Piecing Marathon Complete

The past six weeks have been a whirlwind of activity, harvesting and freezing the last of the raspberries and blueberries, a few quarts of the wild Himalayan blackberries on the neighboring lot, apples picked from my sister's tree and turned into 18 pints of yummy applesauce for our winter dinners.  Our tomatoes are finally reaching the nearly ripe stage, and barring an early freeze, we may yet have a harvest worthy of home-canned stewed tomatoes and salsas.

In the sewing room, my free motion quilting practice has been set aside in order to finish piecing three twin-sized quilt tops and backs - the last of this year's intended Christmas gifts-to-be.  The last quilt back was pieced yesterday, and bindings for all three now cut and set aside.  Whew!   This morning layered and pin-basted the first two, now ready for free motion quilting.  At last, time to move the cutting table and the new little auxiliary folding table into position in the quilting corner.   I feel like I'll be starting from scratch again with FMQ, it's been so long since I've even practiced for 5 minutes - the last FMQ was the little Jesters Hat sample for SewCalGal's August FMQ Challenge.  I do love the Jesters Hat pattern and plan to use it as an all-over design on at least one of the three quilts about to go under the needle.

Here's a sneak peek at the most recently pieced top, as the last strip of blocks was being sewn on.  After piecing the first two quilt tops on the new Janome, my vintage machines were calling out to me, so this one was pieced on my 1950s Singer 301A fondly dubbed "Casey Jones" since it reminds me so much of the old locomotives  of my childhood.

Now, back to the machine for some sorely needed FMQ practice! 

August FMQ Challenge

August is nearing an end, and we are beginning to see big changes in our daylight hours, and the sun is casting longer shadows in the garden even at high noon.  As autumn approaches we are finally beginning to see a few ripe tomatoes, though there may not be enough harvest for many batches of canned salsa and stewed tomatoes to set aside for winter.  However, what we lack in tomatoes we shall make up for with our bountiful harvest of berries; the freezer is nearly full with the abundance, which we will make up into jams and preserves as needed, and lovely warm berry crunch desserts.  We have made our jams and jellies for years using Pomonas low sugar pectin which we purchase in bulk.  Using very little sugar and adding a touch of lemon juice to the jam mixture results in heavenly fruity, not sugary jams.  No guilt in spreading generous amounts of these jams on our morning toast or biscuits!

On to the Free Motion Quilting Challenge with our August tutorial provided by Wendy Sheppard.  Wendy is an extremely talented and prolific quilter who generously shares her knowledge and tutorials for some of her signature quilting designs through her series of "Thread Talk" posts on her blog called Ivory Spring (link in my favorite blog section to the right of this post).  Wendy shared a design called "Jester's Hats" with us this month.  Another deceptive little design, looking oh-so-easy, but which many of us found a tad difficult, especially with moving the design around across a big square of fabric.  I found myself practice drawing this design on every scrap of paper on the desk, backs of envelopes, etc., before finally switching the machine over to quilting mode and trying it on fabric.  Here are a couple of views of my sample piece for this month's challenge.

I loved this design and the soft overall texture it provides, and plan to use it on my next grandchild's quilt to be layered and pinned in the next week or two.  Thanks Wendy, for all the tutorials you provide on your blog, and for participating in SewCalGal's FMQ Challenge this year!

Friday's mail brought a little package from fellow FMQ Challenge quilter Debbie at http://stitchintherapy.blogspot.com/ who recently celebrated her 500th blog post with a giveaway.  I was one of the lucky winners of a packet of lovely gift/care tags and lavendar sachets created by Debbie's daughter and available through her Etsy shop called PodBeLu.   Thanks Debbie!  These little care tags will be perfect for the gift quilts I'm making for Christmas this year!

July's FMQ Challenge

Because of this ....

There's been precious little time for this ...

July's Free Motion Quilt Challenge tutorial was provided by Angela Walters, modern quilt FMQ expert extraordinaire.  She provided a tutorial for a design called Tiles, which is also illustrated in her new book Free-Motion Quilting with Angela Walters - Choose & Use Quilting Designs for Modern Quilts.  My copy of her book arrived just a few days before we received our July Challenge tutorial, and this book is definitely a keeper!  Not only does it illustrate some gorgeous modern quilts, but she provides step by step diagrams and instructions for all of the featured designs.

So, this design challenge looked easy enough. What I've learned about SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilt Challenge is that some of the most deceptively simple designs prove to be the most difficult to achieve, this one being the latest case!    Thinking this challenge block would take 15 or 20 minutes to complete, ended up taking an hour and a half, and it isn't that large!   Those tiles turned out to be difficult to freehand - found myself dead-ended more often than I'd have liked.

Lessons learned:  I don't draw a straight line any better with a needle than with a pencil - take the time to draw out all the straight lines with a ruler and washout marker before starting to stitch.  Secondly, practice lots and LOTS of swirls before attempting to use them in a quilt.    My swirls were abysmal at best.  Think they might go a little better if quilted in a larger scale.

