Old Yeller is done!

After eight months of quilting, I have finally finished my quilt, which I have affectionately call "Old Yeller." 

I designed it on computer software and then had to choose scads of yellow fabric. Then I dutifully cut all the many pieces and sewed the entire quilt top together. That was last February. Since then I have been hand-quilting a simple design.

It was joyous to take that last stitch. I put it into the washer and on the delicate cycle proceeded to wash it. Not only does washing clean it after all that handling, mine and our four cats, but it also completes what I like to call the puff factor. Once it came out of the dryer, I immediately put it on my bed. 

Some of the detail can be seen at the closest edge. It is bound with the polka dot fabric. 

I actually designed this quilt around that polka dot fabric. I have always had a thing for dots. I once covered the walls of my bedroom, when I still lived at my parents' house, with lavender paisley contact paper. I thought the different sized dots would stick, but when they didn't, I used glue. That didn't work really well for my father who after I moved out tried to remove them. He had to have the wall re-plastered. From what I can remember, he wasn't too happy about it either. 

I admit that I feel a little empty now, not having a quilt lying around to be worked on while I watch TV at night. I'm anxious to start a new project. And I think I just might have something in mind. So, I can't wait to get started.

Trying new quilting challenges

This week I forged on--past anywhere I had gone before--way out of the comfort zone of my quilting life thus far. Up until now, I had taken baby steps forward, slowly, a little at a time, trying new things.

I was smitten by a pattern for a table topper--the Swirling Stars-Card Trick Table Topper by Vicki Purnell at the following:

http://www.vickisfabriccreations.blogspot.com/.

Her design just called to me, so I decided I had to give it a try. I first saw this pattern on the Quilting Board, a lovely on-line community that provides a wealth of information for all things quilting. The pattern was really different and I was totally intrigued by it. I'm not sure what made me think I had the skill level to try such a thing, but I wanted to give it a whirl...or should I say a swirl.

This project is made of triangles. Every quilting experience I've ever had with triangles has been near disastrous, but I decided to wade into it anyway.

Since I was going all out, I decided I would walk further down the gang plank by making the decision to machine quilt it when it was done.

First I cut out all the pieces. I've made six quilts and several other projects, but this is the first project that I've been able to use my newly-purchased 1/4" quilting foot. I'm not sure this made a marked difference, because I think my 1/4" seams were pretty close anyway, but the little guide on the foot was somewhat helpful. So once the cutting and sewing were done, it was surprisingly difficult to figure out how to arrange the pieces. I mean it wasn't obvious just by looking at them, like a simple block would be. Since I had the pattern in front of me, I referred to it often.

Then it was time to quilt. I did some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting in the seam areas. That turned out pretty well. Then I decided to sew straight lines along the edges of every other strip. That went well too. I was on a roll, so I decided to do stippling in the centers. I like stippling. I fell in love with this technique years ago when I first saw it at a quilt show. I never dreamed I would ever do it myself, since I wasn't even a quilter then.

I liked the stippling, so I decided to make a curved line in the middle strips, just to offset all those angular lines. Easy, I thought. I practiced doing some gentle curves on a throw-away quilt sandwich. When I thought it looked good enough, I drew it on this piece and stitched away. I was having great fun, thinking that I had finally bitten the free-motion-quilting bullet.

Trouble is, I didn't like how it looked It resembled a snake crawling along the strips. Rather than take out all those too-tiny stitches, which I know would have ended in disaster, I decided to embellish the line. So, I took a deep breath and began drawing leaves along the snake--er--vine. I liked it. It looks rather 'artsy.'

The final challenge was the binding. I never even gave this a thought until I noticed the You-Tube tutorials on the instructions for binding mitered corners, inside angles and joining binding.

This was far from a rectangle, which I was used to. So as I cut and joined my strips for the binding, I closed my eyes, gave myself a quick pep talk, and jumped in with both feet. I watched the videos, took it all in, and followed step-by-step. It was actually easier than I thought it would be.

I'm pleased.

Heat outside; cool quilting inside

When I'm not doing my rain dance or watering my sunburned plants, I am happily working on my quilting.

