Another Baby Quilt

This is another baby quilt that I was asked to make from a layer cake that was provided. The fabrics were all directional, so I came up with this idea of setting the squares. For the backing, I made a verticle row of ten-inch squares to extend the width of the white fabric. It always takes a lot more fabric for the backing when the quilt is done on a longarm. It's quilted with simple all-over loops.

"Oh My Stars" Baby Quilt

I was asked to make a baby quilt from a layer cake. When I noticed that most of the fabric prints in the package were directional, it was necessary to find a design that would be suitable. I ended up choosing the "Oh My Stars" free pattern on Pat Sloan's blog. It's well written and easy to follow. The backing fabric that was provided was a plush type, kind of a cross between Minky and Fireside. I hoped there wouldn't be any problems when I quilted it, but Matilda, the longarm handled it like a champ.

Gift For A Co-worker

I'll be working Christmas Day and Boxing Day at the local assisted living facility. I was trying to think of a gift for my co-worker and decided to make an apron. Not having a pattern to go by, I used an apron I already had as a guide. It pays to have a large fabric stash, then I can dig around and find supplies for last minute gifts. :) The apron isn't really crooked, it's just the way I had it pinned up to take the photo.

"Lesson In Patience" Is Completed

This quilt is an example of "What can go wrong will go wrong". First of all, I didn't like my quilting design, so I picked out every second row, then requilted it. Because of all the stitch removal, I decided to wash it to clean up the little thread bits and close up the needle holes. Much to my dismay, I saw that many of the red fabrics bled. I looked up the instructions online for the article "Save My Bleeding Quilt". The quilt was soaked in the bathtub with hot water and Dawn dish detergent for many hours. Then I ran it through a rinse cycle in the washing machine. The red stains came out of the top of the quilt but there were some areas on the back that were still stained. Even some of the green fabric bled. One of the pictures shows a stain. I appliqued some orphan blocks over the worst parts and will cover a few more spots another time. It's a good thing this quilt wasn't intended as a gift! I always prewash all of my fabrics and I used six colour catchers when first washing this quilt. None of that helped, the fabrics bled anyway. I am going to throw away the reds that were the culprits. It's probably a good idea to soak the rest of the reds from my stash in Retayne and hot water. I named this quilt, "Lesson in Patience". The pattern came from a Fons and Porter magazine, Quilting Quickly, March/April 2015. The pattern was called, "Scrappy Chains". The block is the same as Bonnie Hunter's "Carolina Chain". Her blocks are set on point and these blocks are a straight setting.

Churn Dash Is Completed

There was a stack of Churn Dash blocks stored in a plastic bag in my sewing room for four or five years. I had intended on making several more to make a queen-size quilt. A few months ago, I counted the blocks and discovered that if I made only three more, I could make a full size quilt if sashing was added between them. I dug around and unearthed a large piece of floral fabric that Linda H gave to me a long time ago. It was just the right size to use for a border and part of the backing. Luckily, I was able to purchase a suitable plain fabric to use for binding. That teal colour can be difficult to match. I free-motion quilted it with a combination of loops and swirls.

Working On A 30 Year Old UFO

I must be nuts, but what else is new? About thirty years ago, I took a class on how to make the "Around the Twist" pattern. I bought the required fabrics at a quilt shop that was in town at the time. The quilt top turned out ok, but it probably would have looked better with more contrast in the fabric colours. I made the mistake of quilting it with invisible thread, which looked like plastic on the black background border. That kind of thread was what people used in those days. The thing was shoved in a box and stayed there for three decades because I wasn't happy with it. I always meant to pick out all the stitching on the border and re-quilt it. This is the year. It took me weeks of picking out the ugly thread, I left a bit on one part so you could see it. Now I'm free-motion quilting it with "Fool's Gold" Glide thread. The inner border had been stitched in the ditch. Thankfully, there was no invisible thread stippling on that part. Some people would have thrown that project in the trash, it would have saved many hours of work. I'm stubborn and frugal. Or maybe a sucker for punishment? Hopefully, it'll be finished for this Christmas. Marge the supervisor is keeping me on track.

Bowl Cozies

It's that time of the year again. I always like to make a few small gifts to keep on hand if the occasion arises. I made 4 bowl cozies today using this tutorial I cut my squares twelve inches instead of ten inches. I like them a little bigger because some soup bowls are wide.

