One of the things that got done on the weekend was finishing the little quilt I’m calling Meandering Minds. It’s 8″ x 10″ and is destined for the Alzheimer’s Art Quilt Initiative. Hand pieced, machine quilted. I used the 2″ … Continue reading
This is another simple quilt that was made for the teddy bears. It measures approximately 22.5 x 27 inches and was such fun to make. Twelve 4.5″ LeMoyne Stars and a border and it was done. It’s hand pieced and machine quilted. This was the first quilt I machine quilted using anything but straight lines. On the borders I managed to quilt a cable, although it doesn’t really show up in the picture. That may be one of the benefits of working with a small quilt when machine quilting for me – I can manoeuvre the quilt sandwich a bit easier.
During the summer of 2008 it was also put to use for a teddy bear outing on the roof garden. Finding the old photos of these quilts is rather fun. I’m actually finding quilts I had completely forgotten about.
I’m still working away on the pieced border for the red and white quilt and, while I work on it, am thinking about another idea for a red and white quilt. The next one will be a small quilt though, I think. This red and white Feathered Star/Sunflower quilt is going to be rather large although I have sorted out how I will baste it. I’ll put it in the collapsible floor frame to baste it. No more crawling around on the floor with safety pins, not that that’s even an option with an inquisitive cat like Baxter around. I can just imagine what a nightmare that could be.
Speaking of Baxter, this photo was taken last week. Mr. Q.O. captioned it, “Any treats over there?”
While I continue working on the red and white quilt, I decided I’d revisit some of my favourites. This is actually right up there at the top of that list. Simple nine-patch blocks, yes, but there’s something about this quilt and this photograph of it, in particular, that I just love. The nine-patch blocks measure 3″ finished, made with squares I printed using Inklingo. It’s hand pieced and machine quilted and looking at it makes me realize that the simple quilts are just as beautiful to me as the more involved ones.
It was the focus of a teddy bear adventure in this post back in June of 2008. When I looked back in my archives to find it, I was shocked that it was almost four years ago. Assuming I don’t get distracted again, which is never a safe assumption with me, I may show a few other quilts from the past on the blog over the next couple of weeks.
It was really quite chilly here yesterday. I think today’s supposed to be a bit better and then Wednesday better yet again. Yesterday the heat was back on and the windows closed again for most of the day. Oh, how we were spoiled by that lovely taste of summer in the middle of March.
Baxter was looking very alert for his photograph on Monday afternoon.
Yes, I know this has been shown before but I have it entered in this week’s Quilting Gallery contest which is for hexagons. There are some beautiful quilts entered, so please go have a look and vote for your favourites. Yes, I said favourites as you can vote for two entries this week.
With a little advance planning I was able to get the machine quilting done within a couple of hours and had only 4 thread ends to work in. All straight line quilting, of course, as that’s my skill level when quilting by machine. When I found this flannel a few years ago, I bought enough yardage of it to use as backing for 3 baby quilts.
I’ve found that a 2″ hexagon is perfect for a label as it gives me lots of room to write. I baste the turn-under allowance down as that makes the appliqueing on to the back go very quickly. In this picture it’s ironed to a piece of freezer paper to stabilize it when writing on it.
The quilt was made with “other” half 1″ hexagons which I printed using Inklingo. I love tessellating designs and had started the quilt top long before we knew about the new baby. However, when I learned my cousin’s son and his wife were going to have another baby I knew what this particular UFO was meant to be. Once I made that decision, it only took a couple of weeks to finish piecing it. With a tessellating design like this, there are tons of opportunities for continuous stitching which makes the piecing go very quickly. Of course, using Inklingo to print the shapes on the back of the fabric makes it even faster as there’s no basting over papers and removing them.
The blocks are very quick to make with a simple running stitch. Because of the matching points, there’s no guessing at where exactly the joins should be made. I think I was making upwards of 20 or so of these blocks in an evening and then had the fun of arranging and putting them together into the top. I have lots of them left and plan to make another of these little tessellating quilts at some point.