This will probably be the best I can do this month.  The garden is coming on strong now that we finally have summer in the Pacific Northwest.  But, I know Angela's designs will be used often, especially in the quilts planned for the older grandsons, who will definitely appreciate "modern" rather than traditional feathers!

Thanks to Angela Walters for a great tutorial and to SewCalGal for providing us with new opportunities for growth each month.  Links to both of their blogs can be found in the list at the right.

Toddler Quilt Finished

This was a fun project begun early this year with no particular goal in mind other than to make a dent in some of the accumulated fat quarters and other scraps in my stash.  Happy to report that no new fabric was purchased in the making of this little toddler quilt, completed just last Friday, thanks to an additional incentive to get 'er done and link up to Amy's Creative Side One Thing, One Week Challenge!  This one has no current destination in mind, thinking I'll keep it for awhile in hopes of a grandbaby visit before they outgrow the toddler stage (all our grandchildren live on the opposite coast and we generally travel there for visits).  Without further ado, some pics:

Several machines were played with  used during the making of this quilt!  Piecing was done on my 1950s Singer 301.   All the little squares and picture panel borders were quilted in the ditch on the vintage 1960 Singer 401 with walking foot; and free motion outline quilting was done within the picture panels on the old 1942 Singer 15-91.   Then the new Janome arrived, and the borders were free motion quilted as practice with my new machine.  Completed quilt measures 50x62 inches, has a thin lightweight poly batting, and was quilted with Aurifil Mako 50 thread.

Backing fabric is a print from Wilmington's Fun on the Farm line.

Close-up of some of the border free motion designs. 

The sweet little bear panel prints are from a line called Counting my Blessings - sorry, not enough of the selvedge left to tell me the manufacturer.

We finally had a warm, sunny weekend, so Saturday morning we rigged a makeshift line and photographed all of the year's finishes to date except for daughter's summer quilt which has already gone to its new home.  We do need to work on a better arrangement for hanging the quilts outside, especially when the queen-size ones are completed.  Another day, another project ...

2012 Finish - April

This year's resolutions included finishing all the UFO's stashed in various corners of the sewing room, and other places in the house, and taking the pledge to complete SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  Now, just over halfway through the year, I'm happy to report completion of four bed size and one lap quilt, one wallhanging, and one toddler quilt will be finished later this week.  Now, that doesn't amount to much by many quilters' standards, but for me this is an all-time high!  I'll start posting some of these finishes as time allows, and some won't be made public until after Christmas.  There are now two remaining UFO's, both queen size, one of which has been in the hand quilting hoop for more than a year now and may not make the goal.  But then that quilt has been aging gracefully, probably more so than its maker, for the past fifteen years!  What's another year or so among friends?  That's the problem, we're no longer friends, that quilt and I, and I'd gladly chuck the whole thing were it not for the many hundreds of hours already invested in intricate piecing, hand-appliqued Rose of Sharon border, and over half of it laboriously hand quilted.  It HAS to be finished, and we will drag ourselves to the finish line ... one of these years.

Enough of that, on to a 2012 finish.  This is a quilt begun nearly two years ago after my daughter had casually mentioned she would really like a queen size "summer quilt".  Her last quilt was made for her early college years, over ten years ago, and while it has held up well considering its constant use, it doesn't fit the queen size bed she now has.  After completing three months of the FMQ Challenge I decided to attempt free motion quilting this huge quilt on my old Singer 15-91, using the designs we learned during the first months of the Challenge:  the leaf design taught by Frances Moore, Diane Gaudynski-style feathers, and the loops and flowers meandering designs taught by Ann Fahl in March.  Moving the bulk of this huge (84x106) quilt through the machine proved to be a real challenge but also a great learning exercise.   Entire quilt took nearly a month to quilt and bind, and was finished two days before our trip.

Photos had to be taken indoors as the weather was cold and rainy when this was completed.  Still is, for that matter.   The finished quilt was delivered to its new home with my daughter in early May. 

Fabrics and the pattern are from Wilmington's Natural Splendor line.  Hobbs 80/20 cotton batting and Aurifil 50 thread for quilting, both top and bobbin.

Feathers quilted in the border of each large flower block.  Freehand feathers were also quilted in the outer borders.  They did not photograph well with my little camera but actually show up quite well on the quilt despite being quilted over a flower print border. 

Most of these photos were taken after the quilt was washed, all nice and soft and crinkly.

Hopefully the toddler quilt will be ready to post in the next few days.  Have a safe and happy 4th!

JUNE - The Double Challenge with FMQ

The day after my post earlier this month with my practice piece for SewCalGal's Free Motion Quilting Challenge, the old Singer 15-91 was pushed to one corner of the sewing room, and in her place a brand spanking-new Janome Horizon 7700 sat on the cutting table, awaiting its first tryout.  A few days before my birthday my incredibly sweet husband announced that my gift would be a brand-new sewing machine, but I had to choose which one.  Hence, the double June challenge:  to create the block using a brand-new machine - me, who has never used a sewing machine newer than a 1960s Kenmore, and up until two weeks ago the only machines in the house were vintage Singers.  But, this is a year of learning, so cold-turkey it would be.  The new Janome would create the Challenge block presented by our teacher Cindy Needham.  There were a few adventures along the way, as you will soon see, with breaking threads and a fabric or batting, not sure which, that was determined to bunch up and create wrinkles across the top of the design.  So, this is how we progressed through the challenge, my Janome and me ...

