14th finish of 2012 and lots of pin basting

Here is another finish for this year. It turned out 37.5" x 46.5" and I call it giant zig zag. I used Kona snow and Jane Sassaman's Prairie Gothic for the front and the back is a chunk I cut off of the quilt. When I made this top is was out of proportion so I decided just to cut it down to a baby quilt size. I used backing I had in my scrap pile to add to the chunk for the back. I quilted it with King Tut Linen and Fine Line for the bobbin in off white. The batting is Warm & Natural. So this is one quilt completed on my May 30 to do list.







I worked on pin basting three more quilts. The one I am using for the family Xmas quilt and I cut out the binding too.


Allison's I spy quilt is pin basted and I cut out binding that matched the border fabric. For the backing I used a piece of scrap backing and a row of extra I spy block to connect the backing together.


For this green quilt I added the white Kona borders which I found in my scrap Kona pile. The center was leftover pieces from a block party quilt. For the back I again dove into my scrap backing pile. I also added a piece of green on the back which I will show once I get it quilted. This is the next one I am quilting. It won't be completely done until after the June 27th MQG meeting becasue I am going to use it for my binding demo. I found the binding already cut out and pressed in the closet! I also pieced together two pieces of my batting scraps and used that for the batting for this quilt. This quilt is turing out to be made of almost all odds and ends!


So over all I used up 2 1/2 yards of wide backing fabric that I had in my backing scrap pile. The pile still doesn't look any smaller.

I am meeting the owner of the Sunbonnet Sue quilt for lunch today so I can pass it off to her. I sure hopes she likes it.

Ready for the weekend

This week has flown by! I spent some time last evening cutting quilt backing and batting to match up to some of the quilts on the list I posted on May 30th.

I should have bought more quilt backing when I worked at Miller's last month. What was I thinking? I cut the last of the wide backing I had purchased by the bolt for two of the quilts above. SO now it is time to get creative with the backs. Remember the stack of backing scraps I had left after the last bunch of baby quilts I finished?

Well this stack is going to be pieced together for the backing for the rest of the quilts. After all it is just sitting there and it will be great getting these pieces used up in a positive way. I will try a keep a rough estimate of how much I use up and post a picture of what I have left after I get all the backs assembled.

I noticed that the robin's nest had fallen off the deck support. Here is the underside of the deck.

The nest was upside down on the ground.

I had to flip the next over hoping that there were no dead baby birds and thankfully they were none!

Right now I am full of energy and excitement to get this weekend underway. I have some stuff going on I can't tell you about yet. If things don't work out I will be highly disappointed, but not devastated. There is always another opportunity out there. In the meantime all this anticipation has kicked my productivity and enthuasiam into high gear!

Have a great weekend!

Regrouping and an alteration

I was really tired after work yesterday so I decided I would do some easy, but needed jobs - like straightening up the sewing studio and pressing washed fabric. I bought this fabric a couple of weeks ago from Fabric.com. They were having a good sale. I wanted the quilty pirate fabric and had ordered some orange fabric, but the orange went out of stock and I got the Kona gray dimensions fabric as a substitute.

I took in and delivered the shorts for my neighbor that is moving today.
Here is the after which looks pretty much like the before, but I guess that is the idea isn't it?!

This & that/odds & ends, Glen's challange to do list

The Sunbonnet Sue quilt measures 76 1/2" x 82".

Picture of baby on the turquoise and brown quilt

Covers on sound console and rack at Frankfurt Commerzbank Arena Germany. They are a little wrinkled, but the fellow said "they are fantastic! I don't know how I've lived without something like this."

A doe and fawn hoofing it thru the backyard this weekend. First fawn I have spotted this spring. It was tiny!

Last evening I was looking out the window (it is at ground level) in the studio. I have a copper sculpture - here you can see the top of it.

Then look who was sitting on top of it, but a grinney, that is what I always called them, but it is a chipmunk. I also saw a red headed hummingbird, but it was too quick for me to take a picture.

So here is my new to do list. Glen over at http://quiltswissy.blogspot.com is having a get those quilt tops quilted challange for the month of June. Of course, I could not resist a challange and since I have been on a roll here lately of getting stuff done I figure I might as well join in. You still have time to join in the fun. I went thru my closet last night and here is my list. Some of the same items are on my May 17th list, so I will be killing two birds with one stone. Here are the quilts/tops that need to be completed. I measured them also - you can see I have a tendency to made BIG quilts!
1. Allison's I Spy quilt 56 1/2" x 68"

2. Giant zig zag 39" x 48" Done June 3

3. Blue diamond 80 1/2" x 97 1/2"

4. Soccer boy 54 1/2 x 73" I may put a border on this one to make it a bit wider.

5. Plaid stripe 77 1/2" x 92" - first good thing - I have decided this will be this year's family Xmas quilt - two birds/one stone!

6. Plaid flannel 45 1/2" x 60"

7. Scrap black and green 34" x 52" this one is partially hand and machine quilted. It has been in this state for years!

8. Maple leaf 78" x 102" the blocks were made by the late sister of a neighbor I had in Dover. I put together the top, because the neighbor does not sew.

