Design Wall Monday 10-8-12

It was a GREAT retreat. Sharon and I had a great time with all the other quilters.  Remember, Halloween is at the end of the month so there were a lot of Halloween jokes and gags going around.  Check out what Sharon got before she passed it on. 

It was a bit hard seeing that 1/4" seam with just one good eyeball!  But she did finish this top: 

I stuck to one big scrap quilt.  Although I kept giving myself deadlines as to how long I was going to work on it.  I was encouraged to keep at it until it was a completed top.  When I started Thursday night I only  had the center 16 patches and pinwheels together.  Most of the other units were made or at least cut out but it still took until Saturday afternoon to have the whole quilt top done.  And, WOW, it really looks good.  I must admit that I didn't work really hard (or actually at all) on getting the triangle border to match right.  I can just hear future quilt historians say, "Isn't it charming.  The quilt maker must have just given up and chopped up those triangles so they fit whichever way they would."  Hopefully they will be that nice. 

Next up was making a few blocks for various activities.  Here are two blocks for baby quilts for the guild.  We got enough blocks to make 3 baby quilts. Look for  pictures of some of the quilt tops we did we these blocks.

I made a block for Faithful Circle's opportunity block for October.  I will be visiting there tomorrow night as I'm up helping Jenny and Brian with Sophia and Natalie.  

Week of Oct 1

Try a little machine embroidery√

Make binding for 2 charity quilts√ Sharon and I finished them at retreat.

Knit on Sophie’s sweater

Pack for retreat√

Have a blast on retreat√

Finish center of Shoebox Quilt didn't even open the box

Finish piecing 16 patch Quilt√

Week of October 8

Play with Sophia and Natalie

Return home safely

Make the next 1800 BOM, write directions

Quilt charity baby quilt

Get all my supplies back into the studio

Work on Scrap Squad #5

And here's Sophie modeling her pumpkin tee shirt and leggins.  

That's it from me.  I've had a great week.  Don't forget to look at Patchwork Times for lots of blogs to visit this Design Wall Monday. And I'll try to post more pictures from retreat, but I have to tell you I didn't take all that many. 

Happy Quilting. Bonnie 

Lessons Learned

Yes, you can teach an old dog new tricks... or at least this old dog is still learning new tricks.

I decided to try to embroider a Halloween t shirt for Sophie before I see her next week.  And, I thought, I'll make one for Alexis, Sharon's grand daughter also.  Then Pat donated a t shirt I could practice on... cause I know now not to try an embroidery without a practice.   So here it is looking great as a practice piece.  What you can't see is the hole in the shirt where a part of the shirt got caught in the embroidery.   Lesson learned and definitely won't be forgotten.

On to Alexis's shirt.  She's a size 4T so I thought I would go from big to little.  Her little shirt came out great.  Except, I had the embroidery upside down.  (Sorry forgot to take a picture of that.)  Another lesson learned. Hopefully never forgotten.

Next up Sophie's shirt.  I couldn't get a white shirt in her size (2T) so I got a black one.  By now, I'm pretty good at this embroidery thing for this particular design.  Hers went on like a charm.  While the machine was embroidering away I was ripping out Alexis's design.  The second time on Alexis's shirt was a charm.  Only issues with her shirt is the number of holes left in the space after I turned the design the right way. That and the hoop burn on all of the pieces.  I'm hoping a bit of washing will take care of the impression.  But, honestly, the girls are 2 and 3 they aren't going to mind.

I tried a different color pink for the tongue on the white shirt.  I also bought Sophie a pair of black leggings to go with her shirt.  The hardest part?  She is really picky about clothes.  So who knows if she'll ever wear the pumpkin shirt.  I'll try to get it on her and snap a picture to share next week.

I'm getting ready for the Country Piecemaker's retreat.  Sharon is meeting me at it.  Last year I got a lot done and I'm hoping to again this year.  Of course, I'm way behind on getting everything organized.

One last note -- I was looking at my stash report from Monday.  It looks like I've used 6 yards more than I've taken in for the year.  Um, not really.  I've brought in 6 yards more than I've used. Hopefully I won't go wild at Cottonwood tomorrow and I will get a few more things finished in October so I will get to the point of using more fabric than acquiring!

Happy Quilting All! 

Design Wall Monday 10-01-12 & Stashbusting Stats

Wow, it's Design Wall Monday and Stashbusting. 

