Category Archives: machine piecing

Gifted Blocks and a Gift of Orchids

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I’ve blogged about these blocks before that were given to me by a good friend, but now I feel I have enough experience with the sewing machine to set them together successfully. There are a stack of these blocks that will finish at 7.75″.

And a stack of these, which also finish at 7.75″. As well, I was given a lot of the fabric that was used to make them. I’m going to play with some setting ideas over the next few days. They were foundation pieced on muslin so it’s going to be a heavy quilt and one which I will have to figure out how to machine quilt.

Last night, Mr. Q.O. took the garbage down the hall and came back with a pot of orchids. One of our neighbours gave it to us. The instructions on its care seem rather odd to me. It says to water the plant by giving it 3 ice cubes once a week. Three ice cubes? I would have thought that would shock the poor plant. If any of you have grown orchids successfully and have some hints, please share. I’d love to keep this plant growing and hopefully flowering.

There are some buds on it that look very close to opening. I love the colour of the flowers. Such a wonderful pink, my favourite colour.

Baxter’s look says it all, “An orchid? Yummy!” We have it well out of his reach.

Sailing Away to the Sewing Machine!

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After looking through a few quilt books and thinking about it, I finally decided on a quilt block. Within a few minutes of making that decision, the fabrics were pulled and I had everything cut for the first block. Some muslin rectangles, a print rectangle, two large squares — one of muslin and one of the print — for the HSTs and I was ready to go.

In just a few seconds, the muslin square was printed, using Inklingo, with the 3″ HSTs for the block. The muslin was layered with the print. Using the machine, I stitched along the stitching lines. The fabrics were then cut along the cutting lines, the pieces were pressed and …

A few seconds later I had perfect 3″ HSTs. No dog-ears, no having to cut down to size. Just easy perfect HSTs.

A few minutes later the HSTs and rectangles were joined and the first of the sailboat blocks was done. The block finishes at 12″. I’m going to use a three or four-inch muslin sashing between blocks. My plan is to make 12 blocks and set them 3 by 4 as this is destined to be a lap quilt.

I didn’t time it, but I doubt the block took even half an hour to make. Once the HSTs were done, it took only a few more minutes. So I may just get all the blocks finished today. I’m curious to see if I can get the whole top done by the time the weekend is over. I may get distracted by a hand-piecing project .. in fact, I can almost be sure of that happening.

Baxter was practicing his lounge lizard look, I think. The crossed paws make me laugh every time.

Pattern Sale

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As Boxing Day is typically a day of sales here in Canada, I decided to have a Boxing Day sale of my patterns, which can be found here. The patterns contain detailed instructions on piecing with lots of photographs and diagrams, cheat sheets with printing sizes, pressing instructions and quilting suggestions.

Each pattern is marked down from $9 to $5 for this one-day event.  The patterns included are:

Chintz Circles

Pink Ice

Twinklingo Stars

The sale is on until 11:59 p.m. EST tonight and are available on the patterns page of my website.

Baxter, of course, isn’t all that interested in patterns. He’s having much more fun watching things out on the roof garden.

Twinklingo Stars

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I’ve just released a new pattern for the Twinklingo Stars lap quilt that finishes at 57 x 72 inches. This one is perfect for machine piecing or hand piecing and is very quick to put together. It’s made using the Inklingo Tumbler collection .

While I made the original with a white background, making the stars from batiks with a dark background like this block gives a different effect and the stars really sparkle!

Baxter found the whole process rather exhausting!

Flannel Quilt Finish

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On the weekend, I got the flannel top quilted and bound. The label went on and it was washed and dried yesterday afternoon. Now it’s on its way to its intended recipient. It finished at 56″ x 64″.

Machine quilting it was definitely a case of fabric wrestling. I am so spoiled now using the silk batts that I really noticed how much heavier and more difficult to manoeuvre the cotton batt was. That’s the trade-off, I suppose, for the ease of basting a fusible batt. It ended up as a totally machine-made quilt, other than tacking down the binding, which is totally unusual for me. However, it also made me more confident about my  machine piecing skills.

