Across the Finish Line

 

 

After possibly 20 years, this quilt is finally finished.  I really don't remember when I started it, but the copyright printed in the selvage of the fabric was 2002.  I know I started it when we lived in the house before this one, which we moved into in the fall of 2008.  It's been a long journey, but I finally got it across the finish line (Ha! Ha!).  The name was my husband's suggestion, and I thought it was a good one.  I gave the completed quilt to my son last night.  He said that he's really not into NASCAR, but that he didn't mind having another blanket.  Maybe at some point I'll make him a quilt that represents something he actually likes.  And maybe it won't take 20 year to make.

Anyway, the quilting was mostly about practice and trying out motifs.  The outer border is a large meander.  The inner border and sashing is done with cursive Ls.  Reading left to right and top to bottom, the block motifs are still water, circles/cobblestones, swirls, leaves, stars and loops, and flames.  The cobblestones show up too much, mostly because the thread was too light a color for that much quilting on that fabric.

Since this was the first actual quilt that I quilted on a long-arm machine, it was a learning experience.  I was just using thread that came with the machine and learning to quilt in a new way.  If I were doing it over, I'd use a medium gray thread instead of the white and gray variegated threaded that it's mostly quilted in.  I ran out of thread before it was finished and I bought some light gray thread that matched what I was already using the best that I could.  

Also, if I were buying the fabric for this quilt today, I probably wouldn't have bought black and white checkerboard fabric for the binding.  I think I would have done it in red.  I decided to cut the binding on the bias, because I thought it would look better.  I think that was a good idea.  I did the binding completely by machine, but I sewed the label on by hand.  The label also has the bias checkerboard around the outside.  I really wouldn't want to bind a whole quilt by hand with that fabric.  Mostly because in many places you are sewing black to black, which is very difficult to see.

A new toy

 

This is me with my new Moxie long-arm quilter.  I've actually had it for a couple weeks now, but this was taken the day they came and set it up (Fri., June 28).  I've quilted a few practice things so far that I'll picture below.  It's a learning curve and I definitely don't expect to be a master at it right away.  I've also had some issues that seem to be a problem with the machine itself, but I suppose it could be user error.  My thread keeps breaking and the thread keeps getting tangled in the bobbin area.  It also runs a bit rough at times.  Someone from the shop is coming out on Monday to check it out.  

This is the practice panel that came with the machine.  The little colorful pieces on the side are for testing my tension.  They had some quilting suggestions - the e and l shapes, the meanders with hearts and stars, and curved lines.  The rest were things I tried based on YouTube tutorials I've watched.

This is a fat quarter that I decided to quilt for practice.  It's hard to tell much about the quilting from the picture, but there is a continuous feather motif around the outside and flowers and loops on the inside.

I guess I no longer have any excuse for not finishing my UFOs.
 

NASCAR quilt top

 

This quilt top is one of my UFOs that I wanted to finish this year.  As it turns out, it wasn't actually a completed quilt top.  The borders still needed to be cut and added.  

It had been so long since I last worked on this quilt, that I had forgotten exactly what the plan had been.  There was far more of the Jeff Gordon fabric than the Dale Earnhardt fabric, and I needed to use the fabric for both the borders and the backing.  Since the panels alternated between the two, I decided to have both represented in the borders and the backing.  I didn't take a picture of it, but the backing is pieced with large cuts of the two different fabric - 18 x width of fabric for the Gordon fabric and 18 x 20-ish for the Earnhardt fabric.  For some reason that I totally don't remember, I had cut off about 3 inches all along one selvage edge of the Earnhardt fabric.

Having the side borders cut wider than the top and bottom was intentional, because the quilt seemed a little oddly narrow.  I decided to cut the border based on the grid-work in the fabric, so the sides are twice as wide as the top and bottom.  It might would have looked a little better if I had made them a little closer together in size, but it's fine.  It's not like it's going to be displayed on a wall or anything.  Anyway, the quilt top ended up measuring 54 x 64.

Quilted Flower Pillow

 

This is another orphan block creation.  I made this block for a guild "competition" to create a Cotton Rose block.  I really didn't want to make a whole quilt out of it, mostly because I didn't want to make more blocks in this same size.  It's a lot of small half-square triangles.  So I decided to add a little border to it, quilt it, and make it into a new pillow cover for the small pillow I keep on my bed.  I like how it turned out, and I enjoyed doing the free-motion flowers.

A Jazz Quilt

 

 

My free-form scrap quilt is finished!  I continued to use scrap fabric to make the sashing pieces that join the blocks and rows together.  I used leftover pieces of binding strips to make the binding.  I did the binding completely by machine this time.  I attached the binding to the front, turned it to the back, and then stitched in the ditch from the front, to secure the binding on the back. It measures 50 inches by 62.5 inches.

 

Here is a look at the back of the quilt.  Ideally I would have spread out the darker blocks and not put same fabrics side-by-side, but this quilt wasn't about ideals.  It was, in fact, an attempt to get away from ideals, so I made no effort at all to arrange the blocks in any particular order.

It is very busy, colorful, and loud.  It is nothing like what I usually make when I am quilting, but I really enjoy it.  I like looking at the quilting that I did on it.  It was a learning experience and a liberating experience.  It's good to get away from the idea of perfection and the fear and anxiety that goes along with it.  I'll probably end up donating it somewhere, but for now I'm just enjoying that it's finished.

I guess you could say that I'm already working on another one, because I'm still sewing together scraps, but not as a full-time project. Instead of using a single piece of scrap fabric to sew over when I'm taking something off the machine, I just sew two scraps together.  I'm just putting them aside for now, but ultimately they'll probably end up in something.

An Experiment

 

 

I watched a YouTube video a few weeks ago where a woman sewed her scraps together to make scrap fabric.  I didn't want to make a bolt of scrap fabric like she did, but it inspired me to make a free-form scrap quilt.  

I used several of my orphan blocks and scraps out of several boxes, bags, and bins (but nowhere close to all my scraps) to make blocks that were roughly 13 - 14 inches square.  I didn't worry at all about color, though I did think some about light and dark when sewing together half-square triangles.  Occasionally I did make the scraps into recognizable blocks, but mostly I just sewed pieces together based solely on size and shape.  It was a little difficult for me at first, but it really was liberating to just sew and not worry about if it was "right" or not.  I also used up odds and ends of thread that I had around.  It was an anything goes kind of project.

Once I had made 20 blocks, I used scrap batting pieces, and some miscellaneous fabric from my stash as backing, and quilted the blocks.  I wanted to practice some free-motion quilting, but I was always worried about messing up a completed quilt top, so again, this was a liberating experience.  I didn't have to worry about getting things perfect.  I could just practice and have fun.

When the quilting was all done, I trimmed the quilted blocks down to 12-1/2 inches square.  Pictured above are the quilt blocks laid out in the general configuration for the quilt.  They won't necessarily stay in those exact places in the finished quilt. 

I plan to use a quilt-as-you-go method that I learned in quilt guild to put the blocks together.  I will use narrow strips (1-1/8 inches) on top to join the blocks.  This will make the blocks butt up against each other and not make a thick seam like if you sewed them directly together with all the layers already quilted together.  Then I'll use a 2 inch strip, folded in half, to cover the gap on the back.  That is another technique I've been wanting to try and this seemed like a good opportunity.  

All around this has been about learning, experimenting, and having fun sewing.  I'm glad that I did it.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes out in the end.

Celtic Knot Quilt

 

I started on this quilt top yesterday, and I finished it today.  This is a design that I've been wanting to try for some time now, and I finally got up the nerve to start it.  When they were younger, a couple of my kids used to like to draw Celtic Knots on graph paper.  I thought it would be neat to try to translate that design to fabric.  I've seen Celtic Knot designs that were appliqued using bias strips, but I've never seen one that was pieced, like this one.  I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  It measures 44-1/2 inches square.

O Holy Night

 

 

This little wall hanging is the latest of my UFOs.  The quilt top was finished so long ago that I don't actually have a record of when I made it.  I know that it is over 16 years old.  It may be closer to 20 years old.  I designed it and made the quilt top, but couldn't figure out how I wanted to quilt it.  This was back when I was still hand quilting everything and some spots where multiple seams come together are very thick.  I put it aside and never came back to it.  I decided to go ahead and tackle it now, because it was the smallest of the UFOs.

My husband suggested the swirl quilting pattern.  I remembered that I had a swirl quilting template for free-motion quilting, so I used it.  There are a few places where the quilting foot didn't want to go over the thick spots, so the pattern isn't completely fluid, but overall I think it turned out pretty well.  I used the same gold colored thread that I used on the patriotic lap quilt.  The binding is attached by machine and hand turned.  The little quilt finished at about 19 inches x 25 inches.

