Happy New Year! Use What You Got!

Although I've only been quilting for almost 2 years (since April 2015), I've managed to accumulate quite a fabric stash, and not just a few quilt tops.  So IG is all abuzz with peeps clearing off crafting room space, organizing stashes and resolving to use up their stash and to finish what they started.  

So they've motivated me to do some organizy-type stuff.  So here's my stash: 

  

I'm playing along with @projectLeasa and hashtagging #sewmystash2017 in an effort to...er, um, sew my stash!

And there is a lovely group of bloggers hosting a Finish-Along.  I found out about it from @shecanquilt, and I think it will be helpful for me to finish some projects.  Part of the deal is that I have to link up a list of things that still need making, and then quarterly post a link a finish.  So without further ado, here are my unfinished tops:

From top left to right:

1. My son Cameron's Skateboard Quilt (2016)

2. Five and Dime Quilt (2015)

3. Figtree Farmhouse Bonus Quilt - Leader/Ender (2016)

4. Halloween Quilt (2016)

5. Stars and Stripes (2016)

6. French General "Bon Voyage" HST Stars (2016)

7. Aquarium Attic Windows (2016)

Also, my 8. Bloom (2016) quilt by Lori Holt is still on the Grace frame, languishing because I'm having frustrating thread breakage issues I can't troubleshoot, and I'm also trying to do custom quilting with rulers for the first time.  It's on indefinite time out, although I do seriously need to get if off that frame soon so that I can do some of those quilts above!

And, also my 9. Cozy Christmas (2016) quilt, also a Lori Holt sew along, is my first try at hand-quilting.  I'm hoping I can get it done by Christmas 2017! 

So I realized that although I love piecing, and that actually quilting is fun, I loathe the basting part.  Like, a burning, passionate hate.  It's such a wrestling match to get the huge piece of backing smooth on the floor and taped down (not to mention actually frankenstein-piecing the unwieldy thing together), and then getting the batting to lie flat on top of it, and then, at the very end when you're disgusted and sore, layering the top on so that it's not crooked.  Then crawling around on the hard floor with pins, or trying in vain to keep everything smooth while spray-basting it together is absolute hell.  Yes, I've realized that is why my poor quilts get stuck at the "flimsy" stage.

But will I send them out to a professional?  Heck no, I want to be able to say that I made the thing, from start to finish!  My Grace frame was supposed to help me with this basting issue, but I have already mentioned Bloom, so...

I'm much better at keeping my current piecing WIPs in check!  I only have these going on:

  

10. Treenware & Berries Leader/Ender (2016)

11. Swoon (#SwoonAlong/#SwoonQAL2017) - 2016

12. Sweet Sugar Swirls (#FigtreeFriendsQAL) - 2016

13. En Provence - Quiltville Mystery (#enprovencequilt/#quiltvillemystery)

14. Vintage Sheet Dresdens - Leader/Ender (2016)



Whew!! So there are my unfinished projects!  I know I won't get them all done this quarter, but I'll try to tackle a few.  We'll see how far I get! :-)

A Finished Quilt!!

 I hate keeping secrets.  I'm really no good at it, simply because I forget that that particular little factoid in my brain is not meant to be shared.  You've all been warned! ;-)

But when I work on a project which is meant for someone who follows me on social media, I HAVE to keep it secret.  Why?  Several reasons:

1. Surprises are fun for the recipients.  Am I right!?!

2. I don't like crafting under pressure.  If I know the recipient is "watching" my progress, it freaks me out.  

3.  I feel guilty if I post that I'm working on anything but that gift project.  And I always have multiple projects going at any given time, and I jump around depending on how I feel that day. 

4.  I don't want the recipient to feel like they have a vote in the creation process.  Like they may make a suggestion that isn't possible, or is a terrible idea, or I disagree with.  Can you say awkward?

5.  Because I'm my own worst critic, I sometimes "complain" about the projects I'm working on.  You know, like, "OMG, this block is so wonky, but whatever, I'm not re-doing it" or "I hate this quilt, it's sucking the life out of me and I want to burn it to ashes".  I could see how that could take the magic out of it for the recipient.

6.  I may change my mind about the project, chuck it altogether, and decide to make something else, perhaps causing confusion and disappointment on the part of the recipient who may have been looking forward to the original. 

