I realized today that I haven’t touched the sewing machine since last Thursday.  I don’t know why I went a whole week without sewing.  Unless it’s because I’ve been busy packing, unpacking, and organizing.  Also catching up with friends and fellow quilters.

I went to the Kranky Kwilters this afternoon.  It was so good to be back.  I mentioned all the UFOs that I have and that I would give them away just to get them out of the sewing room.  It was suggested that I pack them in baggies and sell them at the boutique at our quilt show in the Spring.  It sounds like a good idea.  When I got home, I pulled out the bin in the library and started sorting.  I was also looking for a class project that I thought was there.  Most of the UFO’s were projects that I would never finish.  There were table runners and table toppers.  I found fabric and patterns that I had put together as a kit to finish sometime.  Also lots of blocks that I put in the charity quilt pile.  Two thirds of that bin are going.  I really had to want to finish the small portion that I kept.

Our Guild speaker on Friday night is Jo Diggs.  She is having a landscape class on Saturday and I will be there to enjoy her lesson.  I did have a class with Jo in Vermont years ago and did find the piece that I started in that class in the UFO bin. 

It is pretty but I’m wondering why I used brown fabric for the sky.  The class will probably be the same as I took before but I’m sure that there are some new tips that I will learn.  I’m using hand dyed gradated fabric this time.  The piece will look different.

One of the small pieces that I am going to keep from the UFO bin is a landscape that I free motion embroidered.  It just needs a border and some quilting.  The mountains should be thread painted and there should be another flower or two near the bottom.  It looks as if it should be inside an oval border.  Then it will be done.  It is supposed to rain tomorrow so I can go to the sewing room and have fun.  Maybe even finish something.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

 

I’m back in New Hampshire.  The Maine house is closed up for the season.  Before I left Maine, the chapter of the Pine Tree Guild that I belong to had our biannual quilt show.  It was an awesome show.  We have a small group of ladies and they outdid themselves with their beautiful quilts.

Each of us made small items for a teacup raffle.  I did win a mini quilt made by my favorite Maine quilter but haven’t taken a picture of it yet. Last July at our Christmas In July Yankee Swap, I also received a mini quilt from the same quilter.  I treasure her quilts. It is the third piece in the top row.   I will take a picture in the future of the mini quilt along with several others that I have received over the past few years.

The show is held in a historic meeting house that dates back to 1843.  Church services are still held in the meeting house.  The quilts are placed on the  backs of the pews and along the wall. A few are hung over the balcony.

     

My Canadian 150 quilt was one of the quilts that were hung over the balcony this year.

 

 

One of our members is in charge of the Linus quilts.  We had a very nice display of Linus quilts that are ready to go to sick children.  They are so colorful.  I’m sure that they will enjoy them.

 

Each year, we have a challenge.  This was the challenge from last year.  This is my quilt from that challenge. 

 

 

 

 

 

This year’s challenge was different.  My new things to do were using the Leaf Galore ruler, fusible applique and using the quilter’s chalk line to place the melons accurately on the wall hanging. 

Now, we will all start new projects in preparation for our next show which will be two years from now.

 

Once I get settled and everything is back in it’s place in the sewing room, I’ll get back to Moda Blockbuster, Simple sampler and Dear Jane.  I still have a pile of UFOs to work on.  I know that I finished a lot of UFOs this summer, but the pile doesn’t seem any smaller.  I also have the International challenge quilt to work on.  I’m choosing fabric for that one this week.  That quilt is 52″ x 68″ so it shouldn’t take too long to piece. The 18 focus blocks are done.  Lots and lots of ideas in my head.  I need 48 hour days.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

It’s a good thing that I had a class on tiny piecing.  The two blocks that are in the Moda Blockhead project this week have 1 1/2″ pieces.  Some are half square triangles.  I’m thankful for the Tucker Trimmer.  It trims the blocks to a perfect size.

Block #23 is Broken Windows by Jo Morton.  It consists of half square triangles and flying geese. I just realized that the flying geese are inserted backwards.  I’ll unsew this block and resew it the correct way.  Or maybe, I’ll just make another block correctly and have two blocks.  This isn’t a mistake.  It’s a design element.  I may like this one better.

 

Block #24 is Kaleidoscope by Sherri McConnell.  It consists of 1 1/2″ half square triangles and 1 1/2″ pieces made into a four patch.

