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Post by cj59 on Aug 26, 2016 15:29:21 GMT -5
Hope everyone is doing well and getting to work on some quilting I had made a goal for myself this year to finish several projects that were half done and also to start using some of the fabrics and kits I already have. I did finish off several tops and was able to make lists of what things I have left to do. I have about 20 quilt tops done, waiting for batting and backing and then quilting. This is why I need to take a class on machine quilting! It's just too expensive to send them out to be done. I did start cutting out 5 inch tumbler shapes from all the charm squares (and other fabric squares) I've accumlated over the years. I was in a Quilt Guild years ago and we did a 6 inch charm square swap every month, so I have a bunch of those blocks to cut up. This will be a good project to work on from time to time, since it's just straight sewing and piecing.
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Post by graylady on Aug 26, 2016 15:52:46 GMT -5
CJ: You've accomplished a lot. I'm really impressed with your dedication.
I'm wondering if you ever subscribed to BH&G's magazine, "American Patchwork and Quilting." I did for several years but have discontinued several quilt magazine subscriptions. But, I've kept all the copies and have been going through them since I re-started my quilting projects.
On page 80 of the February 2012 (#114) is an article titled Fabric Fusion - featuring a quilt made up of blocks of many fabric colours/patterns (excuse my English spelling - it just comes up that way) - and the quilt made from (and I quote) ".......traditional, floral, modern, or even hand-dyed----based on color, scale, and intensity, and unite them with skinny sashing.) The sashing is white or off-white/ecru. I was immediately drawn to the quilt - because I certainly could do the same. The blocks are random sizes too. I'll take a photo and try to post it - or if we want to share our emails, I could email it to you. I think there's a way to send private messages on here.
In the meantime, I'm about ready to continue on to sewing sashing.
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Post by cj59 on Aug 26, 2016 16:49:57 GMT -5
That is the one magazine I do buy, because I like the way they show the quilts in two different colorways I also love the two magazines they do each year called Quilt Sampler - with all the different shops and a pattern from each one. I googled the quilt you were talking about and found a picture of it here - is this it? www.apqshop.com/fabric-fusion.aspxIf so, it's really pretty and you could use so many fabrics in it. That would be a great quilt to make Last year I went through all my quilt magazines - probably 100 or more and tore out the patterns I liked and then put them in documnent protectors and into 3 ring binders. I gave the leftover magazines to a friend Now when I buy a magazine, after I've read it all I tear out the patterns and add them to my 3 ring binders. That's a lot less paper to keep around the house. Of course I have more patterns than I'll ever make quilts for
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Post by graylady on Aug 27, 2016 13:03:23 GMT -5
Sashed together 12 blocks - 25% of the total number of blocks - 48.
It's going together very nicely - I found one non-matching corner - ripped it out and fixed it - and all the cornerstones are making a secondary pattern - it's just looking great. I love it.
I will be gone most of the day today - will work on it tonight when I get home - my goal is to sash two rows of 4 a day - until the whole quilt top is sashed by September 1.
I've surprised myself that I could do as well as I am.
We've had hot weather again - yesterday, it was in the 90's - and our portable A/C unit helped - but my sewing room is around the corner - and it was warmer than is comfortable - even with a small fan going full time. It's the steam iron that creates a little mini climate.
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Post by cj59 on Aug 27, 2016 17:42:08 GMT -5
Hello Everyone I didn't get to any quilting today, hope to get to some next week. I had ordered a finger protector to use for hand quilting and it arrived in the mail. It is used under the quilt to feel the needle coming through and the way it's designed it pushes up the quilt to meet the needle. It's been several years since I did any hand quilting and I want to try some different methods to see what works best for me. This product is called Aunt Becky's Finger Protector and there are a few videos on YouTube that show it's use.
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Post by cj59 on Aug 28, 2016 17:16:14 GMT -5
Hi Everyone, I've been experimenting with some different hand quilting methods today. I have several quilts I want to hand quilt, so I need to find the method that works best for me. It's amazing how many different ways people hand quilt! Hope you are all doing well and enjoying working on some quilting
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Post by graylady on Aug 28, 2016 20:02:56 GMT -5
CJ: Curious about your set-up when you're hand-quilting, CJ! Do you listen to the TV or a radio or an audio book?
I did not do any sashing yesterday at all. I was gone from noon until 9 PM - and was too tired to do any sewing.