Throwing Stars

 

Quite a while back my middle son, who will turn 33 on Friday, mentioned that he had would like some fabric (or yarn) Ninja throwing stars for him and his daughter to play with.  I hadn't thought about it since shortly after he mentioned it, but making the coasters reminded me.  So, for his birthday I decided to surprise him with some fabric throwing stars.

They are made from some scraps of fabric that were left over from making a quilt.  I used fabric that was quilted to batting (cut aways from having the quilt long-armed) and matching non-quilted fabric, using the same technique I used for making the coasters yesterday.  This time I cut them into little equilateral triangles using my triangle ruler (3 inches) and then sewed two completed triangles on top of each other.  

I think they make nice little throwing stars, and the process was much easier for me than the crocheted one that I've seen online.  I crochet a little, but not much and nothing fancy.

Fabric Coasters

 

Last night when we were Facetiming, my step-daughter mentioned that her one year old can't be allowed to get hold of their cork coasters because he bites them and takes chunks out of them.  (And he had done the same thing with a cork trivet from the table.)  So this morning I decided to use some of the fabric that was left over from making her wedding quilt to make some fabric coasters.  I made a set of 4.  They are quilted to the batting and then sewn to another square fabric and turned right-side out.  Then I sewed around the outside to close up the hole and stabilize them.

 

I'm not sure which side should be the "right" side of these.  On the set I made before the quilted side was definitely intended to be the right side.  But on these I think I might like the plain side better than the quilted side. The good thing is that they are completely reversible, so she can use them however she wants to.

Big Hug

 

I finally finished this quilt that has been a finished quilt top since April of 2019.  I think that makes it my 3rd finished quilt from my UFO collection.  I decided to machine quilt it in a cross-hatch of diagonal lines using a pale pink thread.  The binding is attached by machine to the front and then hand-stitched to the back.  The quilt finished at 49 inches square.  I feel pretty good about how it turned out.

I decided to name it "Big Hug" because the outstretched arms on the doll make her look like she's asking to be hugged.  Or maybe she is offering a hug to the person who ends up with the quilt.  Either way, I like the name. 

My plan for this quilt is to try to sell it.  There is a small craft show near here in the fall and I plan to look into getting a booth there.  If I can't get a booth, or if it just doesn't sell there, then I plan to offer it for sale in my Etsy shop.

Amazing Grace Bag

 

 

I decided to make a tote bag for my mother for Mother's Day this year.  The main fabric of the bag features angels and the words to the song "Amazing Grace".  The accent fabric, which makes up the bottom, top rim, and handles of the bag, reminded me of stained glass windows like you might see in a church.  I liked how they looked together.

The bag is approximately 15 inches tall and 15 inches wide, with a 5 in bottom.  The handles were cut at 23 inches long, and were set in 4 inches from the side seams.  The size of the bag is patterned after a tote bag that I use regularly when traveling, so hopefully she will get good use out of it.

Rainbow purse

 

 

I made this rainbow colored bag for my oldest granddaughter's 7th birthday, which is coming up later this month. It is a highly modified version of a Japanese Twist bag that was patterned in Quiltmaker magazine a few decades ago.  The outer shell of the bag is machine quilted.  The shoulder strap was cut at 28 inches long and is padded with quilt batting.  The little flap has sew on Velcro for the closure.  I think it turned out really cute.  I hope she likes it.

Now I just need to buy some stickers and gel pens to go with the rainbow journal I made for her, and I'll be all set for her birthday.

Small Purple Journal

 

For some reason I'm finding it easier to make journals than to sew right now.  My youngest son's birthday is the end of this month and his favorite color right now is purple, so I decided to make him a small journal.  This one is made from copy paper that has been cut in half and then folded in half, so it's smaller than the ones for my granddaughter.

It is composed of 4 signatures with 4 sheets in each signature.  The end pages are purple 24# paper.  The book cloth is made from left over quilting fabric bonded to tissue paper with sewable heat 'n' bond.  The book board is made from two layers of cardboard (brownie mix boxes) glued together, and the spine board is a single thickness of the same cardboard.

Rainbow Journal

 

My oldest granddaughter will turn 7 in a little less than a month, and I've decided to make her some rainbow themed birthday presents this year.  The first is this rainbow journal.  It has bold rainbow colored pages, and rainbow themed end-pages.  I'm planning to buy some gel pens and stickers to go with it.

The journal is made with 4 sheets each of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple copy paper (24# weight) sewn together into one signature per color.  The end pages are cut from scrap-booking paper that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  The book board is cereal box cardboard pieces, two thicknesses glued together.  The book cloth is left-over quilting fabric with tissue paper adhered to it with heat-n-bond.  