I may get to enjoy tiny piecing some day.

 

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

I’m finishing some projects so that I can pack them for the trip back to New Hampshire.

Dear Jane has two blocks ready to tack down the binding and four blocks ready to quilt.  I will do some of the hand work tonight.

The Moda Block, Circle and Star by Jan Patix is finished,  I made it using a technique that I learned from David Taylor.  The block was invisible machine appliqued using Gypsy paper on the back of the fabric for stabilizer.  The edge was turned under with spray starch which was sprayed into a dish and applied with a q-tip.  When pressed, it makes a sharp seam to stitch with a blanket stitch.

 

The Simple Sampler block, Cat Nap by Nicole Ves Van Auezathe was supposed to be hand embroidered.  It represents a cat taking a nap on a quilt.  I read Kat Tucker’s blog and she made hers with free motion quilting and embroidery.  It was much easier.  The cat was supposed to be black, but I only know yellow cats so free motion quilted my cat yellow.  I used leftover pieces of fused fabric.  I keep all leftover fused fabric is a separate baggie so that I won’t use it by mistake when I think that the color is just what I need.

I have the small quilt that I have named “Mistake” on the sewing machine now.  I am even feed foot quilting it using painter’s tape for a guide.  Six of the blocks are finished, six more to go.  Then the sashing, borders and binding.  I might not finish it before I go back to New Hampshire.  The Quilt Show is this weekend.  There won’t be time to quilt.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

October

 

 

 

I realized that I didn’t finish telling about all thirteen Miss Rosie quilts.

Raise the roof is comprised of 32  log cabin blocks and 32 sawtooth star blocks.  The sawtooth star block is a quarter square triangle block surrounded by flying geese with half square triangle corner squares.  The blocks are colored half dark and half light diagonally.  The log cabin blocks are also colored dark and light diagonally.  The blocks are set in a barn raising setting.

Carrie ‘s blocks are brown, orange, yellow, and a few spots of green and blue.

My blocks were in the pastel spring colors. I quilted it with my domestic machine.  

  

My daughter’s blocks were in purples and yellows.  Her quilt was long arm quilted by Gail Mintkin.

 

It is so interesting how different colors can make a totally different quilt.  We both enjoyed the project but were glad when the last stitch was finished.  Miss Rosie took over our life for a while.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

In yesterday’s blog about the Moda Blockhead 2 block having tiny pieces, I mentioned a class that I took while at the Vermont Quilt Festival last summer.  The class was Tiny Piecing and was taught by Lynn Harris.   The class description was – Learn tips and tricks that make working small easier, piecing tiny stars, and other small blocks as well as intuitive piecing.

I did enjoy the class, but decided that working small wasn’t what I really wanted to do. This is the piece that I made with the quarter square triangle finishing at 1/4″  It’s hardly visible. It is in the right block, bottom row.  A four patch finished at 1/4″ is in the left block.

I also made a 3″star.  

This is Lynn’s queen quilt made with 3″ stars. It is absolutely stunning.  

 

 

 

We were taught to improvise with tiny left over strips.  These are my blocks.

This is Lynn’s quilt.  I like the basic white with a little color.  I might make something like this in the future.  

 

 

 

Lynn’s blocks are amazing.  She uses every last scrap of fabric.  I think that if one started to make blocks with small pieces on a regular basis, they could be made up quickly. It might be interesting to make one or two after sewing a regular size quilt.  They would add up quicker than you might think.      

 

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

 

When I was at the Vermont Quilt Festival last June, I took a class to learn small piecing.  The instructor’s quilts were beautiful.  Everything was pieced in 1″ pieces or other very small sizes of fabric.  I even learned to make a quarter square triangle that finished at 1/4″ It was perfectly square.  If it was placed in a block, you wouldn’t notice it.  I decided that this was not what I wanted to do, even though I could do it.

Block 22 in the Moda Blockhead block of the week project uses small pieces.  There are four 3″ blocks within a 6″ block.  It uses 1 1/2″ squares for the corners and centers of the 3″ blocks.  They finish at 1″.  The other four pieces consist of two 1 1/2″ x 1 ” rectangles sewn together.  All four of the little blocks have different colors.  In the original pattern, the center block was the same color as the rectangles that were closest to them. They looked like a cross in the middle of the block.  I chose to use a coordinating  print fabric in all of the center squares.  This block might change my mind about piecing with small pieces.  It is very pretty and easy to piece.  I can imagine a whole quilt with this block in different colors with the center piece all the same fabric.  Now, when I cut leftover fabric scraps into precuts, I will cut smaller than 2 1/2″ and go down to 1 1/2″. It would take a lot of squares to make a full size quilt.

