First the dratted Tumbler quilt of Frustrating Friday Fame:
The quilting obviously doesn’t show. It does look better after washing. The thousands (okay, maybe not really that many) of thread breaks made this a miserable project. I hoped for better success on the batik quilt I showed yesterday. It was marginally better. The first pic shows the truest color and the second shows the quilting better.
Maybe it will be nice out tomorrow and I can take better pics.
Until next time…
I found this piece while cleaning the sewing room this past weekend:
I made it from scraps several years ago but never really cared for it. Too small for a baby quilt, not something I would hang on a wall. But when I found it again, I saw new possibilities. Especially since I also found a small pile of batik scraps to add to it like this:
After some rearranging and sewing, it became this:
I thought this would be a good quilt for the shelter but needed to be a bit bigger. So I added these grey batik like borders to the top and bottom.
Today, I hope to find a backing and get it in the frame. Wow, this picture is bad! Hope you get the idea. I am really loving this now and looking forward to playing with the quilting. And to think I nearly threw that middle piece away…
How often have I made quick judgements of others and wanted to cast them aside without seeing the beauty of what they could become or even what they already are. I am thankful this morning that God sees me as I could be but still loves me as I am. A wonderful teacher named Brian Simmons once said, “God gives us a crown and allows us to grow up into it.” I like that.
I am linking up with Judi at Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday. Go visit and see what others are working on today.
Until next time…
Yes, goodness and faithful love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the Lord ’s house as long as I live. (Psalms 23:6 CEB)
My hubby is out of town and I had the day off. So I bound the disastrous tumbler and started a deep clean in the sewing room. This is how it looked at 10 this morning:
And this is how it looked at 10 tonight:
I also spent some time cutting scraps to make quilts for kids on orphanages. I have more work to do folding fabric in the baskets but I got through quite a few of those today as well as the entire closet. Time to put my feet up.
And plan a new project…
I finally started quilting the tumbler quilt. I purchased some circle templates from Deep Blue and decided to create a border design to try them out. The templates seemesd a bit rougher around the edges than I was eexpecting but they worked fine and the price was fantastic. They are 1/4″ thick so they can be used on the midarm.
This quilt used the same fabrics, backing, thread, batting as the Bowtie Wedding quilt. It did NOT quilt the same. The thread broke more times than I care to mention. I had tension issues. In some places I ripped and requilted. I finally gave up. It is what it is. For the main part of the quilt, I quilted randomly spaced vertical lines.
This should have been easy. I have no idea why it was not. I wanted to pull my hair out but that would not have improved the looks of the quilt any.
I guess some days are like that. I am hoping that washing and shrinkage will help hide the wobbles and mess. I will post pics soon. Consider yourself warned!
The temptation to just meander every quilt on this machine is strong. I know how to make that look decent. But if that is all I ever do, my skills will not improve.
Time to bind the monster.
I have made more of the 16 patch blocks from solids. This is how I subcut my strips using my studio cutter:
I placed the strip set perpendicular to the blades of the 2 1/2″ strip cutter. I used a ruler to make sure they were correctly placed.
And voila! This made these blocks very quick to make. I will definitely do this again.
I also put together this jelly roll top. I used a Tina Given’s roll that I got from a surprise box on sale at Craftsy. I am not in love with this fabric but Daughter #3 does so hopefully someone else will. It will make for goood quilting practice and then I will donate it to the local women’s shelter.
Until next time…
Even though Saturday was International Quilting Day, I didn’t do a lot of sewing this weekend. Still haven’t made any decisions on quilting the tumbler. I really would like to get that done this week.
I did start making these 16 patches. I’ve had this idea for a while and am finally getting around to sewing the blocks.
I am not sure how big this will end up or what it will be for. I have more blocks ready to sew together. I am making strip sets and then cross cutting using the 2.5″ strip cutter die for my studio cutter. It works really well!
We shall have to wait and see what it wants to be. BTW, I am linking up with Judi at Patchwork Times. Click here to see what others are up to!
Until next time…
I got the tumbler quilt loaded this week but have yet to start the quilting on it. I am not yet sure how I want to quilt it so here it waits for now.
Until next time…
Here are a few more pics from our local show. The first is by Charlotte Rae Linzner.
The next one is by Connie Makl.
The next is by Rebecca Fritz.
The bow tie is also by Connie Makl. Can you tell I love her stuff?
The sampler is by Jean Fritz. The lighting for pics was really bad.
I wish I had gotten a full pic of the next one. It was Best in Show and made by Joyce Jones. The applique leaf border was gorgeous.
The last one is Startstruck by Jeanne Meddaugh. She blogs at Luv 2 Stitch.
There were so many lovely quilts. I hope you enjoyed seeing a few of my faves.
Until next time….
Our local guild is holding its biannual show this weekend. This is the first year I have joined in a long time. Daughter #3 went to the show with me this afternoon and took the following photos. This was one of my favorites, made by Clara Martin in honor of her father’s service during World War II and the Korean War:
This is one of mine called Latitude:
I made the next one out of castoff shirts belonging to my husband and son. I call it Shirt Tails:
This is a detail shot of an amazing quilt made by my friend, Jan Werner:
And this one by another friend, Linda Grindahl, was based on a photo taken by her husband:
I took the ribbon for original art design with this one that I call, “what Four?”
The next one I call “Grace” and it took 2nd place in Machine Pieced/Machine Quilted/Small:
I received an Honorable Mention in Hand Applique?Machine Pieced/Machine Quilted/Small for my Grandmother’s Fan made from Vintage Fabrics.
I also entered my Journey Quilt:
There were many other lovely quilts and I will show more in my next post.
Until next time…
KatyQuilts 