Today, because it's my daughter's birthday next week, we took over a portable A/C unit to her apartment and my DH installed it. We got back about 4 PM - and I"m just getting started in my sewing room. Hope to continue later tonight after dinner - which of course, I have to cook first.
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Post by cj59 on Aug 29, 2016 15:16:40 GMT -5
Hi Everyone - hope you are all well and working on some wonderful quilting projects graylady - I usually just have the TV on if I'm hand quilting. But yesterday I was sitting in front of the computer watching YouTube videos of hand quilting techniques. I went to JoAnn Fabrics today and bought some more needles and a few new thimbles. I really want to find what works best for me. I'm also planning to hand quilt a few small quilt tops I made using the Big Stitch and perle cotton thread. So I need to get in some practice on that.
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Post by graylady on Aug 30, 2016 14:48:42 GMT -5
Have I mentioned that the biggest change since I first took up quilting 10 years ago - is that now - we have the internet to help us - with tutorials and videos of all kinds. For example, I found an excellent example of how to sash blocks - and keep it up on my laptop while I'm sewing.
I finished sashing 24 blocks - on to the next half of the quilt. It's taking longer than I thought. But, it's lots cooler now so I can sit in my sewing room without a fan blowing on me - though the steam iron still keeps me toasty warm.
I'll sew a few hours today - I have a meeting tonight.
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Post by cj59 on Aug 30, 2016 15:30:44 GMT -5
Hello Quilters *waves* Hope you are all doing well and working on some fun/interesting projects and will let us know about them I've been experimenting with the thimbles I bought and a few different hand quilting techniques. I think what will work best for me is going to be a combination of different techniques. I would like to work this winter on my quilts waiting to be hand quilted, so I'm glad I got back into this.
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Post by graylady on Aug 31, 2016 15:48:38 GMT -5
CJ: I'm glad you're progressing with your hand quilting - and finding the thimbles you need. I love thimbles - but haven't done much hand sewing lately to need them. I'd love to hear about how your (not sure I have the correct term) big stitch quilting with perle thread.
I have begun sashing the final 24 blocks - and have them all set up for assembly-line sewing - worked on that yesterday - and cutting the final 2 x 8 - inch rectangles. I see the end in sight - a couple more days should do it. So - I'm close to my Sept. 1 deadline - close enough - for sure.
It's raining here - first rain in weeks it seems - certainly welcomed by all - including the parched lawns. (We don't water lawns - let them turn brown - and then, they come back nice and green all over again.)
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Post by cj59 on Aug 31, 2016 16:30:20 GMT -5
Hi graylady - I'm glad to hear you are progressing on your quilt. I'm sure you'll get it done soon Glad to hear you got some rain too! I'll let you know when I try the big stitch with perle cotton thread. Hi quilters! Hope you are all working on something interesting and will share it with us This is the only day this week I don't have to go out and do something, so I basically did nothing today
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Post by graylady on Sept 2, 2016 2:49:27 GMT -5
12 more blocks are sashed - making a total of 36 - 12 more to go - and they have partial sashing - and they will be finished by the weekend. Friday (today), my DH and I are going to a County Fair, located in Monroe, WA, about 30 miles north of our home - a smaller fair than the Western WA Fair - and one that I always enjoy visiting for the Grange and 4-H displays - and the quilts - yay!
So - no sewing on Friday. But we've had rain today - and some is forecast for Friday - but we can scurry from building to building - no need to be outside for very long. And the rains should be light - no storms predicted.
After I finish the final 12 blocks, then I'll have the one long cross-wise seam to sew - 6 blocks wide - just short of 60" in width. (This is a lap quilt size - 55-1/2 " by 73-1/2" - don't know if I'll add a border or not. I've auditioned some of the fabrics I have in my stash and none of them have jumped out at at me just yet. And I'm thinking about the backing fabric too. The Fons & Porter pattern does not feature a border.
Then, I'll have to set up my sewing area so that the entire quilt sandwich can easily be manipulated - and I'll have to re-teach myself all about machine quilting.
