Last Friday night, David LaValley from the Bittersweet Fabric Shop gave a talk at the Guild meeting.  He spoke about thread and needles.  We learned a lot about thread and using the right needles in our machines.  He had some supplies and I bought purple machine quilting  needles and some Teflon needles to use if I make something with fusible applique.  It’s always nice to be able to buy something that will make quilting easier.  I did use the purple needle today and it made a smooth stitch.  I also bought a little black plastic thing that holds a needle when a needle is replaced in the machine.  It does work.  It was much easier to change the needle.  I have always had trouble hitting the right spot.

On Saturday morning we had a rescheduled class with David Taylor.  He taught invisible machine applique.  I did have the same class last year at the Vermont Quilt Festival, but wanted a refresher.

The other students made a small piece with an apple tree, a basket and a wine bottle.  I had already made that piece last year, so I was able to make a sweet pea piece.  I was given a beautiful piece of hand dyed fabric to use for the sweet pea. It took a while to position the freezer paper pattern on the fabric. I wanted the lights and shadows to be in the right spot. I took two pictures of the pieces with different colorations and decided which one looked better.

 

 

When the sewing machine settings were just right, I took a picture of the screen so that I could finish at home if I didn’t finish in the class.  I can also use the setting to make other projects.

The applique was finished this morning.

 

 

David has a CD that teaches how to quilt pictorial quilts.  The CD is short, but it has a wealth of information. He quilts slowly on a Sweet Sixteen.  All the instructions can be transferred to a domestic machine. When I started quilting I found it harder to forget my way of quilting than to quilt his way.  David recommends using the stop and start button when quilting.  I found that hard to do at first, but by the third petal, I was remembering to push the button to stop. After a little while, I really enjoyed quilting his way.

He quilts with variegated thread.  I have some, but not the right colors so had to use plain thread. The thread is the same in the top and bobbin.  The quilting starts in the middle and works out to the sides.  Each petal has to be completed before going on to the next one so there are many thread and bobbin changes within each petal. It was worth winding all the bobbins before I started.  Every thread is pulled to the back, knotted, and buried between the layers.  This seems to take longer but when you are done, the back doesn’t need to be cleaned up.  The tension can also be checked on a regular basis.

Maybe, I can make the old world Santa wall hanging, now that I am comfortable with this procedure.  I’ve had the pattern for years.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

 

The past few days have been busy, but there are no new quilts to show.  The quilt show is coming up soon and my quilts have to be ready.  I’ve been sewing binding on the back of quilts.  Also sewing sleeves so the quilts can be hung.

I have one more quilt to quilt before the show and started working on it yesterday.  I had already stitched in the ditch around the alternate blocks to stabilize the area where I would be quilting.  After I quilted one block, I removed the quilt from the sewing machine to see if I liked it and to check the tension.   In doing that, I noticed that two blocks were incorrect.  There is a definite color on each corner and the colors were not where  they were  supposed to be on those two blocks.  Fortunately, the blocks are on the outside row as they have to be removed and sewn in the right orientation.  It was very frustrating.  I solved that problem by turning off the sewing machine, leaving the room and shutting the door. There are times when we just have to walk away,   Today is a new day and I can deal with the mistake.  Tonight was spent unsewing,  One block is out and the other is almost out.  I’ll resew them tomorrow and continue quilting.  If I concentrate, the quilt can be finished before the weekend.

I’ve decided to not make any new blocks of the week or long term quilts this year.  Last year, I had four long term quilts.  The Moda Blockhead, Splendid Sampler, the Temperature Quilt and Dear Jane.  The Moda Blockhead is almost finished. I only made 20 blocks for the Splendid Sample.  Others are continuing on with more blocks.  I will sew the blocks into a top when I find a setting that I like.  The Temperature Quilt is finished and  will be in the quilt show.  Dear Jane will be a work in progress for a long time.

I found a few small quilts that I made several years ago.  The teddy bear and the cat are applique with embellishments.  I’m not sure why I didn’t quilt the background.  They were made while I was still hand quilting everything and I probably didn’t think that they were worth quilting.  It wouldn’t take much time to machine quilt the background and finish them. I’ll do that some day when I have nothing else to do. I could use them for free motion quilting practice.

 

 

 

In my sewing room are many tools and patterns that I bought on impulse, thinking that I would use them right away.  It would be a nice project to use them at least once. Then, if I didn’t want to use them again, I could find someone who would like them.  Tools are not worth much if they sit there and are not used.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

It’s March and Annie Louise needs a new dress.  I have pictures of my ancestors in their beautiful dresses and plan to reproduce some of them for Annie Louise.  In the early 1900s, ladies wore white dresses that were trimmed with lots of lace.  It was their best dress up dress.

In this picture, the two young ladies are wearing their white lace dresses.  I’m amazed at their tiny waists. Annie Louise’s body has the same measurement on her bust, waist, and hips.  Her dress has to be straight and not curvy.  I believe that the girl on the right is my Grandmother.  Annie Louise’s March dress will be like the dress on the left.

