Oh the Irony!

After finally getting the 3 Blocks applique project (previous post) assembled, the reality that my main sewing/applique machine Bernina 550 needed service hit. The service icon had been up for several weeks, and DH was making a trip near the sewing machine shop, so off it went. Ouch on the estimate. 

The applique project has been pin-basted and carefully folded up awaiting the return of the 550, practice with the Bernina Stitch Regulator, and finishing. Out from the closet came the old retreat machine, my beloved Bernina 1130 that is fortunately in good working order, and I've plowed through an entire rail fence top with no problems.

Then… piecing machine #2 had a broken tension spring. It’s an older Juki straight stitch. I don’t know how long I had been sewing on it with a broken spring. Lately I’d been hemming repurposed fabric for pillow covers and flat cloths. After a lengthy search online, hopefully the right tension spring ($10) has been located and ordered – cheaper than another $$ trip to the repair shop – which is option #2 if my repair doesn’t work.

And the walking foot on my studio machine, mainly used for binding, heavy work and piecing battings, had a break on the plastic casing of the walking foot that holds the quilting bar. This machine is sometimes called into service for heavy duty quilting. DH found a plastic washer and epoxy and glued it on the outside of the casing to hold the guide foot in place. The cost of a new walking foot for this older Janome wasn't justified as the walking foot works fine and the guide bar is only in occasional use.

Think positive thoughts for my old Bernina and the serger.

Three Blocks

 Three blocks from McKenna Ryan's "Nesting" pattern, fused but not yet stitched.

I waited until the block patterns were on sale, and it took me over a year to actually start on the blocks. Once I got going, it was assembled in about a week. The blocks were enlarged from 8" to 12", and even so some pieces were very small. I'd done one of McKenna's patterns many years ago. I changed up the colors quite a bit - had to have a red boot, re-drew the birds to look like goldfinches, and the wheelbarrow needed to be blue like ours. The center block watering can has a scrolling design, and I'll probably enhance the design and give it more weight with thread as it looks washed out.

Friday Finishes

I've wanted to make a picnic quilt for over a year, and had all kinds of designs in mind. Wide canvas in green was purchased for the backing, so there was a target size - 56 x 68. Finally, the utility of the quilt pointed to a simple design, squares cut 4 1/2". The starting fabric was a gifted piece that was challenging to use, it has large white un-finished paint by number bird and flower images (Moda - Lush Uptown 'Paint by Number' by Erin Michael.) I loved the red background, and since there was a lot of green, a red and green checker quilt was the goal. Almost half of the red blocks were able to be cut from the print, and other reds were pulled in.

For the greens, one floral print with white and yellow flowers was the main fabric, and assorted leafy prints rounded out the green blocks. Most of the squares are laid out in diagonal strips of varying lengths. They seem to pull the eye along instead of jumping from print to print. There's a bit of "mushiness" where one floral was almost half-green/half red, but it was a sentimental piece and needed to be included.

Keeping with the no-stress design, straight lines -- two through each square in each direction, were quilted on the longarm. They are equal distant from each seam, and the center opening is slightly larger (4 doesn't divide by 3 easily.) On a domestic machine I continued with stitch-in-the-ditch along all seams.

Also finished is knitted Little Dragon #6, grey with pink accents. I had to figure out how to make the "afterthought" bobbles, where in the pattern they are knit from the main body color.

Project Round-up

I love seeing quilts photographed outside, though the weather has to cooperate. I had thought our horse fencing and cedar fence would be a great place to hang quilts...until it was clear that the birds love to sit on the top rail, especially the robins and quail. The salal is in berry right now, not so tidy. Smaller quilts can be photographed on the design wall, but the lighting can still be a challenge.

Bricks 6-piece charity quilt, 88” x 60.5” 

There are a lot of quilts made with these colors, to the point that it's getting hard to pick the correct picture from the folder! This is a scrappy bricks-type quilt, with only 6 pieces per block. The block is a rectangle, and the sizes are limited since you alternate vertical and horizontal columns. Of course partial blocks could be an option. It gives a different look than the square blocks with 8 pieces.

