UFO Sunday #4

It has been a busy week and I have not had a chance to do much on my UFO/WIP. So, apologies for the same old pictures...it's kind of a bit boring, but forces me to continue. I reckon this one could have easily ended up on the UFO list again if it was not for UFO Sunday.

Anyway, I did manage to sew my border on and get my hexagon table runner basted. While I was doing this I I thought more about the quilting...very confused re what I should be doing. My idea of outlining the seams is ok but I really don't feel much like doing that.

This is what happens ...I come up with some ideas, get very excited about them only to go back to the more familiar designs that really don't challenge me that much. Hence, I then think...hmm...too boring and go back to some more exciting ideas and so the whole thing starts again...going around in circles and losing a fair bit of momentum on the project. I wonder whether other people suffer from this annoying indecision syndrome...

I can't believe how I am dragging my feet with this. Anyway, here is the basted table runner ready to be quilted.

I chose cotton batting...no particular reason other than that I had the right leftover piece just sitting there. I do tend to vary my batting, depending on what I am working on and by now have tried wool, cotton, bamboo and thanks to Leah Day's Quilt Along Wednesday also Polyester. Table runners often will end up with what is left over from the bigger pieces.

Just reading Leah Day's post on UFO Sunday talking about the fear factor...I think that this is what is happening to me at the moment. The fear of completely stuffing this up...so annoying and so unreasonable. It really does not matter whether or not it turns out...it is not a gift, nor will it ever see a show or similar...I really need to get over this.

Linking up to UFO Sunday #4 over at The Freemotion Quilting Project.

Karin

More FMQ Practice

I finally found some Isacord thread in one of the shops here...a few selected reels were on special as they are stopping to carry it. The woman advised that Mettler Polysheen 40 was pretty much the same thread (and according to her comes from the same factory), so I got them both to have a bit of a try. I wonder whether this is correct...will have to research this a bit more.

Anyway, just was practising a bit more today...

Paisley

Worked a bit more on the spaces and found it much easier this time around. Went back earlier several times to fill up the spaces ...and ended up with less odd spaces. Not that you would really notice over a larger area. I think I prefer to leave little triangle spaces in between and will concentrate on this...filling them up with lines looks a bit wonky in my pieces.

Wiggly Paisley - how cool is this?

Doodle with Isacord

Colonial Vine Motif - maybe for the Hexagon table runner?

Like the Isacord thread. Very easy to work with and has a lovely shine to it. A bit thicker though to what I am used to. I often use Aurifil 50/2 or Rasant (particularly for practising). As to the Mettler Polysheen 40...yes, behaved pretty much the same and also easy to work with.

Until next time

Karin

Quilt Along #30 - Paisley

Here are my efforts for this week's Quilt Along #30 at Leah Day's Quilt Along Wednesdays

Did a bit of a trial run first on a bit of a scrap piece of backing.

Knew I would have difficulties filling in the spaces, however went onto my practice quilt and had a go.

Bit hard to see but looking good from a distance

 

 

The design went alright...did not realise how much backtracking this involved. Initially I followed a sort of direction from left to right, but this soon changed and I found myself all over the place and stitching the paisley upside down and sideways...started off a bit bigger but as I went along the design got a bit smaller.

Question

- my biggest issue were the odd empty spaces; do you just put lines in there to fit in with the overall design or leave some empty spaces?

Until next time

Karin

UFO Sunday #3 - English Paper Piecing Project

As mentioned in the last post, the English Paper Piecing project has become a WIP. I must say as time consuming as this was (and this is only a little quilt top), this was most enjoyable and I could imagine doing something like this again.  There is just something really soothing about sitting somewhere and quietly stitching away, reflecting on your day and planning ahead...or just simply zoning out.

I decided against 'bagging' the quilt as I do not think it would look any good if it is then heavily quilted on the top. Can't see how that would work around the edges as the quilting would have to pull the edges in which would then make the seam line fairly visible. So, I am thinking of putting a simple border around it and possibly putting some FMQ design in there. I think I decided on my first design idea of simply following the seam lines to emphasize the shapes.

I was very nervous about taking all the paper out. I could not get over the feeling that this was going to be more fragile than a machine pieced quilt top...so this is how I approached this:

• Took all the paper out , leaving the paper around the edges in place temporarily in order to minimise the possibility of distortion. In order to remove the paper template, I just ran the eye of the needle on the inside of the seams on the wrong side to loosen the fabric ( the fabric was glued onto the paper template).  Ha, ha...next time should remember to be a bit more careful and not stitch into the paper. A bit of a hassle to then get the paper out in one piece. These shapes can be re-used if you are careful.

• Then I spray-starched the piece before ironing all of the seams. Did notice that some of my stitching was somewhat sloppy in places, i.e you can see some stitches on the right side. Made mental note to keep the stitching more consistent next time.