 

 

 

I drew a cartoon of the dress with as many embellishments that I could see in the picture.

The sleeves look as if they have pin tucks and one row of lace.

 

 

 

The yoke has flat lace in the front.   Gathered lace goes around the collar and down around the yoke.

 

 

 

There is a flower at the waist line.

 

 

 

There are two rows of ruffles at the bottom.

I haven’t made clothes for years. Especially, doll clothes.  I do have lots of patterns, pictures, and a cd with a complete batch of magazines about doll clothes from that era.  When I made her everyday dress, I made a muslin first before I cut the good fabric.  I use the muslin for the basic pattern.  Then I can add embellishments or tweak the good fabric to fit the muslin.  I think that I might make the second dress at a later time.  The skirt needs to be fuller and the lace larger.  One can always use two white lace dresses. Quilting had a rest today.  We need to do something else from time to time.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

When I first started making the Moda blocks, the instructions said that there would be approximately 46 blocks.  I thought that I should be almost finished with the project, but noticed that there were more than 46.  I scrolled down to the bottom to check the number of blocks and found the plan for putting the blocks together.

The plan is divided into four quarters.  I could make four small quilts or combined them into one large one.  This is perfect.  I can machine quilt each quarter and then combine them in the lap quilt method.   A smaller quilt would fit much better under the needle.

Three of the quarters still have blocks that are still to be made.  I did put one quarter together.  I’m not sure if I like the quilt.  It is very busy.  It looks more like putting leftover blocks together instead of a planned quilt.

When it is finished, and on the bed, I wouldn’t mind if Miss Molly  sleeps on it.  It’s definitely a quilt to be used.

Each of the blocks are very pretty by themselves.

  6″ block

  16″ block

Have a great day and happy quilting.

Several years ago, I purchased a small bag of fabric scraps from the local quilt shop. The price was $5.00.  I thought it would be fun to see how many small quilts I could make using just the scraps.  All the quilts do not have binding, but are put together in the pillow case method.  They are all hand quilted except for one which is quilted with the feather stitch on the sewing machine.  I was able to make ten little quilts.  The whole project was finished quickly as some of the quilts are very small.

This is the smallest.  It is 5″ x 5″.  It would make a very nice coaster,

 

 

 

I had made a sailboat quilt for a grandson.  The pattern was easy.  It had six half square triangles, two rectangles and four squares. It is 6″ x 7″.

 

 

The dark fabric with shooting stars and a moon called for a night picture.  There are two decorated Christmas trees and flowers in the garden.  It must be in the South, not New England. We would have snow at that time of year.  The lights are on inside the house.  This quilt is 8″ x 9″.

 

 

 

This little quilt is made of nine patches and a border.  It used some of the fabric that was used in the little house.  It is 6″ x 12″

 

 

 

 

More little sailboats.  This quilt uses more of the night sky fabric and the house fabric.  It is 6 1/2″ x 13″.

 

 

 

 

The Monkey Wrench quilt has the strawberry fabric that was used in the first sailboat piece.  Also some more night sky.  It is 9″ x 15″.

 

 

 

 

The little farm scene fabric already had nine patch blocks with nine patch corner squares.  It was easy to piece and quilt.  It was fun to notice that some of the corner squares were not straight,  Not everyone is a perfect quilter.  It is 11″ x 11″.

 

 

The quilts are getting larger.  This one is 14″ x 14″.  It consists of four Road to California blocks.  It is made of half square triangles and four patch pieces.

 

 

 

It is hard to see all the little pieces in this quilt.  There are nine Pineapple Log Cabin blocks in the center.  The fabrics do not have contrast so the blocks just show light and dark.  There are 415 pieces in this 14″ x 14″ quilt.

 

 

 

The tenth little quilt is made of strips of all the leftover fabric.  It is the only one that is quilted on the machine.  It is 11″ x 15″.

Quilting is so much fun if a project is started with “what if I do this?”  The results can be amazing.  I had a lot of fun for $5.00

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

 

My Christmas cactus has been blooming non stop since Thanksgiving.  I have three plants on the windowsill.  The two outside ones have bloomed once in a while, but the center one has outdone itself this year.  The trick is to enclose the plants  at night with thermal drapes.  They enjoy the cold from the window.  You wouldn’t think that cactus would like the cold, but they bloom much more if they are not in heat all the time.

 

 

 

The top that was made from the fifty 6″ blocks from Kimberly Einmo’s book is pieced.  I don’t know if I will send it to the long arm quilter or quilt it myself.  I’ll hang it on a hanger and decide when the ones in front of it are done.

 

 

Another quilt top from Kimberly’s book is finished.  It uses her 12″ blocks.

 

 

 

The third quilt top was made from leftover blue fabric from the Canadian 150 quilt.  It originally was a nine patch, but with a little cutting and resewing, it became a very nice top.

