Practice, Practice, Practice...

I am sure you heard that before. What makes good practice when it comes to freemotionquilting.

I have been thinking about this when I sat down to practice a little bit the other day after a few weeks of not quilting.

This is what my practice piece looked like

Looks random but it actually is not. In order to get the most out of freemotionquilting practice it is important to:

1. Decide what you want to get out of your practice, i.e.

- preparation for a particular design you might want to use on a quilt, i.e. an allover design or a particular motif

- trialing a new design that you have seen and would like to try out

- improving your muscle memory concentrating on the quilting path of designs that you already know

- improving your stitch quality

- trialing a new thread combination

- concentrating on a particular machine function like for example the use of the stitch regulator or a particular speed or even ruler quilting.

In the above example I started with a particular design, i.e. the swirls. Had seen a little video on IG and thought I give that a whirl. As I am not looking to quilt this on a quilt any time soon, I then continued with my usual practice which has the purpose of strengthening muscle memory.

2. Working on muscle memory

This can involve working on a design where you might feel that you need to get better at or just going through your repertoire of designs to reinforce the quilting paths. As you can see I did a lot of feathers in all sorts of direction because I have got a workshop coming up where I will have to demonstrate some feathers. In going around the perimeter I practiced different shapes and sizes and different ways of stitching the plumes. Sometimes I used a continuous feather and other times I used the heirloom feather. Some sizes were too big or too long, I then practiced building groups of feather plumes to manage not getting too big and also did the dragon fin feather for a bit of fun. In doing this I stitched very deliberately, not necessarily nicely but really thinking about the shape and sizes I was stitching and making a mental note of when the plume just got too big and started to look wonky.  Started echoing around some of the shapes and moved onto backfillers.

3. Working on auditioning different backfillers, looking at density and transitioning

Once I get going there are usually areas that are empty and lend themselves to filling. I usually do some pebbling or stacked swirls, just moving around and concentrating on the speed that I am quilting the pebbles with. I quilt them in manual mode and often need to start a bit slower until I can into the swing of it. As I am pebbling along I start incorporating other fillers into my arrangement which is a good way to manage transitioning from one design to another and finding out where you might struggle.

Moving on from the pebbles, I did little swirls, some flower arrangements, little swirls and a fern which completely went under and clearly did not fit that arangement.  

Preparing for quilting an allover design onto a quilt, I usually do the following:

- practice the design on a smaller scale by drawing on my Ipad until I feel that I got a quilting path worked out

- draw the design on paper and have it sitting next to my machine so I can glance at it from time to time to remind myself which way I am going

- prepare a large practice sandwich so that I can practice the design to the scale that it needs to be for the quilt that I am about to quilt

- quilt the design out following my drawn design

- repeat the process, sometimes a few times depending on the difficulty level of the allover design.

- once I feel comfortable with the scale and the path, go on the quilt...

Sometimes I practice particular motifs that I might want to use in a quilt like the Amish feathers in the picture below. For some reason I could not get that together in drawing it and found it easier to stitch it out. This clarified the way I had to draw them into a wholecloth design.

Similarly when I want to quilt with a ruler, I usually practice on a scrap piece first to familiarize myself with how the ruler sits in my hand, whether it slips and where it might need a sticky grip thingy on the back. 

This is the piece I quilted when I got Bethanne Nemesh' heart ruler

So, all in all, I guess what I am saying is to practice with purpose rather than doodling, although at times I also just doodle for the fun of it. But I think if you want to get better at FMQ practicing with a distinct purpose is more beneficila.

Karin

Karin

To Do Tuesday #38

My list from last week was rather small, i.e.

- finishing the quilting of the scrap quilt and if time allows, sew on the binding (which is already sewn together)

I did finish the scrap quilt

and the back...

This certainly has taken much longer than originally planned for! However, I am really happy with it, as this is all leftovers. The scraps are from my scrap collection which dates back sometimes by as much as 10 years. That's why I like scrap quilts. When you put them together you come across fabric that you used years ago and think about what you pieced together then. The backing was also pieced together from fabric out of my stash that also has been sitting around for years. Obviously liked it at some stage...but not so much now as my taste seems to have changed over time. This has a bit of a country feel to it, so suits this scrap top quite well. On top of that I was able to piece together some batting, so also used what I already had. The binding was also already made...cannot remember when I used this last, but must have mis-calculated the binding requirements by an enormous amount, as I had enough left over to bind this entire quilt.

Now I have to handstitch this to the back and then it's done and ready to be gifted.

That was all I had on my list due to a shoulder issue which I am still a bit careful about. Definitely better though, so for next week I am planning to 

- finish the handstitching of the binding on the scrap quilt

- baste one of the little charity quilts ready to be quilted,  

- maybe continue on my cat quilt from ages ago, and 

- continue on my knitting projects in the evenings.

Also still need to make a plan for the next few months on what  FMQ project to do next because you can't just have one project to work on 😄. First though, my workshop is coming up which will run over the next three weeks keeping me somewhat busy.

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #38 over at Quilt Schmilt.

Also linking up to Oh Scrap over at Quilting is more fun than housework.

Karin

To Do Tuesday #37 - Re-Emerging!

I missed a few Tuesdays in a row due to an injured shoulder. Really struggled with that and in the end had to really not do anything much. Went to physio and in the end to the doctor as the pain was just a bit much. Got some tablets which helped to settle it down a bit.

My list from a few weeks ago was:

handstitch the binding to the table runner to finish that off.

- pin and baste my other scrap quilt ready to be quilted, and

- probably just relax a bit (strained one of my shoulders a bit and will need to go a bit easy on the quilting for a moment)

I did finish the table runner binding, but have shown that table runner now several times, so I'll give that a miss.

I was in the midst of my second scrap quilt when my shoulder went out. Today was the first day where I quilted again for a couple of hours. Got two more rows done and am nearing the end.

A close up. As you notice one can hardly see the quilting. On this second scrap quilt, I used a rust coloured Aurifil 50/2 thread and it just blends in. Had a fair amount of thread breakage as well which was a bit odd, not something I have experienced with Aurifil thread a lot. In the end I thought that it most likely has to do with the drag of the fabric. The quilt is fairly wide and even on the big Koala table it pulls at times when you do not pay enough attention to it. Very frustrating, but I am on the home run now.

 

Stopped today as my shoulder was beginning to ache again, so will do another two rows tomorrow I think. Need to take it easy as I need my shoulder for my workshop which will start next week! 

Apart from that I knitted another sock. Also not good for the shoulder but I had to do something! Took it easy and it turned out fantastic. Looks as if I have got an enormously long foot but this is a size of 9-1/2. The ribbing makes it look as if it is gigantic...too funny!

So, for the remainder of the week I will concentrate on

- finishing the quilting of the scrap quilt and if time allows, sew on the binding (which is already sewn together)

After that I will need to sit down and re-plan what I am doing. I have several projects lying around, a lot more in my head and then there are also some charity quilts that need quilting. I do need a plan...these few weeks of inactivity have completely thrown me out of whack.

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #37 (even though it is a bit late by now) over at Quilt Schmilt.

Karin

Having a Break

Just checking in for a short post. I have done my shoulder in and am pretty much out of action. Went to the physio but that just seems to make it worse. So have got nothing much to show for.

However, the table runner got finished. Put the binding on and handstitched it to the back. This is the second sample for an upcoming workshop. Should be interesting to see how people go with that.

I did baste my other scrap quilt and made a start on it, however did not take any photos as yet. Am about half way through with an allover Baptist Fan design. This proved a little bit more difficult this time as the quilt is much wider, however I will just muddle my way through that. Have been doing about one row every couple of days so as to not aggravate the shoulder too much.

Will post a picture next week.

Being out of action is incredibly hard for me. I find it quite difficult to do nothing much, so I decided to start my next sock project. 

OMG...still a challenge and a half. This new sock is a mesh up of about three patterns as I could not find one pattern that had the ribbing I wanted in my size. Also did some more experimenting with different cast ons and heel treatment. All was well until I got to the heel and had to do the rounding...I reckon I did this about five times as I kept on ending up with the 'wrong' number of stitches. Somehow I do not get the 'math' around that. Today then I fixed this and was finally able to continue...plain sailing from here.  Just need to knit the length of the foot now and then finish off with the toe. Learning a lot but have to admit, this is also not good for the shoulder. Will go to physio tomorrow and no doubt will get a lecture.

Will be back with some photos of the finished scrap quilt by next week I hope. 

Karin

Baptist Fan Quilting on a Sitdown Longarm

I thought I do a little post on how I go about quilting the Baptist Fan over a lap sized quilt (54 x 60in) using my new rulers from Michael Quilts. Hopefully someone will find this useful and take the plunge in terms of trying this out on one of their quilts.

Here are the templates (except for the smallest one)

Nice green fluorescent, so cannot be overlooked on your quilt. Nevertheless, I do set myself up with a chair on my right side where I park each template following its use. Having a quilt all scrunched up around you makes it too easy to loose sight of where your rulers are. Except for the biggest one which oftentimes travelled along on the quilt, but I'll get back to that.

Beginning the Baptist Fan design at the bottom of the quilt from left to right is an absolute pleasure. Looks great and you always feel like...yah, I got this!

Having done this now a number of times on larger quilts I do know better though and was expecting things to go out of alignment a bit higher up.

Interestingly though that did not seem to happen for the first few rows, in fact the templates aligned really beautifully.

See the dotted line of the left fan and the line from the underneath fan...almost perfectly aligned to the stitched fan. Too good to be true...I continued.

As I went up I did notice that my line of fans finished slightly differently on the right side. In fact it seemed as if the fans had moved over to the left by about a 1/4in. Did this made sense to me? I thought that I had experienced some drag from the bulk of the quilt as I went along and my alignment went out a couple of times across the quilt. When this happens I do pay a lot of attention to the next row, i.e. are my alignments of the templates at a right angle and are the distances of the individual fans accurate? While the dotted lines then do not align totally with the ones already stitched, I disregard that. To keep it straight and consistent is more important to me as all the next rows are build upon each other. I do not mark the rows on my quilts before I stitch hence rely entirely on the correct placement of the template to keep it straight. So while I am quilting the fans I also look at where each fan finishes in relation to the quilt blocks...that gives me a good idea of whether I am keeping them straight or not.

I think I said it before in an earlier post that stitching these fans on a sitdown machine will never be as accurate as doing it on a longarm machine on a frame simply because you have everything movable, i.e., the bulk of your quilt shifts around, maybe even creating drag and on top of that you have the templates that can easily shift ever so slightly. 

I have the Handiquilter sticky (and grippy) tape on the back of my templates (I also had just a rubber type sticky thing on the back initially, however found this too slippery). As you go up in template size, they are big. The 11in fan is as big as my hand, so it is important to stop several times during the stitching of that curve to reposition your hands as repeated shifting will make your entire row shift to the left. A little bit of shifting over is not too bad, however if you are not careful this could go out of hand. My 1/4in shift over was ok and I doubt that it will be noticeable to the recipient of this quilt. Funny enough, once I had discovered the slight shift and paid attention to the drag of the fabric, it did not occur again, i.e. my finishing fan on the right side remained in the exact same position which made me think that I struggled with the drag of the quilt when I started off.

In order to counteract this I folded my quilt in an accordion style manner so that the area to be quilted could move freely. That seemed to fix that issue.

Another thing that I use are these white rectangles out of rubbery material. The material is what you might put in your draws or under carpet runners so that things don't move around. I have got a roll of this and cut out some rectangles which I use to stabilize the template. Once I got my alignment right I usually put it right under the middle of the template so that it does not shift. This works really well and is very helpful.

I stitched the Baptist Fan with Omni thread (about 40wt; TEX 30) on my Bernina Q20. Had not stitched with a thicker thread for some time, so this felt a bit like stitching with a rope. (Had no problem with it, the tension sat on 5 using the same thread in the bobbin; needle 100/16) Forgot that there is a fair amount of backtracking involved and at times I struggled to get that to look really neat. However that is where these templates shine. The larger template has got these 1in markings that you can use to travel on your previously stitched line.