Day 1

I started by drawing a 10 1/2 inch circle, added a few flowing lines and some spikey leaves and quilted those - probably my first mistake was not pinning more closely and completely enclosing the circle, trapping the fabric which either stretched or shifted while quilting.

Day 2

Drew and filled in feathers, added a couple more dividing lines.  Beginning to really spot some problem areas to be conquered.  Another lesson:  drawing too many lines close together gets really confusing when under the FMQ foot! 

Day 3

Drew grid and filled in with "Diane Shiko."  Big puffy areas becoming even more prominent, yet I like where the design is going.  Wet areas showing here from spritzing the blue washout lines.

Day 6 (or maybe 7?)  this morning around 6:30

I'm thinking this circle "block" is about finished, having stippled and curlique'd some of the worst puffs into relative submission.  A few ripples and small pleats seemed unavoidable however.

This is the back.

And here's a close-up.  Can see that there are a few areas around the upper right feather that still need background fill - another day.

Now to ponder awhile about how to quilt a border around all this so the final piece will be rectangular.  But that won't be finished this month, so this is my June entry.

Happy to report bonding with Janome is progressing well, though we're still working on finding that magic 'humm-purr.'  That will probably happen once the drop-in table arrives from the warehouse across the country.  The machine is still sitting on my cutting table and too high to FMQ comfortably.

I LOVED this month's challenge.  A big THANK YOU! to Cindy Needham, our most excellent tutorial expert, and to SewCalGal who goes above and beyond making this huge challenge such a success!

Just Messing Around

Two posts in one day!  Not likely to happen again until the next total solar eclipse but just had to share the fun!

The June tutorial for SewCalGal's Free-Motion Quilting Challenge is provided by Cindy Needham who creates stunning works of art incorporating vintage and antique linens and fine free-motion quilting.  Cindy has even joined our FMQ Challenge Facebook page, providing personal advice and encouragement as we begin to explore her tutorial - now, how wonderful is that!   Thank you Cindy!   (Links to both SeweCalGal's FMQ Challenge and Cindy's blog can be found on the right-hand side bar.)

Anyway, after a morning of tedious black-on-black FMQ outlining on my current project, an empty bobbin presented an opportunity to attempt to regain some hum-purr with my machine and try out a few of the tutorial designs.  I proceeded to mark a 3/4 inch grid on the last quarter of my big practice sandwich, then gridlock set in, literally, as I and my machine did not hum-purr through those little lined squares but promptly made a mess of them.  Not to worry though, permission granted to ignore the remaining grid lines and just go for it!  Playtime!  Can say that I don't think I've ever had this much FUN doing FMQ!  Now, the results you see below aren't art-worthy, though they may be kitty mat-worthy after binding, but that wasn't the point!  Hum-purr regained! 

Top, with the blue grid lines still showing, quilted on my 1942 Singer 15-91.  Some sort of polyfill batting that puffs rather nicely, Aurifil Mako 50 for both top and bobbin.

Another view of the top - little squares kind of drunken spider-webby.

 Reverse side.

Reverse close-up.

This month's challenge is going to be a blast!   Now, back to quilting ...

A few of my favorite (sewing) things

Do you have a favorite sewing collectible?  Vintage rick-rack, laces, 1930s feed sack fabrics, etc.?  My vintage Singer collection began about 15 years ago when we were out looking for an inexpensive bedside stand, and DH spotted a suitable table with Queen Anne legs in an upstairs corner of a local second-hand shop.  We soon discovered said table was a sewing stand complete with a vintage black Singer machine inside.  Priced at $20.25 (everything in the shop had that 25 cent extension).  We asked if the machine was in running condition and the proprietor obligingly carried it downstairs for us since there were no electrical outlets in the upstairs of that huge old barn.  We plugged it in and it purred.  Sold!  That machine turned out to be a 1951 Singer 201 Centennial edition - often reported to be one of Singer's best models.  Still my favorite go-to machine for piecing and general sewing, it was later joined by a 1952 Featherweight, then other Singer models ranging from a 1907 treadle to the early 1960s 401 and 503 Rocketeer models.

So, how to decorate a sewing room housing all these vintage beauties?   More vintage Singer, of course, plus other vintage textile related lovelies!   Here are a few of my favorites:  vintage magazine ads, early postcards, needle cards, etc.

Page from McCall's April 1929 issue, featuring the Singer Library Table with a new electric Model 101 machine.

Needle cards ranging from early 1920s through 1950s.

Early Singer postcards with vintage lace mounted on fabric, with 1950s frames from my parents' home.

Full page ad and close-up, Good Housekeeping April 1945.  Love this ad!

So, do you have a sewing or quilting collectible?  What makes you smile when you walk into your sewing room or nook?