Happy Halloween - 10/31/17

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! -

This is the perfect day to -

And BOB would like to add -

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Back to the potholders -

I found the "fifth" fabric to complete each of the sets -

Split the segments to make a stair-step pattern like Trip Around The World -

And sewed the first set together - TOP LEFT -

But still have to sew the other four sets together - ;))

Did you know -

That you aren't "locked in" to your first layout of segments? -

That you can change the "main color" of the "diagonal" -

By changing the placement of the cut segments? - ;))

If you don't like this one -

Move the first segment to the last one on the right -

If you don't like that one - move the first segment to the last one on the right again -

If you don't like that one - move the first segment to the last one on the right again -

And if you do it again - you're right back to where you started - ;))

Cool, huh? - ;))

I always like to have options - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

So we made -

A Gnome Hat - ;))

How cute is that? -

My friend emailed me with a link to a pinterest board - HERE - saying that she had the "material" and asking if I could help her make a Gnome Hat to go with her Gnome costume for Halloween -

SIDE NOTE -
You can always tell a "non-quilter" when they call fabric "material" - LOL - ;))

Anyway -

I told her YES!! - and that the sewing part was going to be easy - the hard part would be the measuring and marking and making sure it fit correctly -

I suggested we use some newspaper to make a "pattern" before we cut into the felt - so as not to waste it. We measured and marked the newspaper - then used some Scotch Tape - to make a "paper" hat - checked the fit - and it was PERFECT!! -

So we pinned the pattern to the felt - cut that out - sewed the seam -

And now she can be a Gnome for Halloween on Tuesday - ;))

She liked it so much she wore it home -

She couldn't wait for Tuesday - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Pressed and cut -

And that's as far as I got - ;))

I spent some time today doing chores -

And played with EQ7 coloring some table runners -

So I should be able to play with the potholders again tomorrow -

But then I said that yesterday -

Didn't I? -;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

For a change of pace -

After tiding up a bit -

I pulled out some fabric for another set of potholders - still with a rooster theme - but with different fabrics - on a smaller scale - than my previous attempt - HERE. The top fabrics will be used in the strip sets for the front/top - the bottom fabric will be used on the backs - since it probably wouldn't look too cool cut up into little pieces - ask me how I know - LOL - ;))

I had already printed out my instructions from - HERE - since there was no reason to "re-think" what I did and how I did it - ;))

The strip sets have been sewn - and are just waiting to be pressed - sewn into "tubes" - and then subcut -

Maybe tomorrow - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Lavender Lovely - Done! -

After a couple of false starts - Lavender Lovely is finally DONE!! - ;))

Plan A was to make a standard Jelly Roll Race Quilt - baby quilt size - but when I messed up - I switched to Plan B -

Plan B was to use some Quilt-As-You-Go Batting by June Tailor - HERE - but I didn't have the yardage to cut the wider strips  and I wanted to use the Jelly Roll - so then I switched to Plan C -

Plan C was/is a variation of both - kind of like a giant version of stitch-and-flip - ;))

I started by flipping over the basted batting/backing from last time - to stitch around the outer edges to tack the batting down - so it didn't somehow get folded over or caught while I was sewing from the top side.  It was easier to feed through the machine with the fabric side down - and I could see where the edge of the batting was -

I had pinned from the top - and that didn't pose a problem - lucky for me - YAY!! -

Finished sewing and took the pins out -

Took it over to the kitchen island - flipped it again - backing side down - grabbed a couple of strips - and patted myself on the back because I could see some really cool "registration" lines on the batting - to use to line things up as I stitched from the top -

Then I realized that I should turn the whole thing sideways so I could press the whole length of the strip from one side of the quilt to the other -

I also noticed that the batting was seriously wonky on this side - so I chalked out a line to use as a placement guide -

Laid out the first two strips - right sides together -

Oh - I forgot to mention that I had taken the original super-long Jelly Roll Race Quilt strips and cut them all down to 33" - and sorted them to mix up the prints a little -

And I pinned them - even though I didn't really need to because I'm using a fusible batting - the bottom strip is pressed/fused to the batting - the top strip is pinned through all the layers to keep it from shifting -

Took it to the machine - used my walking foot - and moved the needle to the right so that I had a 1/4" seam - stitched it down -

Took it back to the kitchen island - flipped the top strip open and pressed it down -

Turned it over to check out the first seam line from the back - not too bad - looks pretty straight -

Added another strip -

Rinse and repeat - checking periodically to see if the "registration" lines were still in line with the strips being added -

And got the bottom half done - turned it around -

And started adding strips to the other end - working from the middle to the top of the quilt -

And - from the back - the lines are pretty straight on the plaid - considering the fact that I can't see where I'm sewing and have no idea if I'm hitting the lines or not -

Any slight wobbles get hidden in the seam allowance -

Top strips all sewn -

Flipped over one of the sides to check "straightness" - not too bad -

Then - I stitched down the end strips - to keep them from getting twisted or folded over -

Flipped it over to mark the binding placement lines - trying to keep the stitching lines parallel and the seam lines on the back straight when compared to the edge -

Trying to get a straight edge -

The stitching line is the edge of the batting - the yellow line will be the edge of the quilt -

Keeping it pretty straight -

Binding is sewn on - edge of the binding on the placement line (ignore the second yellow line to the right - it's not the placement line) -

Can you see where I joined the binding? -

It's easier to see from the front -

The colors are "truer" in this photo - all ready to trim -

All trimmed - ready to press and fold over -

The back - with binding on -

The front - "Glamour" shot -

I stitched on a label for the baby - and ran it through the washer and dryer to soften it up - and THIS happened - Oops!! -

So I fixed it - with - what else? - with a heart - ;))

I wasn't about to put a nice, clean baby quilt back on the floor - so I took another "Glamour" shot of it on the quilting table.  The little heart is a little something "extra" that you might not notice at first glance - and no one will ever know that it's covering a frayed seam - unless they read my blog and see this post - ;))

I don't know what I'm going to be working on next -

But I still have to make the Scrap Card and Heart for my Scrapbook -

And I promised a table runner to a friend -

And some potholders to another friend -

So it's not like I don't have choices - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Almost done with the back -

I actually found some time to SEW today!! - YAY me!! - ;))

I'm trying something different this time - we'll see if it works - ;))

I cut the batting roughly the size of the baby quilt - with a little extra on each side - then I worked up the backing in two columns with several sections in each -

Below is a photo of the two sections on the bottom right side -
the raspberry/purple/pink (depending on the lighting - LOL) is the top layer - shown on the right -
both layers are pinned right sides together - as usual

Stitched it down with my walking foot - just the backing to the batting at this point -

Flipped it open - pressed it all out nice and neat (gotta love that fusible batting) -

And it came out pretty straight considering I had no idea where the plaid lines were because they were UNDER the raspberry/purple/pink fabric as I was sewing -

Layered and pinned the next section - basically working from the bottom to the top on the right side of the backing - left to right in the photo -

Stitched that down -

Flipped it open - and pressed it again - smoothing it all out -

Pinned the next section on -

Stitched - flipped - pressed it open -

When I had the right side stitched down - I took the left side (all the sections had been sewn together so it was one loooong piece) - pinned that down - right sides together - as usual -

Stitched - flipped - pressed it open -

And it doesn't look too bad - but it looks really light and pink in this photo -

The colors are more "true" in this one -

And in this one -

So - next up - is to baste all around the outside edge - to keep the edges tacked down so they don't accidentally get caught up or folded somehow -

THEN -

I'll start playing with the front -

And I'm on to Plan C -

So I'll show you later -

See what you think - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -