Some things that got finished

The Double Irish Chain is finally finished.  I bought this fabric bundle at PIQF in Santa Clara last fall. Of course I had to add to it so it would be bigger. I'm thrilled with the way this turned out.  Love the quilting! Although it's not really noticeable in the photos' there are 16 fabrics in the binding. Scrappy quilt, scrappy binding. Love this one!

Finally finished the gecko piece. I'm not sure it'll ever be "finished", really, though, because I'll be adding embellishments.  Lots and lots of embellishments.

My scrap play is also finished. I first tried alternating the red "cross" blocks with the scrappy blocks, but it was too much red.  I randomly replaced cross-blocks with more scrappy blocks until I was happy with the look.  The stars are from my Parts Department.  (See either of Freddy Moran/Gwen Marston's books for ideas for Parts Departments.)

So three more finishes for 2015, and a bunch more getting close.  Thanks for stopping by!

2015 counts

Tops: 9 

Finishes: 26 (16 quilts, 10 other)

Moving Right Along

I've finished the quilting on the gecko quilt. Whew! A LOT of thread was used! I'm pleased with the results though. Now on with the finishing (binding, blocking, label - not necessarily in that order.)

My next quilting project was this cute little tumbler. It's finished now, using the magic binding technique.  I didn't do dense quilting because I wanted this one to be soft. The tumblers are 3"; the piece is small.. Love the frog fabric on the back! 

(If you're not familiar with the magic binding technique, find it here.)

Throwback to my most recent drive across the country. Badass quilter in The Badlands. It was close to Halloween - I recognize the sweatshirt. 

That's my weekend in a nutshell. Thanks for stopping by.

The Quilting Step

I came home from the last 2015 session of Empty Spools with a burning desire to do some quilting. Not the piecing step, but the actual put-it-together-so-it-can-be-completed step of quilting the quilt. I was also eager to try a bit of the "matchstick" quilting that Jacquie Gering had discussed in our class. I had the perfect candidate.  Here's my progress so far.

Just straight-line quilting on this one, but it's a good match for this piece, which doesn't need anything else going on atop its organized chaos. 

This is the first round; the lines are 1/2" apart. My walking foot is the perfect measurement for this. You only have to mark your first stitching line (down the center of the quilt).  The rest of the lines use the walking foot as the guide. Work from the center out to each side, and remember not to stitch only in one direction (meaning, don't always stitch top-to-bottom. Turn and sew the next line bottom-to-top, then top-to-bottom, and so on.)

And the back. Love this fabric!

Next I'll stitch between the initial lines, making the lines now 1/4" apart. True matchstick quilting would have me add another line after that, making the final lines be 1/8", but I think that will be overwhelming for this piece: I might stop at 1/4".  We shall see!

The quilting is both relaxing and somewhat drone-ish. I have a good book on the iPod so I can go for hours, as long as my back holds out. Don't forget to get up and stretch!

I'll keep you posted on the progress. Thanks for stopping by!