And I need to decide on the thread color - which I'm close to thinking it should be a dark tan color - and I need to purchase the thread. I've been using an ecru for the piecing - and have had plenty on hand. But the darker thread I'm not sure I have available.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 2, 2016 18:57:00 GMT -5
Hi quilters Hope everyone is doing well and working on a quilt! Hope to hear from some of you. graylady - sorry you didn't get to the fair, I'm sure you missed seeing those quilts Sounds like you are almost done with the quilt top and then it will be onto the machine quilting. I'll be interested to hear how that goes, since one of my goals is to start doing some machine quilting on my smaller quilts. I can't imagine quilting a large quilt like you have. But I'm sure you'll get it done I've had a really busy week with things I needed to do out of the house, so no time for any quilting for me. Tomorrow I'm going to the 50th wedding anniversary party for my brother and sister-in-law. It will be nice to see all of their children and grandchildren as well as other family members.
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Post by graylady on Sept 3, 2016 3:56:23 GMT -5
CJ: I hope you have a wonderful time at your family gathering today for the golden wedding anniversary party. I hope that everyone gets to see your hard work on the lovely pillow you made for them.
I'm fnished with the sashing - except for sewing the long center seam attaching the top 24 squares and the bottom 24 squares. It's almost 2:00 AM and I'm too tired to tackle that. It's best to do it in the light of day - when I'm fresh.
I've found a U. S. Navy insignia on E-Bay - it's on a red fabric background and meant as a pillow top. I'm having a friend purchase it for me who's accustomed to on-line transactions - which I don't do much at all. I will place it on the back of the quilt in the middle. I'm so excited that I found it. It was my daughter's idea - she came by today for a short visit on her day "off" - and it was the first time that she saw the quilt top - or knew anything about it. And she was gracious in not being jealous that I did her older brother's quilt "first." (He's 17-1/2 months older than she.)
The rains finally stopped today - but it was too late for going to the fair. It's possible that we may yet go up there on Sunday or Monday.
Now - to clear off my dining room table to begin the quilt sandwich.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 4, 2016 15:52:30 GMT -5
Hi Quilters - hope you are all doing well graylady - I'm excited for your find of the U.S. Navy insignia - that will look wonderful on the back of the quilt in the middle. Glad to hear you have mostly finished the sashing too. I don't have any children, but I can imagine how special this quilt is for you to make and how much your son will appreciate it I haven't done any quilting for awhile, since this week was just so busy. I had a nice time at the party yesterday and was able to visit with lots of people I rarely see. I went to a Scottish festival today and it was nice to visit vendors and get some Scottish foods. I also love to hear the bagpipes, so that was fun. It's supposed to be really hot here this week again, so I'm not sure when I'll get back to quilting. Hopefully later on in September
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Post by graylady on Sept 5, 2016 1:56:40 GMT -5
I took care of the mistake - two misplaced cornerstones - and some seams that opened up - so I took my time and did it "good enough" without taking out a whole row of 6 blocks.
Then, I sewed the connecting seam - ironed the top - and it's sitting waiting for me to think about a border and the binding - and the backing.
We also arranged a space on top of the pool table downstairs - with a couple of stored doors - so I can tape down the backing and baste the layers together.
That's it for today. We have nothing special planned for Labor Day - but on Tuesday, a very busy week begins - so I'll have to somehow get my quilt sewing done in-between lots of other commitments.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 5, 2016 14:07:59 GMT -5
Hello everyone - hope you are all well and doing some quilting this holiday graylady - sounds like things are moving along. That also sounds like a good set up to baste your quilt I'm just relaxing today after the busy week I had. Hoping to get to some quilting again soon.
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Post by graylady on Sept 5, 2016 19:54:31 GMT -5
I'll add my "hello" to any quilters out there. Guess everyone is too busy with the holiday and getting back to school.
I've been measuring and deciding on a backing and a border for my quilt. I have just enough fabric for the backing - and have steam ironed all 123" of it - and the other fabrics I'm using for borders/bindings.
Now, I have to change the thread to a dark gray which will go well with the blues and tans and dark reds of this quilt.
I found out that the ensignia won't be shipped until close to Sept. 28 - so I may be appliquing that by hand.
Otherwise, I've spent a good portion of today "laboring" on this quilt. Happy Labor Day everyone!
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Post by cj59 on Sept 6, 2016 18:28:50 GMT -5
Hi Quilters - hope everyone is doing well graylady - I give you a lot of credit for doing such a large quilt. I think the largest top I ever pieced was about 80x60. That one is still waiting to be quilted and I think I'll probably take it to a longarmer to get done. I haven't done any quilting lately, but sure hope to get back to it soon. One thing I do want to do this Fall is go through my fabric stash and organize it again. I did that earlier this year, but some of it is out of control again. I saw a tutorial for folding fabric, and I try to use that method with my fabrics. They fold and lay pretty flat so they don't take up as much room.
