Quilt Roundup

Some finishes, some starts, some WIPs.

99 Wonky Courthouse blocks

Blocks are stacked in a box by rows, ready to assemble. Will be 83" x 68".

DNA Quilt, 87" x 70"

 DNA quilt donated at the November QOR meeting.

Hotpad 12" x 10.75"

Hotpad sewn quilt as you go, a test for an upcoming set of placemats. Not quite this bright! Even after marking the batting it twisted a bit, will make the backings for the placemats extra large. Strips cut 1 1/2" wide.

Lime Quilt, 86" x 74"

Lime quilt, finished and ready to donate. Quilted with "Becker's Fern". The backing is a bright lime green.

Table runner ready to quilt

Friendship Star table runner, fabric from a long-ago project that didn't quite work. The border fabric does go all the way around but is rolled up on the quilting frame in the picture. I like how the white fabric is bright enough to show the pattern yet softer than a solid white. There are some un-used coordinates (also on black) that are now free to become another project with the leftovers.

WIP Wednesday

Quilting and piecing, and piecing yet another quilt!

Brown “DNA” charity quilt

Brown “DNA” charity quilt on the longarm, quilting in progress. The backing is an interesting collection of fabrics purchased at my guild’s auction. Some of the fabrics in the top also came from the bundle.

I had so much fun making the baby-sized Wonky Courthouse Steps that a larger version was inevitable.  I’m batching them in sets of 9. Since removing the motorized  quilt advance off the frame, we were able to move the machine about 7” further from the design wall, which allows me to pin up blocks and leave them in place without constantly knocking them off the wall.

Wonky Courthouse Steps round 2 --  99 blocks in progress for a twin

Kira Lap quilt pieces, Christmas colors

Also piecing a Kira lap quilt, cut out a couple of weeks ago. As I’m starting to see lots of Christmas ideas online, this project jumped to the machine. Starting from a FQ collection, I added a couple of white and pale gold fabrics for strong contrast. Again used my size-adjusted blocks to make best use of FQ’s. The first Kira twin quilt with cute batik birds is still waiting to be quilted.  

Squirrel Quilt

I love scrappy quilts, and when Bonnie Hunter started posting her scrappy Courthouse Steps, it looked like an inevitable project for me. The never-empty box of blue/green scraps had been sitting on my sewing table, so I decided to make a small version from the box. I cut 36 center squares, half of a dark aqua and half from a green/yellow lemons batik. The blocks were trimmed at 8" square, so the finished quilt came out at just over 45" square. That meant the backing was scrappy too, since it was wider than quilting fabric. Quilting is slightly wonky, freehand grids 3/4" - 1" apart.

Wonky Courthouse, 45.5" square, grid quilting

The other finished charity quilt is the Big Plus, made with three 1-yd cuts of fabric. I drew it up in EQ and calculated three cut sizes, rather than just cutting squares. Cutting 5" strips, then sub-cutting 5" squares, 9.5" strips and 14" strips. I'll probably make this again, perhaps sized as a twin.

Big Plus, 63.5" x 53", quilted with Bumpity

Two More Quilts

Blue Squares Charity, 89” x 64.5”

I really like how this simple, just blue squares quilt turned out. Rather than make a light/dark checkerboard, the various values were laid out on the design wall in diagonal strings. It was a fun way to design.  Some colors in the photo came out very grey though all were blue or blue/cream.  Quilted with Leaf Carpet.

Blue-Green Offset Strings 90” x 67”

The orca print batiks were scraps from a friend's quilt (as were most of the batiks and backing in this  quilt.) I am so pleased with the finished quilt that it will now live on my guest bed. The Civil War reproduction quilt that had been on the bed is in good enough shape to move on to a new home. Quilted with freehand wavy lines across the width of quilt.

The blue/green batik tub mysteriously still has enough fabric for another quilt.

Finishes and Starts

Quilting - I'm starting on quilt #13 on the longarm. Still having some tension issues with thread, usually when I change weights. Here are some of the finished quilts:

Half-Rectangles 46" x 37.5"

Blue Strips for Justina 87" square

Double Trouble 60.5" x 49.5" Class Quilt

Rose's Quilt 76.5" x 60.5", charity

Charms Plus 80.5" x 67", charity

Purple Gingham 55" x 55", charity

Roses & Rails, 78" x 66", charity

Piecing - I've been cutting pieces for several quilts from a box of blue/aqua/green scraps, and as I kept pulling in new pieces to the mix, the box is never empty! As I cut, the pieces were sorted by size Most of the tops are twin sized, the size requested for two of the charities I quilt for.

First pull - Plaid-ish from Kitchen Table Quilting, a free pattern. It's squares and strips, and needed all values, so some darker prints found a home, and some purples were brought in. This will be a twin. All pieces cut and ready to sew. 