Preemie Quilt, Chicken Panel

The last two preemie quilts made from chicken fabric - one panel and a coordinate that I picked up at a guild meeting for this purpose. I thought this tilted setting might be more interesting than a straight set, though if using such a panel again would stick to a straight set.

Dragon #5, Ozzie's

Dragon #5 is another mini, about 6" tall. Each one gets a bit more refined. I've used up almost all of the poly batting scraps that were pulled apart for stuffing.  I'm tempted to buy a bag to continue knitting toys. I've also fallen in love with a sewing pattern for a cat named "Mr. Socks" at Ann Wood Handmade, though she uses wool stuffing. 

I'm piecing the last 24 of the Twirla blocks, and sewing masks in small batches. I bought the Creative Grids mask template with three sizes, and have been adding 1" to the outside fabric on the straight end to make a casing for elastic, similar to a downloadable free pattern used earlier. Sewing in the elastic makes it harder to adjust the size, plus some elastic gives out after time. 

I saw a tip on the Selvage Blog about using a bead to make the elastics adjustable, and have a question in to her on the bead specifics. I've made masks for several neighbors of all sizes, and getting the elastic the right length is a challenge. With a casing at the sides, pleats aren't needed, and I've been making the elastic a loop tied with a knot, so they can be adjusted, but the bead idea looks slick. I've made some with long ties too, using a bias maker, as they are supposed to be more comfortable for those who wear glasses and/or wear masks all day (such as DH.)

Slowly, Slowly Catchy Dragon

9-Patch Plus, started from a small group of 2.5" squares, some gifted to me, others cut from scraps. Quilted with a combination of freehand curves on the longarm and diagonal stitching on the Juki. I thought the curves would help soften all the straight lines, and kept notes on doing a variation that doesn't put so many threads in the center of each 9-patch block.

9-Patch Plus, 54" x 42'

Mini "Little Dragon", 5 inches tall

This little fellow didn't want to leave the house, and hung around until Dragon #4 was finished.

Mini "Little Dragon", 6 inches tall

The next dragon, another "mini" version, will be a combination of yarns from #3 and #4.
Also in progress are Twirla blocks, and the first of two aqua "Bricks" quilts is ready for binding..

Two Finishes

Yesterday was very rainy, which kept me out of the garden and at work in the studio. Finally bound is "Crayons", based on Color Me by Emily Herrick. This quilt was my way of justifying my large box of strings. It is waiting for a special home, either to a friend or a raffle.

Crayons, 69.5” x 51.5” 

Quilting pattern "Spilled Ink"

Several years ago, a friend gave a demonstration at an American Sewing Guild meeting making a rope basket using clothesline as the core, wrapping strips of fabric around it as you stitched. She had purchased extra bundles of clothesline and I bought one. I'd made coiled baskets before using yarn, which is a slow process. Not long ago I saw some baskets made just with variegated thread, and really liked how they looked. I needed a container for the studio for collecting the leftover bits of projects to come back into the house. This was sized to fit a wall shelf. 

It used up all 100 feet of clothesline and some of the older 30 wt variegated thread that I prefer not to use on the longarm. It took only 6 bobbins and less than 2 hours total. The top binding is home dec weight fabric scraps. I also used a new tool, the Folded Corner Clipper to cut the binding ends before sewing together for a continuous binding.  Krista Moser had demonstrated the tool at a meeting and has a Youtube video demonstrating it. It was really fun and easy to stitch the basket.

Clothesline bowl

Little Dragon

"Little Dragon" pattern by Susan B. Anderson, finished size 8" tall. It was a goal to finish some charity scarves before buying this pattern, and it was finished within one week. A bit fiddly, but just as charming as the pattern photo, though a bit larger. The yarn is probably an Aran weight, an overdyed natural grey that was a bit rough for a hat and not enough for a scarf. There will likely be a 2nd dragon with this yarn and perhaps a third, smaller version in sock weight yarn.