Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Practice -

 
 
Can be fun - 
 
And a little less stressful - 
 
When I use a thread color that "almost" shows - 
 
In this case - I chose a GOLD thread - 
 
It's dark enough for me to see what I'm doing - 
 
But it doesn't show much - except on the BLUE - 
 
I tried Pebbles and Loops - 
 
 
Back and forth lines and swirls - 

 
Lazy-8s/Wishbones - 

 
Spirals - 


 
I even tried a feather - knowing that it won't show much - 

So I didn't stress too much about making it perfect - 

And it didn't come out half bad -




 
Today I stitched several passes from left to right -
 
And then right to left - and back again -

I re-hooped it once after setting it up yesterday -
 
Tomorrow I'll try to do more - 
 
And maybe finish up the center section - 
 
After I do my "chores" - ;))
 
 
 
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 
 

Tuesday, August 30, 2022

Next up -

 
 
Is this one - 
 
I call it I Used To Be Placemats - 
 
Because they were - LOL -
 
 
 
The backing was a little short - 
 
So I used a striped fabric as a "poor man's" leader cloth - 

 
It's easy enough to cut along one of the stripes -
 
For a straight edge - 
 
Then line it up with the edge of the backing - 
 
And to pin on one of the stripes - 
 
They are all "built-in" straight lines - LOL - 

 
The stripes also help me clamp it onto the rail straight - 


I decided to quilt it with GOLD thread - 
 
And to turn it sideways - 

So that I can quilt the width of the placemats in the middle section in one pass - 
 
I'll re-hoop it as needed until I finish all three of them - 


And I'll save the ends for later - 

Because I can - LOL - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 
 

Monday, August 29, 2022

Options -

 
 
It's always nice to have options - 
 
I have three quilts on the chair - 
 
Ready to be quilted - 
 
#1 - Bee Happy - 
 
It's a 36" x 44" panel -  and has been thread-basted -
I intended to do some Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 
Before I got my new machine and frame - 

It would need to be re-hooped multiple times on this frame - 
And would probably be a better candidate for my new frame - 
So I think I'll "un-baste' it - and put it back in the "panel" drawer - 
To be quilted some other day when I get better at swirls and squiggly lines - 

 
#2 - Antique Squirrel - 
 
Roughly 72" x 90" - stitched-in-the-ditch - around each 6" block - 
Also intended for Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 
Before I got my new machine and frame - 
 
It's really too big to push through the throat of my little machne - 
And it would need to be re-hooped multiple times on this frame - 
 
I think it would probably be a better candidate for my new frame - 
So I'll save this one to quilt after I'm more familiar with "loading" a quilt - 
This will be a "variation" since the layers are stitched together in spots - 
And it might work nicely with the front rail "clamp" system - we'll see - 
 
 
#3 - I Used To Be Placemats - 
 
About 42" x 44"- stitched-in-the-ditch -
In most (but not all) of the seam lines - 
 
I made eight placemats - but only one actually became one -
The other seven are in this quilt because I REALLY like the fabric combinations -
That's why I call it I Used To Be Placemats - LOL -
 


Anyway - 
 
I think this is the best one to quilt on my existing frame - 
Until I get the new one - 
It will need to be re-hooped multiple times - 
But the stitch-in-the-ditch lines have stabilized it - 
And whatever I don't get quilted by then -
Can always be finished on my domestic machine - 
 
Also - 
 
I want/need to get a quilt top ready to "load" on my new frame - 
And thought Simply Woven would be a good choice - 
It's about 60" x 60" - 

 
I need to make a backing - and some binding - 
And then decide what color of thread I want to use -  
And how I want to quilt it -
 
And there are LOTS of options - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Sunday, August 28, 2022

Bound -

 
 
And DONE! - 
 
Ta Dah! - ;))
 

 
I used some of the striped backing fabric for the binding - 
 
With a BLACK flange - 

 
And added a satin label to the back - 

 
My camera thinks the RED on the left side is ORANGE - 
 
But it's not - LOL - 
 
The colors in the previous photos are more "true" - 

 
This is the first "real" quilt - with thick seams - 
 
That I quilted with my new machine and frame - 
 
Tomorrow I'll decide which one to quilt next - 
 
While I wait for my upgraded frame - 
 
I spoke to the dealer and we arranged an "exchange" - 
 
For the one that I wanted in the first place - 
 
But I didn't think I had enough room - 
 
I re-measured - and it might be a little tight - but it will fit - 
 
So now it's like I'm waiting for Christmas again - LOL - ;))
 

 
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Saturday, August 27, 2022

Trimmed -

 
 
And ready to bind - 
 

Somehow the day slipped away from me - 
 
And that as far as I got - 
 
So the plan is to give it another try tomorrow - ;))
 
