Friday Finish

I finished quilting the quilt for the wrapped in love group at my former church. I was really pleased with how it turned out.  I didn’t select the colors or fabric, the color genius Connie took care of that. I didn’t even pin baste it, I just did the free motion quilting and bound it.

It was densely quilted.



Here’s how I block a quilt:
I wash the quilt in cold water. This gets off all the blue washout marker lines. Then I put it in the dryer for about 5 minutes. While it is still warm. I lay it out on a freshly vacuumed carpet, and pin it to the carpet using T-pins. I had a fan handy, so I turned the fan on it and it was dry in about three hours.

The blocking helps to flatten out the lumps that come from dense quilting and somehow, the fibers remember to stay flat in subsequent washings.
later..

W.I.P. Wednesday

You are going to be seeing a lot of this quilt in Wednesday posts. It’s a commission/gift quilt for someone very dear to me.

It’s a king sized quilt in the storm at sea pattern. Lots of measuring, lots of cutting, lots of acute and obtuse angles. I’m using fabrics from Zen Chic’s Figures line. Right now I’m still in the planning stages. This is going to take awhile.

Friday Finish and a Giveaway

I did it! The matchstick quilting is done and the quilt is bound.



I’m glad it’s done. I’m not sure if I will ever do another throw sized quilt with matchstick stitching, but I do know I’m not going to make the pattern again.
So, here’s a giveaway. Just leave a comment below and I’ll pick a random winner. The winner will receive the original pattern and a template for making the octagon shapes. It’s a fun pattern.

here’s a link to the prairie grass patterns website so you can see more about what you might win.
I'll pick a winner on Monday afternoon.

WIP “Works in Progress” Wednesday

I’m still doing the matchstick quilting on the Russian Rubix throw sized quilt. I can see the end in sight, and I’m loving the texture this intense stitching brings to the quilt.

I finished the piecing on a scrap quilt. It’s up on my design wall for awhile to allow me to think about how I will quilt it. It is made from 2 1/2” squares from my scrap bin. I think I have enough to make three quilts…but more on that later.

And here’s a quilt I’m quilting for a friend in Florida. She made the beautiful top, and I get to do the quilting and finishing.

I had to do some testing to find the right thread, needle and tension combinations. Doing free motion stitching on batiks is often a challenge because the fabric is very tightly woven.

The best part about my new studio arrangement is that I can have two machines set up at the same time. Sometimes I piece, sometimes I do free motion and sometimes I quilt using a walking foot. I have learned that I cannot do one type of stitching for very long without injury, so it is wonderful to be able to switch between projects without having to change machine set up.
later