Lots of Quilting and Binding

 
I added a scrappy binding to the scrappy quilt.

I think I've already mentioned the pattern is Lady by Villa Rosa Designs. Very easy to make. It was a great leader ender project.

I finished quilting Wind Drifter.

I really like the quilt pantograph I used. Really easy and I love all the movement it gives the quilt. I've sewn the binding to the front and I'm about a third of the way done with hand sewing the binding to the back. I'll show the whole quilt next week.

Here is some more quilting I did.

My ribbons don't look very ribbonie but I like how the half daisys turned out.

I picked up the Care Bear and pink butterfly fabrics at last month's Quilts 4 Kids meeting. I love how these two little quilts turned out, soft flannel on the back...Bella liked them too.

On the frame now is the nine patch table runner I made last year.

I've completed all the in-the-ditch quilting, added a bit of cross hatch quilting and am now adding this ruler motif in the cream nine patches. I've finished 10 out of twenty blocks. Now I need to decide if I'm going to add anything to the setting triangles. And if I do, what?

I went from gung ho to ho hum.

I finished quilting the scrappy quilt.

I still have to add the binding. It will be scrappy also. The butterfly flannel was one of my "JoAnn's is closing" purchases. I wish I had bought more but part of me thinks I bought the last of the bolt.

I cut out the borders for the Care Bear quilts...and haven't touched them since.

I started getting Wind Drifter ready to quilt.

I got this far and started second guessing all my choices. So, it sat for most of last week.

I'm using black batting. The quilt is 73 inches square. For some reason I bought a queen size bat (I think the only options were queen or king). While the package said queen (93 x 108) the batting must have been a king. I cut over 35 inches from one side and will have more than that left on the bottom. Trimming the side was a booger.

After a week of procrastinating, I finally loaded it yesterday. Why do I torture myself second guessing things? 

When I stopped this afternoon I was about half done and everything is looking great. I'm using another new pantograph and it is easier to follow than the pantograph I used on the scrappy quilt.

Here is another distraction I had on Saturday. 

This is Oakley. She is about three years old and the sweetest girl. Her and Bella had a blast together...until Bella decided they weren't. Don't you love that she is the same color as my rug.

Too Many Irons in the Fire

Or maybe I'm trying to juggle too many balls with one hand...or maybe I just have a short attention span and can only work on something for a short amount of time before it's time to move on to something new.

Although one of the projects I have going on right now is definitely not new.

This is a UFO I've worked on periodically for years.  We'll see how long I last. Right now I'm adding the frames. For the size of quilt I originally planned on making I need to make 25 more string blocks. 

I also made another Aunt Daisy block...8 out 16 are now completed.

All the sub-units to Angela's Brightly quilt, my leader-ender project, are done. I want to group block units together before I start actually putting the blocks together. 

The new project is this cute Care Bear border print. There is almost two yards of the fabric so instead of making one quilt I'm going to make two. So it won't be too narrow, I'm going to add borders down the sides only. I'll put yellow on one and green on the other. Both will get the butterfly fabric.

Making both should go quickly.

I did focus on finishing the Winter Snow Friends quilt. I was able to get the tension to an acceptable level.

Once it's washed I don't think anything will show. I used the extra backing flannel as the binding. 

I loaded Lady on the frame and started quilting it tonight.

I'm loving this pantograph. So far no tension issues. 

So, do you think I should add more irons to the fire?

I Hate Tension Issues

 I did another "oh boogers, I forgot it was Monday" about 2 a.m. on Tuesday. I didn't have much to post so didn't bother on Tuesday.

I finished the Grid Girls mystery quilt.

All the borders are on and the binding is made. It will probably be a while before it gets quilted. I'm not thrilled with the quilt - I liked the pattern, not the fabric - and I don't have anything that matches it to use as a back.

I did finish quilting and hand sewing the binding of the sampler quilt.

This one I am thrilled with. I love the quilting in the blocks. The pantograph in the border? Not so much. It was hard lining up the pantograph edge with the border edges. Don't know why I stressed over it, you can barely see the quilting due to the busy floral print.