So, I used the biggest fan to backtrack over my previously stitched lines keeping it always on the side of the quilt travelling along as I stitched with the other templates. Worked great most of the time except that I was stitching in BSR1 mode for a while which is the one where the needle keeps going even when you stop. That led to some unsightly stitch build up in some areas when I was hesitating. Switched over to BSR2 which is the mode that stops when you stop and that made it easier. Mind you, I was also a bit out of practice and stitching with an unfamiliar thread threw me a bit at first, but I got there in the end.

Another stress point in quilting this on a sitdown machine is when you have to turn your quilt over as you approach the middle of your quilt and there is just too much fabric in front of you. Switching it around means you are now quilting from right to left  towards you rather than away from you. I always find this a bit harder however have found that it often fixes slight mis-alignments as you now quilting in the other direction. Another point to watch for is fatigue, that feeling of …oh, this will do, I just need to finish this row etc. and disregarding the mis-alignments. If you are tired, stop and do something else and come back to it with a fresh mind honing in on the alignment to get that back on track as you can fudge this here and there to get back to an almost perfect alignment.

So, did I stay straight? That is always a bit nerve wrecking when approaching the end as it will show you how well you executed your design over the quilt. Mine was not too bad at all. All fans finished approximately at the same point (except for one side which was a bit higher). Little indiscretions will not matter here as this will be covered by the binding, so overall I was really happy with it.

The finished quilt

and the back

Currently debating whether to do this on my next scrap quilt which is bigger than this one. Just really like the look of the Baptist Fan for scrappy quilts in particular.

Karin

To Do Tuesday #34

My list from last week:

- baste one of the scrap quilts on the machine and start the quilting. Will do a Baptist Fan design over it, so that will take a bit of time but I am really looking forward to it.✅

- clean up the sewing room a bit. Following the last few weeks with working on several projects, it is rather messy and I do need uncluttered space around me when quilting.✅

- construct another hanging sleeve for a wall hanging that has been sitting behind my sewing machine for the last two years at least (can you believe it?).✅

- finish off my beanie!✅

Wow, a first...done everything on my list!

I actually finished my scrap quilt ready to be gifted this weekend.

Did a Baptist Fan design over it with my new Baptist Fan Rulers from Michael Quilts. Absolute pleasure to do. Will do another post in the next few days on how I went about it in case people are interested in how to do this with a bigger sized quilt on a sitdown longarm machine. Took photos this time of the whole process as I went through.

Back to the quilt...entirely made out of scraps and if you are following along the first to be completed. Have another bigger one that needs to be finished off. I used my last piece of batting from a roll I had purchased a couple of years ago...just fit, which was very lucky.

Pieced the backing together using some bigger pieces from my stash.

Particularly like this...shows of the quilting really nicely and is such a great colour. Finished it off with a dark blue binding with little stars on it which suits the overall look of this quilt. So, an entirely 'free' quilt!

Close up of the quilting

Also finished my hanging sleeve for a wall hanging which has sat around for the last 2 years at least.

That took a grand total of about an hour and a half...can't believe I left it for so long! For the time being I hung it behind the sewing machine as I am struggling to find a free wall to display it properly.

And last, not least, finished my latest beanie (gifted to my daughter).

Great beanie pattern from Nimble Needles. Also felt like a freebie as this wool was purchased years ago. Don't even know what the idea behind it was.
 

Also sewed on the binding to my table runner, so overall felt very productive this last week.

For the remainder of the week, I am planning to 

- handstitch the binding to the table runner to finish that off.

- pin and baste my other scrap quilt ready to be quilted, and

- probably just relax a bit (strained one of my shoulders a bit and will need to go a bit easy on the quilting for a moment)

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #34 over at Quilt Schmilt and Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication.

Karin

To Do Tuesday #33

So this was my list from last week:

For the remainder of the week I need to

- start my handout for the class in earnest to see how much work is involved in that✅

- if time allows, baste one of the scrap quilts✅

- sew the binding to that little growth chart wall hanging and construct a hanging sleeve. ✅

Nothing better than a bit of pressure. Finished my handout...finally! When I talked to the lady from the sewing shop, she said she needed it by the end of the month. Well, that got me going. Finished instructions and diagrams in record time.

I did pin one of my scrap quilts but did not take a photo, so you have to take my word for it. Thought that I would get around to basting it today but am mucking around on the computer too long. It is already late afternoon, so I think I will start this tomorrow.

Did finish my little wall hanging and the listing is up in my Etsy shop

Glad that's done...always takes a while to get that right. Spent a few days on taking photos. I recently bought some lights and had not tried them out as yet. Lost about a day when photographing with the lights as I basically have no idea, so I had all sorts of issues with where to put the light, how much light etc. Very challenging indeed. Spent another day taking the photos in more natural light as the mornings were quite sunny and then had to go through some editing. Got enough good photos out of that to put up in my listing. Definitely need to practice more with the lights.

It's quite a cute little wall hanging, measuring 14.5in x 42.5in. As usual I chose a clamshell design to go over it. I just love that for baby quilts. Had just enough fabric for the binding, so I made it a definite 1/4in binding. Looks very nice with its rainbow colours.

Have another one of those panels that I purchased on impulse at a recent quilt show. Always sounds like a great idea, but when you are doing it, it always takes twice as long. With this panel I had to spent quite some time straightening it up to get it into an exact rectangle shape. Then the binding which came with the panel was just enough, only had a slither left after cutting it. And then, of course, I had to do a hanging sleeve. Did not consider that at all when I bought it! Probably will leave the other panel for another few months.

For next week I am planning to

- baste one of the scrap quilts on the machine and start the quilting. Will do a Baptist Fan design over it, so that will take a bit of time but I am really looking forward to it.

- clean up the sewing room a bit. Following the last few weeks with working on several projects, it is rather messy and I do need uncluttered space around me when quilting.

- construct another hanging sleeve for a wall hanging that has been sitting behind my sewing machine for the last two years at least (can you believe it?).

- finish off my beanie!

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #33 over at Quilt Schmilt 

Karin

To Do Tuesday #32

Short week for me today as my last entry was on a Thursday. Anyway, here is my list from last week:

- finish the FMQ on my table runner✅

- sew the second scrap quilt together✅

- if time allows, maybe get one of the scrap quilts basted❌

- make a start on my table runner workshop handout - not sure yet how much work this will involve, hopefully I can at least look at it and work out what I need to do, i.e structure, diagrams etc.❌

Yes, OMG I finished that table runner (except for the binding). Certainly was dragging my feet with that one. Just did not feel like it as I had done another one earlier in the year.

...and a close up

I re-did my feather spray after all. Just annoyed me looking at it as I was not happy with the shaping. For this piece I chose a blend in thread colour. Not what I usually do and I must say I do not like it that much. I think I prefer a more contrasting thread, but just as a second class sample it will do. Will have to get started on the handout for this class, something I am also dragging my feet with.

On the positive side, I finished the sewing together of the second scrap quilt.

Did correct my initial layout mistakes, so this took a couple of days of undoing some blocks that were the wrong way around, but it got done. Very striking little quilt. Have my backing and wadding all sorted, so it is just a matter of putting it all together. Looking forward to quilting the scrap quilts.

Then I finished the FMQ of a little wall-hanging, i.e. a children's growth chart panel. Got two of these panels at the last quilt show and thought that they make nice and quick little projects to be included in my Etsy shop. Had the piece already basted and ready to go and quilted this in a couple of hours this afternoon. Even got the binding done. Will still need to make a small hanging sleeve but that should not take that long.

So, very productive last few days.

For the remainder of the week I need to

- start my handout for the class in earnest to see how much work is involved in that

- if time allows, baste one of the scrap quilts

- sew the binding to that little growth chart wall hanging and construct a hanging sleeve. 

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #32 over at Quilt Schmilt

Karin

To Do Tuesday #31 (on a Thursday)

My list from last week was as follos:

- make a start on a new sock pattern❌

- make a start on the second scrap quilt just sewing the blocks together✅

- continue on the table runner, i.e. filling in the background...there will be a bit of a grid, a rainbow pebble filler and a more boxy filler, then some pebbling and lines around the feather structure✅

- start on the handout for the workshop (wishful thinking??)❌

Not a bad effort!

I made a start on the other scrap quilt that I had ready to go and managed to put all the blocks together

Layout got slightly messed up but I am leaving that. Also discovered that a few blocks are turned upside down when looking at the photo now. Will maybe fix this when I sew this together. Quite like this layout. Nice array of colours.

