Ufo's and a Little Planning

What always happens when I clean my sewing room is that I unearth a few forgotten UFO's. That is what happened this week. So while I wait for a day to get some basting done, I got back to quilting this little mini Dresden Plate.

 

 

I had forgotten how cute it is!

 

I have also been anticipating a little cooler weather and had to get these mitts done...

 

 

They are perfect for fall and early winter!

 

Now for the planning...so this winter I am hand quilting my applique quilt I just finished and have been giving some thought to what I wanted to do with my wagon wheel quilt. It is very rustic so my first thought was to big stitch it. Then my second thought was that I wasn't sure if the quilting design I had in mind would work with big stitch...so I did a test.

 

The quilt....

 

 

The quilting design....

 

 

The test...half in regular quilting and half in big stitching. I used regular hand quilting thread for the hand quilted side (dark stitches) and Sulky Blendables in 12wt for the big stitching (light stitches).

 

 

I was pleased to find out the big stitching looked great! I did make the stitches a bit smaller that usual and I think it did make a difference!

 

Here is where the stitching is going...

 

 

Now to find the perfect color. I am hoping to find a variegated brown...perhaps a bit 'rusty'. I'll be in a few quilt shops at the end of the month so I'm hoping to find what I'm looking for. I usually mail order thread but it is tough matching colors that way. I hope to find the perfect color!

 

These two quilting projects should keep me busy the whole winter!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Done!!!!

I love my life as a quilter! My log cabin is done!

 

These fabrics all came from a hand dying kit and I think I may need to do another...in different colors of course!

 

For my local friends, if you want to see it in person it will be hanging at the library for a while!

 

And now I am a little lost. I came home from work and I had no quilt to quilt on. So now what do I do? I did find a mini UFO that needs quilting so I got back to working on that. In the meantime I'll get my next big quilt marked and basted and ready to hand quilt.

 

 The danger though of not having anything ready is that you start thinking...and I think my winter mission is to learn to love needle turn applique.

 

Happy Stitching!

 

It Stinks!

 

It's he curse of the Featherweight case. They stink...really, really, really bad.

 

 

So my Dad came to the rescue! He made me this new case made of sturdy plywood.

 

I got to decorate it. This was plan B.

 

 

Plan A was to cover it with scrapbooking paper but I couldn't find anything that I liked for my case so I painted and stencilled instead. The colors are a little off in this picture but it gives the idea! Then I added some felt to the inside so my featherweight would be all cozy inside!

 

 

 

Fits perfectly!

 

 

Thanks Dad!

 

Up next, I just have to sew the binding on my log cabin. I am loving it!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

I Forgot the Border!

I was happily quilting away and while I was quilting my last log cabin block I realized I had not even give the border a single thought.

 

 

I finally decided that it wasn't going to matter too much on such a thin border and since I am using black thread, it probably won't show much.

 

Here is the stencil I decided to use...

 

 

It won't be long to finish now! I love it when I get this close to finishing a quilt.

 I become a little obbssessed until it is done.

 

And I finally did something that needed to be done a long time ago...

 

 

I cleaned my iron! Do you think it needed it?

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

Testing 1,2,3

It's cleaned, oiled and working...

 

 

 

After the maintenance, I decided to make a quick little quilt to test it out before taking it to quilting. It is going to be my machine that I take to quilting on Mondays and to quilting weekends as well. The stitching was good and the tension was easy to adjust...it was looking good!

 

There were a couple things I had to get used to...a smaller foot pedal and it has a manual presser foot lever. I think I have been spoiled by my regular sewing machine.

 

I had sewn almost all the components together before I realized that my seam allowance was out. The machine came with two 1/4" feet...and the one I used wasn't quite right. Despite that the quilt turned out cute!

 

 

After I finished I thought I had better do a seam allowance test.

 

Foot #1

 

 

Foot #2 (the one I didn't use for my test quilt)

 

 

 

It was right on...so here is the winning foot...

 

 

I like the feet with the guide on the side so I may look into getting one for my Featherweight but this one will do for now!

 

Happy Stitching!

 

 

 

 

Done the Applique!

I may be in love already! I am just so very happy with this quilt so far.

 

 

I've been putting a lot of thought into how I am going to quilt it. I've decided on cross hatching 1" or less apart and a bit of feathers too. The pattern included a feathered wreath for between the blocks and I am adding a feather design to the corners and center sides. Here is what I am thinking so far...

 

 

So now I am going to finish quilting my log cabin and as soon as that is done I'll be starting this beauty!

 

 

  I have been waiting a long time to see this...we had deer in the early summer that nibbled off most of the tops of my sunflowers but this one survived!

 

 

Happy Stitching!