 

 

I really have to start quilting the tops instead of making more tops.  I think back when I started quilting.  I pieced and quilted one quilt at a time.  I didn’t have a stash or any of the “necessary” tools that are in the sewing room now.  There were no rotary cutters or rulers. I drew around a cardboard template that was made from cereal boxes.  I even hand pieced my first five quilts. How and when did I become obsessed with quilting?  I don’t know.  Someday, I will teach a class called “Two pins and a needle”.  That is all that is needed to make a quilt.  Of course there should be fabric, scissors and thread.  Other than that, you are good to go.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

I haven’t worked on the flower wall hanging for a long time.  When I started this project, I wanted to finish it by February.  I think it might be February next year as I intend to hand quilt this one.  The right side of the main body is appliqued.

This week, I added an iris, two poppies and have a mystery flower ready to applique.  I think that it’s some kind of a hanging day lily.   I pinned the pieces of the mystery flower to a paper so that I would remember which piece goes where and the order to sew them down.   I may tone down some of the colors on that flower.  It is dark. It’s easy to change my mind before the pieces are sewn down.

 

All the other flower and leaf pattern pieces are cut out of Gypsy applique freezer paper.  The  freezer paper has been ironed to fabric, but the fabric has not been cut to size yet.    I still have a rose, an iris and a rose bud to place on that side of the wall hanging.  I might cut them out and prepare all of them for appliqueing.  Then I can pin them to paper and put them in the spot where  they will go.  That will tell me if I need to change any of the colors.

 

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

I have made all fifty 6″ blocks in the Kimberly Einmo book, Pre Cut Bonanza.  The book has 200 pieced blocks from cut strips and shapes.  I intend to make all the blocks eventually. The quilt that was made with the 10″ blocks still hasn’t been quilted.  It is on the “to do” list.  There are still 8″, 12″, 14″, 16″ and big blocks to make.  That is for the future.  I’ll be checking magazines and the Internet for settings for those blocks.

The solid color fabric drawer was stuffed to overflowing so the 6″ blocks were made with just solid fabric.  I had hoped to use it up.  At least I can shut the drawer now.  I don’t usually buy solid fabric and had used most of what I had in one of the Miss Rosie quilts.  Some of my friends are no longer quilting and some of their fabric ended up in my fabric drawers.  I should never have to buy fabric again as long as I make scrap quilts. Most of it was solid color fabric.

The quilt will be set on the diagonal. Each block has a different color border.  Then there will be black sashing with different colored corner squares.  The sashings are  cut 1 1/2″ wide.  I was able to cut the corner squares out of the leftover fabric.  Everything that was cut will be used. The setting triangles will be black and it will have a black binding.

This is the first and second rows of the quilt.  I’ll add the black setting triangles to the rows before I sew the rows together. I might even change my mind and use another color.  I could even use half blocks in that spot.  The quilt will speak to me when I get to that point.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

I am caught up on piecing the Moda Blockhead block of the week again.  Somehow, piecing the 6″ and 12″ blocks seem easier than piecing and appliqueing the  4 1/2″ Dear Jane blocks.  I have enjoyed this project, especially because it uses the Japanese fabric that my daughter gave to me.  The project will be finished in a few weeks.  I have two other patterns that are ready for that fabric.

Block # 42 is a 12″ block

 

 

 

Block # 43 is a 6″block

 

 

 

Block # 44 is a 12″ block

 

 

 

The original instructions said that there would be 46 blocks so the end of this project is near.  The plan for joining the blocks together should be interesting.  There are  several different sizes.

I have finished sewing the binding on a quilt.  I was helped by my special helper, Miss Molly. She always lays on a quilt when I’m hand quilting or sewing binding.  It must be her pre-quality control inspection.  I’ve learned to take a big handful in my lap, leaving her just enough to be comfortable.

 

Have a great day and happy quilting.

Congratulations to King, a Wire Fox Terrier, who make “Best Of show” at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in New York City. He is a beautiful dog.

I have several baskets on shelfs.  The other day, I decided to see what was in them as I hadn’t looked in them for a while. One of the baskets had pretty boxes that I had embellished.  I had forgotten them.  When I put them in the basket, I had intended to put a shelf over the computer station  to hold them.  The shelf is still not up, but there is hope that I will paint or stain it some day and put it on the wall.

The wire mesh boxes were embellished with flowers that were made out of paper.  The paper was stitched and pressed to make them more realistic.  Then the centers were filled with thread. They could hold small treasures.  .

 

 

 

I still have three empty boxes and several flowers. When the shelf is up, I’ll finish them.  Then they can be with the others for a pretty display.

 

 

Also in the basket were three small boxes that I made from greeting cards and a photograph.  Greeting card boxes are very small, but are a nice way to present a small gift.

 

The bottom box is make from a photo of Miss Molly.  The photo was a little larger than a greeting card, so made a larger box.

I may find other forgotten treasures when I check out baskets and bins.

I’ve been working on  two different challenges.  One top is finished and is ready to quilt.  The other is still being pieced.  It has a lot of pieces and will take a while to finish.  I’m pleased with it so far.

Have a great day and happy quilting.