They press beautifully.
Last night we bought a new vacuum cleaner. Baxter was eyeing the box it’s in, definitely not impressed. He is not a fan of vacuum cleaners at all, but with a long-haired cat a good vacuum cleaner is an absolute must for us.
Quilting the Ferris Wheel quilt was one of the things I had hoped to start on the weekend. While that didn’t happen, I did get a start on it yesterday. I’m using a silk batt again and love how easy it makes it to manipulate the quilt sandwich when machine quilting.
Truth be told, I have to get Ferris Wheel quilted as I need the safety pins to baste the next one. I’m going to ask a friend if I can use her living room floor to baste as I have a feeling Baxter would be a bit too much help, particularly with his determination to chew fabric given the chance.
I’m hoping to get Ferris Wheel done by the end of the week. The fabric for the binding is picked out. It’s a great striped fabric, so I’m going to make bias binding as I love the effect of striped fabric in a bias binding.
I use a laptop for work and keep the wireless keyboard down beside my desk when I’m not working. Baxter likes to hang out under my desk and on Tuesday we got this shot of him draped over the keyboard. He seems to be very attracted to technology as well as quilting. When I’m printing something, he has to get as close as he can to watch the paper.
An extra shot of Baxter, because it shows off his amazing whiskers!
The baby quilt which I named Snuggly Stars, thanks to a suggestion from Karen Dianne, was finished Friday night. After cross-hatch quilting the two stitching books, I decided I’d cross-hatch quilt the baby quilt as well. I started quilting it around noon on Friday and by the time the evening was over, I had finished the quilting, put the binding on and tacked it down. All that was left was to add the label, which I did Saturday morning before I left to go to the Creativ Festival. The little quilt finished at 24 x 36 and was totally machine pieced and quilted.
Sunday morning we threw it in the wash, which was a bit of an adventure. Mr. Q.O. took it up to the laundry room to put it in to wash and, when I went up to transfer it to the dryer, the machine had seemingly malfunctioned. Rather than draining the soap suds, it seemed to be making more and more. We think someone had put detergent in the machine previously and then not used it so that, when we used it, it had much more than recommended amount of detergent. When it finished the final spin, I couldn’t even see the little quilt for all the soap suds. I was holding my breath when I opened the door. As soon as I did, there was an avalanche of suds on the floor. I finally fished out the little quilt and put it in another washing machine with no soap to let it run through an entire cycle with just water as I figured that was the only way to get all the soap out of it.
We made a decision on Friday that, as we don’t want to leave Smudge alone for too long, Mr. Q.O. would stay home on Saturday while I went to the Creativ Festival on Saturday and I’d stay home while he went to the baby shower on Sunday. By the time it finished its second run through a wash and then dried, there was just enough time to put it in the gift bag before Mr. Q.O. had to leave.
Saturday the rain poured down for most of the day. Sunday we had snow. It didn’t stay on the ground, but there were a few times I looked out the window and couldn’t believe how heavily the snow was coming down. Smudge decided the best thing to do was have a snooze.
Friday evening the last stitch was taken to tack down the binding and the baby windmills quilt was finished. Nothing like a last-minute finish — the baby is going to be delivered sometime today. I had decided how I was going to quilt it and, with a little advance planning, was able to get the machine quilting done within a couple of hours and had only 4 thread ends to work in. All straight line quilting, of course, as that’s my skill level when quilting by machine.
When I found this flannel a couple of years ago, I bought enough yardage of it for the backing for 3 baby quilts.
The label is ready to be written and stitched on to the back. As soon as we know the baby’s name, I’ll write out and attach the label, give the quilt a quick wash and dry and we’ll be off to deliver it to the hospital. I’ve found that a 2″ hexagon is perfect for a label as it gives me lots of room to write. I’ve got the turn-under allowance basted down as that will make the appliqueing on to the back go very quickly. Right now it’s ironed to a piece of freezer paper to stabilize it when I’m writing on it and the fabric pen is ready and waiting. I can’t wait to hear if it’s a boy or girl!