2nd pull - a bright lime paisley and a lime/blue batik were cut 6.5" for center squares, and strips cut for 3" finished Thangles, 8 per block. This will also be a twin, so 84 Thangle strips have been stitched, trimmed and pressed into 336 sub-units. There are some matched sets and some mixed colors in the half-square triangles. Cornerstones are scrappy. This will be a twin and it's ready to sew.

3rd pull - "bricks" cut 3" x 5.5", only six per block to make a rectangular block, medium to dark values. I played with the design in EQ8 as a column quilt, every other column is rotated. This will be a twin. 420 pieces cut and ready to sew.

4th pull - smaller "bricks" cut 2.5" x 4.5", eight per block for an 8" finished square. This quilt has some lighter values. Still cutting through the leftovers, size of quilt TBD.

5th pile - all the scraps too small for the specific sizes, including strings, gathering in the box for a future scrap quilt (or two.)

Knitting - cast on a new sweater, Gridlines by Susanne Sommar. It's an interesting construction, knit side-to-side starting at the center front. It has many options for length, neckline, and sleeve length. I'm using Svale by Dale Garn, cotton/rayon/silk blend, a light green DK weight.

Quilting Along

Quilt #2 - Baby Rails, scraps of 30's reproductions. Will keep on hand as a gift quilt. Quilted with Snapdragons  47.5" x 36"

Quilt #3 - Big Chickens, quilted with a new design drawn up in EQ8. I had previously designed a pattern that reminded me of chicken wire, but it went with the old machine. I like this design there are fewer passes. 60" x 55"

Quilt #4 - Lap Boxes, leftovers from a twin quilt. Quilted with Tracks.  60" x 51.5"

Quilt #5 (Purple Half-Rectangles) is quilted and needs binding, and #6 (Seahawks Charity Lap) is next to load. I'm branching out on threads, having initially worked with a cotton-wrapped poly on top and used some of the poly pre-wound bobbins that came with the machine. Poly or poly-blend threads are great for charity quilts, giving them a bit more strength. 

First Finish

The first finished quilt on the new longarm is bound, photographed and folded into the cupboard to be a gift quilt. Both the top and back are flannel - unusual for me. The top has large pieces so it's not too lumpy. The quilting pattern is Fleur dy Lys, the pantograph that came with the machine. It is  leafy without being leaves and was a good scale.

Flannel Baby, 55" x 36.5"

I've quilted two other quilts that need binding before being photographed. The garage is slowly being emptied out, books, fabric, tools etc. The sewing room in the house (2nd bedroom) is fairly stuffed, and there will probably be tubs of fabric under our bed before the garage has room for the truck.

Studio Update

Design wall in empty studio

 It was easier to use the design wall when the studio was almost empty!

Design wall in studio currently

It still works now, I just have to move to both sides of the machine and really take a good look. And then come back the next day and see what was missed.
Scrappy Batiks close-up

This was started from a group of orca print batiks that I was gifted, and my goal was to use large pieces. The blocks finish at 11", and because of the side strips it allowed me to cut four pieces from full WOF pieces. 

Chickens

Chickens Top, 60" x 55"

Plaid Chickens top, from a new pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew. A glue stick was helpful instead of pinning the very small (1") pieces, and I also had to analyze best pressing options during assembly as they were not provided. I made labels for the pieces, as they were referenced both by size and by letter - and with two different blocks there was a lack of clarity.

The backing is pieced from a second set of matching fat quarters, maker unknown.

My new quilt studio is coming along. The floor went in last week, and this week the inside window trim is in progress. Left to come on the construction: a gutter and a doorknob. The first thing inside will be an 8' x 8' (96" square) design wall, attached to the wall. Previously I had a 4' x 8' wall (the board is being recycled here) and two 4' x 6' loose boards in my studio. Both were awkward to use as one was behind an ironing board and the movable boards were repositioned for access quite frequently.

Charms Plus

Charms Plus 80.5” x 67”

A fabric box pull - fabrics that had been grouped for a quilt, completely different than this one. Nine inch blocks plus a two inch border - the border really finished it off, plus used more scraps. This is the 14th top waiting for a longarm.

Studio update - the interior is ready to paint, then lights, window trim, floors and paint and put hardware on the door. 

Tracking Tops

One after another, I'm finishing quilt tops and setting them aside for the eventual longarm. The studio looks finished from the outside (aside from a gutter), inside it is insulated and has wallboard on the ceiling. I tried using pants hangers to photograph the full quilts, but they don't have enough grip for just a top. These are the "hanger view" of folded tops for reference, to help me keep names straight.

