Saturday, August 1, 2015

July's update!


Where does the time go?  It definitely is time to update the blog with what I have been doing!   My focus this month was to finish up my Tribute to George quilt.  I was able to use all of my blocks except the embroidered cherries and I have decided it will become the label for the quilt so it will be included it will just be on the back.  I am pleased that my challenge to make some blocks and bring them together into a quilt top was successful!



Tribute to George will move into the closet waiting it's turn to be quilted.  Which brings me to thinking about pulling Baltimore Garden out to prepare it for quilting.  I worked on some templates of shapes that I will use in the open background areas.   I love that Barbara Burham included the quilting designs on the pattern.  The plan is to fill in with some closely quilted lines or echo quilting. So this one is going to take a while but should be a lot of fun!



I have decided on my next project.  Trailing Vines a quilt first made by Susan Mc Cord from Indiana.  Her quilts are just amazing!!!!!!!!  Janet over at Quiltsalott did a sew along a few years ago and generously offered her rendition.  So that is where I will start!

First a lot of tracing needs to happen


I have prepped the stems on the first panel so now on to prepping the leaves.  I hope to use up the small bits of fabric leftover from the previous scrappy quilts I have made.  It will be my go to project for a while when I want to put in some applique stitches.


TATW is still hanging around. Row 24 is finished and I have two sides done on Row 25.  I know that Row 30 is close at hand, we will see if my stash can get me there.  I am very close to 50 inches square which makes for a nice size throw.


I have spent so much time working on tops that I really am missing my favorite part of quilt making and that is the quilting.  Last year I took a craftsy class to help me with my machine quilting skills.  I did some straight line quilting on my granddaughters quilt.  This time I am trying a spiral quilting pattern.  This scrap quilt was a Moda Bake Shop pattern called Woven.  I made it for my husband and am naming it Country Road!


Starting was the most difficult part!
Day One !  The first bobbin got me this far!
Day 2 Bobbin two!
Day 2 Bobbin 3
Finishing this one will be my focus next week!

24 comments:

  1. all that turning the quilt for the spirals would drive me crazy! certainly wouldn't want to do that on a really big quilt!

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    1. The first few times around are a bit intense but after that I really am enjoying it! This quilt is about 58x68 so not that large that is quite manageable!

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    1. Thanks! The first time to do something like this! I really enjoyed all the math!

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  3. Wow - so much going on there! I love the trailing vines quilt - a great applique project and perfect to use up those scraps. Your spiral quilting is amazing!

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    1. I think I will really enjoy trailing vines! Janet has great instructions and I was finally brave enough to try some glue basting. I find machine quilting intense. Starting the spiral was intense but I finally realized I just need to do the adjusting and I need to let the machine do the work. I love the texture and we can't hand quilt them all! LOL

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  4. I'm so excited for you to be starting the Vine Quilt!! I hope you love it as much as I have :0) I have only 3 branches left to applique but I know I will get to enjoy each and every leaf again with the handquilting.

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    1. Oh I know what you mean. Dreaming about hand quilting it will keep me going! Looking forward to some blog post of your hand quilting progress on your gorgeous version

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  5. I love the look of the spirals, but I'm with Karen ... I think they'd drive me bonkers. ;-)

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    1. It really was more enjoyable than the straight lines I did on my granddaughter's quilt. Not sure I could handle a queen or king but this is great for baby or sofa size quilts.

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  6. I just love your George Washington flimsy.. it is totally wonderful and love the idea of using the cherries block as the label too! I don't think I could do that spiral quilting on a machine... maybe by hand though! :) That is a lot of stitching and you seem to be making great progress with it in short order though! Hats off to you :) Loving your TATW and how you have stuck with it to now be on the 25th round :) Yippee ! Thanks for the update post friend! Kathi

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    1. Thanks Kathi! The TATW gets neglected sometimes but lately it has been on late almost every nite. I think spiral hand quilting would be great too!

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  7. My quilt is about 58x68 so very managable. I agree for someone who has a hard time with machine quilting this was fun and love love the texture!

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  8. I've seen that vine quilt...someone's working on it here and there though I don't remember who but I do remember thinking I'd never have the patience.

    Yay for finishing George...I kept checking back to see it ...

    Pretty circular quilting!

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    1. Thanks Deb! Well, I really don't have a need for a lot more quilts so I thought a nice slow project would fit the bill. It used to be trying something new but now I just enjoy the stitching!

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  9. I wondered what you had been up to all this time!

    Oh, you did a spectacular job on George. How unique. And I love the border you chose.

    Are you going clockwise or counter clockwise on your circular quilting? How far apart are the lines? When I circular quilted I drew in the first few circles and used my darning foot to sew along the lines. I just couldn't get the center tight enough using my walking foot.

    Country roads is a good name. I like the colors.

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    1. Great idea for the center! I may use my open toe foot and draw the lines as you suggested I am going clockwise and the lines are 1/2 inch apart so I just run my walking foot along the edge of the previous stitching. I really like it better than straight line stitching cause you can just keep stitching till you run out of bobbin thread!

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  10. Your George quilt is fabulous and I think it is great that the cherry block will go on the back. I quilted a quilt with a spiral and it was fast and easy until I realized my back wasn't flat so I ripped it all out, pin basted again and quilted it for the second time. The quilt had a lovely soft feel and I was really pleased with the result. Your new applique project looks really interesting!

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  11. Your Tribute to George turned out wonderful! I can't wait to see your version of Trailing Vines too.:) I've always loved that quilt!

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    1. Trailing Vines will be a long term project for sure, but should be enjoyable. Thanks the Tribute to George was a fun project.

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  12. Looks wonderful Carla! I too love hand quilting the special motofs from antique quilts. Your trailing vine looks super fun. Enjoy your stitching time.

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  13. Is this really a spiral? Or are they concentric circles? It seems to me the quilting would turn out to be an oval if it was a spiral? Maybe you can help me wrap my head around this! LOL

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  14. Is this really a spiral? Or are they concentric circles? It seems to me the quilting would turn out to be an oval if it was a spiral? Maybe you can help me wrap my head around this! LOL

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    1. Yes it's a spiral! You start with about a four inch circle that you don't close completely. About 3 inches before the lines would meet you free hand draw a stitching line so that it slowly moves outward till it lines up a half an inch away from the starting point. Then it's just a matter of slowly stitching with a walking foot on your machine. You need to go very slow and adjust a lot when you first start. You don't want the weight of the quilt to tug on your needle.

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