Doll quilt and the banner

  A new doll quilt arrived this week from Quiltnanny of the HGTV Message board.  It is a small sampler of wonderful blocks.  And then I flipped it over to see the back......

  Quiltnanny used the cutest fabric on the back.  It's a wonderful alphabet fabric full of bright colors and animals.  Thank you, Quiltnanny, for representing New Hampshire with this one.

  I so appreciate all the gals at HGTV who really keep the Mrs. Claus project rolling on!












 

It is almost time for the Winter Olympic games to begin and those wonderful banners from Sochi are everywhere.  It was 2 years ago when they caught my eye and inspired my venture into 60 degree triangles.  Here is the post where I began.  Ironically, it is my most viewed post!  Must be the color  :)
   So in honor of the games, I pulled out the purple banner to enjoy.

   I have cleaned the machines, and filled the bobbins, so now it is pedal down for me.   Happy stitching.


 
 

January Something old, something new

  Something new........
 Done just in time.....the twin baby quilts are finished.  I used the crossroads blocks to make these two...one girl and one boy.  Lynne queried how I would handle the white areas on them.  Good question!  Normally I would quilt them flat, but the purpose of these are to be cuddly and soft.  That meant open, simple quilting.

   For Bella's, I used big fat hearts with a little swirl.  48 hearts equal a lot of love, and all connected with loops and curls.   These are the weeping heart style that were part of the first month's lesson during the Free Motion Quilting Challenge.  They came in handy here to fill up that white space and still keep it soft.

 
   But no hearts for Blake's.....instead I did my version of coloring book stars.   I actually pulled out my doodle pad and practiced drawing a few dozen of these before I began to quilt.  Not all the lines are straight, but once washed, who will notice.  And don't you dare call the quilt police on me.








 Something old......

   I made some headway on quilting the huge whopper  Buzz Saw quilt.   This will be around for a few more weeks or months!  Actually, I am ready to do some straight lines on it and then move to the border.
  My explanation of selecting the quilting pattern led to 2 posts talking about my ideas on design layers.







    And to finish off my month, I added borders to two pieced tops, that are official UFOs.   I posted about my simple borders technique that I used for these.


  February's plans are easy to make.  Quilt, quilt, quilt......work on the Buzz Saw till I drop, or get tired anyway.  And pin the 2 UFOs.  Play a little bit more with the stings of batiks for the jumbled library quilt.  Short month, so short list.....kind of.
Linking to Never too hot to stitch
for Something old, Something new.

Happy stitching.

UFO from the Woodworker

   My woodworker, Sir Old Man, has been contemplating this UFO for at least 4 years.....and now it is almost completed!   The tool man's woodwork bench is over 8 feet long and gone through at least 3 re-designs.
   It began after he took a bench making class shortly after he retired.  He was quite inspired and spent days/weeks/months searching for just the right wood and timbers.
   Of course, the wood (like fabric)  had to be "seasoned".  A quilter might stash/hide fabric in the trunk of the car, back of the towel closet, or under the bed behind the Christmas decorations.....but it is hard to hide 8 foot boards of yellow pine, and 5" by 6" red oak timbers!  We spend the last 4 years stepping over, around, and by-passing the stack of them.

  The twin-screw tail vise----aren't you proud of me for knowing that?---was a birthday present to him  about 2 years ago.  Sir Old Man modified the handles....you see those things that turn the screws.  Anyway, he "improved" them, and please note the hard maple he used to make the jaws.  I only point it our because of the coins it cost.  At least 10 yards of fabric worth here.






  By the way, the legs and top have to be equal to about 10 quilts.....but who is keeping track.  Grin!

  Quilters make miters, and sandwiches, and a woodworker makes mortise and tendons.  The base was constructed separately in sections...each leg set on the end is a unit and the stretchers are mortise and tendoned in.   He is preparing/designing/figuring out how to create a storage cabinet/shelf that will fit between the stretchers.

   If you think  a  quilter has a lot of small tools....a woodworker beats us hands down.  For every ruler that I have, he needs 2 or 3 planes.  For every spool of thread, or different size needle I use, he needs a special router bit, or wood glue.  The list is endless, and I will stop while I can still think straight.


