Productive Days

Yesterday didn't quite go as planned, but that's the normal way of these things. My nap took a detour when the roofing guys showed up to replace some shingles that had been blown off in our last major wind storm. For some reason, I can't sleep when people are walking around on the roof. ;-)

However, I took and made that time highly productive instead. I got all of my chores done and then went and did the grocery shopping. By the time afternoon rolled around, I did not feel even the slightest bit guilty for taking a few hours and concentrating on my quilting.  As a matter of fact, I enjoyed that feeling so much, I'm going to get all of my chores done this morning again, same chores as yesterday of course, before I start quilting again. That guilt-free feeling is a great one. :-)

I managed to finish up one block yesterday. I did my Ohio Star and rather like how it turned out. We had open interpretation on what we wanted to put in the center, so due to the sun I carefully fussy cut and placed there, I opted for a spiral. The rest is done in "echo shells" which I sketched onto the fabric before I quilted them. It went a lot better, I'm sure, than if I'd tried to do that without the lines. My spirals already show me I can't keep a consistent distance.

Yes, I have a thing going right now for music fabric. I came across them in my last trip to the quilt store and bought several fat quarters knowing I would be using them in this quilt. Since I recently started playing the flute again, it's appropriate and I love them.

My little quilt extension table worked like a charm! I love that little table though it's forcing me to change how I sit at my sewing machine and where I rest my arms as I work. I'll get used to it as time goes by, but it is odd feeling right now.

I have been studying my Modern Dresden Plate and trying to decide how I want to quilt it. We're supposed to be learning pine needles and then use more echo shells, but I'm not sure I like that idea for my block. Mine really looks more like a sun than it does a flower.

However, I might just go ahead and do it the way she suggests to get it done and over with. While I find this quilting technique easier than if the entire quilt top was already pieced, it's starting to get tedious. That might be why I prefer piecing quilt tops to quilting them.

She is teaching another class on Craftsy called "Free Motion Fillers Vol. 1". In there, she has you make a smallish quilt where the entire thing is mainly focused on the quilting aspect.  Funny how much I want to make that considering I am thinking that quilting itself is annoying. However, to be able to show that I 'can' quilt free motion and to complete something like this would be a great accomplishment for me.  Last night, while digging out other random fat quarters for the back of the sampler quilt, I pulled all of my tonals to get an idea for the other quilt. We'll ignore the fact I want to actually finish 4 other quilts before I start it. ;-)  Based on my choices, I went with a rainbow color palette with a black background. It's nice having a decent sized fabric stash.

These lovely fabrics are a combination of my hand dyes, batiks, and normal cotton tonals. I think it will be lovely when it's finished. I'm also planning on quilting it in a light gray thread since I obviously want the quilting to show on this one.

I'm thinking today is going to be "piecing day" so I can finish the last 4 blocks for the sampler quilt. That right there might take the entire day as we're talking 2 blocks with curves and then 2 paper pieced blocks.  However, it would be great to have them finished and ready to be quilted.  If I'm going to do that, I suppose I'd better get up and get a move on. I have things to do before I can sit down with my beloved sewing machine. :-)

Starting the Sampler

Yesterday, I decided I'd done enough practice and it was time to tackle the actual blocks. In a way, I see all of my quilts as practice pieces anyway, especially when it comes to the quilting part. I rarely make it past making tops as basting is difficult for me. I have NO idea why, but I can never seem to get it right on the first try. When you're talking about a large quilt top, having to undo all the pins and redo them is frustrating.

The first two blocks of the sampler turned out okay. I like the first one way better than the second. I wonder if it's because I practiced the quilt stitches used for the first block before I did it and I didn't the second? We'll never know. LOL  I used thread in each of them to blend in with the block. I still love my piecing more than the quilting, so I want IT to show up, not the quilting.

This is the first block. It has a stipple in the center, paisleys in the white part and then just long "U" shapes in the corners. I'll admit I'm not too fond of the U shapes. I thought they looked a little "cheap" when added with the other two, but I couldn't think of what else to do there. It also might be because, when I was changing colors of thread, the purple in the corners was a heavier weight than the other two. Beats me how I ended up with a 40wt when I usually only buy 50 or 60. Oh, well. It was only for a small area so it's not that big of a deal.  I matched that blue in the center so well, you can't even tell it's stippled in pictures. You'd have to see the actual block. The backing fabric on this one is sheets of music, so it also completely hides the stitching. So this is the only shot of this block there is.

