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?"

Wordless Weekend

Clean your machine ...

Or the lint monsters WILL GET YOU.

Red Lint Monster

See? This is BAD. I have been quilting and quilting and quilting on the Third Weekend in October quilt and not paying attention to the amount of thread I'm running through my Baby. (Lots!)

The picture shows what happens when you do at least 30 hours of FMQ without doing a little maintenance. I'm not talking about having your machine serviced -- I'm talking about the stuff the experts recommend you do after every 8 hours of sewing. Do you know that stuff? Here is a quick rundown:

1) Clean your lint out! You don't have to take your machine apart! Most machines these days have an 'escape hatch' for your bobbin case so you don't have to take the tiny screwdriver to those tiny screws in the throat plate. To get to the dirty part I slide the gray plastic 'escape hatch' off -- its the part that fills in the L-shaped area between the metal throat plate and the white base of the sewing machine --- so that I can lift out the bobbin case and quickly swish the fuzzies out with my little lint brush. If you are nervous about moving pieces in your machine you can likely ask the service people to show you how to do this when you take your machine in for your "yearly" maintenance.

2) Change your needle! I'm not joking here girls - the standard sewing needle is good for about 8 hours of use. Needles are one of the cheapest notions out there and you will be helping your machine out a lot if you give it nice sharp needles to work with instead of DULL ones. DO NOT wait until they BREAK to replace them! That is like waiting for your car engine to explode before you get an oil change ... just not healthy for that expensive machinery!

3) You're done, you have a happy machine! Now treat yourself to something nice --- like a cup of tea or a glass of wine or maybe even a fresh new rotary blade :)

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!

Learning to McTavish

First of all, if you don't know what on Earth I am talking about when I say "McTavishing", go HERE. No really. Go now! Pay special attention to the gallery & McTavishing links. Then come back here :)

If you don't know this about me --- well, you weren't paying attention, were you?! I love to quilt. But more than that - I love to finish a quilt. All that stuff after basting but before binding is my absolute favorite. No sending out to a LAQ for me, no siree. I could probably be happy if I never pieced a top again and instead had piles of basted quilts waiting for me to slide under the needle.

{Aside from the fact that I have too many ideas of tops to make, too many unique pattern ideas to test, too many fabrics crying to be used ..}

In any case I love finishing and I am always looking for things that will help me improve my custom work. McTavishing has been something I have wanted to practice on, especially since I have started making applique quilt tops like Hop To It and Spirit of the Northwoods.  Errr ... both of which are tops, waiting backing & basting. Did I forget to mention that somewhere on this blog? Oops.

So I bought this book:

 

And let me tell you - it is glorious. It is a free motion quilter's bible, in my opinion. The book has a quick how to section [I haven't even gotten to the DVD yet!] and then page after page of examples. Full colour photos give you close-ups for every kind of quilt - pieced, applique, hand quilted, trapunto, whitework, wholecloth  --- as well as the artist's quick run down of what machines and thread they used. I think it is pretty cool that so many different quilter's projects are featured in the book, and not just Karen's. It just adds to my impression of her as a totally cool chick!

I practiced a little on a tree skirt this summer, but I think the real test was the quilt I finished today. It is a charity quilt I picked up at the Oakville Quilter's Guild meeting last Thursday. They always have tops that need finishing (and less finishers than toppers, which is a quilting tendency ...) and I almost bounced out of my seat when they held this one up.

Add caption

It was made and donated by a lady named Dorothy Baker and her applique is truly astounding. Somehow all those little circles and scallops are turned edge and sewn with the tiniest zig-zag I have ever seen. In fact, I couldn't see it at all! She also used clear monofilament in the top and cotton on the back. Every stitch is precise - I couldn't find a mistake anywhere as I quilted. No tiny little wander or anything!! Here is what it looks like now that I am done with it:

I'm really happy with how it turned out!

This summer ...

Mmm, feathers!