I think it turned out pretty nice, but I'm still nervous about the whole process - especially gluing the text block and cover together.

Patriotic Lap Quilt

 

I finished the binding on this quilt last night.  This is one of the UFOs that I've been trying to finish this year.  I finished the quilt top back in 2016.  I decided to free-motion quilt this one myself.  It is quilted in a star and swirl motif in a light gold colored thread.  It is far from perfect - the stitch length is all over the place, the tension is a little off in places on the back, and there are a few pucker in the backing fabric - but overall not too bad for a beginner free-motion quilter.  I enjoyed doing it.  The binding is hand turned.  It still needs a name and a label.

I would really like to donate this one to be used as a wheelchair lap quilt.  My first thought was a VA hospital, but I'm not sure where the nearest one is or if they take donations.  Another option is to check with one of the nursing homes here in town.  Chances are good that there is a veteran there who uses a wheelchair.  I'll have to check around and see.

Halloween Journal

 

I know it's really early, but I wanted to make a Halloween themed journal for my oldest granddaughter.  She really likes Halloween and spooky things, and since she's in school now I thought she might enjoy having a little journal.  By the time Halloween comes around she'll be in second grade, so I think she'll be a reasonable age for a little journal.

The cover is made from an old cereal box.  I used cotton fabric, heat 'n' bond, and tissue paper (the kind for gift giving, not for nose blowing) to make the book cloth.  On the last one (my husband's journal) I used featherweight interfacing on cotton cloth and I didn't like the results as well.  It was a bit harder to work with and didn't bond as well.  I like this method better.

The end pages are made from scrapbook paper I bought at Hobby Lobby.  They don't do "Halloween" but the orange and black circles give a nice Halloween look anyway.

The text block is made from 12 sheets of orange printer paper that I had on hand.  It was constructed as 4 signatures of 3 sheets each. I sewed them together using thin yellow crochet twine and a curved upholstery needle.  I trimmed the text block using an old rotary cutter that I only use for paper.  It worked better than I thought it would, actually.

It's a thin little journal, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out.  I hope that she will like it.  I don't plan to give it to her until October.

Four Corners

One of my oldest friends is going to be a grandmother for the first time, and this quilt is for her soon-to-be-born granddaughter.  I finished the binding about 10 days ago, but I just got the label on it today.  I'm thinking that I might pre-wash it before I give it to them.  All the wrinkles from the folds bother me a bit and pre-washing baby items seems like a good idea, so that new parents have one less thing to worry about.

This quilt is made from a quilt top that I made back in 2020.  It is one of the UFOs that I wanted to get finished this year. The finished quilt is 40 inches square.  I machine quilted it echoing the seam lines around all the concentric squares.  It is a pattern that I designed myself and have used for a little quilt for one of my grandsons, too.

Old Journal New Cover

 

When my husband was in high school, his girlfriend at the time gave him a journal.  She gave it to him with the idea that he would write his poetry in it, but he never did.  Once he was in graduate school he decided to use it as a reading journal, where he wrote down his thought on the books that he was reading.  This was just the first of many reading journals.  

However, with time and use the text block broke (It has "perfect binding") and the outside of the cover was looking much worse for wear, so I decided to mend it for him.  It now has a repaired perfect binding, new end pages, and a completely new cover. 

I re-glued the text block and reinforced it with some cheesecloth, to try to make sure it stayed together. The book cloth is made from leftover cotton quilting fabric with featherweight interfacing fused to it.  The cover boards are cut from Canson art board that I bought at Hobby Lobby.  It was thicker than the chip board they had and I wanted to make sure it was nice and sturdy. The end pages are scrap-booking paper from Hobby Lobby.

I'm still very new to book binding, but I like the idea of it.  I guess with time we'll see if I like the reality of it.

January Wind

 

Today I finished the little quilt for the back of my living room chair.  It measures 24 inches square and is free motion quilted in snowflakes and swirls.  I drew the snowflakes on with a Frixion marker and then free-handed the swirls in-between.  I took it really slow doing the snowflakes, but got a little fast on the swirls.  For me, it seems easier to make smooth swirls when I move a little faster, but I ended up with some kinda big stitches in places.  I'm still learning free-motion, but I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Below is a close-up of one of the larger snowflakes.

This little project gives me the idea that if I can draw a motif, then I can probably quilt it.  That's an exciting idea.  The larger the project, the harder it will be quilt, I know that. But taking it slow and steady really works well.  I'm looking forward to trying some new and slightly larger things.