Let's get the stash busting info out first.  Yes! (envision me pumping my fist in the air...) I did use up a nice hunk of stash. I am dumping the very bad grid and will just give you the numbers...

Fabric In Sept.       4.5 yards               Fabric In 2012      82.295
Fabric Out Sept.   10.375                    Fabric Out 2012    75.685    
Used In Sept:        5.875                    Used 2012           -6.610

Yes, I used a hunk more fabric than I brought in!  And, I am creeping up on the idea of using more fabric than I brought in.  In fact, I may be even closer because of the quilt Sharon and I made together.  I gave her all the fabric and blocks we did but I haven't deducted them from stash yet.  I'll try to do that in October. But, first I need to get the measurements of the quilt.

On to design wall Monday.  At first I thought I had nothing new to show you because most of my time was spent finishing the latest Scrap Squad quilt.  I should be able to show that in the next week or so.  But, what I can show you is the results of an embroidery class I took this week.  This was so much fun.  I used Quilting Corner's Brother machine.  I learned a bit about stabilizers which is the key to successful embroidery if you ask me.  I will probably take another class or two there just for the fun of making the projects.  The snowmen is a free design from the Brother site.  You can get it by jumping to this web site. Check around that section of the site for other free designs.  The words were added through the machine's software.  It was a great machine -- it even threaded the needle automatically.  

I also worked on quilting this quilt which I call stars and tennis shoes. (That may just be a working title not the finished title of the quilt...) I did an easy, loose meander with Glide thread in Mango.  Love that color and surprisingly I've had several quilts recently that I have used it on.  Warm and Natural batting. 

Now, how did I do with my Weekly Goals? 

Week of Sept 24

Finish handquilting SS #4√

Finish pillow sham for bedroom

Finish charity quilt on Ruthie√

Finish 2^nd Wonky Corners block

Draw SS #5 in EQ√

Make a sample block of SS #5

It doesn't look all that great.  But I did get several other things done such as the quilting on the quilt above. 

How about my plans for this week? 

Week of Oct1

Try a little machine embroidery

Make binding for 2 charity quilts

Knit on Sophie’s sweater

Pack for retreat

Have a blast on retreat

Finish center of Shoebox Quilt

Finish piecing 16 patch Quilt

Cut and sew X Block quilt together

Ok, yep, that is a lot of plans but, hey, I have a retreat I'm going to.  I have a million other things I could add but I'm trying to be reasonable.  I doubt I'll get more than those 3 quilts together at the retreat even though it is 3 days.  When I'm finished there Sunday I'll be driving up to visit Sophia, Natalie and their parents.  I'm also planning a trip to attend the FCQ guild meeting.  Fun. 

Don't forget to visit Judy's Patchwork Times to be transported to Design Walls across the Internet. 

Happy Quilting All! 

Design Wall Monday 9-24-2012

Not a whole lot I can show you today.  I finished these pineapple blocks for Joan as part of the FCQEquilters group.

As I said earlier... what a great way to use up scraps. 

I also made this wonky log cabin block. I don't think I followed the directions correctly as I had a hard time getting the block to grow evenly on right side and bottom.  I have one more block to make with these fab colors so I should get it right.  This is for the Quilting Bees.  I volunteered to make 2 so the second one will go together easier, or so I hope.  Check out the tutorial at Just Jude. 

I've just about finished Scrap Squad #4.  Quilty Pleasures has begun to feature the quilts on the blog.  You can check out the first one by clicking the link.  Wow!  Donna did a fabulous job.  And, her quilting is putting mine to shame.  Heck, I'm doing a fast hand quilting as it is small and I really didn't want to put it on Ruthie. 

On to the goals from last week. 

Week of Sept 17

bind Snowmen and Santa quilt√

Put Scrap Squad #4 together√

Pull fabric for Scrap Squad #5

Make a sample block for #5

Put the new memory in the laptop√ 

Not bad but I haven't done anything on SS #5.  What I did do was begin to quilt a charity quilt on Ruthie.  I decided to try feathers on it.  Um, er, didn't work out really well.  So my feathers became palm fronds and voila!  It looks great.  But it is time consuming so I've done about half and will get back to it this week. 

