Saturday, November 29, 2014

T-shirt quilt off the long arm

I fretted about doing this customer quilt as I had never done a t-shirt quilt AND I was going to back it with the dreaded minky.  Even though I had used minky recently on a baby quilt which worked out great.....this was KING SIZED!!!
 
 
 
 
I used a medium sized meander.
 
 
Here's a shot at the minky backing.
 
 
Here's the completed top....all 92 x 122" of it!!!
 
 
I used a silver So Fine thread for the top and an Aurifil purple for the bobbin with a very thin Mountain Mist poly batt.   
 
Well,  I can now say for sure, working with minky is NOT a problem and T-shirt quilts aren't any harder than any other quilt.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out and I am sure my customer will be just as happy. 
 
Now, I have to bind it.  So, I guess I won't mind if it gets really cold out while I am doing this as it is going to keep me plenty warm while it is in my lap as I  hand stitch down the binding. 
 
If you don't hear from me for a few days, I will probably be hibernating under this quilt with needle and thread in hand. 
 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Monkey business......





 
 
 
 
 
That's not turkey stuffing.
 





 You've been mooned!

 
Monkey-ing around
 
 
All ready for Christmas.
 
 
 

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Another one bites the dust.

One more done. 
 
Just finished the binding, but will not be able to share the whole quilt until the challenge reveal at my retreat in June. 
 
Way too long to wait, but I am so happy that I have it done this early in the game. 
 
 
I have actually surprised myself with this one. 
 
So, one more check marked off my UFO list. 
 
Yeah! 
 
Onto the next project.


Friday, November 21, 2014

When you only have a couple of hours.....

When this little guy is spending the day, he wants to do what his shirt says
"Play All Day"
 
 
But....when he took his two hour nap this morning, I jumped on my binding project and got this done. 
 
 
 
 
I had machined stitched it down last night along with the binding for my Quilts of Valor quilt.  Knowing nap time wasn't going to be super long, I picked this quilt to hand stitch down the binding. 
 
Now it's done! 
 
I am still amazed I found two border fabrics that matched so well with this panel that I bought several years ago and the minky turned out so well, too. 
 
I did put a 100 % cotton batt in this and it worked up like a dream. 
 
So happy to have another project check marked off my lengthy "to do list". 
 
Hope to get the QofV binding hand stitched down soon.  Customer quilt is next. 
 
Thanks for stopping by. 
 
 
 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Just four days ago....

I loaded this quilt onto the long arm so that when I was ready to go, all I needed to do was quilt.
 
 
Today was the day.
 
 
I free motioned an echoed loop over the whole panel/borders.
 
 
I think the quilting brought an ordinary panel to life.
 
The best part was finding out how easy it was to work with minky. That's what I used for the back of this quilt...a soft, yellow minky.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Oh!  What better to use for the back of a baby quilt.  It is so luscious. 
 
I have another minky backed baby panel planned, but can't put it on the long arm just yet.  I am waiting for my customer to drop off the backing to her king-sized t-shirt quilt.  I am hoping she brings over minky as it was really easy to work with.  Don't know why I waited so long to give it a try. (Well, actually, I do know.  The fuzz I thought would drive me crazy)
 
I have the bindings made for my Quilts of Valor quilt and this panel quilt (need to get them on) and even have the binding ready for the T-shirt quilt. ''
 
So, I guess I will leave the long arm free for the customer and get into my sewing room to get a couple bindings on. 
 
Happy quilting!! 
 
 


Sunday, November 16, 2014

In a happy place....

What makes us quilters happy?
 
Quilting and chocolate.
 
Yesterday I discovered a new to me chocolate place.  You can read all about it here
 
It's called Bon Bon Bon.
 
 
 
They have some really cool packaging to protect those beautiful and yummy bon bons.
 
 
Yes...I have already eaten some.  The stamped lid tells you what I had and you can see what I have left.  Very pricey, but oh so good.  I think I will eat one a day.
 
Then today, I sewed on the long-arm and got my Quilts of Valor quilt all quilted.  Can't show the whole thing as it is a challenge for my June retreat.  Yeah....I am so far ahead this year, but it is hard to keep it a secret that long, too. 
 
 
 
I used a panto called ribbons and stars.
 
Here's the backing. 
 
 
I used up every single one of my Americana fabrics for this and purchased just a few more to get it done.  The binding is made. All I have to do is to sew it on now. 
 
Next on the long-arm is a baby panel that I added some borders to make it a little bigger and this will be my first try at minky for the backing.  It actually loaded very nicely, but then again, maybe that is because it is on the small size.  Anyways, I am giving it a try as I have a customer quilt that is either going to have fleece or minky as the backing and I want to make sure I know what I am doing before I do hers. 
 
Here's the panel quilt loaded.
 
 
All that makes me happy to get something accomplished today and I am all set to go on something new as soon as the time allows. 
 
Will be posting more soon. 
 