  And the top.  It had to be smooth, really, really smooth.....and level, don't forget that.  Luckily, for Christmas this year, he was allowed to take the top to a cabinet shop where they ran the entire thing through a huge planer/sander.  Otherwise, it would have been 4 more years for him to hand plane this baby!
  And now, I discover he is going to drill  HOLES into it!  Really, he needs holes for the dogs......no, Deana and Dana, not the 4 legged kind.  A  bench dog in this case is a  devise that will hold the wood in place while Sir Old Man is working on it.  Kind of like a third hand, or a old -fashioned sewing bird of a by-gone era.


 
 It is such a beauty....but hopefully soon, it will have a few dings in it.  I have placed an order for a new bed to be built.
  One thing for sure, this puppy is not going anywhere.  And if a tornado is spotted, it will make a great storm shelter!

  

Crossroads blocks

   Yes, that is a little bit of snow in the background.....a  not too common event here.  So I could not resist using it to take a couple of photos.
   This little top will be a quilt for one of the twins to come.  I said I was a minimalist piecer and this top  proves it.  It is very quick and easy to put together,  and  a great way to use those small bit of leftover strips.










   Connie at Freemotion on the River provided the pattern in three sizes.  This is the largest size block.  Twelve blocks and I have a nice size play quilt---36" by 48".  I have a second one to put together today.  But I couldn't help but think about variations-----maybe done in batiks, or showcase some floral prints in the large squares, or done in blue and yellow.
  Enough day dream planning.....I need to be stitching and think about the quilting.
Happy stitching.

Quilting as a design layer

It is beautiful and in the 50s here today.....so I am outside enjoying the sun before the next cold blast arrives tomorrow.
  Here is how I approach the quilting process to hopefully get that added design layer.

      My third design layer is the quilting.   This turns a flimsy into a quilt and can change the whole appearance of a top.  Like adding decorative icing on a plain cake, and suddenly it becomes a wedding cake.  A lot of quilting, a little quilting, or absolutely hyper-type quilting......I love it all and think there's a place for it to be used.
   For a wall quilt, or a show quilt, I love to see lots and lots of thread used----what I call hyper-type quilting.  But if I want to cuddle up under a quilt, I want it flexible, not flat and stiff as a board. If it is a special gift to someone, I want to "show off" a little and make sure there is some fancy quilting stitches that they can enjoy.
   I will ponder a while and ask myself a few questions before I put the quilt under the needle....usually.

•   Who is the quilt for...and how will it be used?
•   What part of the design do I want to stand out?
•   Do I have large areas that are open/plain and need to be filled?
•   Is it a busy pattern with lots of prints that will hide the stitching?

   

   Busy patterns and lots of prints are the easiest to decide on.....they will hide a lot of your stitching, so do the easy thing.  For me, that is large stippling.  I use the large stipple on watercolor quilts, and chose it for Walking in Sunshine, which was the Easy Street mystery from Bonnie Hunter.  There was just so much going on in this quilt, I wanted to blend it together and not try to accent anything.  A second choice could easily be a pantograph --repeated-- pattern that runs across the quilt from edge to edge.  Or straight lines on the diagonal would be a third option.    All three options serve to finish the top and not put the focus on any one part.

  

 Applique quilts usually provide a great opportunity to let the quilting stand out.  There are open areas/background space that are crying for some thread. 

  Red Hots is from last year and I was learning to do feathers as you can see here.  I wanted the hearts to really pop, and it was a wall quilt (not for cuddling), so the background was quilted heavily.  By heavily quilting the background, the appliques stand out. 

  The trees in this quilt are pieced with just a few birds appliqued on, but there is a lot of background space.  I filled it all in with swirls--large and small---in an attempt to push that background back.

And the benefit was a great texture for all that white area....the swirling lines look like blowing snow.

Deb's quilt at A Simple Life Quilts

   Straight lines.....often overlooked but so effective in the right place.  I thought Deb used the straight lines here to get very striking results.  The pattern is a simple sashed pinwheel block.  Yet with the quilting accentuating the diagonals, I see  a secondary pattern of the white sashing strips.

  I  did ask permission to show this one from Deb at A Simple Life Quilts.  Be sure to see the rest of her work.   Thanks, Deb, for sharing.