This summer flew by - unfortunately it seems they all do! Things went in this kind of pattern: Claire & I hid inside in the air conditioning while Gord went to work during the week. We quilted and coloured and napped and read Dr Seuss and did laundry. Sometimes we made it to the YMCA for playgroup and sometimes I was a wimp and only left the house for groceries. I had about half a dozen customer quilts to keep me busy: all of them were done with custom/heirloom quilting on my Babylock.

Here are some pictures:

The second of this pattern I quilted for a customer

Purple spirals - sooo fun

Some McTavishing practice

One day, one day I will be a LAQ. Until then I'm a QW - quilt wrestler.

Every weekend was an adventure! Early Saturday morning was almost always spent on Lake Erie for perch or bass - to the great delight of my stomach :) Miss Claire went out with us about half the time, ordering us around like a true captain and making sure we caught fish for her. Gord gave me a compliment of the highest order -- "Honey, you fish like a man!"

Captain Claire

Daddy's bass is approved!

And of course we let our little fishy swim in the pool at Uncle Don & Aunt Shelley's after fishing adventures.

I don't think life gets much better, do you?!

Farmer's Wife Quilt

Farmer's Wife Quilt, originally uploaded by sailbit.

I finished it!!!

Single Irish Chain - Back

Single Irish Chain - Back, originally uploaded by sailbit.

Here is a sneak peek of my Sashiko-inspired quilting along my Single Irish Chain. The top is cream with scrappy oriental fabrics forming the chain, so I thought a dark navy backing would make it all look pretty neat.

The quilt inspector approves.

So far I'm enjoying the chain motif - I'm not sure whether to call it an orange peel, a cathedral window, or 'round shaped seven treasures'. Who knows! I seem to have found a way that is comfortable to move along the chains for FMQ and that's a big deal; less stress on the arms and shoulders means more quilting!

But you know with all that lovely creamy muslin space --- I'm just going to have to do feathers.

Coulson Heirloom Embroidery Quilt - Isn't it beautiful?!

Coulson Heirloom Embroidery Quilt - Isn't it beautiful?!, originally uploaded by sailbit.

A beautiful embroidered top that I have been honoured to complete. My best friend's Grandma was the artist behind the delicate embroidery work on this queen sized top (which I could never do!!!)

I accepted the challenge: add a border to make it the proper size, design motifs to accent the needlework and fill in white space, and *deep breath* machine quilt it through free-motion and regular stitching for the crosshatching.

What I'm working on (while I avoid basting)

 

"Spirit of the Northwoods" By Debbie Field

Each block represents a different month, with either and animal or an activity depicted. Raw edge machine applique -- mmm, just how I like it! 

I know this project deserves to have a lot more said about it but right now I am just muddled with winter headache/toothache/alloverache -- so I'll leave this here to remind me to put in a proper paragraph 'at some point'.

Now even my blog has UFOs :(

A quick something for my door

With a 2 year old in the house this Christmas will be special for us in new ways. I wanted to do more decorating - and of course, I wanted to accomplish that with fabric!

This is what I tossed together literally from things lying around for our front door.

 

Merry Christmas at my door!

Some of the quilting details in one section

 Now Santa will know someone crafty lives here, and hopefully he'll stuff my stocking with some things to play with in the new year .. fabric, thread, notions, ...all are fine with me!

^.^

Dresden Plate Garden

My latest quilt is washed and photographed and folded, ready to go to a new home! I haven't decided where it is going yet --- either to my parents, or to a good friend as a housewarming gift. But there is no rush in making a decision.

I have been leisurely making my way through some of the classic blocks (Irish Chain, Bear Paw, etc) and Dresden plates were on my list. But I didn't want to do them as I have always seen --- with riotous eye searing prints and dots and checks and whatnot. Bright yes, calico cacophony no! What I came up with was a selection of batiks & some pretty prints, which I alternated with cream spokes. I used a nifty orange/yellow/pink batik for the circle in the centers, and I think they turned out looking like flowers as planned:

And then I wanted to do some applique ... Which I hadn't done until this quilt. I used the freezer paper technique to learn how to do it (never again). Now that I know I think I will stick with fusible web unless I REALLY need turned edges. Raw edge + free motion stitching around the shapes works just fine for me! So the flowers, vines, butterflies, and ladybugs look alright in the picture .. but somewhat raggedy in reality.