I said that I would start a new sock...well, instead I knitted another beanie hat and have since started another one (with wool that was purchased years ago). I really seem to be into using up what I got at the moment. Even pieced together a wadding the other day!

My beanie is cute. Really enjoy the knitting in the evenings.

After this I tackled putting some backings together for the scrap quilts. We have got this nice nook in the kitchen/dining area that is just great for auditioning large fabric pieces. As the whole floor is tiled you can just slide pieces all over the place as if you were working on a huge puzzle.

In terms of putting a backing together, I do not fuss over that too much...

...I just lay out my pieces, move them around, sometimes cut them in half to vary the arrangement a bit and sew them together. The only measurements I do take is that of the length and width that I need to cover.

Made this one first which is a bit smaller. I will use this for the quilt above. Needed a bigger backing for the other scrap quilt that I made and selected some very old pieces I had sitting around.

Checking here where the seams will sit and hopefully cut my backing to a size where I avoid putting the seams exactly where the seams of the blocks on the front are.

Nice big size. As mentioned above, then I pieced some wadding together for this larger piece, so I am basically ready to baste that together.

Also worked on my table runner. Actually re-did my whole feather arrangement as I just did not like it and it annoyed me looking at it. Re- stitched the feather spray just following the gentle divisions which looks a lot better and have started to fill the remaining area. Should be finished by the end of the week.

Well, that has been my week. Quite happy with my efforts.

For the remainder of the week I will

- finish the FMQ on my table runner

- sew the second scrap quilt together

- if time allows, maybe get one of the scrap quilts basted

- make a start on my table runner workshop handout - not sure yet how much work this will involve, hopefully I can at least look at it and work out what I need to do, i.e structure, diagrams etc.

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #31 over at Quilt Schmilt

Karin

To Do Tuesday #30

Missed a week...seems to always go so fast and I felt that I needed to finish something before linking up again.

My list was as follows:

- finish off my sock

- write another blog post on my new pattern which I did not get around to this week

- make a start on the wholecloth table runner as I do need to start preparing for a workshop in September; maybe just get the basting done at the very least.

- continue sewing my scrap blocks together.

Well, I did finish my socks and they are looking rather good

Could say that I planned the orange colouring this way, but no...that just happened by coincidence. Did wear them in the week and washed them since then. All good, still fit! Did a whole lot more research into sock knitting and sizing and am planning another pair.

On the quilting front, I did manage to finish one of my scrap tops. Took a bit longer because my initial layout needed to be extended by one row. I had 9 blocks by 10 rows which looked somewhat odd to me so I did need to construct another row which I finished today. This has taken much longer than anticipated due to the matching of the seams and general lack of motivation, but its done.

Absolutely crazy amount of scrap fabric! The quilt will come out at 54in x 66in, so quite a good size for a throw for the sofa. I am now going to piece a backing together. Again, this took a while to decide what exactly to use but in the end I decided to use up one particular green blender, complemented by another greenish print. Will have to wash the fabric as I cannot remember whether I have done this before or not.

Planning to use my Baptist Fan rulers on this one which should be good fun. We shall see how long it will take me to get this done. Struggling a bit with motivation to do anything at the moment and am always surprised how much quicker things get done when I am actually doing it! Might be the weather over here...it's been miserable, cold and very rainy. On top of that we have been doing a fair amount of running around, going to different appointments, taking our cat to the vet due to a thyroid issue, looking after my daughter's cats while she was away, car shopping with my other daughter etc.

My second scrap quilt should be quicker as I am not going to match seam for seam, so I am hoping to bang this together a bit more quickly.

Also made a start on my table runner

Not really happy with how I did the feather in the middle, something went wrong with my guidelines on the side. Should have chosen a more uniform guide that follows the divisions, I think. Live and learn. However, this is just for show and tell in the workshop, so I am not going to worry too much about it. As the surrounds will be filled in it might just all blend together and it might be a good example of how not to do your guidelines for the feather spray. Still a fair amount of filling in to do...hopefully I will get this done over the next couple of weeks.

