Another One Bites The Dust...

Thank you to everyone who has left a comment and words of encouragement. I've finished quilting my second quilt. This one was a little more challenging because it is considerably larger than my first one.

I pieced the Nursery Rhyme quilt about ten years ago and its been sitting in my sewing studio waiting to be quilted. It was my first attempt at the Attic Window block and although I struggled with it at first, I think I did pretty good with it. Sorry I wasn't able to get a picture of the entire quilt... I'm going to square it up and sew the binding on before giving it to one of my grandkids.

Here is a close-up of my quilting stitches. I'm finding the more I quilt, the better my technique is. My next challenge is my Musical Angels Quilt. I've purchased a couple different quilting threads to audition before I actually start quilting it. Wish me luck!

Free Motion Machine Quilting

Although I haven't written about my challenge in learning how to free motion machine quilt, doesn't mean I haven't been practicing. I've spent several hours practicing but because of other obligations, I have not worked on it for the last few days and need to.

This is what my stitching looked like when I first started. I know the picture isn't real clear, but if you click on the picture it will enlargen and you can see the stitching detail better.

This is what my stitching looks like now. As you can see it isn't perfect but I've definitely made some improvement. The purpose of using this large scale fabric was to give me the opportunity to work on the various shapes and although it looks like it would be a simple pattern to follow, it wasn't. There is a pretty big learning curve. Of course, because I'm using Pfaff's Fabric Mover for quilting, I'm not only learning how to free motion machine quilt but I'm also learning how to use this tool. What can I say? I'm a glutton for punishment.

Here is the backside. I’m not sure why, but it appears the batting is being forced thru the fabric and leaving little specks in the quilting. I’m using Warm & Natural and have never seen anything like it before. I suppose it could also be the fabric as it is lesser quality than what I would normally work with. I’ve adjusted the tension several times without much success. I’m hoping it will disappear after I’ve washed the piece. I’m welcome to suggestions on how to eliminate this if you have some.

I’m not completely comfortable with the process but I am improving. I think one of my biggest struggles is my need for perfection. This last picture is a clear example of this. When I look at the front side of the quilting piece I zero in on all the mistakes. Places where my stitching didn’t fall exactly on the line or my stitching lines cross. However, when I look at the back side, I can see a pretty intricate design and it looks OK.

Along the same topic, I found a great site that focuses on free motion machine quilting. Leah Day, author of 365 Days of Free Motion Quilting Filler Designs blog, features a new free motion quilting filler design each day. While she takes you thru her creative process, she provides videos demonstrating the logistics of stitching out the design as well as guidelines and tips for achieving success. Great site!

I’ll continue to practice to gain more confidence and skill before I attempt to machine quilt my musical angels quilt. In the meantime I’ll work on other projects while I persist on learning how to free motion machine quilt.

Musical Angels Quilt Sandwich - Update

The musical angels quilt is pin basted and I've confirmed the quilt backing is laying flat with no wrinkles present.

I've rolled the sides and clipped them in anticipation of starting to machine quilt it.

I purchased Pfaff's Fabric Mover with Stitch Regulator after attending a demonstration at the Puyallup Sewing Expo last March. Prior to purchasing, I also spent about 10 to 15 minutes testing it out to ensure it was what I wanted.

The unit came with a DVD showing how to install it as well as how to use it, a foot control, stitch regulator controller, power supply, and a connector to connect the stitch regulator with my machine.

Here is a picture I took after I have installed it onto my machine.

I've been a hand quilter for years but have always wanted to learn how to machine quilt my quilting projects. I've attempted a couple of times but never successfully. When I saw a demonstration of the Fabric Mover I thought it was the answer to my problems with machine quilting.

I’m a little frustrated with my progress but not enough to give up. I’m going to make a couple more quilt sandwiches to practice on and hopefully I’ll become more comfortable with the mechanics of my technique. Perhaps, instead of using muslin to practice on I’ll go find a large scale print that I can use.