The quilt was made with “other” half 1″ hexagons which I printed using Inklingo. This was a UFO that had been sitting for a couple of years. I love tessellating designs and had started this quite a while ago but then it sat. However, when I learned my cousin’s son and his wife were going to have another baby I knew what this particular UFO was meant to be. Once I made that decision, it only took a couple of weeks to finish piecing it. With a tessellating design like this, there are tons of opportunities for continuous stitching which makes the piecing go very quickly.
Lester looking rather majestic — one of his house lion looks.
Smudge has definitely turned a corner, we think. He’s more playful and is eating more every day. Sunday night he was playing with the favourite toy, Cappy, and then decided to rest while lying on top of Cappy. I think he wanted to make sure it didn’t get away from him.
The binding is finished and photos were taken out on the roof garden this afternoon. I am thrilled with how it turned out. 672 pieces in the top that all went together so easily thanks to the Inklingo Orange Peel Deluxe collection printing the stitching lines and matching points on the fabric. I couldn’t wait till tomorrow to post these photos!
The back.
The final touch was a totally lump-free binding thanks to this tutorial I found on Bonnie Hunter’s website. I’ve tried doing lump-free binding many times with instructions from books and various sites, with varying degrees of success. The tutorial on Bonnie’s website made it absolutely foolproof for me.
Now I can’t wait for August 1st when the quilt will be given to my aunt on her 90th birthday. All that’s left now is the label, which will be added this weekend.
To see more finishes, go to Lit and Laundry and the post here with links to Friday finishes.
… is what this is feeling like although Chintz Circles is almost finished. Almost. I think I’ve said that every day for the past 3 days. But now I can truly see that there’s no more than an hour of quilting left and then the binding which I will hopefully get done tonight. We went to Sew Sisters on Saturday and after looking at a number of fabrics, I chose the Rouenneries print for the binding. I think it will frame the quilt perfectly and it goes nicely with the backing.
I’m pleased with how the machine quilting looks and the interlocking circles that show up. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to show tomorrow. The silk batt turned out to be the best possible choice — it is so much easier to manoeuvre and gives a little stitch definition. The Pfaff IDT has made doing the circles much easier than I anticipated. That said, how on earth anyone quilts a large quilt on a home machine is beyond me. After an hour or so of fabric wrestling, my shoulders and arms ache — and this is just a lap quilt.
While we were at Sew Sisters I found a fabulous white on white that isn’t heavily painted on. So some of that had to come home with me. I’m always on the hunt for a good white on white as I love using white in my quilts but have learned that anything with a heavily painted-on design causes nothing but trouble as it’s so hard to needle. Oh, how I wish the manufacturers would produce some white on white prints that had the design woven in rather than painted on.
It was a hot and humid weekend and promises to be a hot and humid week. Sounds like we’ll be back into the really high humidex readings towards the end of the week.
The cats had some windowsill time on the weekend. First Lester.
Then Smudge — although he looks a bit cranky in this shot.
… got finished after all on Tuesday night after some quilt wrestling of Chintz Circles was accomplished. After doing more of the quilting, I think I’ve got a “route” mapped out so as to be able to avoid having quite so many threads to bury. Today and Thursday will be busy with work, but Friday and Saturday I plan to stay at the machine and keep going until the quilting is finished.
Two more Pink Ice blocks to go and then I’ll try a few of the 9-patch blocks to see if they will work as the setting block for the quilt.
Although it’s hot and humid again, Lester saw a few things out the window that he had to keep his eye on.
While Smudge was staying with his in warm weather, do as little as possible mode. He was awake — if you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see one eye open watching to make sure he didn’t miss anything interesting.
Quilt Obsession 