Big Plus

Double Trouble class

Roses and Rails

Rose's Quilt

Scrap Cats

Scrap Cats ended up being a twin, all from leftovers from a quilt kit finished many years ago. There's a bit of frugal piecing to make it stretch.

New pincushion

I've been needing a new pincushion to replace one that I'd had almost 40 years. This is stuffed with crushed walnuts and stays put on a side table. I've made a few EPP pincushions that are too lightweight. I fussy-cut the cats to give me sections for types of pins, and used fusible interfacing to help it last. 

Tweedy Raglan

A lightweight cotton-blend sweater, with curved lower edges and shoulder shaping so the back neck is higher. It hibernated for a couple of long stretches and is finally done.

Another quilt top is ready to assemble - simple boxes from the leftovers of Rose's quilt. I thought it would be another Scrap Vortex, but there was enough of the cute floral focus print to cut 38 5" squares, and piece four plus blocks, and then sash with 2 1/2" strips.

Sweet Surprise

Two quilting buddies from Seattle, Ann and Jennifer, drove up to visit yesterday. They had a tour of the house, patiently smiled at my scraggly garden, and put up with a very barky puppy. Just before they left, Ann mysteriously went to the car and came back with this wonderful surprise - a friendship quilt from the group that I belonged to for about 18 years:

It has a hanging sleeve with a slat included for hanging in my new (under construction) studio. The theme was "garden", and I absolutely love it! The block at top center is my old house in Seattle, which was also the logo for my quilting business. I tried to brush Jennifer off as she filmed me looking at it as I was making an ugly cry face. I was blown away by the sweetness of the group to make this for me. Thank you so much ladies!

A Finish and a Start

Quarter Logs, 57” x 45”

Quarter Logs is quilted, with a diagonal line going in one direction. I eye-balled all the lines, some are a bit wonky, and they match the piecing.  I tried out my new laser light, since there is no quilting guide on my old Juki, but found it wouldn’t stay in position. Next time I’ll try painter’s tape to attach the flexible tube to the underside of the machine so it doesn’t move around so much. I was suspicious that the price on it kept going down, but should be able to get some use out of it. Binding is a royal blue solid.

Components for Rose's Quilt, focus fabric in front

New project in progress is Rose’s quilt, seen on her blog https://somethingrosemade14.blogspot.com/2019/02/february-dreami-specks-strips-and.html


Thinking there were a lot of rescued jelly roll strips that all went together, I tracked down the box but many were peach, and the focus fabric did not have any peach, so instead pulled yellow/blues/greens/whites and they should be an interesting mix. A lot of quilts start with one idea and go somewhere else! The blocks come out 20” x 4” finished. 


I’ve started hand piecing hexagons into flowers for applique. Haven’t decided if I’ll use diamonds as the base block (as on https://www.stitchedincolor.com The Kingfisher 
stitch-along) or squares, as in APNQ magazine. The glue technique is not a winner, even with the special glue sticks. I’ll next try the basting technique that stays on the back side and doesn’t go through the papers (first big EPP project I did was queen-sized, all templates cut from magazine inserts, all basted through the paper…never again!)


Knitting is back on track, have had a sweater in progress for many months. It’s the Lightweight Raglan Pullover  by Purl Soho. Between an interesting pleated hem technique that didn’t work with the texture of the yarn, short-rows on the curved hems, and then short-rows on the back, it kept getting put aside. Oh and then there was the move in the middle. Have bookmarked a video on Kitchener stitch for the underarms, then just some ends to weave in and give it a quick blocking. The yarn is a Valley Yarns 8/2 mercerized cotton – there’s a strand of something other than cotton that gives it a nice tweedy look but was a bugger to un-knit in places. After this is finished I hope to knock out a few charity hats and scarves.


I stitched up three cowls using the black & white knit fabric from the shirt finished in January, all to be donated. One is long to double-wrap, the others single. It was nice to use up almost all the remaining fabric. They’re sewn in a tube, with just a small bit of hand sewing to close.

Two Small Finishes

Two small quilts have been finished this week:  Rail Fence with flannel centers, quilted with straight line angles through each strip.

Rail Fence, Flannel Center Strips 50" x 40.5"

Half Squares, quilted with the lycra stitch, a curving zig-zag. Some of the fabrics have a lace print and this stitch gives a soft look.

Half Squares 48.5" x 39"

Kira Quilt and Virtual Sew-in

I finished assembling the Kira quilt top on Thursday. I’m happy with the finished result, though cutting and piecing was a bit of a struggle. The hand-dyed fat quarters used were not all 18" x 22", and mistakes were made during cutting. I had down-sized the quilt block to be able to use FQs, thinking I could cut four 9” squares to start, as the pattern calls for 10” squares (and also gives the option of cutting from yardage.) I’m glad that I measured the FQs after ironing, but when stacking them for cutting didn’t double-check that they had straight edges.