This is the second block. It's a wonky log cabin and was quilted with a spiral from the inside out. As you can see, the background fabric has cute paw prints on it. I fell in love with it in the store and had to have it. How handy I was working on a quilt where I wanted each square done with a different background fabric. :-)

I will admit that I call this my "drunk spiral" as I couldn't keep a consistent distance from the previous lines for anything. However, considering this was eyeballed and completely free hand, it didn't turn out that bad. :-D

I was also talking to my husband yesterday about my desire for a quilting table. He thought for the longest time I meant an actual table that my machine would sit into. He didn't realize I meant one of those platforms that would just fit around my machine to give me more surface area. When he did realize that, thanks to the Keepsake Quilting catalog having a picture of a Plexiglas version,  he ran right out and made me his version.

I haven't tried it out yet as I'd already quilted the previous two blocks without it, but they still need their "river path" borders. Leah doesn't cover that in the lessons until the very end, but I was talking to my friend about it. After realizing I'd have to go back anyway and add it to ALL of the quilt blocks, I thought I'd stop now and add it as I went. So it will give me a chance to try out this little table he made. It's a great use of some recycled materials as he used left overs from some black shelves we used to have. It might not be fancy, but if it gets the job done, who cares? There's a small gap in one corner where it fits around my machine due to the fact these new machines have lots of curves to them. However, it's a small gap and I don't think it will make that big of a difference. We also covered it completely with clear contact paper. You can see there where it overlaps. It made that top real nice and smooth. I really hope it works and I don't have to tell him that all of his work was for nothing.

If you're curious, my sewing machine is a Viking Quilt Designer. You'd have a hard time finding one as they are considered antiquated in the realm of computerized sewing machines and were quickly discontinued in favor of the Designer II. However, it's been an awesome sewing machine and I'll keep happily using it until it dies.  Unfortunately, it will be the stitch cards that will die long before the machine itself does. I had to replace one recently and I had a heck of a time getting my hands on one. While these computerized machines are nice, there's something to be said for the older machines. I have a vintage Singer 301A sitting off to the side you can't see. That pretty baby was made back in the 50s and is still going strong. Nothing like a silly stitch card or a corrupt memory chip will keep it from running! It still makes the most beautiful stitches, too.

I guess that's enough 'rambling' for now. I have a nap to take, chores to do, then I'll get to play with my new quilting table and see how it works. :-D

Thinking in Circles

I am thinking myself in circles today. I ended up with an empty hour with nothing to fill it. I was supposed to go to a doctor's appointment but I called and canceled it when the pest control guys showed up. I had to corral the pets for an hour while the spray dried. So, I'm waiting now.

The thinking in circles is this. The kids are still in school, hubby went to go take a nap. It's perfectly quiet in the house and it's weird. When this happens, I think too much. I have a knitting project almost finished. So close to finished I could easily finish it in a day. Okay, so do I work on that? Or there's my son's quilt. I finished the major sashing quilting last night. It's all done and the pins are out. So I'm studying the squares now and wondering if I really want to do the original design I picked out or if I want something different. Then my mind skips to the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month I started last year. I still have 2 blocks cut and ready to be pieced there, not to mention 7 or 8 blocks sitting with their sashing ready to be quilted. I want to do the Free Motion Quilting a Sampler class on Craftsy and Leah uses these blocks. It would be awesome practice for me. I have some of the batting cut and ready, too. All I need to do is square up a piece of fabric for the backing and layer it. I'm using different fat quarters for the backing to use up more fabric and to make it more fun. I even have several fat quarters all pressed and ready to be squared up.

So, to help myself out, I decided to blog about it instead. LOL  I'm also waiting for my coffee to finish brewing so I can continue to think while sipping on that. I'm leaning towards squaring up some fabric and getting a BOM block ready to be quilted. I just need to load up my class and see which one is first as I'd like to do them in order.  There. I took the time to go look it up and here's my block one. It would appear it's the Greek Cross.