 
 
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Friday, August 26, 2022

Quilted -

 
 
The last corner this afternoon - 
 

 
It's not fancy - 
 
And it won't win any awards - 
 
But it's quilted!! - 



 
It still needs to be trimmed and bound - 

So that's the plan for tomorrow - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Thursday, August 25, 2022

Some progress -

 
 
Once I decided what I was going to do - 

I quilted the top three rows - 

In alternating directions - 

 
I decided against diagonal rows - 
 
And just did back and forth horizontal and vertical lines - 
 

 
Then advanced the quilt and did the next three rows - 
 
 
 
The wavy lines worked well in the star blocks - 
 
 
But I lost my "pattern" as I went along - 
 
So I simplified some areas with fewer direction changes -
 
NOTE TO SELF - 
Don't get fancy with direction changes - 
You'll just confuse yourself - LOL - 
 
 
Anyway -
 
I only have six more rows to go - 
 
 

So I should be able to finish it up tomorrow - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 
 

Wednesday, August 24, 2022

Decisions, decisions -

 
 
Well - I decided to use BLACK thread - 
 
Wound one bobbin - 
 
Threaded the machine - 
 
Made chalk lines on some of the squares -
For the direction of stitching - 
 
And stopped there - 
 
 
In the plain squares and the black/white flying geese units -
I was thinking of doing diagonal lines back and forth -
Changing direction in each square and in each half of the flying geese - 
To go the opposite direction of the "wing" seam - 

  
The center portion of the quilt is really dense patchwork - 
And the quilting won't show -
So I thought I should do something simple like wavy lines - 
Across the stars and the flying geese and blue string blocks - 
 
Only the outer two rows of plain blocks - 
And the black/white flying geese units will show the quilting -
The red flying geese are string blocks - 
So they won't show either -
 
Also - it will be my first "non-panel" quilt with thick seams -
So I don't want to try something fancy that will blow up in my face - 
Not that I can DO fancy yet -
But you know what I mean - LOL -
 
What do you think? - ;))
 
 
 
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Next up -

 
 
Is this one - 
 
 
It's already "stitched in the ditch" - 

And should be easy enough to quilt on my frame -
 
In "zones" - 
 
My frame is called a Q-Zone Hoop Frame
 
And is very similar to the white PVC pipe "hand quilting" frame - 
 
The back rail is NOT a roll-up type - 
 
The fabric is clamped on - 
 
And the bulk of the quilt is rolled up behind the rail - 
 
And held out of the way with a series of bungee cord clips -
 

 
"They" recommend that you quilt the left side of the first "zone" - 

Slide the quilt over and "re-hoop" it to quilt the next "zone" to the right -

Then "re-hoop" the next section down and repeat the process -
 
Leader cloths are used if the backing is "short" - 
 
And - since this is all I have extra on the top - 

 
By the time it's clamped on - 
 
I can't quilt that top row - 


 
I have the leader cloths that came with the frame - 
but I haven't opened the package - 
because I'll give them back when I upgrade the frame - 
 
So - instead -  I pinned a 1/4 yard strip of striped fabric to the top - 
Poor man's version of a leader cloth - LOL -

 
That was enough extra fabric to give me access to that top row - 
 
And I can reach to the middle of the 4th square down - 
 
So I can quilt the top three rows easily - 

 
And I can comfortably quilt 10 of the 16 squares across the width of the quilt - 

 
Because I can reach all the way to here - 
 
Before I run into the side rail - 

 
So - 
 
Now that I know what area I can quilt - 
 
Before I have to slide it over for the next "zone" - 
 
I have to decide how I want to quilt it - ;))
 
 
 
Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Monday, August 22, 2022

Bound -

 
 
My daughter chose a NAVY floral for the binding - 
 
For my Red/White/Blue Panel
 
 
So I made the binding - 
 
And sewed it on - 


 
I also attached one of my satin labels - 
 
And now Echo has a new blanket for the car - 
 
She doesn't care that Grandma's stitches are wonky - 
 
She just wants something to sleep on - 
 
So she doesn't get her Mom's car dirty - LOL - 
 

 
I was looking through the stack "to be quilted" - 
 
And I have several that have been "stitched-in-the-ditch" - 
 
In preparation for Free-Motion quilting on my domestic machine - 
 
They are all good candidates for this frame - 
 
So I might play with this one next - 
 
It's 48" x 48" - 
 
I should be able to quilt just past the center BLACK Flying Geese unit - 
 
Before I have to re-hoop it to get to the other side - 

 
And don't worry about the lump in the top left corner - 
 
It's sitting on top of the leg of the frame - 


Now I need to decide what I want to quilt where - 

Something that won't show where I stop and start - 

And what color of thread I want to use - ;))



Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -
 

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