New way to mark the quilt

I have never been a fan of marking the quilt. It is the one aspect of quiltmaking that I find often tedious and sometimes frustrating.

I've tried different marking pens, pencils, pounces, chalks, and everything else I can think of. 

I'm always looking for new ways to do this task. So, when I learned of this new technique, marking with Glad Press 'n Seal, I thought I would give it a try.

I apologize for not being able to give credit to whoever came up with this rather ingenious idea. Truth is though, I can't remember where I heard about it. I have been doing a great deal of reading on the Internet about marking a quilt.  

Building Blocks Quilt Along

In doing Leah Day's Building Blocks Quilt Along, one that combines piecing and free-motion quilting techniques, block by block, I decided this was a perfect time to try marking the quilting pattern using Glad Press'n Seal.

In the first photo, at left, I placed a piece of the Glad Press'n Seal onto a pre-printed pattern provided in Leah Day's Building Blocks Quilting Project. The paper has a sticky side that adheres perfectly to the pattern. Once smoothed out across the paper, it was easy to trace the lines of the quilting design onto the Glad wrap with a ball point pen.

The pattern requires stitching in the ditch and around the block. I decided to do that first, since although the Glad paper is transparent, stitching in the ditch is hard enough without any obscurity. Besides, I tried it and the lines were awful so I picked out the stitches, ripped off the paper and started again. I put pins into the paper, which probably wasn't necessary, but after lining it up perfectly with the seams, I didn't want it to shift at all.

It was pretty easy to sew through the paper, although I admit it did feel like I was sewing a disposable baby diaper.

The third picture shows the entire block completely quilted. It was easy to follow the lines, or at least as easy as following the lines without the paper would be. That is never an easy task. Truthfully, I much prefer free-motion quilting freehand. I need practice at this however, because I know that isn't always possible.

Removal of the paper was fairly easy, as shown in the fourth photo. It was just a matter of scratching the paper with a sturdy fingernail or the trusty seam ripper, and then ripping it off.

The only problem here was that with this pattern, there are lots of tiny quilted areas, so it was a little more tedious than it otherwise might be. Also, the paper remained sticky. It was easily tearable though and it appears that every bit of it was removed.

The fifth and final picture shows the completed block. There appears to be no remnants of paper left, and the stitches were not harmed in any way by pulling on the paper.

Even though I can't see any remnants of the paper, I will not press this block on its right side. I will press it from the back just to be sure. I've seen what plastic products do to an iron. It isn't pretty; doesn't smell very well either.

I just might use this technique again, although I am not sure it will be my only marking technique. It is nice to have options. Certain things will work better than others depending on the circumstances.

I am just glad I found a way to try something new.

Quilting, gardening, and flying geese

Lately, there have been a few forks in the road of my quilting quest. The latest took me down a dirt path--quite literally. I've been doing some gardening, thanks to the beautiful weather we have been having this Spring. Things are looking alive and healthy. It is all I could do to not get out there and play. Last year, with its hot, dry conditions, I couldn't imagine anything ever coming back to life, but it did. So after tugging at the tangles of Bermuda grass in the flower beds, there were honestly times I wondered if I will ever quilt again. That stuff is so hard to pull with its long underground root system that rivals anything I've ever seen.

I did manage though, to get some quilting in, even though not as much as I'd like. I know I will never be far from a threaded needle. It really doesn't matter much, whether that needle is attached to my sewing machine or stuffed into a pin cushion, the little thing calls to me. 

I have a few projects in various stages, but the main one is my quilting board Block of the Month (BOM) project. I'm not sure if I'm pleased with the colors I've chosen--turquoise and yellow, but I'm sure when it is a completed quilt, it will be beautiful. After all, quilts are just naturally beautiful! 

The only other projects I have been working on lately are to make a few table runners as birthday gifts. I've made three so far, in different colors, using the same favorite pattern. 

I just made this green one for a friend of mine.  

The pattern is from my purple quilt, the BOM sample quilt from last year's Craftsy class. In fact, that's it peeking out from behind the table runner.

The quilted design is from the free-motion quilting pattern taught by Leah Day for her Craftsy class, Free Motion Quilting a Sampler. I'm getting pretty good at these stitches, but only because I've done them on 10 blocks now--three for the three table runners I've made and the original block in the quilt. 

