Slow Sunday Stitching

Some assorted slow stitching will take place today.  I do love cross-stitch and there are some beautiful designs out there.  This one comes from Beehive Needleworks and is a pincushion with a separate needlekeep with two of my favorite things, Poinsettias and Pomegranates. I started this years ago and am determined to get it done soon.

Since this photo the bottom border stitching has been "crossed" and I started on the brown basket for the flowers.  I may end up framing this instead of stuffing it.

Also going under the needle will be stitching down the binding for my version of the Star-Crossed quilt from APQ April 2016 mag that I am making for DD Erica.  She has been getting impatient for me to finish.  I was stalled at the quilting stage as the front is a bright cream and the backing is a purple shot cotton with a gold overlay design that I didn't want to have white thread ruin.  Finally yesterday I was able to work out a smoke invisible thread in the bobbin and thicker top thread in white.  I made the final decision to abandon FMQ in favor of simply straight line grid quilting the remainder, having already done so in the chains.

I used the Hera marker to mark all the quilting lines and that worked perfectly.  The binding will go on in a few minutes and I'll get to hand sewing it down on the back.  Hmm, needs a label too!

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Blogger's Quilt Festival--Spring 2012

Hi, Festivalers and Quilt Lovers!  Welcome to my little corner of blogland. 

My entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival is a quilt I made for our youngest daughter, Erica, and gave to her when she moved away to attend college in Arizona.  The pattern I fell in love with was from Quilt Sampler Fall/Winter 2009, called "Material Matters", from the shop Honey Run Quilters in Chico, CA.  It featured the use of dupioni silk and velveteen with Bear's Paw blocks.  Having never worked with these materials before, I was interested in seeing what would happen.  Erica picked out all the fabrics, with some help from me with scale and color, and we searched high and low for the right mix.

The dupioni is the "claws" and was machine washed first and then attached to an iron-on stabilizer, per pattern directions, before being cut and sewn into the HSTs.  I let the grain run this way and that to maximize the shine edging the big 8" squares of fabric.

Layout of all the blocks and setting triangles.  That was a lot of points to match!

We could not find any velveteen that would match, so ended up with this luscious purple "suede" from the home decorating department, for the outer border.  It had the desired texture and same weight.

Prepping for basting in my mother's studio.  I used a wool batting for the first time in this project, which was recommended by the designer due to the extra weight of the unusual materials. 

Erica likes the fleur-de-lis motif and I used it in the big blocks.  I had her trace the design 24 times onto tracing paper with a light box, then I pinned the paper to the quilt and free motion quilted on the lines.

It was a bit tedious to remove the paper but I felt the design looked great.  I stitched a "cornerstone" in the center and in the ditch around each block. 

All the white parts were stippled and I left the dupioni unquilted.

The finished quilt required two tall men standing on a curb to hold it off the ground.  This is a big one!

On the back, I used leftovers to piece Erica's initials and add some interest.

Lots of texture from the quilting.

The cross-hatching I did in the suede border shows up better here on her queen sized bed.  My girl loves her quilt although she recently mentioned that it doesn't have a label.  I told her I don't know what to name it.  "Erica's Quilt", said Erica.  Well, okay then, that's simple enough! 

See more amazing quilt stories on Amy's Creative Side, Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Thanks for visiting!

A Finish for Erica

My first finish of 2011!  Stitching the binding down took a great deal of time, mostly because of the polyester suede-like material being very bulky and thick and certainly not taking a crease.  It was cut 4 inches wide per the pattern instructions, so that was a lot more fabric to deal with.  I started out with a bigger hand needle but was glad I had run back in the house at the last minute and grabbed my pincushion, as I found a smaller needle in it that worked with much more ease.  Wish I'd had a thimble too!  Stitching took place in the van, in the hotel room after dinner until I could not keep my eyes open by 10:45, and then again for a couple of hours the next morning, and continued after checkout and breakfast at my brother's.   While stitching, my SIL Laura and I talked quilting.  I love that!  Her most recent finish was this cross quilt:

Laura saw a similar cross quilt on Sew Mama Sews blog and dug in her stash to make her version.  She just made blocks until she thought she had enough and then set them together. 

Love the pieced backing.  It is a nice large throw size.

She had this professionally quilted, and it was bound with a striped fabric.  Just terrific variety of all the crosses.  Love it!

It took hours longer than expected and I put the final stitch in the binding about 2 PM. I got the two tallest quilt holders I could find (Grant and my brother Ted) and posed Erica's quilt in it's new desert environment.  After spending so many hours working close up on the quilt, it was a lovely surprise to see how good it looked held up (even if I do say so myself!).  Click on the photo for a closer view.

I like the shadow of the saguaro cactus hitting the quilt.  You can see how thick the binding is.

The quilting shows up nicely on the back over Erica's initials.

And here it is covering the top of the king sized bed in Erica's little guest house.  You can see the crosshatching in the border.  That suede really feels luxurious.

She and her friend Christy (on the right) obliged me with a first tryout of the quilt.  Erica said it made her want to put on her pajamas and go to sleep right then.  She was very happy, and so was I, to finally have it finished!

After a few tears at our goodbyes with Erica, Grant and I finally headed home many hours after our original intent.  We were treated to a lovely sunset as we crossed back into California and the worst part of the drive, the L.A. Freeways.  After 16 hours of being in the car over two days we finally made it home at 10:00 PM, exhausted and bleary eyed, especially Grant, who did all the driving.  My sore finger was nothing compared to that!  We will miss Erica bunches but she is sure to be well looked after by my brother and sister in law.  She will miss all her friends and busy social life, but it is a great opportunity for her and we know she will make the most of it--starting a new life in Arizona as a young adult!   

Design Wall Monday--Jan 10, 2011

There's again nothing on my design wall, as I have spent the weekend wrestling with Erica's quilt, trying to get it finished by the 14th. Saturday's job was to stitch arcs around each of the large triangles on the border's inner side:

That part did not go too badly.  I used the walking foot and just marked the center of the arc with a pin, aiming to curve at midpoint.  There was quilt pushing and shoving required but since the stitching was all at the edge, it was not too much of an upper body workout.

Sunday's job was much harder--completing all the stippling in the white sections.  Nightmare!  The top thread must have broken at least 40 times, I ran out of bobbin thread multiple other times, broke a needle once, and changed the needle size once.   About three times I had to stop and clean the bobbin case of fuzz.  Skipped stitches were occurring repeatedly until I removed the Supreme Slider.  Not sure why that was a problem, maybe I was just trying to move too fast, plus I was using a 40 weight thread that was 100% cotton and not very tightly wound.  It was a Mettler thread, which I have used before without these issues. All in all it was a terrifically frustrating day at the sewing machine, requiring multiple rest periods, chocolate, Advil, and the distraction of the LA Times Sunday Crossword puzzle (which I finished).

Finally it was all completed at 9:45 PM.  The back looks pretty good.

Thankfully I didn't run out of thread, though it was pretty close!  See more Design Walls on Judy's blog.

Fully engaged

I've been wrestling with Erica's quilt for a couple of long sessions, getting a full upper body workout trying to stuff the quilt back and forth through my 6" throat opening.  I nearly was sweating until I took off my third layer...it's cold downstairs at night!  Thread bunching was fully engaging me the first night.  I ripped out several runs of quilting and did the rethread, readjust, fiddle with settings routine but it was still happening. So last night I took a break.  This morning I was not feeling well so stayed home from Job #2 after finishing Job #1 (which I do from home).  Later in the afternoon I attacked the quilt again.  I discovered, upon looking it over with Erica, that the thread bunching was only happening on the back, over areas where there was a very thick seam.  That occurs in a lot of places since the dupioni silk used for the triangles was faced with a woven stabilizer that was probably too thick (lesson learned!).

It did not seem to affect the stitching on the front with looseness, etc.  Erica said she could live with it, it didn't bother her at all, and I just let it go, since it will probably continue to happen even if I redid it.  Nothing's perfect, right?  I'm not thrilled but this is not a show quilt, it will live on her bed and get covered with cat hair and crumbs, candy wrappers, shopping bags, and hair ties...the detritus of a young woman.

Yay, last four patch got stitched in the ditch. 

I'm pleased with the way the keystone in the center turned out though it required a lot of pushing and pulling.  I used a wooden version of a Hera marker to score the stitching lines for the keystones.

Now on to the stippling in the remainder of the white sections (I started at the center).  The hardest part of this I think is actually going to be the border, which looks like a big black shadow at the bottom of this photo but is actually a warm purple.  I have an EZ Sliding Stencil with a fleur-de-lis and swag design I want to use.  I tried to look up online for any hints on marking with the tool or doing the actual quilting, but it is an old and discontinued product and the website listed on the packaging produces no matches on a search.  So I will muddle through on my own as usual.  Anyone out there used one? 

Design Wall Monday--Dec 6, 2010

Nothing has changed on my (non-existent) Design Wall, but I've been at my machine.  DD Erica is going to move next month and she is anxious for her queen sized quilt to be finished.  So I put her to work helping me.

Erica used a light box and traced 24 of these Fleur de lis onto foundation paper for me.

I measured and pinned the papers onto the quilt and free motion quilted the motif.  Voila, a quartet of Fleur de lis appeared on her quilt.  Uh, not exactly in record time, however.  That was due to some unsewing.

I tried outlining about 1/2" inside the block but didn't like the way it cluttered up the simple motif.  I tried two blocks before ripping it all out and proceeding to stitch in the ditch around the big 4 patch.  Then I ran out of bobbin thread in the middle of stitching the small center square.  More ripping.  My upper extremity workout was two hours long with this, wrestling it through my machine with its small throat area!  But the lesson is learned and I know where everything is going on the next 20 squares.  Except the core is showing through on the spool of thread I'm using so that means a trip to the store.  Sigh. Go to Judy's blog to see other Design Walls.

Design Wall Monday--Nov 29, 2010

On my Design Desk today is a new project, from the Scrap Basket Surprises book. 

This is called Kitchen Sink.  I like this design particularly because all the strip units are cut the same size and I don't have to remember any other measurements!  These are all scraps from my precut bins and my scrap sorting and cutting session over the weekend.

I found this under my desk yesterday as I walked from the living room.

Mini, in a place I've never seen her before.  On the desk is DD Erica's big quilt.  I finally started the quilting yesterday by stippling the white areas between the bear paw blocks and so far have had a frustrating time.  A grease clot came up from the bobbin case and stained the white thread and white fabric (horrors!).  That had to be ripped out.  Then the top thread broke.  Then I ran out of bobbin thread.  Ripping out was required again.  But at least quilting has been started!  Go to Judy's blog for more Design Walls.

Tuesday's Orts--Nov 2, 2010

Election Day so closely following Halloween kinda suits my mood.  But that's not the focus of this week's Orts, I have much more important things to talk about!

• Short Sock Syndrome.  It's a serious condition whereby manufacturers feel that women do not need to cover more than their ankles yet still have to pay the same price as men's trouser socks that come up to the calf.  It's a conspiracy. Being tall, I am often subject to this discrimination and I protest!(simulated dumping tea sound here)
• We had hordes of trick or treaters of all ages this year, as usual, however I was glad to see that all were in costume, including an adult Sponge Bob carrying his Lion baby.  We've had older teenagers come to the door in years past just holding out their hands.  No candy unless you're in costume, I say, or go buy your own!
• We gave out 10 bags of candy before running out at 8:30 and shutting off the porch light--with many folks still out on the street.  Only one group rang the doorbell on the dark porch and had to be turned away with "Sorry, we're out of candy!"
• We've had a very warm Fall after a cool Summer and the leaves are late to turn color.  The ginkgo across the street is finally getting golden.  Today they are predicting an 85 degree high temp for our city.  My poinsettia is totally confused!
• Traffic rant of the week:  Jaywalkers who WALK (not jog!) across four lanes of traffic holding their hand up, when there is a signal and crosswalk at each end of the short block they are on. Grrr.  Oh, and bicycle riders who ride against traffic on a four lane road, ride on the sidewalk, ride side by side instead of tandem, and ignore stop signs and red lights. Double Grrr. 
• Several hours were spent pinning a big quilt over the weekend at my parent's.  I finally got smart and we used three of their large folding tables in the studio/garage instead of clearing the living room floor to lay it out.  We'll never do it another way now!

We used some leftover pavers to raise the table even higher.

Here's the backing all taped down, Erica's initials backwards there.

And the quilt top.  The border is a polyester suede that is a purple plum color but it looks black in this photo.  It's hard to photograph purples!  It was so much easier to pin this standing rather than crawling--next time I think we'll even double up the pavers to make it taller.  I did run into some tucks on the back because I had no clamps to secure the sides, but they were easy to fix.  This was the first time I have used wool batting and it is very light, which should help counteract the already heavy quilt from the silk dupioni in the triangles and the suede in the border. 

Erica is already asking when I am going to quilt this!  I told her this is a weekends type of quilting task.  I am happy it is a sandwich now, and not a top and backing that is mocking me from the closet every time I open the door to get out the ironing board.

Design Wall Monday--Sept 5, 2010

Actually it's a Design BED.  This is my progress on the backing to DD Erica's quilt. 

You can see the E O initials better since I added a lot more of the cream background. Boy, figuring out the size and cutting and sewing of all those sections took a lot of time!  And it's bigger than ever.  It is laying across our king sized bed.  I'm a little anxious about quilting this beast on my own.  Gulp.

Yeah, I'm missing some fabric right there.  So, darn it, gotta go to the fabric store.  Poor me! 

There was a great deal of sewing happening here over the weekend.  I also finished all the 9 patches for Julie's swap--that's 78 of them.

Then I had a little play time with the leftovers:

No idea what'll become of this but it was fun to see the fabrics all together.  I just cut 1.5" strips from the 2.5" strip set leftovers.   I may make a little doll quilt out of it somehow.  I have some young nieces who might like one.  Go to Judy's blog to see the rest of the Design Walls.  Happy Monday!

Design Wall Monday--8/9/10

Did you all notice the once-in-a-century date today?  Pretty cool birthdate that would be.  But I digress, it is actually Design Wall Monday.  It's already Tuesday in a bunch of places but due to circumstances beyond my control, I could not post until tonight. 

I managed only this much progress on Erica's quilt in a week!  There are two other strip sets cut and ready to be sewn but it has been chaos around here trying to get ready for our son to move back in--which means emptying the sewing room.  I hope all you other ladies had a much better rate of progress than I did!  See all the other Design Walls here on Judy's blog. 

Design Wall Monday

On my design wall today is the start to the backing for Erica's quilt.  After some preliminary math and a bit of cutting and sewing--and a small mess up involving unsewing and recutting and sewing---the first initial was done.

Then, realizing I was going to have to square up a LOT more of the triangle squares, I took myself to Michael's with the "make your own sale" 50% off coupon and bought one of these rotating mats.

I wish I had bought one years ago--this thing is great!  I could layout and trim four pieces at a time, rotate the mat and cut the other two sides.  What an amazing time saver.  Kicking myself now for being cheap!  Also while I was out I had to hit the quilt shop for more of the background, being short just inches of the final piece I needed. Not that it's a hardship for me to go to my LQS...anyway, back home more cutting and arranging took place and by the end of the day I had the initials all made.

The squares are 7" finished and the triangle squares 1 3/4" so the initials are about 35" high.  The overall piece is about half the width of the finished quilt so will make a big splash on the back!  Not sure how we're finishing out the remainder of the backing.  Another trip to the quilt shop may be in order.  Oh, darn!

One Mystery solved and another revealed

My proposed layout for the Mystery Quilt is what Judy had already designed, so I am happy!  She put on three borders but I've not yet decided if I will do all three--mostly because I am just barely gonna squeak by with enough of the red fabric if I do the two borders.  Playing it by ear--I guess that is a mystery still!

Erica's quilt top is complete.  I actually got this together last Sunday but haven't had a chance to get a full sized photo, so y'all will have to imagine it from these pics:

This is a big quilt!  It is nearly 90 inches square.  The binding is the same suede, cut at 4 inches wide, which is a bit alarming.

This one shows the texture of the silk and the suede better, as well as the color.  In foraging for something else in one of my quilting supplies drawer I came across a stencil with fleur de lis, which will be perfect for this border.  Erica loves that emblem.  I bought this and a bunch of other stencils at Tuesday Morning for super cheap, some years ago, but haven't used them.  I have a fear of marking quilts, I guess,  and really need some help with that!

And now, my brilliant idea for the back of the quilt:  I want to take this pile of pretty leftovers and this pile of bonus triangle squares from the flying geese and make Erica's initials as a big block.

See where she has signed off on this idea?  It's a lot of sewing but I think I have the math worked out.  I'll do a sample block before I cut for all--they will be 9" squares/rectangles so it will be a big block!  I think it will be a fun addition to the back, perhaps medallion style like the front. I'm excited about it and--fingers crossed--it will turn out as well as I envision.  Stay tuned...divine or disaster, I will reveal all!