I find that quilting has become my favorite past time of late. Whenever I hear of about a fabric sale at Fabric.com, my favorite online shopping venue or Connecting threads, which is now tied for that distinctive preference, I can't help myself. I simply have to peruse those delicious marked-down fabric lines. That always leads to ordering a couple yards here and a few half-yards there. Fresh, new cotton fabric is addictive. I'd like one of each of everything I see. I just can't afford that kind of a habit.

I love new fabric. I love the way it feels; I love folding it, sorting it, and stacking it into piles with like colors. I like to use it in a project, but most of all I like to squirrel it away, like saving for a rainy day. It is such a treasure to me.

I am currently awaiting a visit from either the mail man or UPS guy with a recent online purchase from Connecting threads. It will contain all kinds of goodies, some thread, marking pencils, a new needle threader, leather thimble pads, and of course some really reasonably-priced fabric from a great sale they just ran. When I hear the doorbell ring, I will be five years old again and it will be Christmas morning.

STARTING MY DAY

Every morning, I dutifully check my email. Each day there is an email from Quiltingboard.com, a quilters bulletin board I belong to. It is a very happy and useful place where quilters from all over gather to share stories and pictures of their latest projects, as well as come together as a community. Quilters from all skill levels are members. We all learn from one another, provide feedback, and answer questions. I know I have learned so much from these quilters. Some of them make the most incredible, artistic, beautiful quilts.

I joined the quilt of the month club on the board. So on the first day of each month, I get all excited to see the latest pattern for that month. We are making a calendar quilt with blocks related to each month of the year. When it is completed, we will sew them together to form an entire quilt top.

This months's block, and they are always picked by someone with lots more experience than I have, is the "exploding star" block. It is done using the English paper piecing method, whereby a pattern is printed out and actual scraps of fabric are sewn onto the paper and then trimmed to fit. Instead of paint by number, it is sew by number. I am new to the technique; I've attempted it only a couple other times before. It is supposed to be an excellent way of keeping points sharp and seams well matched.

I call it English paper torture.

This is the block I just finished. It is supposed to represent August. I can't decide if I like this method or not. I do know that it is one that requires lots of practice to be good at it. I noticed the seams did appear to be easier to match.

I also participate in the Craftsy block of the month, a free class that offers instruction for things I have never done before. It is a little more of a contemporary take on the traditional quilt blocks. It includes two blocks each month. The class is taught by Amy Gibson, a wonderful young woman whose website Stitchery Dickory Dock is an inspiration herself. Amy is one of those people that just exudes happiness. Everything she does is perfection. She is so pleasant and just so happens to be pregnant with twins.

This month's blocks were 'star' blocks--the Ohio star and a Star in a star. I am making all of my blocks in shades of purple. I love monochromatic quilts and purple is one of my favorite colors.

I really enjoyed creating these two star blocks. I think they turned out pretty well. I am getting better at matching my points, which makes me really happy.

Of course I am still working on my yellow quilt. Here the top is finished. I've been doing the hand-quilting for what feels like forever. I work on it for a few days, take a few days off, and then get back to it. Hand quilting takes lots of time, but I think it will be worth it. I am really loving this quilt. I wonder if it will be done by fair time--in September. Something to think about.

I'm already looking forward to September so I can work on the next quilt of the month blocks. By the way, they are always a surprise. We never see what they will be until the first of the month. What fun!

I'VE ADDED A QUILTING PAGE TO CH MUSINGS

I have consolidated all the quilt-related posts in CH Musings onto one page, (see the above tab). The posts are still in the blog as written, but there are now links to each of them. It can be so frustrating to look for something, know it is there, but not be able to find it. Hopefully this little housekeeping trick will help. I just have to remember now to keep it updated. It will be nice to have all my sewing posts in one place.

Computers and quilting

So far, this is a good day; I've had a success both on the computer side, and as a quilter.

Computer successes always make my day

Since the purchase of my new computer with Windows 7 (I know 8 is already out), almost a year ago, I have been grousing about the fact that my favorite photo software, Corel PhotoPaint 8 no longer works. I guess this could be my sacrifice in the name of progress. It was a very old program, and according to all I've read online, the upgrades are lacking. Besides, I refuse to buy a program twice.

My PhotoPaint served me well. I did everything on it, from stitching two pictures together to creating a panorama, to inserting and removing portions of images, changing colors, to generally manipulating images to their best potential. I have been lost without it.

Not long ago, I downloaded a few online photo programs, and even purchased one that was billed as much more than it actually was, but useful nonetheless.