25 Year Old UFO Finally Finished

Now I'm really digging deep into the UFO pile. I'm estimating this one to be 25 years old. It was a mystery quilt that we were doing in our guild. I lost the instructions years ago, there were supposed to be more borders. There weren't any of the fabrics left, so i finished it the way it was. I didn't have anything suitable to use for the backing, so I ordered a 100% cotton flat sheet from Amazon. The variegated thread may not have been the best choice for the quilting because the end result looks patchy. Oh well. Live and learn. Of course, I always have to learn everything the hard way. Most people who longarm quilt use the same colour thread on the top and bottom. I always have to make things difficult for myself. I used dark purple variegated on the top and light pink on the back. To make the needle holes less noticeable, I washed the quilt and dried it in a hot dryer. That helped to disguise many of the glitches. I am happy that this one is not a UFO anymore. :)

Day Three Of The November 2022 Quilting Retreat

There was only a bit more to do on the quilt top, but I can finish that later. The day was drawing to a close, we had to pack up and go at three o'clock. It was a great weekend, it's always nice to enjoy the company of other quilters.

Day Two Of The November 2022 Quilting Retreat

Today I finished making the rest of the Log Cabin blocks. Now I'm assembling the quilt top.

Day One Of The November 2022 Quilting Retreat

After we got our sewing stations set up and organized, we walked over to the cenotaph for the Remembrance Day ceremony. It was cold out so I wore a warm hat, mitts and wool socks. I forgot to bring a scarf, my neck was frozen. After we made it back to the hall, it was time for lunch. I discovered that I left my corner squares for the Log Cabin blocks at home, so I had to go back and get them. I didn't start sewing until the afternoon, not too much was accomplished today. Oh well, we had a good day anyway.

Getting Ready For the November 2022 Quilting Retreat

I've got my project ready to take to the retreat tomorrow. I'm going to make the rest of the blocks for the Half Log Cabin quilt that I started in the summer. Today I'll do the baking, there's a batch of date squares being created at the moment. The sewing machine will need to be cleaned and oiled, then I'll be good to go.

A Quilt For Geo

This quilt was claimed by Geo after he saw the sashing as I was assembling the blocks. Lavender happens to be his favourite colour. To continue with the theme, I used an ombre light purple fabric for the border. Geo didn't care for the polka dot print that I chose for the backing, so I looked for something else. "How about this?", I asked when I showed him a bizarre looking fabric from my stash. He approved. I have absolutely no idea where that piece of material came from. I'm always finding surprises in the sewing hole. Now we're going to have a problem because Geo likes the back of the quilt better than the front- groan! To make the backing large enough, I had to add sections on all sides. It takes quite a bit extra in order to be loaded on the longarm machine. The pattern for the blocks came from the blog, "Create wit.h Claudia" it was free-motion quilted with a paisley design, using Fantastico thread.

Homemade Side Leaders For Matilda

I needed some side leaders for Matilda because the ruler plate was hitting the clamps. There were some sections that were left from cutting the leaders from a twelve foot length to ten feet. I hemmed the leftover sections so they would be the right size. A casing was added on the edge of each leader to accomodate a wooden dowel for the clamps to clip onto. The leader is attached to the edge of the quilt with long pins. If I can come up with an easier way to attach it instead of pins, that would be good. Maybe magnets would work? Anyway, the side leaders really helped and I will use them from now on.

Streak Of Lightning Is Completed

I just finished stitching the binding on this "Streak of Lightning" quilt. The pattern is from the More Nickel Quilts book by Pat Speth. A piece of wide muslin fabric from my stash was used for the backing. It was a bit too short for this quilt, so I added some orphan blocks, plua a strip of tone on tone cream fabric on each long edge of the row. I free-motion quilted it with a "Topographical Map" design. It was my first attempt at this style, I learned about it from Susan Smith's YouTube channel. Some of my squiggles look like cinnamon buns, haha! It's supposed to take about 10,000 hours to really master a skill. It's a good thing I have plenty of quilt tops to experiment with different quilting designs. I read this quote today and thought it was good: “There are five important things for living a successful and fulfilling life: never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying, and never stop learning.” ― Roy Bennett

Halloween Table Runner

I finished this project in time for the month of October. Geo wanted a Halloween table runner for the coffee table, so I came up with this idea. It can also be used the other way if we get tired of looking at bats. :)