Posted in Tutorials | 7 Comments

Frankenbatting and Slow Stitching

Posted on May 31, 2015 by katyquilts

I have a quilt in the frame that I am procrastinating on so I decided last night to tackle the batting scraps that have been accumulating for some time now. I hand several piles like this stashed here and there.

Actually, that is one of the smaller piles! I sorted first into batting pieces of the same type. Then used my rotary cutter to straighten the edges. Next I butted the edges up to each other and zigzagged them together. Lastly, I folded and labeled each piece with the size. This looks so much better!

I have more to do today but I am feeling motivated to get this done. It wasn’t as much of a pain as I thought so maybe I will follow a better job of keeping up with it.

I got another row of hexies done last night whike watching a movie. I plan to add a few more today as well. You all must be so sick of looking at this same thing week after week! Someday it will be done!

My favorite local antique festival is this weekend. The weather has been in the high 80s all last week, yesterday it poured, today it is windy with a high in the 50s. Not sure I will go after church or not! If not, I have a lot more cleaning and sorting I would like to do in the sewing room. And there is that quilt in the frame….

Linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Posted in Uncategorized | 17 Comments

Quilts of Valor

Posted on May 30, 2015 by katyquilts

I quilted two more Quilts of Valor this week. The first is Terri’s sampler quit.

I loved the narrow gold sashing that she used and decided to go with MilItary Gold thread from Glide on it. Here is a shot of the back:

The next one was made by Sue. I kept wanting to sing Let it Go from the Disney movie, Frozen, while working on it!

This was a new panto to me called Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend. It took forever but I love the results. This type of panto looks great on this beautifully pieced quilt but would not look so great on a top that ended up a bit wonky. There is so much more to choosing the right pantograph for quilting than I realized when I started long arm quilting.

BTW, Urban Elementz currently has 25% off all there pantos. No code needed. They are my favorite place to order. Great customer service.

Linking up with Pink Doxies Pet Projects and Sew Can She’s Show Off Saturday.

Posted in Finishes, Quilt of Valor | 8 Comments

Finish It Up Friday

Posted on May 29, 2015 by katyquilts

Remember these?

That turned into these?

Which turned into these?

And became this?

Well, after this:

It ended up like this:

Thanks again to Lori at Humble Quilts for the pattern. I don’t know that it is available for sale, she taught it at a guild workshop. And one last thing, if you are interested in these:

I got them at IKEA in the laundry section. They are great for so many things but especially hanging quilts temporarily. And just one more, just because.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Richard and Tanya Quilts, and Anja Quilts.

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Doll Quilts, Finishes | 13 Comments

Throwback Thursday

Posted on May 28, 2015 by katyquilts

Here are a few more 1930’s style small quilts from back in the day. This first one is about 40 inches square. I purchased the vintage blocks, machined pieced the top, and hand quilted it.

This next one has blocks that I hand pieced from vintage fabrics but I machine quilted the quilt.

The last one is made from repro prints has hand applique with machine piecing and quilting.

Hope you enjoyed this little journey back in time!

Linking up with My Quilt Infatuation.

Posted in Throwback Thursday | 7 Comments

Work in Progress Wednesday

Posted on May 27, 2015 by katyquilts

Good Morning! Let’s see what is in progress today! I have all my 16 patches up on the design wall and I am rearranging a few each time I walk by.

This shot gives you a better idea of the scale.

I have also been pondering some other layouts for my little log cabin blocks.

I’ve been doing a big of cleaning in the sewing room. I found a home for all my new fat quarters.

I love using my vintage enamelware containers. I need to do some more rearranging and organizing in my sewing room. Now that I have had it for a year, I am finding some things I want to tweak a bit.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and Sew Fresh Quilts.

Posted in Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Reminder BQF Spring 2015

Posted on May 26, 2015 by katyquilts

Voting is still open for the Blogger’s Quilt Festival over at Amy’s Creative Side. I am so excited to have been nominated for Viewer’s Choice for my City Sampler quilt!

My Fiesta quilt is also there in the Small Quilts category.
Make sure you leave comments on Amy’s posts as there are lots of great drawings with great prizes by sponsors. I won a whole set of Aurifil threads once!

This link is your ticket to see lots of lovely quilts. Thanks for your sweet comments on mine and for your support!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Back to Work!

Posted on May 26, 2015 by katyquilts

Mr. Wonderful and I enjoyed our time away this weekend, we returned Sunday evening as the rain started. We visited several antique malls and found a few treasures to bring home! The mister is quite adept at finding toy sewing machines! Here is the first one that followed us home.

This one is marked Casige, a huge maker of toy sewing machines in post war Germany. It says it was made in the British Zone. I love the graphics on this one.

The next one was made in Berlin also but in the U.S. zone. It was produced by the KAYanEE Corporation, an American Company. There were countless variations of KAYanEEs produced over the years and I have quite a few. This one is a free arm version.

You may think you have seen the next one already because it is very similar to one I got in April. It is another Betsy Ross.

This one is electric and came in this cute little red case.

Apparently, this machine was sold in the 1950 Montgomery Wards Catalog for $18.95! You can see it with the one I already had here.

I just love these. They are sturdy enough to actually sew with them. And I just might! All of these are chain stitch machines.

Time for me to clean up the house before heading in to the day job. Have a great day!

Posted in Toy Sewing Machines | 6 Comments