7.  I may fall in love with the crafty item and decide to keep it for myself, and then just give a store-bought gift ;-).  This actually hasn't happened, but I've been really close!  

I can also see an upside, in that the recipient would actually be able to get a sense of just how much time goes into their hand-made gift.  But, really, if I'm making someone something, it's because I'm fairly certain that person is the type who will appreciate it.

Anywoo, I made a quilt for my sister-in-law.  SIL is a writer, so I know she understands the creative process.  And she's a deep thinker/feeler, which are always appreciative types too.  She's a cool peep who has done some creatively brave stuff, so she's getting a quilt!  So I bought coffee fabric with her in mind, because she LOVES coffee.  Cool, done, I'll make her some kind of quilt for her birthday with this lovely fabric.  Then, on Facebook, she hinted, not so broadly, that she would like a bookshelf quilt.  

But I didn't WANT to make a bookshelf quilt.  But, duh, it would be perfect for her.  Fine.  After agonizing over the style and design, I came up with an idea; not too realistic, not too abstract.  

Front

Back. Don't worry, she LOVES the skulls!

I like how it came out, and I learned a lot with this one!  I dove into my stash for the fabric, and had to figure out color combos, which I am horrible at doing.  I like things super matchy-matchy, so finding contrasting "zinger" colors is really challenging.  So here are some process pics:

Choosing fabric

 

First blocks!

Rows!

I finished the top after I got my new Grace SR-2 quilt frame, so I had to practice on the frame before even thinking of putting this baby on it to quilt.  

First time trying feathers!  So fun!

Even my little Trev gave it a try:

So I finally convinced myself that I could at least do a loopy meander, since I really needed to get this thing DONE!  Loaded it up, took a deep breath, and off I went:

So of course there are a few mistakes, which were part of the learning curve on where my quilt space limits are, and figuring out how to not trap myself :-).  I also discovered some pretty gnarly thread loops on the under-side AFTER the quilt was off, so I was upset about that, and had to go back to fix those by hand.  Still not sure what caused those, since they were sporadically spaced and there was no indication of trouble of the top.  Hopefully SIL doesn't notice them.  

So I mailed this bad boy off (late for her birthday, so it was sure to be a surprise), and when she received it, she posted an awesome FB post with a bunch of pics, and it made me tear up knowing how happy it had made her!  Woo hoo, mission accomplished!! :-)

"BLOOM" Sew-Along, Block 9 - My Style!

Today is Mother's Day, and my super-thoughtful husband "bought" (meaning we both decided) me a Grace SR-2 quilting frame for my Brother PQ 1500SL machine! 

I was really excited until I had to start figuring things out, like ideal thread tension, foot height, speed, quilt tension, quilt height, etc., since my thread kept skipping and breaking.  A lot.  I even did some FMQ on the machine by pushing a sample quilt around under the needle, just to make sure it still worked.  It did.  But I learned that I just need to slow waaaay down on the frame, and I had to adjust the afore-mentioned tensions, one at a time.  Once I did that, my practice designs started getting better, with only a very occasional skipped stitch, which is still driving me nuts!  But then, as I was just starting to get into my quilting groove, my machine started just turning off randomly.  I oiled it, and gave it and me a break and decided to make my Bloom block.  

Yes, I'm still plugging away at my Bloom quilt..I think I'm 7 weeks/blocks behind Lori at this point.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I will be replacing the "X" shaped blocks with a design of my own making.  Block 9 is supposed to be this:

Credit: "A Bee In My Bonnet". Click the pic for Lori's tutorial.

Instead, I'm going to make a patchwork flower, like this:

So, here's my applique process using Lite Steam-a-Seam2:

Pick fabrics, trace the templates onto the SAS2, cut out the shapes, stick them to the wrong side of the fabric, cut them precisely, peel off the paper backing, and stick the shapes to the background fabric.  This time, I had to sew some fabrics together for the patchwork so I could then cut out the circle shape and the leaves:

The purty patchwork flower, all ready to applique:

I did my blanket stitch around everything, except for the zig-zag on the stems, picked out some borders, and here is my Block 9:

I think it's really cute, if I do say so myself! :-)