I really wanted Adobe Photo Shop, but there is just no way I could ever afford that. Just recently I decided to download GIMP, which everybody says is a great PhotoShop replacement, and it is free.

Today I decided I wanted to upload photos of six quilt blocks, two at a time, that I had just completed for Craftsy's Block of the Month. I had no idea how to combine the three pictures into one photo. My old program used a feature to 'stitch' them together, but GIMP didn't recognize the 'stitch' command. It didn't take too long before I learned to do exactly what I wanted. This is the result at right.

Computer success allows me to show my quilting progress
I love how this quilt is coming together. Purple is another of my favorite colors. I completed these six blocks last weekend, but only after I sorted all the fabric in my stash. For years I had been buying fat quarters here, a yard there, mostly always fabric that is on sale. I realized that I had quite a lot of purple fabric. Since I really love monochromatic quilts, I decided to use it for this one. This is considered a modern quilt because it uses newer methods to create traditional patterns as well as some new ones. I think the bottom two are my favorite--the string blocks. They are so easy, but look so complex. I just love how they turn out. For these blocks, I just used scraps from another quilt I had made.

String blocks are beautiful sewn together into a quilt, no matter what colors they are--whether they are made with different color strips and types of fabric or the same.

I love this quilt of the month project at http://www.craftsy.com/. I can't wait to see what the April blocks will be. It is a free class, with instructor Amy Gibson.

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Making progress on Old Yeller

I've taken a little time off from working on my quilt, largely so I can try to sit up straight again, shoulders back, and without pain. When I get involved in something, I tend to work on it til it hurts. I do the same thing with Jigsaw puzzles. I just can't seem to leave them alone.

It has been a couple of days since I've worked on Old Yeller, (I think I'll call it that until it becomes a completed quilt.)
For the last few days I have been working on a book I've been writing for years. Some day it will be something to talk about, but for now, let us just say, it is an ongoing project.

I made great progress on last week, devoting an entire day to simply cutting out all the pieces that will go into my fifteen 12-point star blocks. There are only five different shapes, but some of them are used in each block a couple times. Two shapes required 60 individual pieces each. Most of the others required only 30.

Once all of them were cut out, it took two days to sew them together into units. There were eight units in the block, with an inner unit--the star and an outer unit--the background.
I have already completed the inner units for all 15 blocks.

I took great pains in trying to match the center points. I really like perfection, but it is so difficult for us humans, especially when a perfect block is dependent on both perfect cutting and perfect sewing. Honestly, these blocks are not perfect, although I did the best I could for my ability and experience. This is after all, my first star block.

It certainly is close enough though that when completed, I will be happy with it.

All that is left to do is to sew the outer four units, each which contain three pieces which are already sewn together. These are all tricky inset seams, although I believe they are so much easier than those pesky points.

I will complete the blocks in a day or so. Then I can concentrate on my alternate nine-patch blocks. That should be a snap. Then I get to worry about what kind of backing and batting to use. ARRG! More decision making. Then there will be the big decision about a quilting pattern. That will be when the fun part begins.

It is so exciting when all the pieces come together. I'm anxious to see a completed quilt top, not to mention a completed quilt, though that is months from now.

I just thought of something--Imagine trying to explain the quilting process to an alien or someone who never heard of quilting. We take perfectly good yardage, cut it into tiny pieces, only to sew it back together again. Sounds silly, but won't it look nice?

Quilting obsession continues

My quilting  obsession continues!

I just created a quilted table runner over the weekend. It is just a little something I put together to blend the green of the kitchen and dining room with the mauve of the living room. The fabric in the picture looks more brown than it actually is. It does look more pink in person.

I think it turned out rather well. It was fun to do, gave me practice piecing fabric and working on my  ever-necessary sewing skills, as well as satisfying a  practical purpose. It doesn't get much better than that, I don't suppose.

I was surprised at how little time it took (even though it took the better part of two whole days). First, I cut the pieces and sewed them all in one day. I hand-quilted the center, using a feather wreath motif. The following day I stitched-in-the-ditch on the sewing machine along the strips and hand-sewed the binding.

I'm glad to have added a touch of color to the counter just behind my kitchen sink.

My next project is going to be ongoing and is a little more ambitious. As previously mentioned, I decided to make an all yellow quilt.