Apart from that I did baste together a small Growth Chart quilt for my Etsy shop, however did not take a photo. But basically that it also ready to be quilted.

So, plenty of stuff to do, might just have to work on my motivation a bit. Hopefully the household will calm down a bit and we can get back to our normal routine.

So, what am I planning? Maybe for the next week I will

- make a start on a new sock pattern

- make a start on the second scrap quilt just sewing the blocks together

- continue on the table runner, i.e. filling in the background...there will be a bit of a grid, a rainbow pebble filler and a more boxy filler, then some pebbling and lines around the feather structure

- start on the handout for the workshop (wishful thinking??)

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #30 over at Quilt Schmilt.

Karin

To Do Tuesday #28 - Continuing Scrap Quilting Adventure

The last two weeks were unbelievably busy with errands, household chores and adult kids coming and going. In addition, our local quilt show was on last weekend which was an extra outing on top of everything else.

So I did not get as much done as I had hoped. My list from 2 weeks ago was:

- continue to sew those strips together until I have got enough to make a quilt top. I am approximately half way through on both stacks of blocks, so this should be do-able✅

- start on quilting another of my table runner wholecloth quilts

- start writing up my new pattern (this will take a few weeks but I have to have this on here, because I am definitely procrastinating)✅

- continue knitting my second sock - struggled through the beginning again but am on my way now).✅

My scrap project went completely bananas! As explained earlier I decided to use up the bulk of my strips to make some scrap quilts...and then I found a stack of  Charm Squares. So all told I am working on three different quilts. Made some progress on the first one, but let me tell you how much I got out of my scraps first. I am embarrassed to say that out of the strips that I already had and another stack that I cut to size for this project I made two stacks of strip blocks. I had

- 92, 3 strip blocks (each strip at 2-1/2in) and 

- 72, 4 strip blocks (each strip at 2in).

… and I still have strips left over! It is absolutely insane how much I have accumulated over time. I only stopped as I was running out of certain tones, as I sewed my strips into dark, medium and light arrangements. Interestingly, I ran out of 2-1/2in strips in the light range as opposed to the dark tones in the 2in strips. Also discovered that I obviously like orange...I had so many orange strips which was a bit of a surprise.

I am working on the bigger quilt now and have started to put the blocks together

This quilt will be 9 blocks x 10 rows, so 54in x 60 in. Not that interesting in terms of layout but if nothing else it will just be very colourful.

The other quilt will be 8 blocks x 9 rows, so 48in x 54in. 

In this arrangement I sewed dark, light, medium and dark together and will probably have one block facing horizontal and the next block vertical. 

Both quilts will be gifted away to be used as throws, in the car or whatever. My Charm Square quilt will be challenging. I started to work on that as well, sewing together light and dark squares but struggle with nothing going together as the fabrics has been collected over many years. I've got children's print, reproduction fabric, solids …all sorts and it is hard to overlook this and go for an uncoordinated look. We'll see.

I did manage to write up my pattern for my Etsy Shop

The alternate block is the Fancy Foot block which I really like, particularly in bright, near solid fabric. Very eye catching. As this blocks involves making half rectangle triangles the write up was a bit more involved and I included some photographs as well as lots of diagrams on how to do this. The PDF pattern includes two sizes, one square baby quilt and one crib size baby quilt ( will need to do another blog post as I ran out of time to post about the new listing).

And then there was the quilt show. Happy to say I did not buy that much. Just bought one new panel and then also 2 growth chart fabric panels. These are good little projects for listings in my Etsy shop when I am running out of juice in terms of coming up with new exciting patterns 😆 

Also continued on my second sock. It has been just as hair raising as the first sock. I thought that I would retain the information a bit better but again had to watch my instructional video several times as I could not remember how I did knit sections in the first sock. Also did a fair bit of research into the sizing of socks and how to go about adjusting the sizing to your particular foot. I am a bit hooked, I must say and I do intend to knit another pair after this lot. Very addictive! 

So, for the remainder of the week I will try to do the following

- finish off my sock

- write another blog post on my new pattern which I did not get around to this week

- make a start on the wholecloth table runner as I do need to start preparing for a workshop in September; maybe just get the basting done at the very least.

- continue sewing my scrap blocks together ... no hurry, as this will take a while I think

Linking up to To Do Tuesday #28 over at Quilt Schmilt and 

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more fun than Housework

Karin

To Do Tuesday #26 - Ruthless Quilting

My tasks for last week were:

- start my pattern write up for next month's Etsy listing❗(thought a lot about it, but have not started yet)

- write another two blog posts as indicated above✅

- continue on knitting my second sock which will be an evening TV task✅

- continue to sew together my strips to make some room around the sewing machine (until they are all gone)✅

- prepare some fabric for another Wholecloth table runner in preparation for an upcoming workshop✅

So while I have done most of the things, my week has mainly evolved around scraps. As mentioned last week, I was talking with a friend of mine about the overwhelming amount of scraps that we, as quilters, do accumulate over time. She was showing me some pictures of two quilts she made entirely out of binding leftovers. Well, that was it for me...abandoned my original idea for a scrap project and got going on my strips as well as the bag of leftover bindings.

Overwhelming is an understatement. Spent the other day cutting out a few more strips with my Accuquilt Strip cutter. I have got two different strip cutter dies (one for 2-1/2in strips and one for 2, 1-1/2in and 1in strips - very handy!) Worked out a bit of a game plan, i.e. divide my strips into one lot consisting of 2in strips and one lot of 2-1/2in strips separating them by tonal values, i.e. light, dark and medium. Using the binding is a great idea, however I did need to look around for lighter strips as my 

bindings are usually on the dark side.

It was wild. There was fabric everywhere and I did finally wear out my rubber mat used for going through the cutter with the die.

Sorted them as best as I could into their tonal values

This is by no means all that I got...these were just the additions to what I already had cut some time ago.

Started sewing the strips together

Anything that was miscut or off in some way, ended up in the bin. Even when cutting the strips there was this incredible compulsion to keep little offcuts etc, but this time I was ruthless...offcuts from this process went into the bin!

By now I was unsure whether my original idea would work, i.e. I was going to put these two blocks together in a somewhat interesting layout, however trying this out I decided that that was too much of a good thing. Just a bit too busy for my eyes. Well, so now I am making two quilts, one with the smaller strips and one with the bigger strips alone. 

The other thing that happened was that while exploring all the 'hidey' places for fabric leftovers, I discovered this

A whole stack of Charm Squares! Cannot even remember cutting this out, but assume that I did this when I got the Charm Square die for the Accuquilt cutter. There where about 50 in the smaller stack. Yep, so I cut some more just grabbing some of the bigger scraps that I had laying around. It always amazes me how much you can still cut out from the leftover fabric.

So now I am in the process of making three quilt tops, two strip quilts and one larger Charm Square quilt. I do have a number of ideas for scrap quilts and also want to do a scrappy house quilt again, but at this point in time, this is what I have to do to get through some stash. I have been leisurely sewing these blocks...initially a lot out of smaller strips to use up the bitses and pieces but now I am onto the larger strips, so it is going at lightening speed. Yesterday I made 22 blocks in one sitting of about 2 hours. At this rate, this is all very do-able and should come together quickly. Any mishaps, wonky blocks or miscuts...straight in the bin! No messing around...I did notice that some of my strips, presumably those that I cut out myself before I had the strip cutter are sometimes just really wonky. The strip cutter does make a lot of difference...they always come out perfect.

I am hoping that this will free me up for some other, slightly more interesting scrap projects like the wonky house quilt (a design by Bonnie Hunter). 

Made one of those during lockdown and absolutely love it. Fear not, there is still a lot of scrap fabric left for a number of other quilts!

So for the coming week I will 

- continue to sew those strips together until I have got enough to make a quilt top. I am approximately half way through on both stacks of blocks, so this should be do-able

- start on quilting another of my table runner wholecloth quilts

- start writing up my new pattern (this will take a few weeks but I have to have this on here, because I am definitely procrastinating)

- continue knitting my second sock - struggled through the beginning again but am on my way now).

Linking up to 

Quilting is more fun than Housework 'Oh Scrap' Link Up and

To Do Tuesday over at Quilt Schmilt (when it comes around...I am a bit early this time and will have to come back to link up)

Karin