WIP Wednesday; Quilt Top #10

Today's WIP is this strippy quilt top. I struggled away, trying to get the rows of squares to line up across the sashing. After doing lots of unsewing and resewing, it looks ok, once it's quilted the irregularities might not be noticeable. If you're on a galloping horse and speed by this quilt, no errors will be apparent.

Old Treadle Machine

Yesterday I dusted off and oiled my old treadle sewing machine and took it for a spin. The brand is called "Companion", I haven't been able to find any information on the internet about it. I bought the machine many years ago at a local second-hand store. It stitches beautifully, I should use it once in awhile. There are many attachments that came with it, including different sizes of roll hemmers and a ruffler.

WIP Wednesday; Quilt Top #9

"WIP" means "Work in Progress", which actually sounds like I'm doing something with it. :) I made this wild looking thing last year in an attempt to use up some of the fabric pile. The pattern came from McCall's Quilting magazine, September/October 2014. The version in the magazine was more subdued and used autumn colours. When I eventually finish it, all-over quilting might be suitable.

A Friday Finish!

I finished "Corny Stars" today- yay! I was quilting this one last October at our quilting retreat, but put it away after that weekend. I dug it back out a few days ago and completed the quilting and binding, today I buried stray threads.

The free pattern came from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog, where it's called "Smokey Mountain Stars". I used five-inch squares instead of four and a half inches as the pattern stated. I already had a huge bin of five-inch ones cut, so I wanted to use them. It changes the look of the stars slightly. I used a free motion swirl quilting design on the main part of the quilt, using King Tut "White Linen" thread. The border has paisley quilting in King Tut "Chariots of Fire" thread. Both ideas were inspired by work that Angela Walters has done.

Throwback Thursday; Quilt Top #8

Happy St Patrick's Day! I can't remember what year I made this quilt top, it was sometime between 2000 and 2002. I had made a quilt previous to this one in the same pattern but it was all greens and purples. I wanted to experiment and see what it would look like in all reds and yellows. I was undecided whether it needed a border or not, but now that I look at it, maybe not a border. I don't even know what I'll do with this once it's finished, it doesn't match any room in my house or anybody else's house. Mary Ellen Hopkins once said "All reds go together", so I took her word for it. :)

Throwback Thursday; Quilt Top #7

This quilt top is so old that it has "Millenium fabric" on the border. I think when I eventually get it ready to quilt, I'll take off the flying geese around the edge and remove one from each side, then sew it back on, there is a little wave action happening. It would be easier to quilt if the whole thing was flat. When I hung it up on the frame to take the photos, my cat was attacking it and tried to climb up- eek! I was trying to distract him with toys, to no avail. It'll be nice when he gets a little more mature.

Scrappy Bargello Completed

I finished "Scrappy Bargello" today, probably could have done it last night but my cat was being a holy terror and tried to attack scissors and a running sewing machine. I had to lock him in a room temporarily for his own safety. This quilt was made from a free pattern on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog. I still have to tie off a few threads and make a label for it.

On a Roll

I don't know what got into me, I finished a quilt last week and this week another one will be completed! I just about had the quilting done on this one last year, then the cone of thread that I was working with disappeared. I couldn't find the thread anywhere, so I had to order another cone, the other one will turn up eventually. Today I finished the main part of the quilt with King Tut, "Mummy's Dearest" thread, then put on Fantastico thread, "Birthday Cake" for the border. I'm doing a variation of the bubbles and pebbles quilting that I showed in the previous post. This time, I didn't fill in between the shapes with solid quilting and it's going a lot faster. I hope to be able to post a picture of the completed quilt in a day or two.

"Sister's Choice", Two Years in the Making

Ok, here it is, with the binding on and fresh out of the dryer. This Sister's Choice pattern was made from a free pattern on Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville blog, I made it for my log cabin in the Yukon. The inspiration for the pebble and bubble quilting came from Tagish Lake, with it's rocky shores and rolling waves. I had the "bright" idea of filling in between the pebble shapes with solid stitching- never again! I went through a 2000 yard cone of King Tut quilting thread, then had to order more in order to finish the stitching and thought I was never going to get it finished. This summer, I'll be able to take it to the cabin when I go on summer vacation.

Yahoo!

As many of you know, I'm an extremely slow quilter and have too many projects on the go at once. When I finally finish quilting something, I feel like hiring a brass band to parade up and down the street! This is one of those moments. I had a quilt on my Baby Lock Tiara for more than a year and a half. I started out with a dense quilting design and had to continue, so it took forever and I was getting discouraged. I sat down to the machine today and FINISHED the quilting- yay! Now I'm getting the binding ready for it. I'll have to wash the quilt as soon as it's finished because my old cat and new cat have used it for a bed. Here is a picture of the thing finally off the machine. I'll take another photo after the binding is on and the quilt is laundered.