Third Weekend in October - Done!

Third Weekend in October - pieced by C. Sharp

Ohhhh, this finish feels GOOD. This quilt was shipped to me from Kentucky and I got it in October - I quilted and quilted and quilted and quilted .... And my machine broke.

There were a lot of tears. And I played musical machines until I finally got a little Babylock that could help finish up this beautiful and HUGE quilt. The picture is taken with the quilt on my queen sized bed and there is a huge drop on either side. The measurements are 86x104 according to the pattern but it just felt endless when I was quilting it.

I feel like I'm repeating myself -- but the colours and fabrics in this quilt are absolutely amazing. You really notice it when you have your nose to the needle for hours! Now that I have added all that thread it has a lovely texture too.

I used Superior Bottom Line, Aurifil 50wt, and some Gutermann. I was counting the numbers of bobbins I went through but I lost count and lost the paper I was making the note on. I'm sure in yellow and red alone I used 7 bobbins each of Bottom Line - which is thin 60wt thread so a bobbin holds much more than normal weight cotton. 

Soon it will be in the mail back to Carol. I guess I'll just have to make my own ...

"Please don't send it back ... Mine?"

Third Weekend in October

TWIO!

Here's a little preview of what I've got cookin'. But first lets backtrack a little from this gorgeous picture:

For a year now I have been a member of Quilting Around The World. I joined specifically for their Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt Along but this incredible group of women welcomed me with open arms and I've been signing into the quilting chat room & forum daily since then! If I need to get a second opinion on anything, or need some encouragement, or inspiration -- QATW is the first place I go. I've been part of mystery quilts, contests, block & goodie swaps, quilt alongs, BoMs, and all the other things the forum has to offer. Chat room is one of my (daily) guilty pleasures.

Hint Hint: Stop on by and join, there is a Recruit-A-Friend contest running now!

And now back to the picture! It shows a little section of an amazing quilt called "Third Weekend in October". HERE is a link to the pattern. As you can see the completed top is absolutely stunning and perfect to work on at this time of year! My dear friend Carol S has had this top finished for a few years as a result of a QATW Quilt Along. Several other members finished theirs but Carol stuffed hers in her armoire. Until a few weeks anyway when she asked me if I could finish it for her. I said "YES YES YES YES!!" or something like that.

Now that I have it in my hot little hands, I'm not sure I'll be able to give it back! It is a masterpiece of rich batiks and intricate piecing (not for the faint of heart!) I keep running back to the chat room to tell her "OMG Carol it is beautiful!" She keeps laughing at me -- I'm not sure why.

I'm adding veins to each leaf and partial leaf in matching colour threads (freehand, free motion). I'm using Superior Bottom Line 60wt for the first time and I'm really happy with it.

Bottom Line is one of the secret weapons of McTavishers. In Karen McTavish's book almost half of the quilt descriptions say "quilted with Superior Bottom Line". It is thinner than the standard 50wt cotton which means that your backtracking is less visible and the texture your quilting adds takes the stage, not the thread. I bought 5 spools through Superior's Try Me Special and all of the colours they sent are perfect for TWIO.

I plan to dive into the pile of fabric leaves after my second cup of coffee, and come back out in a few hours. Maybe. It really is that gorgeous!

Jelly Roll Bargello

Bargello, originally uploaded by sailbit.

I love bargellos. Love love love em -- so it was inevitable that I get around to making one. Ta da - mine is made from an island batiks jelly roll in "sweet pea" by Hoffman. This is a nice picture of part of the top - right now it is kinda long and gangly looking until I figure out what I want to do for borders.

When the bargello obsession hit I went and researched how they were made. It makes for interesting reading, loaded with eye candy. On warning I read over and over was "do not attempt in batiks!"

The basis of the bargello is that the fabrics you use are predictable from one segment to the next in order to carry the wave pattern you are creating. With batiks - especially batiks that vary -- the whole thing gets VERY tricky. Since I wanted to go with a soft watercolor palette in blue and purple, things got tougher. Sometimes I really am my own worst enemy.

Oh wait, it is gorgeous isn't it? I guess I'm not an enemy to myself after all :)

Hop To It! - Warning: Addictive project

Cut & fused all 12 blocks in less than a week. I'm in love <3

And now the agonizing wait for more thread to arrive for me to stitch them all in place, sash them, and finish the top!

I may have to make another set of blocks in a different colour scheme ... ;)

P.S. I think I need to re-do block #1 -- it wasn't centered at all :(

Hop To It!

Fleur Delight - Hop To It #2, originally uploaded by sailbit.

I've hop hop hopped into another project with the help of my QATW buddies - This time an applique project from the talented Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket quilts. She is a fabric designer for Moda and has made several gorgeous batik lines. Check out her book, "Hop To It!" or check out our thread on www.QuiltingAroundTheWorld.com for more on this project.

 I'm following in Edyta's footsteps and using as many batiks as I can. NEVER underestimate the value of having a big stack of green fabrics when you are doing applique!

Rose of Sharon Wreath - Block #3

 

  Edyta's preferred method of applique is to use fusible webbing, and finish the edges with invisible thread in a teeny tiny zigzag. I decided to try it as well and boy am I happy with it! It is super speedy once you get the thread settings right.

Colour at last - Dresden Style

I have recently been whining about being driven to complete a Fall-themed quilt --- the Deer in their rust and gold and brown tones. It is harder than you think to finish when there are colourful flowers blooming all around, and glorious bright fabric waiting to be used! My treat for slogging through the whole quilt without breaking down and starting another project?

COLOUR!

Awhile ago I browsed and browsed pictures of Dresden plates & fans, and I was disappointed to see so few done in simple jewel tones and brights. I saw a lot of them in eye searing, fussy, busy "grandma" prints ... like someone had pieced them from a collection of cloth they inherited from crazy great aunt Ester and they didn't care what happened to them because they still smelled like mothballs and old TV guides. How sad for the poor Dresden plate ...

Don't get me wrong, I did see some truly lovely quilts from this traditional block. But I thought it would increase my quilting karma a few notches if I addressed the poor injustice of the block rarely being done in brights that DON'T trigger an epileptic seizure. 

I alternated my colours with creamy white to balance it all out and make it a little different. I never saw that style in all the ones I browsed, so it satisfied my desire to do things a little differently (off center?)
Here are some samples of what I whipped up

Each one is a little different, bright and scrappy and gorgeous! It will be a queen sized quilt when finished --- but I need more cream fabric to finish the last 6 plates I need. And something pretty for the back of the block, since I am still on the fence about what to use. I am thinking a white tone on tone floral, or a faded green pastel ... And I'm still musing on how to finish the centers. And the border ...

But at least I got to shift into spring colours!

Fabric Prayer --- doing it right!

"Please bow your heads in a moment of silence, that we may send thanks to the Quilting Goddess for her gift of this batik fabric we are about to cut. May she also keep our blades and scissors sharp, our cuts straight, our fingers nimble and our colours bright. Amen!"

~My Cat Ozzy