Finished

I finished the quilting on my Funky Bird Quilt

Very happy with the result...decided in the end to just add some lines into the narrow border.  This was a bit of a hassle...I am finding dead straight lines actually quite difficult. I was using the 2in Skinny Ruler and while it was nice and long it also kept sliding away from my alignment. So I did this very slowly and deliberate...a few wobbles here and there but acceptable.

Cut the binding, but then I got side tracked into more FMQ...wanted to use up the last of the white thread in the bobbin. The low sensor alarm had gone off so I did not think that I had a lot of thread left. Played with the Petal Pusher ruler and created a little mini dahlia

...then kept going until the thread ran out. Need to adjust my bobbin sensor as this just kept going and going.
That was it for me today...now only need to attach the binding on that quilt and I have my first finish for the third quarter of the 2019 Finish A-Long.

Karin

Taking Shape

Definitely over-blogging on my funky Bird Quilt, however this is all I have been working on in the last week while on leave.

This is how far I got

The circles are probably the hardest part to get exactly into the two echo lines...a bit of  a headache at times as my piecing is not that great. The block should be exactly 8in, but of course, it is not, hence to fit 8 circles in an orderly way into the sashing is a bit of a challenge. I ended up not only drawing a centre line but also marked every 1in spot to get a sense of when I was out. Sometimes then I did a bit of a side step with the needle and made them slightly overlap to hit the next mark properly. Definitely some patience required!
Also did some more ditch quilting inside the 'foot' shape (the part that I missed before), so that the area was not puffing out. Stitched this with invisible thread first and then followed my stitching path diagram with the white thread. So a bit of extra work.
For the bird background I chose simple swirls...had a laugh at myself as they all look a bit different...found it hard to work out how to exactly swirl around the bird as there was not a lot of room on the sides, so a lot of improvisation going on. Never mind, looks great!
Initially I was also going to take the circles into the very small border to mirror the sashings. However, again the accuracy is slightly out and I would not be able to achieve a 1/4in echo on both sides, so I will probably just do lines in there to finish it off.

Well, I must say, this is most enjoyable...learning heaps about the rulers and also about the Sweet 16, i.e. which foot to use when, how to use the invisible thread and what speed works best for what part. Next time maybe I should go for a different colour thread. Have the hardest time seeing the white thread on the white background. Great for hiding those little glitches, but not great for the eyes.

No more photos now until it is finished!

Joining QuiltFabrication for their midweek makers linky

Also linking up to Quilting and Learning- What a Combo Linky Party

Karin

Funky Bird Quilt

Finished the quilt top

This is the cutest thing. Very pleased how it turned out. Chose some hilarious backing for this

...this will be awesome!. Now onto the job of putting this together and then I will have to make some decisions about the quilting. Still unsure. Could just go over it with an allover design but somehow I have the feeling that there is too much applique to do this. This would mean that I have to ditch this first and then outline the birds...maybe do some ruler quilting in the Fancy Foot block? Just don't know at the moment. Anyway, this will go on the next list for Quarter 3 of the Finish Along 2019.

Karin

Very Cute

So I managed to finish off all my blocks...

...and today started to put this together. Have to concentrate and go slowly as my piecing is never accurate, hence have to straighten and adjust while I go along.

Managed two rows today and am very pleased with how it is going. This is going to look ultra cute!

Already thinking ahead of the quilting and thought that I might leave it at a minimum level, i.e. outline the birds, echo the sashing and echo the foot shapes of the block (hmmm...not sure about that as they are all different colours!) and then just put curves in the middle sections of the Fancy Foot block. Alternatively I could do an allover design in a light yellow colour. Decisions, decisions...!

Linking up to Sew Fresh Quilts for Let'sBee Social

Karin

Fancy Foot Block

Made a start on my blocks for the Funky Bird Quilt recently but was too busy to post about it and then forgot all about it.

This is the Fancy Foot block. It can be found in Maggie Malone's book '5500 Quilt Block Designs' (#2164). It is a simple four patch design that looks particularly striking in these bold colours.

I used the Accuquilt GO cutter to cut out the shapes which made this a relatively easy affair, particularly for the elongated triangles which were cut with the 4in triangles in square die (the die that you use for the Storm at Sea design). While you can cut this yourself, a die like this makes this very easy and quick. The pieces align perfectly and come together quickly. Helps of course, if you think about direction beforehand...I had a whole stack of triangles the other way around and needed to re-cut them to get them the right way around!

Have everything cut out and just need to find some spare time to chain-piece my little heart out and put it all together. My HQ Sweet 16 has gone in for a service, so there is no excuse not to finish this  up in the meantime.

Karin

Progress on Funky Bird Quilt

Almost done all of the birds

Little bit left on the last three and then I can get to cutting out the fabric for the piecing...bit work intensive but it will be very cute. This is what I am planning

How cute is this!
The block is called Fancy Foot and I first came across it  on a site which show-cased antique quilting blocks. Unfortunately this website is now defunct, but I also found this block in Maggie Malone's 5500 Quilt Block Designs. I constructed this four patch before and thought that this was the perfect companion for the birds.











Apart from that I am still in cleaning and re-thinking mode to make my sewing set up a bit more user friendly. I have moved my cutting table over into the corner and created some space for a potential extension flap for the Sweet 16...will trial this for a moment to see whether this works for me with the table.

This re-thinking has been such a brain teaser...really want to make do with what I have and make it work somehow. Ideally, you could get a height adjustable table, looking a bit like this and create one seamless surface when you need it for the Sweet16 and put it up for when you working on cutting out a quilt. This would be great but those tables come with a fairly hefty price tag, so my extension flap for the Sweet 16 is the cheaper option. Some of the items on the table would then move over onto the extended bit and my table would be a bit more empty when working on it.

Anyway, back to those birds!

Karin

Funky Bird Quilt

Made a start on the Funky Bird Quilt. This is also a project that I have listed in the second quarter of the 2019 Finish-A-Long.

I am not a great applique person, so finding this quite challenging...have done four of the nine birds so far. My admiration goes to those quilters who do those intricate applique designs. Seriously, I am finding these little birds quite labour intensive. The bird design 'Funky Bird' is from the applique section of the EQ8 program.

They are very cute...have another two alternate versions to go through. In order to not get confused I have a copy of the mirror image to trace from but then also have a copy of the original next to me. So far, so good...have not got mixed up as yet.

Also getting re-acquainted with my Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2 in terms of stitching around those birds. For the main body I chose my favourite stitch (no. 159 on this machine), one of the satin-like stitches of the machine.

That stitch is great for someone like me who does not do applique that often...as it is uneven it hides all sort of things as you go along. Also had to read up on the tapering again, as in one of the red birds the top feather was in the way for the stitch (which starts with a wide swing out). Set the taper for 45 degree at the beginning of the stitch which made it possible to miss the adjacent element altogether. Was pretty impressed with that and also started to use the taper on the corners, so I would not get a huge thread build up. For the wings and feathers I used a simple blanket stitch and the eyes and beak were done with a simple zig-zag.

This is going to be a very cute quilt. You will have to wait and see possibly a number of weeks to find out what else I have planned for this.

Karin