Two Finishes

There is something so satisfying about totally completing projects and I have 2 that I can now cross off my list!  My sister’s knitting bag is done and she loves how it came out:

Unfortunately, she had this photo taken with the “bad side” in front, but I guess that means she’s ok with the bad side, so that’s positive!  I also finally finished sewing down the facing on a wall hanging that has been folded up in my sewing bag for over a year.  That may be a new record for lugging around a 95% completed project and not taking the time to finish it!  It’s developed creases in it from being folded for so long:

The background fabrics are cotton sateens that I dyed and the appliques are all cotton batiks:

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, Machine Embroidered Applique. Comments Off on Two Finishes

A Different Kind of Improvisational Quilting

These are 2 improv blocks laid next to one another on the floor.  Wouldn’t more of these make the coolest quilt?  These are actually going to be used as the front and back of a giant knitting bag for my sister, but I definitely want to return to this technique for a real quilt.  Totally, totally fun!  The circles are made separately and appliqued to a block using a small blanket stitch.  I used invisible thread in my top needle:

Here is the front of the bag:

…and here is the back panel:

(I like the front much better, that’s why it’s the front!)  And here’s a shot of the front panel quilted with a spiral design:

Isn’t that cool?  I’m not gonna lie-that spiral was really hard to quilt and my neck was in spasms.  I did it with my walking foot and I NEVER do walking foot quilting because it sends my neck and shoulders into a cramp.  The whole time I was doing it, I was dreaming of throwing on my free motion foot but I persevered and it came out great!  Will post the knitting bag once it’s done.  The interior is a custom job with all kinds of special compartments that Marnie wants, so it will take me awhile to figure that part out.

Filed under Free Motion Quilting. 3 Comments

Quilted and Bound!

This quilt was the quickest quilt I’ve made in eons and it was totally fun from start to finish.  There is something invigorating about working with rich, saturated colors that really gets me “into” a project.  The center section is quilted with featherettes:

The outermost border is quilted as series of arched swags with tapered channels inside.  These were made using the PTD 12 arc:

…and the blocks themselves are just quilted with stitch in the ditch.  I did those as ruler work using my PTD staright ruler:

Besides being incredibly fun to piece together, these donation quilts are teaching me about quilting for bed quilts/snuggle quilts.  I am exercising tremendous restraint in my quilting because densely quilted quilts don’t keep folks as warm (you need to be able to trap air in the batting layer to provide warmth), and a stiff quilt is not as inviting to snuggle as a “poofy” quilt.

Hospice Donation Quilt #3 for the period 10/1/18-9/30/19 completed!

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, Hospice Quilt Project, ruler work on a HDSM. 1 Comment

Another Orphan Block Quilt Finished!

I finished quilting/binding my 2nd hospice quilt, again made with orphan blocks.  These pictures don’t quite capture the colors correctly.  The shot below is a closeup of the orange block.  One thing I am learning is that when you are quilting a quilt that is to be snuggled and/or keep someone warm, it’s very different than quilting a wall hanging.  You really don’t want to quilt as densely, so for me, this involves a lot of restraint.  Normally, I would fill in those ruler work frameworks, but I don’t think that makes sense here:

Here’s a closeup of the center portion:

The long strips hold a long, straight featherette.  That is a bit denser than what I probably should have quilted, but I couldn’t help myself.  I was very restrained in the outer border zone and just did a 2-tiered swag with a tapered channel:

(The last 2 photos are more realistic as far as color goes.)  Here’s a long shot:

…and here’s a shot of my first 2 donation quilts together.  It’s very gratifying to me that both of these were made using up orphan blocks:

2nd hospice donation quilt for the period Oct 1, 2018-September 30, 2019.

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, Hospice Quilt Project. 2 Comments

Another Quilt From Orphan Blocks

I just finished piecing another donation quilt using orphan blocks, but this time it’s in richly saturated warm colors.  Here are the first 2 blocks:

I know,…talk about BRIGHT!!  Here are 2 more blocks to add into the mix:

You really need a pair of sunglasses to look at these!  I have to say that working with these colors is invigorating, though.  I decided to set them off a little differently than the last quilt, so I added a sashing between them:

…and then I added a narrow border in another warm color around the whole thing:

I realize that this quilt is kind of over powering color-wise, but I am quite drawn to it.  It’s already been basted and I’ve started quilting it, which is my favorite part.  More to follow…

Filed under Free Motion Quilting, Hospice Quilt Project. 1 Comment