  I ran across a couple other quilts that really take that third layer of quilting over the top.  One is at Nifty Stitcher---click here to see.  Rhianon is a fabulous quilter....she knows how to push the limit and go beyond the boundaries.  Her latest quilt of floral hearts is a simple design of sashed blocks that is very heavily quilted.  She pushed the backgrounds down with quilting to bring the appliques forward, the sashing is full of feathers, and I even see some straight lines.  Don't miss this one!

  A second one I discovered at Tamarack Shack.  She long arm quilted a customer quilt with a mix of patterns to blend and bring out the texture.  

  I added all three of these quilts to Pinerest under Free Motion Quilting.

     I am a minimalist piecer.......I like the piecing to be quick and easy because I want to get to the quilting stage.  I love the texture the quilting gives my quilts.  I enjoy the added element of the quilting pattern.

    If you prefer more difficult/ prolonged piecing and less quilting.....applause from me.  Hopefully, you will still glean some information from all of this anyway.   There are no rules, but some principles still apply.   We are all quilters and I think there is room in the world for all of us, no matter where we fall.  And the best part.....a finished quilt!  Happy stitching. 

Design layers

    I am cutting strips today for another set of baby quilts.....another set of twins are arriving soon for a friend's daughter.  (Must be something in the air around here!)   This is a new pattern for me that I snatched from Connie at Freemotion on the River.   I love that she made up a printable card for the Crossroads block.
  Anyway, I needed a break and I have been answering more emails and comments about figuring out what quilting pattern to quilt on projects.  I sure don't have  all of the answers....just a strong point of view and opinion usually.  So I thought I would share some of what I shared with others.

I called this bold and bright!

 Design layer number 1 is the pattern you select.  It  may be a traditional block, applique design, improv block...etc.  In layer number 1 is also color that you use for the block....2 color, 3 color, or scrappy and full of prints and colors.  The fabrics and colors you select will set a tone for the quilt.  It might be light and fun, or bold and strong, or soft and muted.

Soft and light

   Design layer number 2 is the layout including borders.....examples:  block to block, with sashing strips,  asymmetrical layout, or a central block with multiple borders.  In a block to block design, the eye moves all over.  The sashing strips frame each block and give a stopping point for the visual eye.  The asymmetrical layout  and the multiple border quilt create a tension or excitement for the eye....like looking around the corner to see what is next. 

   

   Two examples to show what I mean.     For this donation quilt I used multiple borders....and multiple types of borders.  They combine to create drama and excitement for the eye.





   This wall hanging has an asymmetrical layout.  There are borders on two sides rather than all around.
Update:   The pattern for the dogwood is by Mark Lipinski.  Click here for the free pattern.

   Think about the multiple types of layout for a log cabin block and the variety of looks you can achieve with the same block.   I would love to steal some photos to share, but I had better send you to Pinterest to look for log cabin quilts instead.:)

  Hopefully, I have not confused you, but rather have given you some things to think about as you look at the quilts you have made.
  I am out of time today.....next time will be quilting as a design layer.  and keep the questions coming!  Happy stitching.     

Quilting the whopper....

   This one is a whopper......this photo shows about a third of the whole thing.  All the center light areas are quilted.  Next I will do some straight lines through the saw blades, before I move to the border.
  And before you ask, I bunched and puddled up the quilt under the long arm.  I had the extra fabric/weight distributed  on small tables on either side of the machine table.  I concentrated on the 12 inch area that I wanted to quilt.....that is the part I kept smooth and flat.  Everything else was just a scrunched up mess.  I began on one edge of the light area, swirling and twirling my way across the area until filled.
    I tried not to quilt too densely.  And by the time I finished, I knew it took 12 minutes to quilt each one!  I haven't checked the stitch counter yet.....I may not want to know that number.

    The most often asked question in my machine quilting class is not about thread or tension.  It is simply...."How do you know what design to quilt?".
Most patterns say to "quilt as desired".....yeah, right!

    I generally use the principle that what I quilt down will recede (move to the background) and what is outlined or very lightly quilted will be the focus.  For this one, I want the saw blades to be featured, so that is where I will straight line stitch just enough to keep it flat and in place......which means just a line through the center of the blades going vertical and horizontal.  Luckily the blades/blocks  touch, so it will just be long, long seams.
 
   Anyway, my quilt as desired will include my favorite stitches.....and I can't wait to do the border feathers.  There is lots of room to play there.  Happy stitching.