Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Photos are disappearing!

from previous posts.  I am aware I don't take the most outstanding ones anyway, and to date I may be the only soul who has looked at this blog, but it IS irritating to put work into any project and then see it altered in an unhappy and unexpected manner!  I tried researching why and got some vague finger pointing at the Picasa photo site, which I guess archives photos for Blogger or something.  My PC is very ill and I only have the laptop to work off of and I just can't handle any big trouble shooting today.  So I guess I'm just whining.  I need to wash the dog but he's hiding under the bed, so I think I'll just browse pinterest until maybe the caffeine kicks in.  Grrrr.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Mostly stalled

on my latest project.  Within days of proudly finishing the cousin quilts I got seriously motivated to start and finish another baby quilt for the grandson due in August. I recognize that I like piecing much less than quilting, so I looked for a top that would be fast. I found Baby Bites from Modern Quilt Relish.  Great Guns! And I really DID finish it in about an hour and a half.  Then I had to go thinking it needed a border, and of course since I hate piecing I decide to do a half square triangle one.  But I do think it will add to this quilt.


 
I think only the white, red, and blue will remain and probably all facing the same direction.  I had a fleeting fancy about piecing lots of nautical flags but returned to sanity.  Red against the red and blue against the blue.  I am thinking about the quilting of it- some simple ship shapes on waves and waves and waves on the blue side, maybe some continuous curves on the red?  Its a bit of a shame I feel feathers would be wrong, I've been doodling the heck out of them on night shift and think I may be ready to quilt some nicer ones.  Maybe some wall hangings or table runners soon for gifts.
 
 
 
I did sneak in an afternoon of helping my granddaughter sew.  We made a patient gown for her AG doll, she already has nurse scrubs for the other.
She's getting better at cutting, seam finishing, and added curves with this project.  It won't be long before she can do it all alone from a pattern.
 

I confess, I really loved the authenticity of the backdoor waving in the wind feature.  This pattern and tutorial were free from myagdollcraft.blogspot

Sunday, July 7, 2013

Cousin quilts are done!


 
These took wayyyy too long.  I guess about a year and a half for both.  Of course, I'm not a quilter (though I enjoyed these enough where I might become one.  Maybe I'm now a beginner quilter).
 
I have quilted two twin sized quilts and one wall hanging in the very distant past, and collected a fair sized quilt library.  These quilts are from a pattern from one of the books, my version of the Pink Mosaic Crib Quilt from Marti Mitchell's Scrap Patchwork and Quilting.  I've read enough books and blogs to know I broke a few zillion rules on these, but it was all by choice.  I wanted the pieced squares to be puffy, so there's no quilting inside them, while the surrounding blocks were fairly densely quilted.  I did so very much enjoy the machine quilting part.  I also chose to bind them with folded-over blanket binding, to give the toddlers  some silky stuff to rub their fingers on at nap time.  I almost lost my courage on that one come bind time, but in the end I was happy with that choice.

 
 

 
I ignored quite a few mistakes, but of course there were a few that just had to involve a seam ripper.  I really can't explain what happened here but toddlers were running in and out.  As I recall, it didn't take as long to fix as it looked like it would.

 
 
I found a tip for using the stuff offices use for gripping papers when filing to grip fabric and move it where you need it, such as when putting edges together to sew.  Much better than licking your fingers.  I bought some quilting gloves but it's summer and guess what?  If you put this stuff on all ten finger tips it works well at moving fabric for machine quilting too.  The gloves just sat there after I figured that out.

 

 
I can't remember binding any of those former quilts or sweating mitering corners.  This time I was a little unsure so I researched on YouTube and found a tutorial using bobby pins. (Lizzie Leonard, How to Mitre corners on Quilt Binding).  Even though I only had one and it was a little bulky with decoration, it worked well, especially with all those dense layers of folded satin blanket binding.  And yes, I did mix metallic, rayon, and 100% cotton threads on this quilt, with all purpose polyester in the bobbin.  My babies will like it.  I think it will last OK.


 
The second quilt I chose to hand stitch the binding onto the front.  A little more work, I liked them both equally.  Now I'm confident I can do it both ways, though the hand stitched looks nicer on the back.  Just slightly.
 
 
I found myself thinking about more quilts throughout this process, especially once I started the quilting part.  The piecing was a little tedious for me.  I was happy with how most of it matched up, and comfortable with what did not.  They are, after all, Grandma quilts, and imperfections add some to their charm.  I think it says to them, she struggled with this because she loves you.  As much as I loved the quilting, I'm not blind to how amature most of it is, though there were some places where I went into the zone and was very pleased with the results.  I'm now compelled sometimes to draw quilting in the air, and I print out stuff and copy the lines on paper.  I think I've been bitten by the quilt bug.  Alas, there are other projects out and waiting, and I don't expect to have another quilt top whipped up at lightening speed anyway.  Hopefully in less time than these two took!