Design Wall Monday–September 26, 2011

I started this back in January at a Road to California class with Bonnie Hunter.  She calls it Texas Braid but mine is called Seal Beach Braid. 

This week begins a very crazy 5 weeks for me so I have selected this to work on.  For me, this is kind of mindless sewing.  There are very few decisions that need to make and once you get in a routine, it goes very fast.  So with that in mind it will go with me to Marilyn and my, Two Wacky Retreat this next weekend, then thrown in the suitcase for a trip to Georgia where I’ll be speaking at a guild and teaching at a Tiny Stitches retreat.  The month will continue with one activity after another culminating with a trip to Houston Quilt Market where I have a booth. #1102. 

To see what others have on their design wall, head on over to Judy’s Patchwork Times blog.  

Enjoy,

Almost There

It was back to working on the quilt that Marilyn and I are making together.  Today was my part.  I quilted it and sewed the binding to the front.  It’s now ready to turn over to Marilyn and she’ll finish the binding and hopefully add a label (I don’t think we talked about that ).  I really like how it’s turning out.  I did a simple overall meander using lime green thread.  You can’t ever go wrong using lime green. 

Enjoy,

Four Hands Make For A Quick Quilt

Remember on Monday I showed you this. 

Well, Marilyn and I got together yesterday and made a whole bunch of blocks using these fabrics.  This morning we sewed all our blocks together and came up with this.

I love how it turned out and it’s perfect for the person we’re making it for.

After admiring our handiwork we head to M & L to purchase backing fabric.  Here’s what we came up with.  Of course we also “did” lunch while we were out, 

It’s busy enough to camouflage the quilting on the back but it works with the fabrics on the front.  Hopefully it will get quilted over the weekend. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–September 19, 2011

Today I have a finished project and the start of a new one to share.

First the finish……..

Yesterday I showed you various pieces of a project and asked you to guess what it would become.  Well here it is.

The thread catcher itself is made with this as the base.

Don’t recognize them?  They are trick or treat bags for Halloween.  I found them at one of the dollar type stores for………..you guessed it $1.00.  I was planning on using the white one inside but changed to the black one at the last minutes.  The black and white strips were leftovers from the mystery quilt I made while in Las Vegas in July.

Now on to my newest project.  Here’s just a quick look at the fabrics.  This is going to be a joint project that Marilyn and I are going to be working on starting tomorrow. 

It’s going to look something like this but much better and much scrappier. 

In the mean time, head on over to Judy’s Patchwork Times to see what others have on their design walls. 

Enjoy,

Now What’s She Up To?

Any guesses?

Enjoy,

Toe Catchers Resolved–So to Speak

Yesterday morning I share my design wall and talked about the challenges I was having with my quilting.  If you missed it, you can read about it here.  After writing my blog and with all the advice my friend Pat gave me, I headed into my sewing room to give it another try, and try and try.  I changed the needle again, I changed thread, I changed to another free motion quilting foot and I sewed at a snails pace, all on a muslin and batting sample piece.  I not only had the same problem, I actually think it was worse.  But I fixed it!

I’m sure your dying to know how I fixed it.  I tried praying, I tried swearing, I tried crossing my fingers, I tried holding my breath, but the final solution………….I yanked that darn machine out of my cabinet and put my old Brother PQ1500 in it’s place.  Yep, that fixed the problem, right from the get-go, no toe catchers just a nice quilting stitch and away I went.  I finished all the freemotion quilting with out a single hiccup. 

Here’s my progress from yesterday.

The only thing left today is a little quilting in these black triangles and the black border.  Then it’s on with the binding, a label and I’ll be finished. 

I really think the problem is a timing issue on my regular sewing machine so after a Mani/Pedi this morning (I do have my priorities) it is off to the sewing machine hospital for a visit.  I’ll keep you posted but in the mean time, thank goodness for my Brother. 

Enjoy,

Design Wall Monday–September 5, 2011

“We have a problem, Houston” or “What’s wrong with this quilting”?

I still have the same quilt “Sunset in Seal Beach” hanging on my design wall.  I keep taking it down, working on the quilting and putting it back up.  Everything was going along fine and then all of a sudden I’m getting “toe catcher” stitches. 

The straight stitching is just fine.

It’s the swirls that are giving me a major headache and for that matter heartache.  Here’s a shot of the front and then the back.  If you look closely, you can see that the needle is going in and out of the fabric, it’s just not getting caught by the bobbin thread.

I talked to my friend Pat B. (the best domestic machine quilter I know) and she gave me some suggestions to try.  So this morning I’m back at it.  Her number one recommendation (and hopefully the solution) is to slow down, particularly on the curves.  She says the tendency is to speed up as we sew the curve and I’m thinking she’s right.  The second issue isn’t as easy to fix.  The top fabric is a batik and I guess that has some build in issues.  Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Enjoy,

The Quilting of Sunset in Seal Beach–A Work in Progress–Finally

I finally got started quilting one of my quilts for my guild’s upcoming quilt show.  This is the center of the quilt.

Obviously, the circles around the center. 

And a view of the back.

I’ve got a long way to go but at least it’s a start.  I’ll continue to work on it today. 

BTW, here’s a picture of the quilt top.  I plan on doing a variety of quilting in the difference areas.

Wish me luck.

Enjoy,