This is the only table runner of the three that I managed to snap a picture. 

It is a simple block, made of several pairs of flying geese arranged with simple squares.

Flying Geese - done! (Photo credit: jeansophie)

For non-quilters, a piece of patchwork known as 'flying geese' refers to the pattern shown at left with four flying geese patches. There are many different ways to make this patch. I use the one where in this example, a blue square is sewn diagonally onto two corners of a cream-colored rectangle. The excess fabric--half of the blue square, a triangle, and its accompanying cream colored triangle beneath, are then trimmed away. The pattern is vintage and represents as it suggests the pattern made by geese flying north in the summer and south in the winter. 

It has been said that runaway slaves fleeing northward used handmade patchwork quilts to communicate, with one another. They used to hang flying geese quilts on the line to signal to others that it was time to follow the geese northward. Their movements were masked by the noisy geese. The direction of the points on the quilt showed them the way.

I've achieved 'flying geese' progress in that I no longer have to draw a diagonal sewing line onto my squares. I have learned to eyeball it. Now that's progress! 

Time to go water the garden.

   

Happy New Year; happy quilting!

It is only Jan. 8th.

My apologies. for starting my first blog of the new year a full eight days into it.

The truth is I've been busy following my primal instincts to organize. My body clock is somewhat confused. It can't discern whether it wants to warm the nest for a long winter or start cleaning for the coming of spring. Darned climate change has me so confused. I'm working entirely too hard on this nest! Being the consummate optimist though, I see this as a positive. I love being organized, although most people who know me think my chaotic surroundings are simply messy. To me though, my messes are methodical.

Anyway, I've been trying to get my quilting life in order. Order is the key word in our tiny retirement mansion that consists of only two bedrooms. We previously lived in a huge two-story house. There I had a sewing room on the second floor. The problem is, I had just begun sewing. When we left there I was working on only my second quilt. Now that I am really into quilting; I need lots more room and I just plain don't have it. No problem though. A little organization can do wonders. It is something I have been working on over the last couple months as I continue to collect a fabric stash and get more involved in quilting projects.

My quilting areas can be broken down into three main areas. The first is the most important.

It is where I can get creative--where I sew. I just converted what was supposed to be a breakfast nook just off the kitchen into a mini sewing room. It is a perfect out-of-the way place, with natural sunlight streaming through the window and in close proximity to the ever-hungry felines in our house.


The 'bar' is divided into three sections.

The first is a cutting area. This is where I keep all my rulers.

TIP: I keep my rulers handy and accessible by using two plate holders--you know those little plastic hinged pieces that fold up when not in use. They are expandable, so they are perfect for the many different sizes and types of rulers needed. I have one ruler that is about 24" long--way too long for one holder--but not too long for two of them side-by-side.

There isn't much that can be said about the middle space. It is my sewing area and contains my sewing machine. I have a Jenome that I bought at Sears many years ago. It was probably the cheapest machine they made, but it is a little work horse. I keep it on a cutting mat for last minute trimming.

It is very convenient to keep my pressing area close to where I sew. My husband made a little ironing board out of plywood on feet that I covered with fabric and batting. It is perfect for pressing those perfect 1/4" seams.

The other parts of my sewing life would not be complete without storage areas. I keep all my fabric in shallow bins that store under my bed. I sort it all by color. I generally buy 1/2-to 1-yard pieces of many different fabrics rather than large yardage of a few. I love the variety. I love the colors and feel of the fabric. I love just having it; looking at it. I'm the same way about yarn, although that has taken a backseat to quilting of late. I have been crocheting and knitting since I was a youngster, but quilting is still fairly new to me. I have so much to learn.

I also have a bedroom closet converted into a sewing storage space. This is where fabric goes before it gets sorted. I consider sorting fabric into bins rather like filing paperwork. I don't do that often either. I just happened to have taken these pictures after sorting. Otherwise there are stacks and stacks of fabric in there.

This closet has lots of goodies in it--knitting needles, crochet hooks, sewing and embroidery thread, rolls of eyelet lace, ribbon, quilting magazines, batting for the next several quilts, and all kinds of stuff. Those tubs are filled with fabric scraps. The cedar chest on the bottom left, contains my husband's grandmother's tatting shuttle, which I've yet to learn how to use. One of these days, if and when time permits.

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.

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.

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.