I am stepping way out of my comfort zone for this project.

I have collected all the fabric I plan to use, and as I previously stated, I have created a design I like on Electric Quilt 5. I set out to make a sample of the main design--a star that is way more complicated than anything I have attempted before. This green block is actually my second attempt. I used Murphy's Law--"if anything can go wrong, it will"--at just about every step. When I first put it together it was puckered and refused to lay flat both in the center and beyond it. I took every seam out and realized I had cut four of the pieces wrong. I cut two at the same time, not taking into account that the angle was wrong on the second piece of the folded fabric. Ah, more learning by mistake.

I cut four new pieces and it went together just fine.

I like how it turned out, so after a  couple more days, (which turned out to be yesterday), I decided to jump in with both feet. There were a lot more learning experiences resulting in seam ripping again and again, but here is the completed first of my future quilt. I'm going to call it Sunshine on my Shoulder.

I can't wait to make the next 12 of them. They will be alternated with nine-patches of varied yellow fabrics. On the second and fourth rows, I will turn the blocks to form a secondary design with that wacky polka dot fabric.

I know a lot of people aren't fond of yellow, but I happen to love it. I can't wait to have a bed full of these stars shining like sunshine every morning when I wake up. Feel free to tell me what you think.

Having quilt withdrawl--time for a new quilt

I want to make a new quilt--a yellow one. I have been collecting fabric, basically varieties of yellow, in the after Christmas online sales, my favorite being Fabric.com.

The first decision was easy. I really knew I wanted to make a yellow quilt, the bright sunshiny kind of yellow, rather than a mustard, gold, or other shade.

For the last several days, I have been going through old quilting magazines. I have a plethora of them. For some reason, nothing really 'moved' me, although the experience was quite relaxing and enjoyable.

When that didn't pan out, I hit the online sources. There are so many sources for free quilt block patterns, simply by googling 'free quilt block patterns.'

I joined a quilting board, not so coincidentally at http://www.quiltingboard.com, where there is a plethora of information and lots of willing-to-help experienced quilters. I even started a blog there. Now this is just what I need--another blog. At least this one will be strictly for quilting rather than all the other things I find intriguing in the world.

I found some quilts pictured there that I absolutely loved, though none that I really wanted to make that would showcase all the fabric I had purchased.

I even went back to a computer program I had purchased long ago but had never really explored -- Electric Quilt 5. I have no idea why I never used it before, except that I found it a bit cumbersome. The company is up to EQ7 now, so I didn't even know if my program would work on Windows 7. Much to my surprise, it loaded with no problem.

I played with the program all morning and lo and behold, I have designed a quilt.

I'm not going to get too excited yet, or post pictures of it yet, since it may be beyond my skill level. I have plenty to think about before I start it, but for now, at least I have made the difficult decision about what to make. I hope I can do this because I don't want to have to make that decision again.

Now, it is just a matter of assigning fabric, figuring out what else I might need, and perhaps making a sample block. Even after making seven quilts, I am still not comfortable with all of this, so I'm going to take it slow. I really can't wait to get started. Wish me luck!

Bonding with my sewing machine

Happy New Year!

I hardly noticed the date change since I've been spending time bonding with my sewing machine. I'm pleased to say we are becoming good friends. I believe 2012 will be a very quilty year.

Since I wanted to learn to machine quilt, that is what I set out to do. I'm fairly happy with the results, not because I'm good at it, but because I see where with plenty of practice, I could be good at it.

 
The Christmas table runner I was working on during my previous post Attempting to learn hand-quilting, has turned out pretty well.

Thanks to a quilting pro friend of mine, who does longarm quilting and does some of the most beautiful work I've ever seen, I learned that my bobbin tension needed adjustment as evidenced by the photo.

That makes sense. I had a terrible time trying to get the stitches to be uniform in size. They still aren't, but at least now I know what to do. My first couple of tries were definitely not good. I attempted to unsew them, that is, take the seam ripper to all those stitches. The stitches were so tight though that it was next to impossible to sneak the point of the seam ripper under them. I took great pains not to cut the fabric in the process, which was a failure. I actually did poke through it in a couple places. No problem, though as this table runner became a practice piece as soon as I made the decision to give machine quilting a try.

I actually think I could use this piece again, albeit under something larger than the tiny Christmas tree in the picture.