• The seam allowances of the edges needed to be carefully let out and ironed flat. I then cut off the overhanging shapes to square off the piece. Now this was a bit of a drama...had difficulties getting it straight (obviously some distortion did occur...in retrospect I think I should have spray starched the piece from the right side while the paper was still in there and then ironed it). Also noticed that I stitched into the seam allowance a number of times...which then caused little pleats when I was trying to let out the seam on the edges...well, live and learn. This was a bit of a painful process. Anyway, straight or not, it is finished.



Back

Now for the border.  I auditioned a plain tone-on-tone red fabric... yes, I like that. I feel that it does need something plain around it.

Almost done.

Linking up to Leah Day's UFO Sunday to see what other people have been up to.

Question

- if I just outline-quilt (in a curvy line) each of the hexagons on the inside, will this not become too dense? The shapes are only about 1.5" wide and about double in length;  I am intending to use some leftover cotton batting. As this will be a table runner I want it to lie nice and flat, but not be completely stiff from all the quilting.

Until next time

Karin

WIP - English Paper Piecing Project

Who would have thought...the English Paper Piecing Project has gone from an UFO to being a WIP.
Well, here it is, I actually finished the hand piecing. Now I 'just' need to finish the project.


13" x 27.5"

 

Until next time

 

Karin

Now the fun begins in earnest...

Quilt Along #29 - hearts

This week on Leah Day's Quilt Along Wednesdays Leah showed us how to combine hearts (you can use any other shape you might like) with the 5 designs that we have been learning so far: Stippling, Zippling, Circuit Board, Loopy Lines and Sharp Stippling.

If you are wanting to improve your FMQ I highly recommend this Quilt Along. I am really noticing the improvement in my FMQ skill level compared to the beginning of the year. I can now sit down (even after a little break) and just go for it...I am far less concerned about imperfections and seem to have developed my own little rhythm that produces stitches that are on the whole pretty decent.

Here is my practice piece:

This is good fun

Close up

Using other shapes

The star is commonly used with the loops. Every time I do this, I have to stop and think which way to approach it, otherwise I get it wrong...very effective though and such a great playful design. I like the little leafy design...saw something like that in one of my quilting books and it seems to flow for me for some reason. That design seems to look good no matter how wonky you make the leaves and the veins really set it off. I wonder what else I could combine this with. Ran out of thread so I stopped here and continued on my UFO.

No questions...can't wait for the next design.

Until next time

Karin

UFO Sunday #2

Still on the English Paper Piecing Project. Two more rows of little squares....will post photos when it is finished.

Not going too quickly but the end is in sight. Thinking about some quilting designs. The first thing that came to mind was to simply follow the shapes:



 

That would actually be quite an easy finish and go well with the ordered arrangement of the pieces.

 

I am also still looking at an overall design...maybe something like below, although the spacing would have to be a bit wider. I like this design but have not done it before edge-to-edge because I tend to loose orientation easily when  sewing. With this little quilt though that could work because of the shapes...I could literally count off the rows and place the loops neatly in the little squares (sorry, was too lazy to re-draw this a bit wider and more spaced out). Would have to practice this a bit...

 

 

Alternatively, I am thinking I could use an overall floral design... or maybe Baptist fans like Danielle from Fresh Off the Spools suggested...decisions, decisions. Well, I can think about all of this while I am completing this, as it is probably still going to take another week.

In terms of UFOs, this is what's on my list

- 'practice' quilt: on-going as part of Leah Day's Quilt Along Wednesdays
- Table runner: to be tackled after the English Paper Piecing Adventure
- Craftsy BOM: embarrassed to say that I stopped in March; the issue seems to be with the size of the blocks. I actually do not like to work with 12"blocks (shouldn't I have thought of this beforehand!), so I am currently considering re-working them into smaller size blocks. Now that would mean I have to start again - to be decided
- 'Arrangement of Small Pieces' quilt: decided to stop this project; I had chosen 30's fabric for this quilt and having had a break and re-looking at it, I actually do not like my choice of fabric and also have already moved on in my head to a more exciting use of this block. I am going right back to my more familiar choice of fabric, darker and more contrasting colours. As I have made some blocks, I could sew them up into another table runner. The rest of the fabric I am thinking of sewing up into Nine Patch blocks, put them on point and have alternate plain fabric blocks in between. This will then give me the opportunity to practice some fancy FMQ motif in those blocks
- Cat panel wall-hanging: this has been around for a while; I followed the major outlines of the picture using the walking foot and have a thousand and one threads to sew in...this was before I had enough confidence to FMQ straight lines; I could use this to continue to practice FMQ on this to just finish it off.

No wonder I am confused. Going to link up to Leah Day's UFO Sunday on the Free Motion Quilting Project

Until next time

Karin