Putting the binding on was fun. It was lovely and warm and was a true cat magnet. Baxter landed on my lap almost the minute I started tacking the binding down and stayed put for much longer than he usually does. Clearly a little flannel quilt is a must just for him.

Flannel Top Finished

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This top practically put itself together. I can’t get over how fast it was to stitch. It finishes at 56 x 64. I’ll get the backing and binding ready this weekend. The batting should be here next week.

After seeing the quilt being put together over at Exuberant Color, I’m tempted to haul out my Kaffe fabrics and maybe make another double 4-patch quilt. And I’ll definitely make another flannel quilt, but perhaps a different pattern.

Baxter had a relaxing day. First we caught him in mid-yawn.

Then he had a snooze. He always has Cappy close by.

56 Blocks Done

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They’re all done. I am absolutely amazed at how quickly they’ve gone together. I hope putting the rows together and then putting the top together goes as fast. It would be fabulous to have this top done by the time the weekend is over.

Today, as Baxter will be enjoying enduring a day at the vet as it’s time for him to be fixed, I’ll take advantage of being able to lay the blocks out on the floor to figure out the placement and then start putting the rows together.

Over the next couple of weeks, my blogging schedule is going to be a bit sporadic as there are a number of things going on and my computer time is going to be limited.

Baxter was determined to get in on the act when we were getting ready to take the photo of the 56 blocks.

Lots of Cutting and A Little Stitching

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All the flannels were washed and ironed over the weekend and then the cutting began. Lots and lots of 2.5″ and 4.5″ strips for the double 4-patch block. I found a trick that makes rotary cutting much easier for me. I put a pine board beneath my cutting mat and it has made an enormous difference. I usually rotary cut on my ironing board as it is almost the right height for me. With the pine board underneath the cutting mat, it’s exactly the right height.

Once the strips were cut, I stitched a couple of the 2.5″ strips together and made two blocks just to see how they looked. They went together quicker than I had anticipated and press beautifully.

Working with flannel is fun! I didn’t need to pin at all as the flannel really does stick to itself quite nicely. I’ve started sewing the 2.5″ strips together and expect to get at least half the blocks I need for the quilts done today, if not more.

This is, I think, my favourite picture of Baxter so far. It’s a 3-for-1 shot. Baxter’s reflection can be seen in the window as well as on the marble windowsill.

Colourful Little 9-Patches

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The last pieced border for Twinkling Stars was finished last night, but the baseball game was on and I didn’t want to be at the sewing machine attaching it to the quilt, so out came the 9-patch blocks to set on point. They’re now going to become a little quilt on their own rather than be incorporated into the Twinkling Stars quilt.

As the blocks are finished, they’ll be stored in a very special box from a friend. So far 13 of them are done. Once they’re all done, the quilt will be quick to stitch together. They finish at 4.24″. I think I’ll have about 100 of them by the time they’re all stitched.

There was some great feedback yesterday on working with flannels. I think I’m going to make a double 4-patch with the flannels. Once they’re washed and ironed I’ll get started. But today my plan is to attach the two borders to Twinkling Stars and hopefully get a good picture of it.

Baxter was posing in the pink chair after another busy day on the windowsill.

Twinkling Stars Progress

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The main part of the top is together. Now to make and add the borders and this year’s baseball playoffs quilt will be done. With any luck, it will be finished before the World Series is over.

This is a big milestone for me. While I hybrid pieced some of the blocks and totally hand pieced some others, the majority of the quilt was put together by machine. it’s given me a lot more confidence about machine piecing, which will come in handy for some quilts I want to make.

On Friday evening I got a call from the LQS and, after close to 6 months, the white on white fabric has finally come in. I’m thrilled as it means I can definitely finish off the Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt exactly as I wanted with the pieced border I had envisioned for it.

Baxter is still teething and, on the weekend, he lost (and we found) a baby tooth. Rather than put it in a little pillow for the kitty tooth fairy, Mr. Q.O. tossed it. I think Baxter deserves a new toy and plan to get him one from the kitty tooth fairy.