Quilting Progress

I made a lot of progress quilting the string stars quilt during the Friday Night Sew-In.  Here's a peek at where I am now:

I've quilted everything that's marked and done some straight line quilting (with the help of a ruler) to add some stitch-in-the-ditch and echo stitching in the spaces around the stars.  I've added some unmarked, much more typically "me," quilting in the star blocks–I haven't yet decided if it's too stridently different from those classic marked feather shapes. 

I will be adding some fill designs around the feathers and inside the plain squares. 

In the evenings, I've begun stitching down the red binding on the kids charity quilt –since I've already shared so many photos of that quilt in the last week, I'll show you how I stow quilts waiting for handwork in my den.  I expect to finish the binding on the little quilt today, as part of my Slow Stitch Sunday ... and I might think about unstitching some quilting on the other quilt that I started last fall, then decided it was wrong and needed to be ripped out ... 

Alien Feathers and Plans for a Friday Night Sew-In

I've marked the golden oldie string star quilt and started quilting it last night.  These marked feathers felt like alien feathers to me, they are so different from my usual–the unmarked, perfectly imperfect feather-like shapes. I have begun to wonder if anyone will see me in this quilt when I'm done.

I'm a roll with this, so my plan for tonight's Friday Night Sew-In, is to keep going ... it is also my current golden oldie UFO project, so I am joining Angie's WIPS Be Gone.  I'm joining the linky party there today, as well as Free Motion Mavericks.

Next up will the be the bright logs raffle quilt.  The quilting design will definitely not be marked.  I have pieced the back ... my cat Grace Hopper helped me measure the top for that effort.

Whenever fabric or a quilt top is spread on my worktable, Grace will be there to help–she's a fiber-loving girl.  If the fabric or top is large enough to drop to the floor of my studio, her big brother, Johnny Be Good, will roll up in whatever touches the floor, making it difficult to move or adjust.  If I am quilting late into the night, both of them will join me on the sewing machine table and curl up on a piece of whatever I'm trying to quilt.  Both of them will no-doubt be part of my Friday Night Sew-in tonight ...

I'm sharing the photo of this quilt top to ask for your input on what color thread(s) you would use on this?  Help!

The Scrap-Happy Saturday After a Friday Night Sew In

I woke up this morning with an idea to photograph these three projects together before the I-spy quilt has been donated.

If the I-Spy Stars quilt and the Violet sewing machine cover could have a baby quilt ... it would likely look like the pinwheels quilt made from the bonus triangles of those projects.

I finished the sewing machine cover last night during the Friday Night Sew-In.  It came out exactly as I envisioned it and fit perfectly, too–win, win!

It's made from eleven 5-inch violet blocks (made last month for the Rainbow Scraps Challenge), 3 on each side, 1 on each end and 3 on top.  It is constructed from two pieces, a top and a long piece that wraps around the machine. The photo below is taken at an odd angle so you can see how I decided to add a wedge to the violet blocks on the top to make it wider on the right side, to echo the shape of the machine.

I sewed the pieces together with the seams on the outside and then bound them in white.  At the bottom edge, I gave the faux-piped binding another try ... since there are no corners, I figured it would come together pretty easily and it did. Here are detail photos of the binding and the quilting around the embroidery.

Purple 'Nina's cover came together better/faster than expected, so kept sewing ... and this morning, my small design wall looked like this.



The small blocks on the right side are more of the Tula Pink City Sampler blocks I made for the Chicken River Modern Quilt Guild's opportunity quilt. (They really are like candy). My sewing machine table doesn't usually sit there, I wheeled it over temporarily for the photo op at the top of the post.


I pulled out some green scraps and made the eight Diagonal Bars blocks for my Mod-Mod-Made from Rainbow Scraps-Throw.

You can find the latest update for the Mod-Mod Quilt-Along here:

It's a Mod-Mod May Update

Lately, I've been distracted by the I-spy charity quilt and the mini-pinwheels quilt that was a by-product of it and haven't picked up my green scraps until last night.  It felt good to get back to the Rainbow Scraps Challenge, if only in a small way ... so far.

