Tag Archives: quilts

Next Border on Scrappy Star

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There are three borders on Scrappy Star now. I’m working on the fourth border, which is a pieced border. For it, I need close to 200 QSTs. That’s the majority of them in the picture. In less than the time it takes to drink a cup of coffee, I had all of them printed, cut out and ready to stitch.

So what does this have to do with it? On the weekend, I was washing some fabric for various projects. I tend to wash a lot of fabric by hand for numerous reasons, including the fact the washing machines in our laundry room are front loading and lock once the wash cycle begins. So I can’t check the water to see if anything is bleeding.

But that’s not the main reason I wash my fabrics. I want to get rid of the sizing and other chemicals that are in the fabrics. Many of the fabrics we use now are printed offshore and come to North America in large shipping containers, sit in warehouses and then get shipped. And something I’ve noticed a lot lately is that when I wash fabrics, even though they don’t bleed, the water is … well, dirty. It’s the only word for it. There’s a real grey dirty look to the water. After a good wash and rinse, the water is rinsing clear.

I know it’s a never-ending debate in quilting, whether to pre-wash or not, and everyone has their own preference. My choice is to work with fabric that’s clean and as free of chemicals as possible. As a hand piecer, I prefer the softness of fabrics with the sizing washed out. The very few times I’ve worked with unwashed fabrics, I’ve found myself coughing every time I pressed whatever I was making with them. I think that’s the formaldehyde and other chemicals reacting with the heat of the iron that bothers me.

I know I’m opening up a big can of worms here, but what’s your preference and why?

Baxter has no opinion on the subject at all. He’s much too busy guarding the toy basket.

Three Little Stars

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I couldn’t resist making three little stars with some of the pieces I have left over from the Scrappy Star. I’m not sure what these will end up in or how many more I’ll make, but there’s something about putting together the little 4.5″ LeMoyne Stars that I can’t resist. Maybe I’ll just keep making them until I have enough for a small doll’s quilt or perhaps this is the beginning of yet another large quilt.

I love how perfectly they press. For these little blocks with so many different fabrics, I use either a mustard gold thread or a slate grey one. Somehow both those thread colours work perfectly with all the various fabrics.

Mr. Q.O. captioned this shot of Baxter “Waddaya mean, no cheeseburger?” I think he wants the cheeseburger, not Baxter!

Hand Quilting Tools

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Ferris Wheel is still in the process of being hand quilted. I have actually taken out some of the hand quilting because what I thought I’d like I definitely don’t like. So I’m redoing a couple of blocks. Now that I’ve got a plan for the quilting, it will go much faster … I hope. Not only have I taken out the machine piecing I originally started with, I’ve also taken out some of the hand quilting.

My favourite tools for hand quilting include these 4 thimbles and the YLI thread. For the most part, I use either the cone Thimblelady thimble or the original silver one. The little black leather thimble I wear on my finger beneath the quilt. It saves wear and tear on the finger underneath, but is thin enough that I still feel the needle as it comes through. The spoon thimble is my favourite when I quilt without a hoop, which I sometimes do, particularly when I’m at the edge of a quilt. YLI hand quilting thread is my absolute favourite and the one to which I always turn.

This is my favourite hoop, although it’s a bit large and sometimes too heavy for me.

On nights when the round wooden hoop seems too heavy, and there are many of those, out comes this Q-snap rectangular hoop. The difference in weight is really noticeable. How lucky are we that we have so many tools that we can find and use the appropriate one, depending on the application and how we feel?

Then there is this, my wonderful floor frame which I’m not quite as comfortable using for hand quilting but what a bonus it is for basting! I can put the quilt sandwich in it and baste that way. No more crawling on the floor to pin or breaking my back leaning over a table to baste.

I taught myself how to hand quilt mostly from books. These are two of my favourites. I picked up a lot of hints from the Jinny Beyer book Quiltmaking by Hand, some from That Perfect Stitch but I think the most important lesson I learned was from watching the Thimblelady’s DVD on hand quilting. I’ve developed my own method which is a combination of all of the above.

There’s one thing that I find makes a big difference for me and that’s using my index finger, rather than the middle finger, to rock the needle. I’ve often wondered if anyone else finds that it’s easier to quilt using their index finger. I find my hand doesn’t fatigue anywhere near as much.

What about you? How did you learn to hand quilt? What are your favourite tools and methods?

A Baxter close-up. He was reclining near a quilt book.

A Trio of Pickled Ladies

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The first of the next three that are joining the group. Every time I finish one, I think it’s my favourite and then I make the next and think it is and then … well, you get the picture.

The second of the trio.

And the third.

Another 15 to go and they will all be done and ready to add to the others. Then I’ll start with the half Pickled Ladies that will go along the edges and then the border(s). I’m still undecided about how many borders it’s going to have.

Baxter likes to “hide” beneath things. When he’s found, his eyes get so big!