I suppose I need to go look now and see if THIS block has its sashing. LOL  If not, I definitely need to add that before I can quilt it. I was adding sashing in the order the blocks were made, but of course that's not how she decided to teach it.  Oh, well, I'll survive. :-)  I guess I'm off to check on that sashing and see what I need to do to get this started.

Long Time No See!

Holy cow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've written anything on my quilts. Then again, I've been knitting and crocheting almost solidly since the last post. Now I was productive in that realm right up until I ended up with DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis that ended up with my having surgery on it at the end of last year. I'm still in occupational therapy for that, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

When March hit, I got hit with the "finish it up" bug. I had two quilts still in partial piecing mode and two quilts in ready to quilt mode (we won't discuss the number of knitting and crocheting projects in partially finished stages). I've signed up for some classes on Craftsy and have been learning new techniques on free motion quilting. I hope to use them on my new quilts.

This is the quilt that is currently basted and ready to go under the ol' machine needle. It's for my youngest son. Last year, I realized that he was the only one in our family who didn't have a quilt.  Well, besides myself. But finishing one for me isn't very high on my list at the moment. I did a sample block chunk made up from several of the same fabrics to play with my free motion quilting as it's been a LONG time since I've gotten this far on a quilt.  I like how it turned out and plan on using this free motion pattern on his quilt with a double line doodle swirl in the border. All of that after I stitch every single seam. It turns out that emphasizes the piecing process. As there was serious piecing in his quilt, I want it to show up, by golly!

Yeah, I had a few issues as I'm using cotton thread on the back and polyester thread on the front. You might be wondering why in the world I'm doing that, but it's because I wanted a single color on the back and beats me how you wind thread on my machine from a cone. LOL That and I'll be using multiple colors on the front. This sample is going to be turned into a matching pillow for his quilt.  How does this match, you might ask?  Well, I made a minor error when I bought the backing fabric and I didn't get enough. So, I ended up making a few adjustments and added a pieced section.

Not the best photo, but you get the idea. ;-)  This is a strip that runs down the very center of the back of the quilt. I think it's going to look great. Obviously, I will NOT worry about stitching in the ditch on this side. Only the front will get that treatment. 

So, that's where I'm at on his quilt. It's basted and ready to be quilted. The sample block is sitting on my cutting table for me to admire and remind me why I'm going through all this work. ;-)  I suppose I should stop blogging now and actually get around to starting the quilting, especially since the cat is currently not claiming it. Every time I turned around yesterday, he was on it, no matter where I placed the quilt. He has decided it's his. I hope I can convince him it belongs to my son when it's finished... lol

More to come

Well, my Crafts By Erin blog is up and running with more photos of things I've done. I've been a busy little bee as of late. I have orders for 5 paperback book bags and 5 cell phone/gadget cases. I'll go through my fabric here before too long and start pulling different fabrics for them. Of course, the paperback book bags will be the easiest to make. There's no lining and quilting involved. Then I have another Piano Key purse lined up I want to make. This one will be red/black/white. I can't wait to see it finished. Oh! And I can't forget the Blue Star Banner I'm making for a friend. Now that the red fabric has finally been rinsed out, I need to start that. She'd like to have it in place before her husband gets home from training. Since the book bags and cell phone cases are for my mother, and I think they're for Christmas gifts, I can put them on the back burner until I get this finished. She'll understand. :-) She'll probably agree that it's more important. Okay, that and it will probably only take me about 2 days, tops, to do the banner. That's not much in the way of things.

Oh, and my son wants a messenger bag. Dang. He wants that to take to school for the last two days and show off. LOL I could actually get the front, back, and side panels prepped today. I need to buy fabric for the lining this evening, so I wouldn't be able to finish it until later.

I think that it's time to start carefully scheduling my crafting time. Since I'm still working on my coffee, I think I'll create myself a little page I can write on every day and plan what I'm going to work on. Today, I think I'll cut out my friend's Blue Star Banner and put that together, layer it, and get it ready for quilting. I will also cut out the outside of my son's messenger bag and start quilting that. I think that will pretty much fill up my crafting day. :-) Now, to write that down so I don't get sidetracked. LOL