So, until I am more comfortable and confident of my machine quilting skills, I will not be quilting my musical angels quilt.

Can you believe this?

It's been a slow weekend and I haven't gotten a lot of sewing done. I did finish pin basting my musical angels quilt yesterday and it's rolled up in preparation of machine quilting it. However, I'm having some technical difficulties in the machine quilting part and rather than being frustrated all weekend, I'm going to take a break and tackle it again later.

I do have something to share with you though….

A friend of mine sent me an email last night with one of the funniest videos I’ve ever seen. You have to view it and then tell me what you think of it.

Sweden's Got Talent

Some people will do anything to become famous. LOL

What's Happening In My Sewing Room?

Our weather is continuing to cool down and I've been taking advantage of the cooler temperatures working on pinning my musical angels quilt. But before I get to my progress, I want to talk about another block I made.

I belong to an online quilting group where are members live in western Washington. We meet for sew-ins at least once a month and partake in other activities as well. We also are very supportive of each other when someone is facing a challenge or a blessing in their life. This could range from an illness or death, to having a baby or moving. When an event such as this occurs, we traditionally work together to make a comfort or celebratory quilt for them.

Our members contribute Jake's Heart blocks and submit them to whoever volunteered to assemble the quilt. It's a simple block and goes together rather quickly. Here's a link to where you can find the instructions for assembling the block: Jake's Heart Block

I've placed two of the blocks together so you can see what they would look like. One block features the purple fabric and the other one features the green fabric. One of my favorite layouts is to assemble four blocks where you make a flower blossom. Once the quilt blocks have been assembled, it is then forwarded to another member who has volunteered to quilt it. It is then presented to the recipient. Wouldn't it be nice to receive one of these?

Here is picture of my musical angels quilt. As you can see, I've pinned a good portion of the quilt sandwich. I've also trimmed the batting around the edges to the same size as the quilt backing. Below is a close-up of the middle block.

As soon as I finish pinning the quilt sandwich I am going to audition some quilting designs and quilting thread. Perhaps tomorrow I'll have made more progress to share.

Musical Angels Quilt Sandwich

I'm ashamed to admit that I have not done a lot of sewing / quilting lately because it has been just too hot. For the last week or so our daily temperatures have been in the high 90's and low 100's, but with the high humidity, these temperatures are even higher! For the Pacific Northwest, this is very unusual. I don't consider myself a wimp, but I found myself whining every day, wishing for cooler temperatures.

The temperatures were much cooler this morning and I took advantage of it and began working on creating a quilt sandwich with my musical angels quilt. At this phase of your quilt, it is important to prepare your quilt correctly or you run the risk of ruining your quilt and watching your hard work disintegrate before your eyes. I don't think there is any quilter out there who hasn't made mistakes. Even experienced quilters. We all have our favorite ways to create a quilt sandwich and I'm going to take you through mine.

My first step is to iron my quilt top and backing. I prefer not to use steam during this process because steam adds moisture to the fabric which can result in distortion during handling. With my iron set at cotton/linen, I begin to press the quilt top and backing.

Next I find the width and length center of my backing by folding it in half lengthwise and marking with a glass head pin on all sides. I repeat for locating the center of the width.

For this quilt's backing, I chose to use a pin on each side of the center back because it happened to be at a seam.

I've marked the center on my cutting table using a piece of painter's tape. By matching the centerback of my quilt backing with this mark, I will ensure my quilt top is centered on the back and batting. There is nothing more frustrating than to get everything laid out only to discover you're too short on one side and have to start over again.

Here is the backing centered on to my cutting table.

I use 1" binder clips to hold the backing on to my table. This will ensure the backing is taut and remains centered. You want your backing taut so you don't have bubbles after you've finished your quilting. Although it is taut, you don't want to stretch and distort your backing.



Using the same process, I've added the batting to the backing. I know some people pre-wash their batting, but I choose not to because I like the antique/vintage appearance it has after washing.

Before I add my top I've double-checked to ensure all of my seams are pressed in the proper direction and loose threads have been cut.

Here is the quilt sandwich with the top added.

I still need to pin it, but I've made some progress and am a few steps closer to getting it quilted and passed on to my granddaughter.

Metamorphosis Is Complete

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a picture of some scraps on my cutting table in a pile. Originally, I had hoped to complete its transformation to enlighten you of its identity. But, life seemed to get in the way and I was delayed a bit. As of last night, this...

Metamorphosized into this...

What is it? Well, this is the backing to my musical angels quilt I'm doing for my two year old granddaughter, Brielle. I still need to press it, as well as the quilt front, before I can make my quilt sandwich. But it sure feels good to complete another milestone. If you're interested in seeing the front of the quilt, on the left side of this page is a list of headings in my blog, click on Musical Angels Quilt and you'll see some shots of the completed top.

What Is This?

It's alive! It just showed up on my cutting table the other day and it's continuing to grow... and changing by the minute. Should I be afraid? I wonder what it is? Hmmmm.....

Musical Angels Quilt - Border On!

It has been quite the process, but I finally have the border attached and the corners mitre'd on the musical angels quilt. I think having three borders of varying widths is a nice design feature to the quilt. Originally, I was thinking of starting narrow and gradually wider towards the binding but after auditioning the fabric, I decided I liked having the narrow border in the middle of the two wider ones.

Here are a couple of pictures of the quilt with the borders on. The first one is a close-up of the upper left corner and the second is of the whole quilt.

My next step is to build my quilt sandwich in preparation of machine quilting it. This process will take a little longer since I'm not quite sure what quilting design(s) I will use. I have a few ideas and will need to audition them before I make a final decision. Also, before I quilt on the quilt I will be doing some practice exercises with my new toy, which I would do anyways to select thread colors and designs.

Musical Angels Quilt - Update

It has been a couple of days since my last posting. I've been a little busy enjoying the beautiful sunshine. We don't get a lot of sunshine, so I like to take advantage of it when I can. I've also been working on my granddaughter Brielle's quilt.

Sometimes preparation in quiltmaking can take longer than the actual sewing. In my case, it has been taking me even longer because I am not able to spend long periods of time standing. In December, we had over 31 inches of snowfall compared to our normal up to a foot of annual snowfall. When the snow began to first fall I was trying to get one of our dogs into the house before we left to go into town to run errands and he thought I was playing. Needless to say, I was paying more attention on the dog instead of where I was walking and slipped on black ice. I knew I was in trouble when I looked back at my left foot, still in my snow boot, but facing the wrong direction. To make a long story short, I broke my ankle. Ten screws, three pins, and a plate. My orthopedic surgeon told my husband my ankle literally exploded. Folks, do not try to do this at home. I've made a lot of progress in my recovery but my ankle still swells three to four times its normal size and it is incredibly tender. I walk around the house in my slippers but am still tied to my casting boot when I venture outside the house. Usually by the end of the day my ankle is throbbing and I can barely move around.

In any case, I've been working on the borders on Brielle's musical angels quilt for the past week. The quilt will have three borders and each print requires me to measure, starch, iron, and cut to size before I can sew. I like to use a sizing and it usually takes a couple of applications to get it to the correct stiffness before I can cut it. Due to my ankle swelling I've been having to do it in shifts of less than one hour. It's unbelievable how long it takes to prep the fabric before I can cut it. But I have managed to stitch the three border prints together and I've measured the length of the quilt sides and marked them so now all I have to do is sew the borders to the quilt top and mitre the corners.

I'm still undecided on how I will quilt it. Traditionally, most nine-patch squares are quilted with an X from point to point but I'm wanting to do something more elaborate. I've considered sending it out to be professionally quilted by one of my friends, but since it is for my granddaughter, I would really like to do the quilting myself. I've always been a handquilter but I have a new toy and I'm going to start learning how to machine quilt using my Fabric Mover with stitch regulator.

When I get to that point, I'll take pictures of my progress and post them to my blog so you can see how it works.

Quilting: Musical Angels Quilt Border

A couple of days ago I was browsing in one of our local quilt shops looking for a print in an oriental theme for my Stack-N-Whack quilt. I know. I said I was going to use fabric in my stash and not purchase new. But, I had a weak moment and since I wasn't particularly happy with the print I selected for the sashing I thought I'd just see what was out there. Well, the owner of the shop announced she had stopped carrying oriental prints because they didn't move fast enough for her. Fair enough. I will just use what I have. However, as I was leaving I happened to find the perfect print for the border on my musical angels quilt.

I've had this quilt hanging up in my sewing room for over two weeks. Looking at it several times a day. Really studying it. Hoping the solution would miraculously appear. The problem is, I think I focused so much on only using Fairy Frost prints that the obvious escaped me.

Each time I looked at the quilt the color lavender popped out. The words and butterflies are both in shades of lavender. As I was walking towards the door at the quilt shop I happened to notice a lavender print with white lace-like butterflies on it. Perfect! Immediately, I knew exactly what I was going to do to finish the quilt.

So sometimes we find the answer to our most troubling problems when we least expect it. What a relief!

Brielle's Musical Angels Quilt Top

Today has been a pretty productive day. I baked two loaves of bread, did a little house cleaning, and cut some of the strips I need for the Stack-N-Whack quilt for Saturday. I still need to cut more strips, and I would have been finished except I got distracted.

When I begin a quilt project I generally design it using my Electric Quilt software. I like the software program because it allows me to scan in the specific fabrics I will be using for the project and it prints out all the information I need for traditional piecing or paper piecing, including yardage per print of fabric. Sounds like the project is three-quarters finished, doesn't it? Wrong... at least for me.

I seem to have this knack for designing the quilt in the program, purchasing and cutting the fabric, and assembling the blocks. This part goes quite smoothly. However, my problem is when I get to to how I want to finish the quilt top. How do I want to do the borders? Do I want to mitre the corners? What colors do I want to use? What about a pieced border? Multiple borders? If you're a quilter I'm sure you understand my dilemma. The borders can make your quilting project a success or a failure.

Now, you're probably asking yourself why is this an issue since I have already designed the quilt in my software program. The answer is that the software gives me a general idea of what the finished quilt will look like. But once I've assembled the blocks and put the top together, it may look completely different from what it looks like on paper. I guess it's the two-dimensional vs three-dimensional issue. Sometimes I think it also has to do with my attitude at the time. Much like getting dressed in the morning. I never select the clothes I'm going to wear until moments before getting dressed. Why? Because it always depends on how I'm feeling. Another analogy would be to compare borders to an artist framing his masterpiece. The artist may have a certain game plan in their head but when they put it into place it's all wrong and they go in a completely different direction. So how do I resolve this conflict?

Currently, I'm working on a quilt for my two year old granddaughter Brielle. I've been working on the quilt for the last couple of months and I've completed all of the blocks and am ready to apply the border so I can make my quilt sandwich and machine quilt the top. Initially when I designed the quilt I had intended to apply a thin mitre'd border in pink followed by a wider mitre'd border in yellow and finished with a dark french binding. But now that I'm looking at the actual quilt I'm not convinced this is the way to finish this quilt. To help me resolve this issue I hung the quilt up in my sewing room and have spent the last couple of weeks examining it, hoping to light my creative inspiration for that Aha! moment. Although I've had a couple of ideas, I have not had the breaking moment yet.

Below are pictures of the quilt top as it is now:

The fabric is Michael Miller's Fairy Frost in shades of pink and soft yellow. The musical angels are embroidered using several different thread colors and I used lavendar for the words. It really has turned out nicely and will look great on her new bed. My daughter has asked that I make some matching curtains when I'm finished. This could take awhile since for now, the quilt will continue to hang in my sewing room until I have the breakthough I'm hoping for.