I saw a lot of opportunity in the blank spaces between Dresden plates, so I sketched a square on point and subdivided it into 4 triangles and an inner square. The triangles all got the same vine & leaf motif (122 repeats in the quilt total) and the centers each got their own critter --- either a butterfly, hummingbird, or a dragonfly. I also stitched about a 1/4in outside each Dresden plate, and quilted whorls in each flower center in yellow thread.

Amish Spring Roses - All Finished!

Short on verbage, long on pictures!

Homemade Forts Are Great Fun

Last night I finished the last stretch of quilting on the border pieces of my Amish roses --- all 20 feet of feather and cable twist quilting done! Which left many many more feet of hand stitching the backing pieces together. Ick.

But with the end in sight I have been diligently stitching away, and I have gradually come to nickname the quilt "Frankenstein" -- partially because that is what my stitches remind me of, and partially because this quilt is for a friend named Shelley (the story of Frankenstein of course was written by Mary Shelley). My stitches have improved since I draped the quilt up on my quilting frame. But they got a little wobbly when my inspectors showed up and set me to giggling ...

Yep, that is my daughter using my draped quilt as a fort. While wearing a folded FQ on her head as a hat. Playing with some "My Little Ponies" and my other Quilt Inspector.

It didn't help my progress at all but it sure was funny!

Adventures with Quilt-as-you-go.

I have been diligently sewing away at home, in between enjoying some gorgeous weather and of course all the blog posts from the Spring Quilt Market. I would love to go there one year --- I bet it is great fun when quilters take over a city!

My Amish Spring Roses quilt is zipping right along. Here is a picture of one of the side panels --- and about 15 inches of progress on the cable/feather twist motif. Oh boy, only 81 inches left --- on THIS one :D And then of course the other side and also the bottom will need matching feather twisties. Good thing I am having fun doing them!

I do also have the entire center panel done, and the pillow panel with its applique. I definitely need to use larger backing blocks next time I do gigantic applique blocks, because I underestimated the amount they would gather in and it was tricky to stitch the blocks together. I'm a little disappointed with the looseness of the backing between blocks, but maybe if I don't mention it people will think I planned it that way ... as part of the charm of a comfy country quilt ..

And maybe I will have to hand stitch a tuck along the top seams so that the blocks lay flatter and please my sense of quilt propriety.

A Wolf Quilt

Hmm remember how I said that I should have started this blog much earlier, so I could post finished projects? This is one of those "catch up" posts --- only fair to give this quilt its due, since I finished it only a few days before starting to blog.

This was inspired by the Deer Quilt I was making at the time --- my boyfriends father is a deer admirer. It so happens that Cranston makes a similar panel in their wildlife collection with wolves --- and that my boyfriends mother is a wolf admirer. Since they have separate bedrooms due to a snoring issue, I have always intended to make them each a bed quilt. My man helped me search high and low for this elusive fabric, so that his parents could have this matching set.

When I went to the drawing board I decided to alternate the panels with a basic bear paw block .. and for the purpose of this quilt I of course mentally renamed it "wolf paw". And then the fun began!

Left: Here we are with the top laid out on my basting floor a.k.a basement floor, ready to get on our hands and knees and pin pin pin

Right: Remember Helpful Cat? He made several star appearances during the making of this quilt. OF COURSE I couldn't have done it without him ...

And (above) the finished product! My bed seems to be the 'model' for all my quilts, partly because it is the best lit area to take pictures of quilts ... but I was stunned by how good this quilt looked on my bed! I gave it to his mother right away, so I couldn't get any more attached to it :D

My favorite part of the whole quilt? The quilting designs in the wolf paw blocks!