The Moda Blockhead 2 blocks that I have made are out of order.  One not made yet is an applique.  The Splendid Sampler has and applique block and an embroidery block that are not made.  Handwork takes a little longer than piecework.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

It has been a rainy day all day today.  At least it isn’t cold.  It was warmer outside than inside.  I did open the porch windows for a while.  The rain doesn’t come in those windows.  Right now, it is pouring.  According to the weather report, the rain should stop around midnight after a brief thunder storm. Miss Molly will be hiding again.

I worked on a few projects  including Dear Jane.  The two blocks that I finished are the start of the fourth row.

  This was an easy one.  I cut the center to size.  Then I added oversized borders and corner squares, which I then cut down to size.  The four triangles were cut to size and bordered with white strips that were wider than they needed to be.  They were added to the four sides of the center square. When I trimmed the block to 5″. the white borders became the right size.  I fussy cut the basket weave fabric so that the weave would go in one direction.  It is quilted and ready to bind.

  This was a little more difficult.  I cut the center to size.  Then I paper pieced the borders with the triangle.  The red triangle was placed on the paper first and then the white was added to both sides.  The borders are mitered.  I pressed this seam open as the little corner pieces were appliqued over the mitered seam. The paper piecing made this unit perfect and I was able to add them with ease.  It also is quilted and ready to bind.

When the two blocks are bound, I’ll sew them onto the main quilt.

I checked the fabric that I have with me in Maine and there is only one that is the right color for the fourth row. I’ll work on that one and then I’ll have to wait until I get back to New Hampshire to work on more Dear Jane.

There are still more quilts in the UFO pile so I won’t lack something to do.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

 

  Two weeks ago the Simple Sampler block was designed by Carl Hentsch.  It is paper pieced.  The block is named Betty’s Bloom.  Betty is one of Carl’s older dogs.

Now, I am only one week behind in the Simple Sampler project.  Last week’s block is an appliqué block.  Then I will receive another one on Thursday.  It is interesting to try the different methods of quilting. I will be up to date sometime.

Have a great day and happy quilting.

A little while back, one of my daughters came to my house for a visit.  I brought out the “give away” bin and she chose a piece.  I mentioned that I was working on another piece and it was going into the “give away” bin.  When she saw it, she folded up the piece that she had chosen and put it back into the bin.  She said “I’ll wait for that one.” I had intended to work on it right away, but other projects kept getting in the way.

The wall hanging is made of hand and commercial dyed fabrics and a few other fabrics that went with it.  I machine quilted it with free motion quilting, even feed quilting and ruler quilting.   It is not quite finished because the binding is in N. H.  I have sewed the frame on the inside of the pink last border.  When the binding is sewn on, I will sew another frame and then quilt something between the frames.  It shouldn’t take too long to finish.

Miss Molly is examining the quilt.

 

 

 

What I have learned about ruler work.

It should be done on a flat bed machine with enough space in the front and back to hold the ruler tight.  My machine is slanted on the front and has very little space in the back to hold the ruler.

The table should be at an ergonomic height. Your arms and hands should be at a comfortable angle.  My dining room table is too tall and it is tiring to use the ruler.

The spot where the needle ends should be marked.  The needle sews 1/4″ away from the edge of the ruler.  It would be easier if you had a target to aim for.

The lighting should be good, so you can see where the ruler is behind the presser foot.

Ruler work is not enjoyable.  Maybe, when I get back to my sewing room in N. H. and all of the above items are corrected, I will enjoy the process better.  I haven’t sewn beyond a straight seam yet.  The books make it sound so easy.

I enjoy free motion quilting very much. Many of my quilts have been free motion quilted.

I have seen some tutorials from Leah Day about even feed foot quilting.  That sounds interesting.  She has a book with three quilts and all the instructions.  There are tutorials about all the processes including selecting fabric, processing the fabric before cutting and many more.

There is always something new to try when you quilt.

Have a great day and happy quilting.