User Error

 In my former work life one of the things I did on a regular basis was provide application tech support. I'd say 98% of the time the problem was not the application but user error. I never (rarely) told the user they screwed up - I told them it was a learning opportunity or that the user guide or tutorial videos were not very clear...I wrote and produced both.

In my case, I definitely screwed up.

In preparation of quilting my Project Quilting challenge (see previous post), I cut the backing out, cut the binding out, dropped the feed dogs on the Juki, set the pressure foot pressure to zero and the stitch length to zero. I practiced a little bit of free motion quilting on a test sandwich, made a few adjustments to the tension and was ready to go.

I had planned on doing a little bit of echo quilting and nothing more.

First issue: The fused tips of my applique piece were started to lift up. No problem, I switched to some raw edge applique. I suck at raw edge applique.

Second issue: After getting about 2/3's of the quilting done I couldn't move the sandwich. ??  Somehow, I had gotten the binding stuck under the quilt (I originally thought I'd flipped a piece of the back under the quilt). I had caught the raw edge of the binding and jammed it into the throat plate. I had to cut a hole in the binding, then dig out the fabric and thread from the throat plate. Okay, I'm done quilting.

Third issue: In order to sew on the binding, I set the pressure foot pressure back to normal, raised the feed dog and I replaced the free motion foot with the walking foot. Got distracted by something, who knows what it was it is easily done, put the needle down into the quilt - WHAM! Broke the needle on the unattached walking foot. Replaced the needle and very securely attached the walking foot.

Fourth issue: Again, put the needle down into the quilt and pressed the foot pedal to start attaching the binding...didn't move, thread jammed up in the throat plate. ?? Cleaned everything out and tried again. Same thing. Checked the machine - feed dog are working correctly. Checked the walking foot - looks okay, re-attached it. Tried it again, same thing. 

After adding more money to the cuss jar, I moved over to the Baby Lock. I don't have a working walking foot for it (replacements are $135 - ouch!). So I very carefully sewed the binding to the front of the quilt, and even more careful stitched in the ditch on the front to attach the backside of the binding. Might of missed a few spots.

Here is the back of the quilt.

Yes, I caught the selvage edge. No, I didn't cut it out as with my luck that night I would have probably cut a hole in the back. Yes, I forgot to change the bobbin thread to black. 

Luckily the front looked good, so I wrote my post and linked it up to the Project Quilting website.

About two hours after I posted and linked my finished project it dawned on me...stitch length! I forgot to reset the stitch length from zero to two! I definitely screwed up.

 

Project Quilting 16.1 Mythical Creatures

 

I think I spent two days looking up mythical creatures before I finally selected the phoenix. I planned to a simple silhouette. I found a free clipart silhouette and thought perfect, nice and easy.

Why don't I ever stick to the plan?

First, it was making the bird from the colors of a fire, not one or two colors but ten. Then I got to think about how the phoenix rises from the ashes of fire ... so I fussy cut flames - luckily, I had the perfect fabric to use. I also used the flame fabric to bind this 11 x 11.5 inch little quilt.

I do like how he turned out. Come back on Monday and I'll tell you about all my boo-boo's making him. ;o)

Mythical Creatures

I finished the flannel quilt top.

The binding has been cut out and the back is ready to be pieced. I'd really like to finish the quilt this week but...

The first Project Quilting challenge has been released: Mythical Creatures. Yikes! I've spent the last 24 hours looking up mythical creature images. Lots of dragons, fairies, unicorns and gnomes. Stephanie said Pegasus, Angela said Dragon. I was thinking Egyptian mythology. I'm settling for something easy since it has to be finished by next Sunday.

This phoenix will be easy to make - simple raw edge applique.

My inspiration fabric and a bunch of hand dyed fabric I've had in my stash since 2000.

Wish I had brighter oranges, reds and deep rust, but this will have to do. No shopping allowed (my rule, not Project Quilting's rule).

Unquilting

 
Did you have a nice Christmas? I did. My niece and her family came for dinner and presents on Christmas Eve. Just mom and me on Christmas Day...and lots of leftovers.

No sewing was done last week. But I did do a lot of prep work.

All of the units for the Aunt Daisy blocks were laid out on the design wall. They are now all grouped together and are ready sew. Goal is to finish them by the end of January.

Got the borders cut out for the flannel quilt. Not sure about the cream pop border but that was what was in the kit.

Donna made the utility bin. It still needs the raw edges finished. The binding is made. I'm hoping to attach it this weekend. Machine sew one side then hand sew the second side.

Found a thread color to finish the estate sale Christmas placemats (color matches better in person). I probably won't work on them until next Monday at my guild meeting.

And then there is the unquilting...

This is my thrift store find from May 2023. I have spent a lot of time slowly taking out the little itty bitty quilting stitches. I've probably worked on this about six hours already and have only removed about a quarter of the quilting. Please don't hate me for removing the hand quilting. I love this quilt and really want to turn it into a finished quilt.

I hope you all have a very Happy New Year!

Are You Ready?

 Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

I still have to wrap my gifts.

Mom and I have been baking cookies and making candy.

We've also done a good job of eating it.

Around a bazillion trips to the grocery store I have been able to get little bit of sewing done.

This is one of the estate kits that Angela brought up. It included the pattern and was already cut out. It was supposed to be a leader-ender project, but it was so fast and easy to put together I just went for it. I still have to add the borders. There was enough fabric cut out to make three quilts, I decided to double the size of the original pattern. The fabric is Woolies flannel by Maywood Studios. Soooo soft! 

I also made a little table topper with my leftover Ginger Belle 4-patch blocks. 

Measures about 16 x 22.

Tomorrow will be lots of cooking and family, then Christmas Day should be very quiet with just mom and I.

I hope you all have a very Happy Holiday!

Lots of Binding

 I made the binding for Ginger Belle and it is put away until it's needed.

I made the binding for the quilt from H E double hockey sticks (don't want to owe the cuss jar more money).

As I mentioned before this is a "cheater" fabric. You buy it by the yard already pieced. The seams are serged and thick. My thread kept breaking in the minky areas. I noticed after I finished quilting it that there were some very large stitches...again only in the minky areas. I carefully removed the large stitches, and after adding the binding, went back over the areas that I removed with my walking foot.

I have three more of these "quilt tops" to quilt...not looking forward to it. 

I was able to load another quilt sandwich and finish it.

A little drab, but I'm sure there is a young boy out there who would love cuddling up with mountain lions. I used a new pantograph that I think gave the quilt lots of texture.

When Angela visited she brought me a cat puzzle. I put it together a couple of weeks ago but keep forgetting to show a picture.

Want to make an easy puzzle difficult? Don't lose a piece, add in an extra piece. It's not a duplicate piece either. Thanks Angela, it was fun to put together.

Almost Finishes

 The baby quilt is off the frame, trimmed, and the binding cut. I'll show the finished quilt next week. 

The Ginger Belle top is done, the binding is cut and the red wide back I bought a couple of weeks ago will go on the back.

I'm really pleased with how this turned out. It is 80 x 80. I'm not sure if I will attempt to quilt it myself or have someone else do it. It will fit on my frame, but I'd really be pushing its limits. 

I had a few 4-patches left over. I think I'm going to turn them into a little mug rug or table topper.

My leader-ender project is also almost done.

Scrappy quilts just make me happy. This isn't the final layout, I just wanted to get an idea of how it is going to look.

I also got my Christmas tree up.

Whew! it was a lot of work taking it out of the box and plugging it in. ;o)