Crosses 3 - Design Wall Monday

So there are some advantages to doing a quilt again.  First of all, you have the basic idea in your head and second you have all those lovely scraps just waiting to be used.  This is what I found out when I started the third in the Cross series this weekend.  With the changing of the clocks, I feel all out of sorts - so I didn't get as much done as I wanted.  Still I'm am started and that's the important thing!

As you can see, I'm sticking with the 4 by 6 rectangle shape of the first cross block.  I like that shape much better than the squares of the second in the series.  Right now the palette is greens, blues and yellows - but I'm going to be adding some golden yellow/orange in there - I found that really pleasing in the second of the series - so I'm glad to experiment with it here - back in this value setting.

Ohhh yeah - and the value setting - like the first - the values will eventually be  going to go from light to dark from center to outside.  That's what my client liked the best about the quilt - and if truth be known - so did I!

Anyways - this shouldn't take that long and I'm enjoying experimenting with the free construction of the blocks.   Its due back to the client before December 31 so I'm glad its going well.   There has been a lot of talk on the Quilt Art list about why work in series.  This is exactly why!

Find more design wall's at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Easy Quilt As You Go Tutorial - Design Board Monday

Two years ago, I was dozing sitting in a lecture by Katie Pasquini Masopust, when I heard something that caught my ears.  She was telling how she had put her amazing art quilt together by quilting it in sections on her regular machine and then she sewed the sections together.  She explained it quickly but it sound like all she did was sew them together and put a strip down the back to hide the seam.  Huh?!  That sounded wayyyyyyyy too easy.  So I just filed it until I could catch up with her later for further explaination.  Well. . . later turned out to be this summer at Quilting by the Lake and I asked her about it.  She said - yep - that's all you do.  She showed me her book where she explained it  - Fractured Landscaped Quilts (which of course I bought from her (grin)  Its really is a super book!).

Why all the interest you ask?  Well, I do have this monster commission memorial quilt that would like to be delievered to its new home.  All three sections managed to get quilted this week and by the weekend I was ready to sew them all together.  I thought I would blog out the method for you all, since it worked really well!

1. I cut 1.5" strips of the backing fabric.  I sewed them together so that they were long enough to stretch the entire length of the two columns  - 115" (yeah I know - ridiculious isn't it?)



2. Then, I cleared off my big sewing table and squared up my quilt using my 16" square.  I had quilted it to the edges just like each piece was its own individual quilt.  I like this method since I could use regular 44" width fabric for the backing without having to piece a back or buy special backing. (TIP: Buy large yardages of fabric when its super cheapie for backings just like this!  Got this RJR bolt for $2 a yard) 








3.  Then I took 2 columns, matched right sides together and pinned every 3" or so.  Make sure you're careful when pinning any points you need to match.

4.  I sewed them together on my machine (using the Accufeed 1/4" foot for all my Horizon owners!) with a smaller stitch length of 1.7 (which I normally use for piecing anyways).  I used the regular 1/4" seam allowance.

5.  I pressed the seams open and trimmed them to 1/8".  DO NOT sew the seam at 1/8" or you'll never get it to press open - don't ask me how I know this (grin)!

6.  Now this is where I differ from Katie's method.  I took my strip of backing folded it length wise wrong sides together and sewed.  I then took it to my ironing board and folded it over and ironed the seam under the new backing "tape".  Katie takes hers  - sews wrong sides together and pulls thru to the right side tube-style.  That just didn't seem fun to me since my tube was 115" long LOL!

7.  I then basted the long backing tape over the seam on back.  I did this old skol with a needle and thread on my big table - but I imagine you could use pins if you like.


8.  Then I used a blind applique stitch to stitch it down with matching thread.  This was a tedious, quiet process - I sat in my easy chair with my knees up and my big block 16" ruler on my lap under the quilt to use as a hard surface  - don't let your applique stitch go through to the front.  Let me just say about this part - Thank God for Netflix!

I picked this picture 'cause you can see how it went a little uneven

And Ta-daaaaaaa -  that's it - 8 hours later and all three columns were put together and you'd never know unless you look close that that backing tape is there.  It wasn't nearly as bulky as I thought .

As a side note:  I did design this quilt so that there were very few points to match once the three columns were put together.  Those that were there were easily matched because I pinned carefully  - the way that you would pin if it was just a normal quilt top.

Anyways - I will definitely be doing this method again.  I don't like to send out my work to a long arm machine quilter only because I like the quilt to have a "home hand made" look to it - plus I can do the design I had in mind for it.  This also keeps costs down for me and my clients.

All that's left is the binding - which I'm thinking of doing by machine - for the first time ever!  Funny how sewing down 390" of binding by hand doesn't sound fun (grin). . . .still I'll do a sample this week and we'll see if I like the look.

Hope this was clear - any questions please feel free to email me or comment!!

You can see more cool design boards at Judy's Patchworks!