Week of Sept 24

Finish handquilting SS #4

Finish pillow sham for bedroom

Finish charity quilt on Ruthie

Finish 2^nd Wonky Corners block

Draw SS #5 in EQ

Make a sample block of SS #5

It's time to link up with Patchwork Times' Design Wall Monday post.  And, I'm getting right on the scrap squad quilt quilting.

Happy Quilting All! 

On the Auction Block

The machine embroidered quilt I showed a few weeks ago is finished. It's been titled Santa and Snowmen in the Pines.  Oops, I forgot to take a picture of the label.  Sigh. 

This was a great first project on the embroidery machine.  No thread changes, no stitch out issues that I couldn't handle.  Love the finished product. 

It will be auctioned next Saturday at our church near Richmond.  Anyone want to come to a catered dinner with wine and see what else is up for bids?  Send me an email and I'll get you in touch with the ticket sales committee.  

Other things I'm working on.... Scrap Squad #4 is a center of a top and I've figured out what I'm doing for the borders.  A charity quilt is about to go on Ruthie and hopefully I'll finish it today.  Scrap Squad #5 is floating around in my brain coming up with some ideas on how I want to proceed with it.  

Happy Quilting Everyone! 

Design Wall Monday 9-17-2012

Here's what's on my design wall that I can actually show you -- 

These are for Joan of the FCQ Equilters.  She sent us preprinted pineapple foundations.  I'm using them as leader/enders.  It's been fun to visit scraps and be reminded of other quilts I've made.  And, it's great to move out some scraps.  I've been using some 2" strips because I don't normally save 1 3/4" strips that are called for.  And, if any strips needed using, it would be the overflowing 2" drawer of strips.  But, honestly, it really isn't making that big of a dent. Hopefully every fabric is different in each block, although the same fabric can be repeated in other blocks.  I'm trying not to repeat any but I doubt I'll be 100% successful on that.  Take a look at other design walls by visiting Patchwork Times. 

The next pictures I'm sharing come from my daughter, Jenny.  She is a great sewist (if you use the modern word) and will try all sorts of new and interesting things to make.  She made this darling backpack for Sophia's 2nd birthday.  

Here's the front of it.  The only thing I can  claim to have helped her on is providing a pattern for the dog's head.  

Imagine me playing Vanna now. 

Notice the piping.  The dog's body is also a pocket.  

Here's the side.  Cool pull tab to hold while zipping and unzipping. 

Notice the water bottle holder.  

And now the back.  The straps are adjustable.  And, of course, the top strap in case you want to hang the backpack up. 

And the final picture shows the darling fabric inside.  It's water proof... I'm not sure if it is vinyl or oil cloth.  

Ok, end of the Vanna routine.  And, you too can make your special toddler a backpack just like this one.  Jenny got the pattern from the Moda Bake Shop blog.  Check it out.  

Here's the goal report: 

Week of Sept 10

Quilt√ and bind Snowmen and Santa quilt

Get back to work on Scrap Squad #4√

Take a class on my new iPad√

Mail blocks to Fran and Ashley√

Decide which UFO to work on & work on it! Nope, didn’t happen

Week of Sept 17

Bind Snowmen and Santa quilt

Put Scrap Squad #4 together

Pull fabric for Scrap Squad #5

Make a sample block for #5

Put the new memory in the laptop 

I got a lot done this week considering I was out and about 2 full days.  This week "Santa and Snowmen in the Pines" will be done and turned over to the auction committee at church.  Hopefully SS #4 will be on the frame to be quilted and work will be started on #5.  Have a great sewy week! 

Happy quilting all! 

1800's Block of the Month

I've been having trouble finding new web sites that show antique quilts from the 1800s.  But I recently found this site.  Check out the quilts of the Great Lakes Quilt Center of Michigan State University Museum. The first quilt shown in the collection is a wholecloth from 1790. The most recent is 1993.  Although navigation through the quilts is pretty clunky you do see some wonderful old quilts.  There are very few pieced quilts compared to whole cloth and applique.  

Let's try a little paper piecing for this month's block. And, yes, you will be making your own foundations.  

This month’s block was shown in the book Remember Me by Linda Otto Lipsett.  Rather than being a book of patterns it is a history of friendship quilts that became a fad in New England in the early 1840s and  then spread west as people migrated.  This block can be made leaving room for a signature of a friend or perhaps the maker’s name, date and location.  I made mine with a regular 9 patch in the center.  Check below for a close up picture of the block from the book if you would like to leave room for a signature.