By next year, when it comes back out of the attic, I hope to be much more skilled at using my machine. I hope to laugh at myself the next time I see this piece because I will be so much better. So, onward and upward in this new, previously unexplored world of quilting.

Attempting to learn machine-quilting

Image via Wikipedia

I am attempting to teach myself to machine quilt. I remember the first time I saw stippling used on a quilt. It was at a quilt show in Peotone, Illinois, where I first got bitten by the quilting bug. This small project, hanging in the First Presbyterian Church there, was a quilted scene--a wall hanging. I was really impressed by the look of it. I had never seen anything like it, but then I was experiencing quilts for the very first time.

Since then, I have seen some of the amazing work done on long arm quilting machines, something I know I will never be able to afford myself. There is nothing more exciting than a beautiful pieced quilt that is expertly quilted. Wow!

I had never really entertained the idea of machine quilting. Truthfully, I was just glad I could master the art of quiltmaking. I love hand-quilting and want to continue to perfect my skills. There are so many different steps to making a quilt. Each one contributes to the overall project, which makes all of the steps important. One failure in design, color, cutting, piecing, sewing, and finally quilting, and an entire project can suffer. When all those things work together, the result is astonishing.

I've always felt that for some reason, machine-quilting seemed like 'cheating.' I do prefer the feel of a hand-quilted project. But, I am dismayed by the time it takes, not to mention the wear and tear on my hands. Four years for one quilt is just too long, though. The other day, I figured, what the heck. I may be a senior citizen, but I like instant gratification too.

Now that I have dabbled at machine quilting, I am pretty intrigued by it. This is a good challenge and there is nothing I like more.

The hardest part was getting my sewing machine to cooperate. I spent almost the entire afternoon yesterday playing with tensions and different colored threads. Several more hours were spent trying to figure out how to 'stitch in the ditch' in a straight line. I can see where machine quilting for straight line work could speed up projects substantially. My recent log cabin quilt was all straight line work. I can see where a combination of machine and hand-quilting might be beneficial.

One of the things I love about quilting is the precision. Today's tools allow for good cutting and good quart-inch seams. There is nothing better than good sharp points all in the right places and corners that match precisely.

So far I'm not all that impressed with my machine work. It seems really cumbersome and odd to manipulate the fabric that way. I can see though how practice might help greatly. I do, however, enjoy the speed at which a project could be completed. There is nothing like a completed quilt. And, of course I love a good challenge.

When I was little, one of my favorite toys was the Spirograph. I used to doodle with it for hours, creating the most intricate and beautiful designs. I would make a simple design and then add designs to it in  increments. What resulted was a beautiful, intricate motif. A long arm quilting machine reminds me of that toy. I would love to make stitches like those designs. To me, those would be the ultimate quilts. Perhaps I will win the lottery one day. If I do, I'm going right to West Plains, MO to the Gammill sewing center store.

My quilt is finally done!

Mission accomplished! I finally finished the quilt I started more than four years ago. Pink is my favorite color and log cabin is my favorite block. It is just so traditional. 

When I began this project, I had lots of fabric strips cut out, sorted by size and color and placed into a huge basket. I had some squares completed. But that was before our cat had her kittens. The babies were so much more fun than sewing, so my basket of fabric strips just sat. 

When the girls (four of them) finally got old enough that I could resume my project, I found that they had spent some time sitting in the basket containing all my previously cut fabric strips. Before I could re-organize them, they had to be de-haired. It took even more time before I even wanted to take on that task. The funny thing about making a quilt is that there are so many steps. I never knew that de-hairing the fabric was one of them, but in a multi-cat household, I suppose that is to be expected.

One day, about a year ago, I decided to finally tackle the project. I've been at it ever since. By the way, that is Ryan, who has been my constant helper.

The other day it was raining. I was finally almost finished. I sat in the sunroom, quilt on my lap, and set out to complete the border, the final step before trimming and binding. I felt a little sad when the hand-quilting was done. There is nothing more relaxing than hand-quilting. The border is simple, but I like how it turned out with butterflies and leaves. 

 Yesterday, I set aside the entire day to finishing. In the picture at right, Ryan and Kasey were helping me pin the binding. 

It is finally finished. I've made a half a dozen or more quilts. I'm anxious to start on the next one. Perhaps it won't take four years this time.