Month: August 2016

A Pre Y2K UFO…Yikes!

The only reason I know when this top was started is because I remember which house I was living in when I started.  This top was started before my daughter was born.  She is only twelve.

I think I started this quilt because I like the Asian inspired fabrics.  When I began to again work on this quilt I was concerned that it would not match up well, since way back then I was a fairly new quilter.  Not a new sewer, but a newer quilter.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was not to bad.

I had even purchased the fabric for the back long ago.  It sort of looks like bamboo leaves.  I still remember when I saw it and knew right away it would be perfect.  So, I am going to attempt to quilt a bamboo pattern on part of it.  I practiced for a while today and watched Leah Days video on this pattern, Bamboo Forest.

I have begin a page devoted to Uncle Donald Quilts.  I hope you visit it and make your own.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

An Experiment Gone…….Sort of OK

So, I watched a video of Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company make a self-binding baby blanket.  It looked very cute.  The fabric that she was using was very expensive, and I wanted to try it, but not with anything that can cost a bunch of money in case it turned out horrible.  So, I looked at a bunch of scraps that I had from my great nephew’s dog blanket and decided that I would piece a quick top and then use a piece of fleece for the back.  I gave my daughter all the pieces and told her to lay them out and number them for me (She totally wanted credit for the design).

So, doing the self-binding part was not difficult.  It was actually pretty easy.  The only part I found difficult was quilting this. Fleece has a fair amount of stretch to it, so I had to be careful not to stretch as I quilted.  20160814_185736Her instructions said you could do as little as sew a square in the middle to keep the front and back from coming apart.  I did a bit more than that.  I am not sure if it was good or bad.  I think if I had started at it for a while, I might have come up with a better plan.  I will try it again to see if I can do something I like a bit more.

On a positive note, this was an inexpensive quilt to make.  The front was scraps and the back was a $6 piece of fleece.  There is no batting and it is a very nice weight for a quilt.

Last night I cut out a bunch of squares for my Uncle Donald Quilt.  WooHoo.  I will have a page devoted to Uncle Donald Quilts soon….

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

Ahhhh….What I learned this time…

Quilting is always an adventure.

So I finished the piece that I pebbled.  While I was pretty happy with the quilting on this one (odd for me), I learned a couple of lessons, again.

20160813_210935First, I read a lot of stuff.  There were quite a few people that recommended using quilting gloves.  I could not figure out how that would help me.  So, after considerable time, I ordered a pair.  They actually sat on the kitchen counter until I was half way through this piece (I have no idea why).   I happen to pass by the kitchen counter and grabbed them and holy cow did it make a difference. It was so much easier to move the piece around.  I bought Machingers and they worked awesome.  It was a great $10 investment towards my quilting sanity (I need to stop being so cheap).

20160813_210942Second thing I learned is to pay attention to everything.  I used some scraps from a dog quilt I made some time ago.  I hung onto them because I am the crazy dog lady.  I usually use scrap pieces of batting on these small pieces.  I have a giant bag of them in my sewing room.  So, I grabbed one that was big enough without a lot of thought.  Started he quilting and noticed that it stuck to everything.  I had pieces of this batting on everything.  Looking at it after it was too late, I discovered that it was some sort of odd polyester.  Thinking about it, I found it odd that I would have ever made a quilt with it.  I think it might have been a piece of snow from my Christmas village that someone  accidentally stuck in my batting bag.  So, I don’t like how this piece feels.  It is so lightweight.  But, it has my cute dog fabric, so I will have to use it.  Lesson learned.  Pay attention to everything.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

 

OMG- I Pebbled Something!

So, last night as I was practicing my quilting, I decided to get crazy and try pebbling.  I was pleasantly surprised that this did not look too bad.  It seemed to be very forgiving.  I am usually so chicken to venture outside the box (The box of meandering) that everything looks the same to me.

A couple things that I realized.  First, I practiced drawing these pebbles on paper.  You should see my notebook at work.  Oh, wait, you can.  Duh. 20160812_083523 While I am sitting in meetings, I am often drawing (practicing) my quilting designs, sometimes I am doing it on my Surface computer.  Funny thing, I feel my drawing often looks better than my quilting (Someone actually asked me if they could have my swirls doodle once).  But it helps get the flow down for me.

I think I need to watch more Leah Day videos and get crazy with another design.

Happy Sewing

Happy Quilting

What to do……with this……

I am that person that has to be doing something at all times. If I sit down to watch the news or something else on TV, my hands must be occupied. If not, I will be eating something (which I certainly do not need to do) or I might fall asleep.
I have done some piecing by hands, but I find that it winds up being a lot of the same thing, so I find embroidery keeps my attention a little better. Since, I really like to quilt, I have to find ways to incorporate my embroidery into quilts.

Currently, I have this Halloween picture that I need to do something with. If I remember correctly, this was a picture from a coloring book (maybe. Honestly, I am not sure). I do remember that it took a fair amount of time to do this picture.

The problem I have is that now I am not sure what to do with it. I am a practical person by nature, so I do like things that I can use. So, maybe a Table Topper? The only issue is that it a picture that can only really be seen from one direction, and it would end up getting washed a lot (not sure if that matters or not). I already have one for hanging on the door, so I don’t really need another wall hanging….  It is also about 16″ x 18″ which is fairly large.

So, I am looking for ideas, if anyone has one. I have all my Halloween fabric out and am just staring at it with that blank look. Thanks.

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

Spooky Spider web Table Topper

So, I got bored with Hard Candy and went on to something else.  I sometimes think of it as quilting ADD.  I must move from one thing to another and have as many projects going as possible.  I liked this pattern.  I thought it was cute.  However, I found it a little difficult to do the applique through all the fabric and batting.  This is what they suggested.  I found it a bit difficult to keep from bunching.  I think I will try it again, but do the applique separate and then quilt.

20160801_203821

The quilting is awesome on this one.  LOL.  I think that is because I was actually appliqueing it more than quilting and I got to use one of those fun stitches on my machine that I would not normally use.  I thought the stitch looked like a bunch of spiders, or my imagination got the best of me.  Either way, it is sort of cute.

The pattern is from Connecting Threads and is called “cobweb”

Happy Quilting

Happy Sewing

A bit of success with Hard Candy

So, I practiced a bit again.  This one I don’t hate.  I think it is because I love Halloween fabric and I used a matching  thread so you can’t see the actual quilting.  I think I will practice on something else next time. I need a break from Rock candy.  However, I will continue practicing my quilting on these small pieces.  I find myself watching a lot of Leah Day videos.  Some day I will get a long arm, however, I have a child to educate, so it will have to wait a while.  Maybe by then I will get the hang of it.  Leah Day makes it look really easy.