My Machine and I - Design Wall Monday

You know I never machine quilted an entire bedsize quilt before.  With my old Elna Quilter's Dream it just wasn't possible.   Now though, on my Janome Horizon and its nearly 12" sewing bed, I can.  On Saturday, I managed to pull back out my commissioned memorial quilt and start basting the second third of the quilt.  OMG, the thing is a monster!  Its about 95" by 115".  Because of this, I pieced it in three columns  and decided to layer it up that way too.  I'm all happy with myself though because in two days I got a whole column done.  It only took 2 hours to baste and 7 hours to quilt!  Now that I've gotten into the groove of how to move those big long columns through the machine its really quiet relaxing work.  Its amazing how much thread you go through though - I've already used the first 5oo yd spool and am into the 3000 yd cone I had to buy.  I'm using Janome's  Iris cotton quilting thread since it came with my machine and its really nice.  Considering that I'm using it in the bobbin and on top, the lint is really minimal.  I'm going to continue onto the third today and do the little FMQing the quilt will need at the end.  I did manage to find a nice quilt as you go method to sew the three columns together - but more on that when I get there!


I also managed to finish the Jinny Beyer Challenge this week.  It will get handed in to the quilt shop today so that they can display it at the Chautauqua Institute in September.    I always forget how much work is involved at the end.  Between the binding, sleeve and label it can take a bit.  Anyways - here are the particulars of the project:

• Passageways, A Jinny Beyer Challenge
• 23" by 28"
• 50 hours to complete
• used inktense pencils to make foreground fabric
• raw edged applique and threadwork is feature

Thanks for all the encouragement with this project - it was a true help!!

See more Design Wall's at Judy's Patchworks!

Memorial Quilt Top Finished! Getting Militant About Borders

You know I hate doing borders.  I hate everything about them - cutting them, sewing them on, quilting on them.  I wonder why do all the traditional quilts I see have borders?  Is it that we see the quilt tops as pictures needing to be framed?  Geesh I don't know - and at this stage in my quilting life - I don't really care.  All I do know is that the fewer borders I need to do. . . .the better!

With that in mind, I've decided that I am NOT going to put a border on this memorial quilt.  As it was creating, I noticed more and more how the whole thing started looking very homespun - its adapted this very homey, warm, country charm.  I really didn't mean for it to go that way - but sometimes, I swear, quilts just create themselves.  And this one has definitely taken on a look of its own.  As anybody who knows me, I am NOT a country chick.  I like my colors to be bold, saturated, in your face. . . but this quilt was about the man - who was blue collar, down to earth, fun.  So hopefully the quilt has captured that.

The top is now in three columns so that I can attempt a method of quilt as you go.  I never tried this method - but its been in my head for about a year so I might as well give it a shot.  I'll let you know how it goes.

Almost Done! Design Board Monday

Well the saga of the commissioned memorial quilt continues.  I did a bunch of sewing this week and have lots of the pieces done - just really have to get them together in the final set.  Its been a bit of a trial though because I haven't done a traditional quilt in so long - at least not one that I designed.  I've had to rip unsew quite a few seams because I'm not following my original draft closely - sighhhhhhh! hate that!!  Still, it seems I'm on the right track and should finish up this week.

One thing I did get to try was a new kind of inkjet photo transfer paper.  In the past, I haven't been too impressed with the prepackaged fabric, so I've gone through the hassle of using bubble jet and doing my own fabric.  This time though I used June Tailor's Colorfast Inkjet fabric sheets.  Wow!  They worked really nice.  The colors came much crisper than other brands I used.  Also, I followed the directions on the packaging and they colors actually didn't fade when I put water to them - very nice!  So happy since I spent quite a bit of time working on the photos using Photoshop Elements.  

Anyways. . . .next decision. . . do I send it out to be machine quilted or do I work on doing a quilt as you go method  - always somethin' isn't it?! 

More great design walls at Judy's Patchworks!

48 Geese & 24 Four Squares. . . . Design Board Monday

Wowowowowow!!!  Busy sewing week!  Its been a while since I've tackled a bedsize traditional quilt and the numbers are a little staggering.  Managed to get the 48 flying geese done along with  24 four squares. . . Only 48 more to go!!  All of that added up to 15 hours and a TON of scraps.  Is anybody else amazed at how many scraps you can accumulate in one project???  Anyways - as you can see - I'm making progress - plussssssssssss a lot more is cut up and in process of getting sewn together.  Actually I would say right now I'm really half way pieced!




But wait!!!!!  That's not all I did this week.  I also started my Quilt University class, Working in Series.  So I also almost finished  the first lesson on that - which is due Friday.  Ohhhhhhhhh and also spent a few hours getting my supply list together for this year Quilting by the Lake class with Jane Dunnewold (more on that to come).

I love productive weeks . . . .don't you????

Check out more great walls at Judy's Patchwork!