Just say no….

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….because sometimes, the blue tape is just not enough….
Ask me how I know.

Posted in HQ Avante, Pantographs, What was I thinking | 2 Comments

Frame Friday

This is what is on my frame this morning.

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I am still practicing with pantographs. This one is called American Flourish and it is by Meadowlyon Designs. BTW, all their patriotic designs are $2 off right now. No affiliation yada yada… They also have some free ones if you make Quilts of Valor.

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Here is my pile for the week. One a day. This is the only way I will get better!

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I have a great Quilt of Valor story to share with you but that deserves its own post. So until next time…

Posted in HQ Avante, Machine quilting, Pantographs, Quilt of Valor | 1 Comment

Another for QBB

I tried out another pantograph yesterday. This one is called Starburst and is free from Ubanelementz. They have several free designs. I would like to order from them soon. This top was made by someone named Donna for Quilts Beyond Borders. I love how graphic it is!

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Here is the back:

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I am thinking I should use more prints for the back of my quilts! I used a gray Glide thread and Magnaglide prewound bobbins for the back. I also used a low loft poly batt called Pellon Siliconized Batting. It comes on a 20 yard roll from JoAnn’s. it is 60″ wide so there is almost no waste for the QBB quilts.
Until next time…
Until next time…
Until next time…

Posted in Machine quilting, Pantographs, Service Quilts | 2 Comments

Quilts Beyond Borders

Last week, I received my second box of tops to quilt for QBB. This is a great organization and I have had such fun quilting for them! Carla, the one that sends out the tops, does a great job packaging everything. I thought you might like to see and perhaps volunteer to quilt a few yourself. This is what I found when I opened the box:

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Each top is packaged with backing, binding, and label.

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Here is one of the tops I finished this week with a simple loopy freehand pattern.

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It is a great way to do some good and practice my machine quilting at the same time. As Carla says, there are no quilt police at the orphanages! You can learn more about QBB here.

Posted in Machine quilting, Service Quilts | 1 Comment

Learning something new…

Time to learn to use a pantograph! One came with my Avante. I decided to use it on a top for Quilts Beyond Borders. Here is the pantograph:

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Getting started!

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So far so good.

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And the finished quilt:

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It isn’t perfect but I am pleased with it. I definitely think this is good practice and will do more of this. There are times when custom quilting just doesn’t make sense. This is a great alternative.

Posted in HQ Avante, Machine quilting | 4 Comments

Design Wall Monday

Not much piecing going on here lately but I did get a few of these HSTs sewn together. A while back, I cut up a box full of these in brights. This will be a service quilt for donation.

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Our local quilt shop is collecting quilts for Oklahoma. A quilt won’t bring back anyone’s house but hopefully, it will cause someone to feel prayed for and loved. If anyone wants to give financially, you can do so through Lifechurch.tv. I LOVE Lifechurch. They are based in Oklahoma City and are responding to the people there with love and compassion in practical ways. You can go to their website and click the giving tab. There will be a place to designate that you want your gift to go to help those affected by the storms. I have given to them many times and believe this to be a ministry of unparalleled integrity.
This is one of the quilts I dropped off for OK.

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I really am happy with the back.

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These are Denyse Schmidt prints from JoAnn’s. I really like this simple pattern and I’m considering making a quilt for my bed like this.
Today is going to be spent thrifting with Daughter #1 and Daughter #3. Should be fun!
Btw, I linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times. Go see what others are up to quiltingwise today.

Posted in Design Wall Monday, Service Quilts | 5 Comments

Humility Quilt

You’ve heard of humility patches, the idea being an obvious mistake is put into a quilt so as not to cause affront to God because only He can create a perfect thing. Actually this practice seems to me to be the height of pridefulness! As if I could ever create something so perfect that I would need to intentionally include a mistake! Not going to happen. However, I have turned a patch this way or that, not for the sake of humility so much as to make people pause a little longer, make them wonder why. I think it adds interest. If that is the case, God must find me interesting indeed! And the beautiful thing is, He does! In spite of all my flaws and weaknesses, He really likes me!
Anyway, as proof that I do not need a humility patch, I present to you, The Humility Quilt. Yes, a whole quilt so full off mistakes and blunders that with it, I have secured my place in history as perfectly imperfect. And no, none of this was intentional.

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Okay, bad pic. Be grateful. How imperfect are you, quilt? Let me count the ways…

First off, I wanted a feather in the border. Decided to use my spray chalk but it didn’t appear to be working. Decided to shake the can a bit more. No go. After a healthy dose, I realized I had grabbed basting spray! Duh! Now I have a sticky mess!

Okay, quilted one border, looked awful but soldiered on. Started blocks, realized I should have mounted the quilt the other way. Too late. Soldiered on. Crap, tension messed up ….a while back. Apparently I have fullness in aide borders. Craptastic. I was sure I measured these before I put them away three months ago. Some of the quilting looks okay on top. At one point after advancing the quilt, I didn’t lock the gear on the backing roller. Totally focused on using templates, I don’t realize that the backing was looser than the top and I now have major pleats. Rip, rip, grumble, grumble.

Finally take it off the frame and start binding. The border looks so bad, I am considering whacking them off and turning it into a crib quilt. I keep going. Find another area of really bad tension, I think this is when I retreaded and missed a guide. Every stinking one of them is apparently very important.

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I finally finish this miserable thing and throw it in the wash. Watch a cheesy movie with DH and stew a while. Pull  it out if the dryer…..too embarrassed to show you the back. Realized I missed quilting two arcs in the green triangles. Nuts.
It is what it is.
I learned a lot. I wrapped myself up in it and finished the movie. It is warm. From a distance, it doesn’t look too bad. Just. Don’t. Turn. It. Over.

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Who needs a humility patch? I’ve got a whole quilt!

Posted in Civil War Repro Quilts, Free Motion Quilting, HQ Avante, Quilting Designs, Traditional Quilts | 11 Comments

Frame Friday

Well the same quilt is still on the frame but I have made progress today! This is the first time I have used rulers and templates on an actual quilt (oh, except for the border on that one tumbler quilt). Anyway, I knew I needed practice with stitch in the ditch so I decided to do that on all my pieced blocks. It sure takes a long time! But I am getting better at it.

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I used an 8″ circle to create the shapes in the green triangles. I also decided I wanted a feather in the border with stippling around it. Blech. Not going so well. Good news is that once the chalk is washed off, I don’t think it will show up at all anyway. This quilt is for me and I am learning a lot quilting it so I am going to try to learn from my mistakes and ignore the rest.

Until next time…

Posted in Bed Quilts, Civil War Repro Quilts, Machine quilting, Traditional Quilts | 1 Comment

Work in progress

Now that I have a bigger frame, I am getting ready to quilt this top:

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As you can see, it is loaded and ready to go.
I just have to decide how to quilt it! Any great ideas?

Posted in Bed Quilts, Civil War Repro Quilts, Machine quilting, Traditional Quilts | 1 Comment

Baby boy tumbler finish

The only thing I finished this weekend:

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Here is a close up of the back. I used flannel and the rolled it to the front and stitched it down for the binding.

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The quilting is simple but it was fun to so and feels like a good choice for the top.
Until next time…

Posted in Accuquilt Studio Cutter, Baby Quilts, Machine quilting | 4 Comments