I played with Jane today.  The stack of finished squares is getting higher.  I did make some out of sequence, but when I get to those rows, I’ll be ahead.  I’m glad that I bought the EQ Dear Jane program.  It tells me the best way to piece the blocks.  I can print off patterns for paper piecing.  There is a wealth of information in that program.

Two blocks were paper pieced today.  They are ready for quilting.  I finished quilting one other block and tacked down the binding on two other  blocks.  It sounds like a lot of work, but the blocks are finished at 4 1/2″.  It doesn’t take long to put a binding on the sides.  Some of the parts that are paper pieced are very small.  See the corner squares in the bottom block in the first picture. I never could piece them the regular way.

Three blocks are ready to applique.  Again, I’m glad that they are small.  When all the blocks that I’ve been working on are finished, row D should be done.  I had intended to make the blocks in the fourth row around the center block.  Somehow, I became sidetracked and processed a whole row.

         

There will be no sewing tomorrow as I will be out of the house all day.  Maybe I can go into the archives and find a quilt that I haven’t talked about yet.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

I was talking to a lady that I met today.  When she found out that I was a quilter, she told me that she had  bought a new sewing machine a few months ago.  Her 13 year old son was looking at it and asked her to teach him how to sew.  She did and he has made his first quilt and has started on his second.  He has gone into the local quilt shop and they have answered his questions.  His color sense is awesome.  The quilt was made of rectangles and was his own design.  His Grandmother  bought a sewing machine for him so he has his own.  He saved his money and bought a trunk.  He keeps his sewing machine in the trunk along with the start of a stash. He has asked to have lessons at the quilt shop so that he could know how to make a quilt “the real way”.  The best part is that he doesn’t have his fingers attached to electronics.  His Mom is very proud of him.

I’ve been so busy lately with yard work, appointments, meetings, etc. that I haven’t been in the sewing room very much.  I’m hoping that I will be able to sew for a whole day soon.

A friend gave me some Dresden Plate blocks that were made in the 30’s or 40’s.  They came with the muslin.  I have appliqued the blocks onto the muslin and stitched the blocks together.

Fortunately, I had several 30’s Dresden Plates pieces that I purchased at auction several years ago.  I was able to cut them to make the border.  The fabric, even though it isn’t the same patterns, has the same look.  It goes very well with the blocks.

 

I bought a piece of green 30’s fabric from a vendor at the Guild quilt show, intending to use it for something else.  It just happens to be the right size for the back of this quilt. I think that I was going to use it with the auction Dresden Plate pieces.  They’re both in this quilt now so I don’t have to think of what to do with them.

Where the whole quilt is made with antique fabric, I feel that it needs to be hand quilted.  I’ve been checking Pinterest to see what others have done with the Dresden Plate.  There are several that I like.  When I figure out which one or combination of several that I like, I’ll make a template and start quilting.

I am designing a wall hanging that will go over my couch.  I’ve been thinking about it for weeks.  Up until this week, I had only the dimensions.  I want it to fit on the rod that is on the wall and hang down to the top of the couch.  Yesterday, I found a setting diagram that I like.  Now, I have to think about what I want to place in the spots on the diagram.  As thoughts about this wall hanging come to me, I’ll let you know the progress.  Maybe even show some pictures.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

A short while ago, a friend asked me how I put the rows of the Canadian 150 quilt together.  The quilt had 12 rows of 12 blocks.  It was hand quilted.  Every week, we received a pattern and a story about an amazing Canadian woman.  When I had received the patterns for 24 blocks, I put them together in two rows.  Then I hand quilted the rows as I received and pieced the next blocks.  Row 3 and row 4 were sewn together and quilted. Every section of  two rows was pieced and quilted as a separate quilt.  Following is the procedure that I used to add each section to the next one.

I’m using a Linus quilt for the demo.  It is made with nine patch blocks set three by four.  I made two sections of two rows.  The nine patches are quilted.  I omitted quilting the sashing because I needed it to float.  I also didn’t quilt the border because The quilting might not match up where it was seamed.  I wanted to quilt it all at once. Most tutorials tell you to trim both edges even.  This will work, but you sometimes have to pull it and the seam won’t lay flat.  I find it better to make one edge 1/4″ wider to give a little wiggle room.  It is less stressful.  On this quilt, the side with the sashing will be the side that is longer.  It was not quilted. That will give you more room to manipulate.  It is the bottom piece in the picture.

Trim the top piece even with the edge.

 

 

Turn the bottom piece with the sashing over.  Pin the backing down and away from the edge. This will keep it out of the way of trimming. Turn back over and trim even with the edge. 

 

Trim the batting an extra 1/4″.  This will eliminate bulk.

 

Unpin the back, smooth out, and trim back 1/4″ away from trimmed top.

 

 

 

Pin backing down again to get it out of the way.  Pin the two pieces together, right sides together.  I use a lot of pins.  Line up the sashing lines while pinning. Peek to see if they line up.

This needs to be adjusted.  The right seam does not line up.

 

 

 

  Then sew seam with a 1/4″ seam.

Take it to an ironing board.  Laying it with top against the board, press seam up.  Press 1/4″ on backing.

Lay backing over pressed up seam.  It should cover sewing line.  Press.

 

 

When it is even, pin and then hand tack seam.

 

 

 

Done.  You will not know that the quilt was quilted in small pieces.  Using this technique, you can machine a king size quilt without a lot of tugging.  You could even quilt single blocks and put them together this way. A patterned backing will hide the seams on the back.  Or you could use different fabrics on the back and have a two sided quilt.  There are so many options.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

It’s November already.  I finally changed the small monthly wall hanging. I hadn’t changed it since July.  Sue didn’t go out trick or treating.  She can today.

When I was getting the wall hanging out of the drawer, I found another one.  This was made for a Guild challenge many years ago.  I’m not sure what the criteria was for the challenge, but I remember that we were given beads to use in the piece. It was hand quilted.   The fabric was obtained at a Guild quilt show.  Keepsake Quilting was a vendor at the show. They had a large bin of fabric.  We could stuff a plastic shopping bag for a very small price.  I knew that I would use the fabric some day when I bought it. It seems as if I have a lot of fabric that I bought that way.  Some day, I will have a use for it.

  

Have a great day and happy quilting.