9. Danks 90" x 99" this is a young fellow I work with. I made this as a housewarming gift. He and his long time girlfriend have been in their house for 3 years! I need to get this done!

10. Red dog 54" x 65"

11. Black and white star 90" x 106" I was making this for my bed

12. LLVL 74" x 96" This one has been pin basted for at least 7 years. I could not decide how to quilt it.

13. Baby African 40" x 49"

14. Green will be 36" x 45" once I add a border

15. Small African 13 1/2" x 11 1/2"

16. Cobbles 38" x 49"

17. Log Cabin - I did not drag this one out, I was too tired. It is a top I made in the late 70's early 80's. I started hand quilting it. Yes, I will get this done - someday!

When I was going thru the closet I found this - that's a good thing! I don't remember why or when I would have put it in the closet between my quilts.

So that is my list - wish me luck! I sure hope I have enough batting and backing fabric. I should have bought a bolt of backing when I was at Miller's working.

13th finish of 2012

I worked on the sunbonnet Sue quilt all weekend. Friday I trimmed the blocks. I had to use the smallest block to use as the measurements for the rest. Not all of the appliques were the same size, so her feet are very close to the sashing in some areas. I wanted this to be a traditional looking piece so I used my vintage cotton scraps for the sashing. I was going to use feedsacks, but I didn't have enough variety. I also cut out the cornerstone pieces in a variety of vintage cottons. Here is what it looked like at the end of the day Friday after 4 1/2 hours of work.

Saturday I went to the grocery store then got back to work. I finished piecing the top, added the borders, cut out the binding, washed and pressed the backing. I got about one half of it pin basted before I went to bed at 10:30 p.m. I put in about 12 hours. Here is what it looked like at end of day on Saturday. It is hard to see the borders - they blend in with the batting.

On Sunday I finished pin basting and started quilting. I did the outside sashing and some of the interior sashing and quilting the border. I attached the binding and had it hand sewn by the end of the day. I worked about 14 hours on it on Sunday. Here is what it looked like at end of day.

Monday was all about quilting the remaining 40% of sashing and quilting the background of the Sunbonnet Sue blocks. This probaby took another 6 to 8 hours, but it is done!

I would have loved to just do quilt it with that overall stitching I usually do, but the more I looked at this quilt I couldn't do it that way. I will let you know what the owner thinks about it after I give it to her. Time to update my to do list I posted on May 17th!

I did spend a little time cutting out the strips for the next project. This will be a simple step zig zag, but I need to make it a little bigger than baby quilt size. It will be for a 6 year old.

My project for this upcomming 3 day weekend

Last evening I mowed grass and saw that the iris were blooming. I had to hold this one up to take its picture. I will have to find something to prop them up - they are all falling over.

After mowing I patched a pair of jeans for a guy at work. The are his favorite pair. In exchange he will buy me lunch today! Shrimp lo mane or however you spell it!

I am still working on the binding tutorial. Kuddos to those bloggers that post a lot of tutorials. It is a lot of work to put one together!

I finally made up my mind what I was going to work on this weekend. I put the to do quilts in order of when I wanted to have them done and I would like to have this project done by June 6th. June 6th is the annual wine auction at the art museum and I am volunteering for the event. The blocks belong to the woman who is the event coordiantor so I will see her at the auction. Here are the blocks made by her Grandmother hanging on the design wall. There are a few blocks missing - they had some brown spots so they are soaking in Orvis.

I planning on doing a very traditional setting - I will be using my stash of vintage feedsack fabric for sashing and binding. I will probably use Kona snow for the border.

So do you have any sewing plans this weekend or are you going to just chill? Whatever you do have a safe and enjoyable three days!

MQC Akron meeting

I had a wonderful time at the meeting last evening. Anyone with a WIP that they were having a issue with could bring it for picking everyone's brain. I didn't get pictures of all the WIP's - I was so engrossed by the conversation I would forget to take a picture! Here is a round quilt that was discussed. Another lady had a group of blocks that varied in size. I was suggested that she sashed each block with wedges so that the blocks looked twisted. I thought that was a great idea. There was a quilt top that the lady had made and now she hated the quilt! The background was gray and there were rows of six sided shapes in various colors. Everyone encourage her to finish the top and gave her lots of suggestions on how to quilt it.

We then had show and tell. I haven't learned everyones name yet, but the work that everyone showed was great!

Baily brought the library book bag that she made for her mom and another lady showed her bag made from plastic bags, mesh bags, yogurt lids and all kinds of things you would toss in the recycling bin. I forgot to get a picture - darn - it was really cool! I had taken my low volume zig zag quilt and another quilt I had made some years ago that I thought looked modern.

We then discussed and made a list topics for future meetings. I had passed around the low volume quilt and the group asked if I would do a demonstration on how I make my machine sewn miter corners on my binding and how I sew a facing style binding. Of course I said yes. Now I will need to get something made to demonstrate binding on. We also had a FQ exchange - I forgot to bring mine.