Cutting:

Cut – 8 -- 3 ½” squares. 4 are for the foundation pieced triangle units and 4 for the outside corners of the block.  (If you don’t mind using a larger piece of fabric on your foundation cut a piece larger than 3 ½” but I had good luck cutting the exact size.)

Cut – 8 – 2 ½” x 4 ½” rectangles for the sides of the triangle units

Cut – 5 – 1 ½”  square of dark fabric for center 9 patch*

Cut – 4 – 1 ½” square of light or medium fabric for center 9 patch*

*(If you want to make this like the photo from the book cut one light rectangle 3 ½” by 1 ½”; 4 dark or medium 1 ½” squares and 2 light 1 ½” squares. (use photo to the right for how to place fabrics for the patch.) 

Making the foundation:

Using 4 squares to the inch graph paper draw a 3” square.  Mark the center of the top.  Draw diagonal lines from the center out to each of the bottom corners. Then draw a ¼” seam allowance around the previously drawn square.  Extend the  diagonal lines through to the cutting lines.  Note that the bottom of the diagonal lines do not go through the center of the corner of the cutting lines.  Yep, that’s the way it is suppose to be. 

Make 4 copies on the foundation paper of your choice.  I’ve had really good luck with Electric Quilt’s Foundation Sheets.  I was amazed how easily they tear off.  If you choose to print copies of your foundation make sure you check that from seam line to seam line the block is 3" square. With the seam allowance added the block should be 3 1/2" unfinished.  I found it just as easy to trace 4 copies on my foundation paper. 

Sewing: 

Layout the 1 ½” blocks to form a nine patch.  Sew the patches to form rows; then sew the rows together.Press each seam to the darker fabric.  The only difference if you are making the signature block is you have a rectangle in the center rather than 3 blocks to sew together. Sew the units into rows, matching seam lines.  The unfinished block is 3 ½”. 

Paper Piecing the triangle blocks:

When sewing paper foundations use a smaller stitch.  I usually set my machine for 1.5 (normal is 2.5).  It is recommended to use a larger needle but I generally don’t unless I’m using copy paper rather than a thinner paper. For foundation piecing you line up your fabrics on the right side (no writing) of the foundation and pin and sew from the wrong side.  To hold the 3 ½” square inside the drawn square, I used a very small dab from a glue stick. I placed the glue inside the sewing line at the top triangle and inside the sewing line at each bottom corner.  (It’s best to use temporary glue if you have it although I used so little of the permanent glue I had on hand it wasn’t an issue.) 

It was much easier for me to work with the next fabrics not having to deal with pins or the first fabric moving.  Holding the foundation to the light, place the rectangle piece so that ¼” is over the sewing line, right side to right side.  Because I have problems getting fabrics to completely cover the required space, I always pin on the seam lines, flip the fabric over and make sure there is enough fabric to cover all the way to the cutting line of the foundation. If there is, I pin perpendicular to the seam line and then remove the pins on the stitching line. If the fabric doesn’t cover all the way to the cutting lines try again until it does. Stitch right on the line from cutting line to cutting line. Fip fabric 2 into correct position to make sure it actually covers the whole #2 space and the seam allowances. (Hey, I double check ALL the time on foundations…)  Fold back the foundation on the sewn line and make sure #2 fabric is out of the way and cut fabric #1  a quarter inch from the seam line. Iron fabric #2 in place.

Repeat for fabric #3 – sew on the line, trim the under fabric away leaving a ¼” seam.  Iron the unit.

Trim the block on the cutting lines.  It should measure 3 ½” unfinished.  Carefully remove your foundation from each block.  Be careful handling the blocks at this point as there is some bias in pieces # 2 and # 3.

Layout the block as shown and sew the units into rows.  I pressed my seams to the darks in my block but the center row I pressed to the little 9 patch.  Sew rows together.  

We are close to having all the blocks made for this quilt.  I will have two more blocks to share with you and will give you measurements to put the tree of life block on point.  I haven’t decided about borders but I’m sure the top will need some.  My big question is will I run out of my fabrics before the borders?  Seeing my block in the pictures made me question the colors of the nine patch.  Don't know whether I will change them or not.  Here's a final picture of the quilt this block was taken from. This quilter was very careful about her use of stripes.  She did a great job with them. 

Any questions?  Feel free to email me at brsinstitches@gmail.com.