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Post by graylady on Sept 7, 2016 11:51:50 GMT -5
Thank you, CJ, for realizing that "doing such a large quilt" is a huge commitment. But - for my oldest son - it's worth it.
I met another "quilter" yesterday at an event - and I showed her a picture of my pieced top - she asked me if I had cut all those pieces by myself. Of course, I said. She told me that she only does quilts with pre-cut pieces. Hmmm - that has never even entered my mind. Picking out the fabrics is part of the fun and appeal for me. True - doing the cutting isn't exactly "fun," but it becomes a challenge to me. And I've devised ways to make the cutting process more efficient and accurate.
Anyway, not much sewing going on this week. I have 4 days of engagements - including my daughter's birthday tomorrow - for which I'm making a fresh peach pie/cobbler. Yesterday, we went out to lunch on her "day off." Tomorrow, she'll come over after work for her birthday dessert.
I've steam-ironed the backing, batting, and quilt top. But I have yet to attach the borders. Hope to do that by this coming weekend.
I'm out the door this morning - for a haircut and other errands - and much going on the rest of the day into the evening.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 7, 2016 15:50:00 GMT -5
Hello Quilters - hope you are all doing well
graylady - I think quilting is so interesting because there are so many parts to it and ways to do things. You take pleasure from cutting out the pieces of fabric, so that's part of the joy of creating for you. I've used a combination of cutting pieces in some quilts and using precuts in others.
I love peach pie. I used to make one every summer when I was working and when my father was living - that way I could share it. But now that I'm on my own, I wouldn't dare have a full pie in the house - no sense in tempting myself to eat it I'm sure you're family will enjoy your pie.
I haven't done anything with my quilting lately, but I'm sure I'll get back to it soon.
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Post by graylady on Sept 8, 2016 2:42:51 GMT -5
No sewing today - kept going from one appointment to another all day - until I got home about 9 PM - then ate soup and toasted cheese sandwich - and got busy with the peach crisp. The peaches were beautiful local beauties - but still pretty firm - so I found a tip that worked great. I cut them in half and put them on a roasting sheet and roasted them for 20 to 30 minutes at 375 - until they were tender - let them cool, and the skins slipped right off - and they were juicy and easy to cut up.
I made a streusel with flour, oats, brown sugar, and butter - and it's baking now. My daughter asked for a crisp rather than a pie.
Tomorrow (actually today - Thursday) I have a dental appointment - so that's why I had to bake the crisp tonight. She and a friend will come over after work.
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Post by cj59 on Sept 8, 2016 13:01:44 GMT -5
Hello Quilters - hope everyone is doing well and working on some beautiful quilts I've been checking into classes for the Fall, but haven't seen many that I really want to take. One that I did see that is interesting to me is a 2 hour class on using panels in quilts. I have several panels and I'd love to use them and make a quilt, so I might try to take this class. Another class I saw was a two part class (two hours each) on machine quilting. Looks like they'd give a good overview and practice, so I might think about taking that too. I think I kind of have a mind block that I can't machine quilt, or maybe I'm concerned about messing up my quilt top after I put so much time into it. I want to get past that so I can enjoy the whole process of making a quilt
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Post by graylady on Sept 10, 2016 2:58:30 GMT -5
CJ: I think a class on machine quilting sounds like a good idea. I'm trying to think how I got my start with machine quilting - and I think it was from watching quilt shows and videos. The hardest part is learning how to use the correct pressure feet - darning or quilting feet. I'm going to have to practice figuring it all out again too. Also, figuring out the design and possibly marking the quilt top is another decision to make.
I'll try to finish adding the borders to the quilt top on Saturday - and then get busy with basting the quilt sandwich and begin the machine quilting. My friend told me that the naval insignia has arrived and she'd bring it over on Saturday too. So - that's quite helpful so that I can try to incorporate it on the back of the quilt before I start quilting.
And my DH constructed a flat piece of laminate which fits around my sewing machine - to the left side - and extends several feet past the sewing machine to give lots of space for a large quilt. I'm so happy about that I've got this all set up now so I can more easily maniuplate a large quilt as I machine quilt.
I've had a full schedule this week - our family get-together for my daughter's birthday went very nicely - we had so much fun - and the fresh peach cobbler was enjoyed and appreciated by all.
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