 
 
 
 

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Minkee-phobia

Don't get me wrong.  I love minkee.  It's the softest stuff around and so cuddly. My phobia comes into being when I think about "working" with it; but today I have been trying to overcome that.
 
 
 
I bought this adorable blue elephant minkee at Jackman's in St. Louis, MO  with just the thought of slapping two pieces together, stitching them, turning them right sides out and stay stitching a border and that was that.  It's been in the bag at least 3-5 years.   
 
My fear came into being when about 9-10 years ago I bought a couple pieces of minkee for a couple of those drag around baby blankets that have  teddy bear heads attached to the corner.  Well, when the gal at the quilt shop cut it for me, there was this "cloud" of fuzz everywhere.  I am thinking to myself....."I can't have that in my sewing room!!!"  being a somewhat clean freak.  Thus, those pieces are still in the bag. 
 
Well, since my friend has told me there is nothing to it when it comes to using minkee on the backs of quilts, I purchased two pieces yesterday for two panel-type baby quilts and I am going to give it a try. I truly believe the "newer" minkees are less fuzz producing than the originals. 
 
So, while I was at it, I decided to pull the blue elephant fabric out (since that one should be a no-brainer) and made this little number.
 
 
It's not quilted and never was intended to be quilted.  I was just copying what the quilt shop had as a sample.    It's just going to be a cuddle blanket for the youngest grandson. 
 
My other two pieces will probably wait a bit since I will have to re-introduce myself to my embroidery part of my machine.  The teddy bears will have embroidered faces.
 
Then on to the next project (actually the above one was the last one of the day).  I had to add borders to my skinny panel and now that is ready to be quilted onto the yellow minkee backing.
 
 
Binding is already made, too.  So, I have no excuses. This now measures something like 38 x 48 which is much better than the 22 x  37 that it was.
 
Since I was in the mood for sewing in the sewing room today, I dug in my stash and came up with a good pink dot for the little trim on my cupcake pillowcase and got this one made, too.
 
 
I am feeling good about my accomplishments today.  So stay tuned for some quilted projects as there are a few that are piling up now. 
 
Oh
one more thing....
don't wear black pants when working with minkee.   
 


Friday, November 7, 2014

A Little Retail Therapy......

Had a couple days to myself this week.  No work, no babysitting, nothing.
 
So did a little shopping for myself yesterday.....shoes, clothes, lunch, home dec, but the best day was with my gal pals today.  Lunch and a couple of quilt shops. Not that I need any new projects or any fabric, so I decided to dig in the stash for a couple of "panels" that I thought I had and was going to buy Minkee for the backs of these.
 

 
Since my friend, Sharon, over at http://totallyobsessedwithallthingscreative.blogspot.com/ has been having such great success with Minkee, I thought I would give that a try. So for the above fabric, I bought white Minkee to back this.  No borders are needed for this as it is a good size for a baby quilt. 
 
Then there was this panel.
 
 
It was super narrow, so I thought I would look for some fabric to border it. Now mind you...this panel is OLD and I wasn't sure I could find anything that would match, but look what I found.
 
 
There's the mini yellow border, the teal-ish dots and the teal-y blue binding.  I think it is going to work out just great.  For this quilt, I bought a soft yellow Minkee.
 
 
Now, I have to admit while looking for those "panels" that I thought I still had after several years, I was finding a ton of "baby" fabrics.  I don't need to buy anymore baby fabric for a very long time.  In fact, I just have to remember to look in this one box and I could probably made a dozen baby quilts.  Those fabrics just call my name and thinking that size of quilt should be quick and easy.  Problem is....you have to make them and not let the fabric just sit.  So, maybe if I get busy on these two quilts, I will relieve some of the anxiety I was feeling when I was re-discovering all these fabrics.
 
Anyways, while looking through this box, I came across some cupcake fabric.  I think I will make a pillowcase out of this.  That will be one more project done and out of the box. 
 
 
I have another project that I have started collecting fabrics for.  Hey?!!  Didn't I say I don't need more fabric or more projects?  Gosh....isn't that the way it always goes?!!!
But I want to make this quilt in grays and yellows.  Not sure yet what color I will use as the background (gray or yellow), but I think it will showcase pretty fabrics in the diamonds
 
 
Well, before I can get started on my quilting again, I had to finish a knitted infinity scarf for my daughter-in-law's birthday.  So, I did that tonight.
 
 
It measures 36 x 8.  I will post pictures of this again when she tries it on AND the poncho that I recently finished for my second daughter's birthday. 
 
So, I guess I have been busy after all.  It may not have been quilting, but  I am always working on one project or another. 
 
Hopefully I will have some finished quilt tops and quilts to show you soon.  I am feeling motivated after being with friends and shopping in the quilt shops, so get ready!
 
 
 
 

Michigan quilters, take note

  Come see us at our first Quilter's to Quilter's sale.   Don't know what that is?  Well, it will be 28 quilters/vendors selling...