Operating: Quilt 3

It's been a ridiculously long time since I last posted, probably because my work started to shift way into costuming for the summer, but now I'm back to work with the quilts! My aunt's daughter (who is technically my cousin, but she's also much older than me, and I've only met her once when I was very young) just had a baby and my aunt asked me to make her granddaughter a quilt.

And so I did. She wanted butterflies as her theme but the quilt shop had no butterflies except in some very dark Asian print, and so I just went with some bubbly colors instead. My mom wants me to applique some butterflies on there, as sort of a concession, but I think it's too late, or maybe I'm just too lazy. We'll see how well she convinces me otherwise.

Pictures!



It's very basic, just a rail fence with a zigzag layout. It was kind of fun to figure out the layout! Also it's machine quilted with a jigsaw pattern that took me relatively little time (a couple of hours, this quilt is not very big - this picture is deceptive).

With backing and binding:



As you can see my ridiculous obsession with bluebirds continues with this quilt.

All right things learned!

1. Freemotion quilting can be painful to the wrists. Next time wear a brace on your right hand while doing the quilting.

2. Review binding. Do a couple of potholders or something.

Things accomplished! (besides the quilt, obviously)

1. CLEAN CORNERS oh my god I'm so proud. None of the squares try and tug away from the corners like they did in my first quilt. I pinned that one too but with this one I was extra careful because it had been an issue in my last quilt.

2. A whole freemotion quilt. I was nervous but I sat and practiced a little first. Sometimes the pattern gets a little...uh...well, unique, and I have to even out some of the stitching where it caught under my freemotion foot (something I'm pretty sure that my teacher mentioned in class, but it was probably around the same time she was telling to slow down.)

3. A quilt for someone else.

I have tons of extra squares because I got a little carried away when I made the quilt. Maybe I will make a matching diaper bag, but we shall see. If I do that it'll be from a sewing pattern which might make it a little strange. I don't know if I have time before I leave for school anyway.

Over and out!

C

Operating: Quilt 2

I got the cloth for my second quilt and I started making blocks yesterday. I have to say they are adorable. It's not the Garden Maze (my class had been canceled) it's a free pattern I got from Bella. I'm really having fun right now! But then I haven't started on stuff that needs to be cut on a bias.

Picture of my first block!

I think it's really sweet, anyway. It's the first part of my Little Boy Blue Quilt. The squares are bigger than I'm used to: 8 1/2 inches over 6 1/2, but I kind of dig how big it is.

Over and out~C

Operation success: Quilt 1

Huzzah! Quilt one is finished, all pretty and quilted and lovely and now I can start on quilt two. So, things learned:

1. Sewing on point is harder than it looks, and far more important than people give it credit for. Next quilt will be more on point and I will be more stringent about it.

2. Block order should never be messed up. Sew the blocks together all in a day. Spreading it out any further than an hour or so is a bad idea, especially with a cat who loves to sit on blocks in the house.

3. Binding isn't as hard as it looks. To cut binding on the bias in a logical way, begin by cutting one strip of binding on a 45 degree angle on a straight bit of a fabric. Turn this so that the bias cut is now on one of the straight measures on your cutting pad, fold, and proceed to cut your binding as though it were straight grain fabric.

4. Never machine quilt something bigger than this lap quilt.

5. Reread or ask Jolee about backing one more time. I'm pretty sure I did it "wrong" because I feel like I wasted a lot of fabric. On the plus side I can now bind Chris' potholder.

I learned a lot more but most of it isn't quantifiable. So now, onto pictures!


This is the whole quilt. I used a basic grid except for in some locations

This is some of the close quilting, plus the binding. I used a light blue thread to quilt the actual quilt, which shows up really nicely against the white.
And this is the quilt against the backing. Just to show a little contrast. And blurry, sorry.

Operation one is a success! Onto the next quilt!

Operating: Quilt 1

It's been a while since my last entry, not out of desire not to. I've been quilting and even on my machine it's a pretty slow process, but it's been so much fun. It's kind of a game, now, and I didn't have much time last week to quilt, but this week I finally got back into it.

I think I'm going to take a class to learn how to quilt a Garden Maze. I'm really looking forward to it, and I think that'll be my Little Boy Blue quilt, with some trumpet and sheep applique.

Pictures of quilt-in-progress coming soon!

Operating: Batting

Batting! Lots and lots and lots of batting!

I hung it from my bookshelf to relax it for a night before I begin quilting unnamed quilt #1. I should really look into getting that quilt named. It kind of looks like a ghost in my room; a huge, bookshelf-shaped ghost. I really love the batting, though, all soft and cottony. This particular batting is Dream Cotton; it's not very heavy, which is good for this particular quilt, which is going to be machine quilted, but the next one is going with me to the UK so I was thinking about getting a heavier batting for it.


Next on my list of things are the two machine quilted samples that I made. I'm binding the nine-square for Ch. because he needs something to keep his lucky bamboo on, and the four square is not getting bound. The nine-square has an Orange Peel pattern quilted on, with the walking foot, and the four-square has a template fleur-de-lis that was done freemotion.

So I had a lot of fun with the freemotion, but I need a lot more practice with it because it's predictably a little bit difficult. But I can write my name! I prefer the walking foot machine quilting. I'm really looking forward, though, to learning how to handstitch, because that's what I'll have the resources for in the UK, since I'm not taking my machine with me.

Over and out~

Operating: Quilt 1

I managed to finally get over to the store to pick up my fabric for my inner border and my binding today. I would have pictures only I got lazy; but I did manage to get my inner border on and my outer border cut. The binding I won't tackle again until I'm actually ready to bind, instead of just quilt.

I also got the stuff for my backing which sort of makes this project seem more real to me. I don't know how that is, considering I've spent a month with it; piecing and with another week and a half of it lying on my bed while I took my machine quilting class.

In other news, all the ladies at the quilt store seem ready to adopt me. I came in with my top and everyone ooo'd and ahhh'd over it, and after telling me that it really looked nice (I'm really pleased with it, too) they kept going on about how excited they are that I'm getting into quilting.

I guess I'm really a young quilter. My beginning class had three people and two of them were well, well, well over the age of my mother. My boss says I'm going to turn into an old lady. But I don't care. I really am having a good time with this hobby! It's just so much fun; way more fun than sewing, maybe because I'm just a beginner and everything so far has been so lovely and enjoyable, but I don't think so.

I'm planning quilt two already. K. sent me a bunch of bluebird print quilt fabric for my birthday and I'm on a rhyme kick, so we'll see what comes out of it.

Over and out~

Operating: Binding

Observe my ineptitude at cutting bias binding.

So this is my first attempt; I could swear I did exactly what my teacher told me to do. But when I was cutting it, I kept thinking that it wasn't the best technique because wouldn't every fold create an angle? But alas, I did it anyway.



Anyway, I'll head over to Bella's tomorrow and see if someone can explain it to me again. Further, I need to get my border for quilt number one that is as of yet unnamed. That and the backing and the fabric for the binding.

The straight binding, by the way, is the one that my teacher did for me as an example. Also, I'm in love with my rotary cutter.

Over and out~