Monday, February 27, 2017

So close, but no cigar.....

I have had two customer quilts that I have been working on and I used the same thread top and bottom for both of them.  White Glide on top (which has a very nice sheen and it picks up the colors of the quilt) and Fil-Tec prewound white bobbins on the bottom.  

Well, I was pretty sure I wasn't going to have enough of the bobbin thread for the second one.


I used up every inch of thread that I had left.  The above picture shows a couple of the bobbins that were left over from other projects.  We're talking "small" amounts here.

I was nearing the end of the second quilt, but had to stop here.


One more row of stars and a little bit of a border.  Hmph!  Drives one crazy.

Normally, I would have placed an order for more from Fil-Tec, but I am heading to Kentucky this week to Quilted Joy to take a few classes from Judi Madsen and I know I can get them there.  So, that is the plan.

So far this is what the quilting on this quilt looks like though.  It is the Bush Berry panto.  




As usual, I love Nancy's quilts.  Don't you just love the backing she chose for this quilt?

So this one is going to sit and wait for me to get back.  It really didn't have a choice.  Either wait for the mailman to deliver an order or wait for me to get back from Kentucky. 

In the meantime, I will show you the first of the two quilts that I did with this thread.  This is another one of Nancy's quilts. 

Yellow and blue checkerboard.


On this quilt, I used the Chantilly panto.  I think it looks so feminine.  



Here's the back on this one.  

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Ok....I am off.  I will have lots to report after taking my classes with Judi.  I should come home with a wealth of information in my head that I am going to want to try out right away. 

So, stay tuned for  my new adventure.






Wednesday, February 22, 2017

On a roll...

I am still participating in the 20 minutes a day sewing challenge for February and I am knocking the UFOs out of the park.  Yeah! 

Quilted a customer's pink baby quilt with "angel wings".



Some little baby is going to love this one. 

I finished my Garden Chevrons.  Pieced it, quilted it, bound it and even washed and dried it to give it that crinkly look.








Got my star quilt pieced, quilted and bound.   






It, too, is washed and dried and all nice and crinkly.



I even found the backing and binding in my stash to complete this one without having to go shopping.  That's always a good feeling.  

Then there was my mother's quilt that she made in 1998 that needed new binding. (a twin to one I did a little over a year ago)


I finished that and now it is in the cupboard along with the other antiques handed down to me from parents and in-laws.


I, also, tried cutting a few strips of fabric to try out some blocks for the next large quilt that I am going to make.  It is a two-colored quilt.


I wanted to see how much cutting I would have to do for this one or maybe I will just go rent a Go Cutter at the local quilt shop if it is too much.  I am still going to think about this one.  

It is going  to be set aside for a little while as I have some customer quilts to do first.  

I don't think this is bad for this month especially when I feel like I have had nothing to show for so long.  

Ok...gotta get busy on those customer quilts.

Stay tuned.  







Monday, February 20, 2017

Mini group challenge quilts

I think it was last May when we went on a retreat and on going into a local quilt shop we ALL fell in love with this line of taupe dots and houndstooth fabric.  We bought pieces from the whole line.  Nancy then challenged us to each come up with a quilt using these fabrics to be revealed at a later date.



There's a lot of fabric here.  

I took the challenge literally staying with just those fabrics.  




At this point, I was pretty much hating it. 

So, I added a couple more solids, white on white dots and white on white houndstooth.  As soon as I added the white and the extra solids, then it was speaking to me.  


I have been wanting to try the straight line stitching on my Millenium with the channel locks.....a very modern look.

So I did straight line......after straight line...... after straight line....get the idea?





I used a medium tan thread almost throughout and where you see wider spots, I went back and added either a dark gray or white line of thread.  You may be able to see that in the next picture.  I would have used a variegated thread if I could have found one that was taupe-y enough.  




Finally the stitching was done and I do believe it was well worth it.  


Looking at the backing, the quilting almost gives the effect of Linen or Dupioni silk.


I then bound it in one of the solids. 


Now my challenge is done.


Now I have to show you Nancy's challenge quilt.  It is stunning!  She threw in only ONE fabric and that made this quilt a winner in my book.


I now wish I had gotten a picture of this one in its full glory.  It really was amazing.  

As for Sharon's, even though it was not finished at this point....she threw in a ton more fabrics.  She is our Bonnie Hunter queen and .....well, I'll let you decide.  I think this quilt is going to be amazing, too.


I can't wait to see it finished.  


Friday, February 17, 2017

Christmas in February

It's taken my mini group and myself until February to get together for our little Christmas get together and gift exchange.  Life has been pretty crazy for a couple of us, but yesterday was the day and did we have a good time talking, eating, sharing our show'n'tell and exchanging gifts.

I got to finally reveal my secret sewing.....


I made them the knitting needle/project bags and gave them each a bottle of Salted Caramel Kahlua with these secretly knitted little toppers on them.  (Theirs were the variegated pompom ones)


They were, also, gifted an ergonomically correct rotary cutter that I came across at the Houston quilt show last November.  This is from Martelli and is used so totally different than what we are used to.  I like mine.


Sharon's gifts to us were this variety of goodies.


Graph paper (which I will be using soon at some classes with Judi Madsen), some binding clips (I have been wanting to try these out), Best Press (I've been out!), nail file, some adorable matches that go with the Citrus Basil candle that I am burning as I write this.....mmmmm, smells wonderful. I love them all. 

Nancy's gift to us were these adorable miniature suitcases.


In the smallest one was the cutest little sewing tin/kit along with three small bottles of Best Press (for when we go on retreats)


The middle one had some great flannel FQs and a larger piece of flannel with a little pattern.


The largest suitcase had these wonderful Crayola (and we actually thought it was sidewalk chalk) rolls of solids.  How cute is that?  Then there were some FQs from Nancy's stash (she has the best stash) of red/white/blue fabrics.  The other object in there is a magnetic (extending) wand with an LED light at the end.  (I could have used that last week when I dropped a whole box of needles on my living room floor!)


That was some fun stuff!  

I will share some of the show'n'tell.  My stuff you have seen in the past.  In fact, you may have seen some of Nancy's below because I quilted a couple of them for her, but I always love looking at her lovely quilts. 

This one is very picnic-y.


This one I quilted and is folded on itself, but one of my favs.


This is one I quilted and is her tiny courthouse steps.


I, also, quilted this one and love the black and white stripe binding she used.  

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I am going to save our neutral taupe challenge that we revealed yesterday for my next post.  I was in awe of the different quilts that we made with the same fabric, but I didn't want to overload this post with too many pictures.  So....if you are interested in seeing the outcome of our challenge, stay tuned for the next post.  







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...