Seven Sisters and Then Some

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While initially I thought I’d turn these into multi-coloured Seven Sisters blocks, the block is turning into a very large family of sisters! So far there are 19 of them. How much further I’ll go with this block I’m not sure. Right now I’m thrilled with it. Of course I am – it’s mostly pink. As those who have read my blog for any length of time know, pink is my favourite colour. I think I was going through withdrawal not having a pink project on which to work. That said, perhaps I’ll add some green or some more purples and mauves or move into the blues. All I know is it’s fun putting these together and goes amazingly quickly.

When I started joining the stars I realized I hadn’t pressed them all in the same direction, so some time had to be spent at the iron. Now they’re all pressed the same way and that makes pressing the back of the block a breeze! Right now the block is about 14.5″ x 13.25″.

We are having an incredibly mild January, so far at least. It feels more like early spring than winter and the forecast seems to indicate it will be like this for the next couple of weeks. A sure sign of this being the oddest of winters? We went for a walk and, rather than seeing snow ploughs (of course not – there has been no snow and no, I’m not complaining), we saw street sweepers out and about. This really makes me wonder what the spring and summer will be like.

Baxter is proving to be a real quilter’s cat. Not only does he lie about under the quilt rack and hoop, he just loves to grab a piece of fabric and run off with it. I’ve found little 6-point stars on the floor. Last night, as I was working on another Feathered Star block, I turned my back for a few moments and there were some of the pieces from that on the floor.

Little Stars Joined

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Last night I got out the box full of little stars and decided to start putting them together. I’m starting with the centre and will work my way out. Right now it sort of looks like it’s going to turn into a Seven Sisters block, but it’s just the first round of many. The row of six joined stars clearly isn’t yet added to the centre star, but I wanted to get a rough idea of the effect and think about how I’d proceed. Now I hope to get the next round added quickly.

Earlier in the day I made a few more stars as I had a rather nasty headache but wanted to stitch. These little 6-point stars are what I almost always decide to make when I want to stitch but don’t want anything too difficult. Do you have a favourite block to stitch?

Baxter’s ruff is getting quite luxurious. We were looking at some of the pictures of him when he was a really small kitten and can’t get over the difference already — and he’s not even 9 months old yet.

Scrappy Star Squared

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All four corners are added to the scrappy star. Now it’s a matter of the borders. There will be multiple borders on this, at least two of which are going to be pieced. Right now it measures approximately 36″ square. The final size I’m not sure about yet, but it will tell me when it’s finished.

Most of what I need for the pieced borders is contained in these two boxes. That is, of course, unless I decide to add more pieced borders than I’ve currently got planned.

I haven’t graded the seams on this quilt top. As there are so many little pieces in it which means a lot of seam allowances, I’ll start working on this sometime soon and definitely before the pieced borders get added. As the pieced borders are made, they’re going to be graded right away.

And no, don’t ask — I have no idea how many pieces are in it so far and am almost afraid to check. I have kept detailed notes on the making of this quilt so far and will keep adding to those notes but I’m not looking at the total of the pieces until it’s done.

Baxter loves to get in little hiding spots. Perhaps he thinks that we can’t see him and then will be able to spring out and surprise us?

More Pickled Ladies Are Gathering

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Over the holiday, I had a good look at the size of the Pickled Ladies top and decided to add a few more rows. These are the first three ladies that will be joining the group.

The arcs are in the process of being made and I hope to have them all done by the end of the week. Then it’s nothing but easy stitching, attaching them to the clamshells which are already prepared and waiting.

Having been through the process of grading the seams on the other Pickled Ladies all at once, this time I’m grading them as I go. It only takes a minute and makes a huge difference to the drape and weight of the quilt.

When each arc is finished I grade the seams of the two sides of each black triangle that are attached to the white triangles. I like to wait until the seam is stitched before grading it, mostly because having even seam allowances makes it easier to line up and stitch the pieces together. It also gives me the option of not grading a seam if a fabric seems to be of a slightly looser weave than others.

Once the arc is attached to the clamshell, I then grade the black seam that’s attached to the clamshell. A quick press and it’s done.

The window templates for the half clamshells for the edges are made and I’ve been auditioning fabrics with them. The arcs and partial arcs for the edge pieces are also ready to be stitched.

Baxter has lounging on the sofa down to an art form. Mr. Q.O. captioned this one, “Dinner ready yet, lady?”

Beginnings of New Projects

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These three fabrics, along with two layer cakes of Fresh Squeezed, are the inspiration for a couple of new projects. They were a Christmas gift from a good friend and have, ever since I opened the package, been out where I can see them and start planning the first of the new quilts that will be made with them. These bright cheerful fabrics are the perfect antidote to winter’s grey skies and cold temperatures.

The yardage and one of the layer cakes are washed, a neutral has been chosen so all that’s left is to decide which design to make first.

Baxter on the windowsill. Yesterday was a very windy and cold day and was snowing on and off but nothing that stayed on the ground. So far he doesn’t seem interested in the snow at all.

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.