I think I've mention JoAnne, the Quilts 4 Kids coordinator, is downsizing the program a bit. She is no longer taking in new fabric donations and is getting rid of the fabric in her she-shed. She has been bringing 7-8 totes in each month. What is not taken, she is taking to Goodwill. My hoarder heart just can't let that happen.

This is what I brought home last Friday. I brought home almost as much last month.

There was a small tote full of airplane fabrics. Above are a few. I brought them all home. I don't know where I'm going to put it all but I brought it all home. :o(

Are you curious about this blog post title? I had some tension issue when I changed the bobbin quilting the sampler quilt. It took a while but I was able to resolve the issues. Last week I loaded this quilt.

It came from one of Angela's estate sales. I'm getting loops on the top. 

Checked the bobbin tension with the Towa gauge - all good. Loops on top - solution is to loosen the top tension. I've loosened it to the point of the knob is almost ready to fall off. ??? So what to do? My solution, ignore it hoping it will go away. Don't think that is going to work. This was last Monday (probably why I forgot to post). I haven't touched a sewing machine since. I did do a wicked clear out of everything, put everything away, scrub it cleaning of the sewing room. Maybe if I did the same thing in the long arm room it would resolve the tension issue.  

I know. But I can dream. 

Slow Progress

 But I am making progress. I finished the first border on the Grid Girls quilt and added the second border. The final border is pinned to the quilt (no picture). Hopefully I'll finish it tomorrow.

The block quilting is finished on sampler quilt. Now I have to turn it three times to finish the borders. Don't you get your wish if you turn the quilt three times? I'm really happy with the quilt motif I chose for the blocks.

I haven't had any problems quilting this free motion design in all directions.

A friend sent me this quilt pattern catalog from 1928. 

I love the quilt on the cover.

Some of the block designs. 

And the price list! Twenty-two cents a yard for calico fabric. Fifteen cents for the pattern. $.35 - $2.00 for finished blocks - the double wedding ring block was the most expensive at $2. Complete quilts $25-$45.

I had three bucks in my backyard this evening. They don't like to be too close to each other. This is the largest one, I've shown his picture before.

He has gotten much braver. He is laying on the rug right outside my slider window. He didn't move when Mom went to her chair with her walker.

Not Much

 

Not much happening here. 

I dug out a UFO and started adding the first border.

Didn't get very far. Added three sides of the first border.

Loaded the sampler quilt.

Again, didn't get very far. Got the top border quilted and all the in-the-ditch around the sashing of the first row. All the stress over the quilting motifs and the fabric is so busy you can't see anything. It's going to be a busy week so hopefully I'll make some progress. 

I should probably get off the laptop. I've been listening to thunder for the last hour. I think it is still too far away to be a problem. I'm sure the helicopters will be out early tomorrow morning looking for lightening fires. Tis the season and it is not merry. Stay safe.

Sometimes I Wonder

 Luckily, neither mom nor I got very sick. Seemed more like a mild cold than a "virus". Regardless I did spend a lot of last week sleeping.

Do you ever wonder why, after over 25 years, you still quilt? Sometimes I do. Especially if I have to use my brain to make the quilt. The whale panel quilt required me to use my brain.  

That really hurt.

The panel was larger than the panel in the pattern, so I had to change the approach to making the top and calculate all the border dimensions.

My poor brain.

But this is why I continue to quilt. I love how this turned out! The pattern looks complex, but it was really easy to make.

I think I watched a bazillion quilting video's last week trying to find something that I could use for the blocks in this quilt. The blocks are 12 inches - too big for the Moxie.

So I needed to find something that I could quilt half a block at a time.

This is even better, one quadrant at a time. That was my first time drawing it on paper - easy! Turning the design to fit in each quadrant may not be quite as easy.

This is the pantograph I'm going to use for the borders. It has corners also but I haven't been able to find anything that explains how to use them so you get a continuous design.

Slow and careful will be my mantra for the next week as I work on this.