Since I was in photo taking mode this morning, I pulled out the blocks made for the Mod-Mod throw so far and put them on the design wall, in their relative position for the finished quilt.

I am still not sure how it will turn out when Angela is choosing the colors (as part of the RSC) and the position of the monthly blocks is already determined in the design,  but so far I don't hate it ... and I am developing a plan of what to do with it,  if, at the end of the year, I do ;-)

A Finish and a Plan for a Friday Night Sew-In

The I-Spy Stars Kids Quilt is quilted and bound and ready to take to the guild meeting next week.

It was fun to use I-spy fabrics as "background" ... I definitely will be exploring this idea more in the future.

My second effort at spiral quilting worked out pretty well.

As before I started with free-motion quilting a spiral in the center until it was about 7 inches wide, then I switched to a walking foot and continued around (and around and around). I was definitely more relaxed and confident the second time around and I think it shows.

I used the side of my walking foot as a guide, leaving approximately 1/2-inch between the rounds.

I have concluded that for the skinny bindings I almost always choose to make, the faux-piped binding technique isn't a good choice for me–I had too much trouble with the corners.  For me, making real piping is easier, more exact and my corners work.

I haven't given up on faux piping just yet though ...

I am joining the link parties for this finish:

Richard & Tanya's Link a Finish Friday
Fabric Addict's Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?
Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday
Thank Goodness it's Finished Friday (TGIFF)

This quilt is also my Lovely Finish for May–I'll add the link when the Finishing party is posted.

Yesterday, I began quilting the sewing machine cover for my purple 'Nina made from 5-inch violet blocks. As I sat down at my machine, I remembered that I had once sketched an idea for quilting these blocks ... so I had to move over to my desk and go hunting for the post with that image. The Violet block was the August 2011 lotto block.

Kim asked how I'd quilt it and this is the sketch I posted.

It took a while, I found the original post, on the old Block Lotto blog, here:

A Quilting Idea for Kim

It wasn't exactly what I had planned ... but once I found it, I decided to follow my own advice.  Something I said in that article is still true:

I usually opt for something curvy and organic looking when the block is leaves or flowers

I quilted the violet blocks as in my old, rough, sketch, outlined the embroidery (which was easier than I thought it might be), then started filling in the background with arcs and spirals and curves, which, in my mind, represented leaves, blooms and buds.

My plan for tonight's Friday Night Sew in is to finish quilting and assemble the sewing machine cover.

A Baker's Dozen of Scrappy Purple Blocks

Last night's Friday Night Sew-in was a success at my house.

Almost all of those 425 triangles were sewn into 13 of my what I think of as Broken Dishes Star blocks.

It was an evening of a lot of chain sewing,  followed by lots of pressing, followed by more chain sewing as the triangles became half square triangles, which were dealt like cards into 13 piles of half light-medium and half light-dark squares ... which finally became blocks.

While all this chain sewing and marathon pressing was going on, I watched some episodes from last season's Orphan Black in preparation for the new season which starts tonight.  I'm not a Sci-Fi fan, but I really like this show about a group of clones who discover each other and their history.

Dealing with all those triangles was less tedious as I stitched along with Sarah, Alison, Cosima, Helena, Beth and the others (all played by one talented actress).

The thirteen blocks on the left in an on-point orientation are the result of last night's effort. The eight on the right are the blocks I made a couple years ago as part of the rainbow scrap challenge.

This morning, I couldn't resist pulling out the stack of 84 blocks in 4 color groups and putting some of them up on the wall to see them all together.

Now, all the purple blocks for my on-going Rainbow Scraps Challenge projects are done, though, I have a couple of ideas  ... if I don't run out of month. 

To see more scrappy purple projects, check out the links at Scrap-happy Saturday.

Since I will likely be enjoying these blocks on my design wall for a few days, I'll also be linking this post to Judy's Design Wall Monday. 

It's a good time for a Friday Night Sew In

I don't know if I will have made the decision to go larger with the Tea Towel quilt by the end of the week–I'm still waffling not hat one, pull out some teal scraps for some more Briar Patch blocks, or focus on one of two more barely started projects that I haven't yet blogged about, but ...

I do know that I will be playing along with this month's Friday Night Sew in.  How about you?

You can sign up here.