It felt like an episode of WHEN QUILTING ATTACKS! – a shout out to one of the segments of The Knitmore Girls Podcast. It is really encouraging to know that even seasoned knitters have problems—and how they overcome them. The same holds true for quilting – it’s not quite like pointing out the flaws in a quilt, just acknowledging that it isn’t always smooth going, and there are ways to work through challenges.

The background fabric is an Island Batik with 3” birds in different colors from several years ago. It will look a bit brighter with white batting behind it, rather than a dark blue curtain. While assembling the blocks, I did try to match a bit of color in the birds to the semi solids. The pattern does not have a lot of matching points, and has very clear cutting and pressing directions.

My West Seattle quilt group had scheduled a quilting retreat for this past weekend, and the unusual amount of snow caused it to be cancelled. We held a Virtual Retreat instead, sharing photos and projects in progress. It was fun to re-connect, as I wouldn't have been able to attend in person. I basted two small quilts, and quilted one (Rail Fence baby), photo to come after binding.

Four and Counting

While I’ve mentioned duet quilts – pairs of quilts, where the second is made from scraps from the first, I’ve now finished the fourth top from a set of fat quarters. It took me some time to remember the first project made from Jan Mullen’s “Dotz & Stripez” fabric, then realized it was a stars quilt that waited a few years after completion to find a home with one of my great-nephews:

Star Dance layout, twin, 2012

The second project is Boxes with a tiny black & white check as background/alternate. The fat quarters had had a set of 2 ½” strips cut off the stack, which guided my pattern choice:

Boxes top

 The third project is the Stacked quilt, with a dull blue woven background:

And now the fourth project is Quarter Logs with a variety of whites as background:

Simple is not always fast, but I wanted white in between the bright colors (harking back to the stars quilt.) This type of piecing with different scrap sizes let me use up a lot of white scraps, and there were enough long strips to border the two sides without white.

At some point in my hunter-gathering of fabric, I thought of a fat quarter set as ONE quilt. Well, if it’s 10 yards of fabric, unless I’m piecing backings, it goes a lot further than that.

The remaining pieces are going to go into the strings sorted by color. Project box empty!

Two Tops

Top 1: A half-improv quilt top: started with a group of almost-triangle shaped cream pieces and print skinny triangles leftover from cutting a one-piece wonder. The print triangles are all from a full width border print – grey on one edge, dark purple on the other with pink in the middle.

Pulled the purple, then pink, and then gray pieces to make pairs. Stitched and pressed, then figured out the largest common size, and trimmed to 3” x 5” rectangles. When sewn in pairs, this gave me a finished block size of 4.5” x 5”. The layout used 62 triangles (31 sets). Centers of stars finished at 5” and background squares 4.5”. Only 1 leftover cream piece.

The half-rectangle pairs sit in the sashing positions in EQ8; the star centers were 5" finished and the background pale lavender 4.5". The straight-of-grain squares helped minimize stretch with the bias edge cream triangles.

With a border cut 2.5”, the top came out to 46" x 37.5". There’s a piece of purple paisley for the backing and possibly the binding.

Half Rectangles Top

Top 2: A knit top. I've been re-learning how to sew garments with a serger, challenged somewhat by 1/4" seam allowances on the pattern. The last top was finished a couple of years ago. The one trick I learned is to baste seams with a straight stitch, and then serging is much more accurate. 

Knit Top

Project organization

Having a smaller work space for sewing is forcing me to stick to task on projects, organize the drawers, tubs and boxes, and re-group project ideas that can be combined with similar colors/sizes/goals. I’ve gone through the sewing room, the large closet, and the two cabinets still sitting in the garage and listed each box/bag or pile by description. There are many more projects than remembered! 

I’ve finished two sets of “duet” quilt tops – making one small quilt, then using the leftovers to make a second quilt. It really helps to use up fabrics already grouped by color. The first duet was this finished peach/cream quilt, Bowtwist pattern:

 

Bowtwist, 64" x 40"

The second top used up the overcuts of half-square triangles:  I saw a similar quilt layout online, and played in EQ with the medium/light values.  I like this top better than the Bowtwist.

The second duet is a small flannel blue and green quilt top and pieced flannel back, the second top is a rail fence with flannel centers, using a grey-blue as background.  Rail fence blocks with flannel in only the center rail is an easy way to reduce bulk, but still add some softness to a quilt. I made an earlier quilt with this design.

Duet #3 is in progress: a “Boxes” twin top has been finished, and a “stacked” scrappy twin quilt is planned with the scraps. This is the "Boxes" EQ coloring layout: