My life in quilts

1. Valance - my room (HSY)
2. Backing - mom’s cabin quilt for summer - DONE & so is the quilting!!
3. Musical Scrappy - I did 20 more of these so 76 of 99 blocks completed
4. Scrappy #2 - about 360 more half square triangles to square up
5. Goose on the Loose - blocks need squaring up
6. DWR - 5 of 40 melons completed
7. Nathan & Koren’s Wedding Quilt - 4 of 42 FQ cut for blocks
8. Oklahoma Backroads - Cutting and organizing fabric scraps for this one.

I’ve also finished a customer quilt and put a second one of her’s on the frame. I really like this one. Very girlie and swirly.

Stacy’s Pink & Yellow Pinwheel

Quilting Detail

I’m also patting myself on the back (yes, that’s right) for not succumbing to Bonnie’s Super Bowl Bargello. I almost did! I resisted the Carolina Crossroads mystery, but started cutting up strips for this one. I finally got a hold of myself. . . I mean, I have a wedding quilt to finish and the quilt studio to pack up! Who am I kidding thinking I’m going to squeeze in another project here?! I am *not* Bonnie. [sigh]

1. Valance - my room (HSY)
2. Backing - mom’s cabin quilt for summer (HSY)
3. 9 patch leader/ender - 128 blocks completed
4. Musical Scrappy - 56 of 99 blocks completed
5. Scrappy #2 - about 360 more half square triangles to square up
6. Goose on the Loose - blocks need squaring up
7. DWR - 5 of 40 melons completed
8. Nathan & Koren’s Wedding Quilt - 4 of 42 FQ cut for blocks
9. Oklahoma Backroads - Cutting and organizing fabric scraps for this one.

I decided to just finish up all the 9 patch blocks that I was working on as leader/enders to get that out of the way. So that project is all bagged up and ready to be packed away. Today I’m going to work on squaring up the rest of the half square triangles for the second scrappy quilt and Goose on the Loose. If there’s time, I’m going to finish ironing and cutting the fabric for Nathan and Koren’s quilt.

Hmmm… When I see how long it’s been since my last post, it seems I should have a lot more done than I do. Here’s one reason why I am behind.

Ludo, the mischievous is always sleeping where I need to work. He’s either on the cutting mat when there’s material on it, or hopping up on my chair at the sewing machine when I get up to iron or cut something.

Thank you all for the comments on the double wedding ring quilts and the musical scrappy blocks. I have solved my issues with the blocks I didn’t like in the musical scrappy. I’ve spent one whole day just squaring up more half square triangles so I can get more blocks done for that quilt.

About double wedding ring quilts. . . there are several people who have technique books out with plastic template sets for doing them with rotary cutters and strip piecing methods. The class I took was helpful but not essential to making a DWR. The only thing I would recommend is not the let your enthusiasm and momentum lag while putting the top together. I wish I had completed the top all at once because it is a hard project to come back to.

I did make an unplanned detour to a sewing project that I had my list, took off the list and then decided to go ahead and do. I’ve had upholstery material to cover the pillows on the back of my couch for probably 2 years now. The couch was given to us and I never liked the southwest motif (and colors!) on the pillows.

(Edit: 27 December 2008: Hmmm, it seems this picture has disappeared. . .)

Looking at the picture, I forgot that I was going to cover the pillows with fabric that had an English cottage look to it (inexpensive Wal*Mart fabric). The small pillow is already covered but I didn’t buy enough of that fabric before our Wal*Mart stopped carrying it. Anyway, I was thinking of giving away the upholstery fabric (more inexpensive Wal*Mart fabric) I had purchased, but on a whim, I threw it over the couch one last time. . . I decided it looks so much better than the southwest pillows. I spent a couple days working on making covers for the old pillows. Here’s the result:

I actually like my couch now. It doesn’t look so sad and shabby any more. (Maybe just because all the pillows are coordinated now! LOL)

Finally, I’ve started cutting the FQs for Nathan and Koren’s quilt. I’m not kidding myself here by thinking I’m actually going to have this one done before their wedding on 1 March. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll have the top done. I’ve also concluded that a trip to the LQS is in order as I need fabric for binding for my pink and burgundy quilt, fabric for backing and binding my DWR and I’ll need backing and binding for Nathan and Koren’s quilt. That will all have to wait until my income tax check comes.

1. Valance - my room (HSY)
2. Backing - mom’s cabin quilt for summer (HSY)
3. 9 patch leader/ender - 95 of 128 blocks completed
4. Musical Scrappy - 20 of 99 blocks completed
5. Scrappy #2 - cutting, ironing & squaring up 480 half sq triangles
6. Goose on the Loose - blocks need squaring up
7. DWR - 5 of 40 melons completed
8. Nathan & Koren’s Wedding Quilt (HSY) - the right FQ pack should be here 1/15
9. Oklahoma Backroads - Cutting and organizing fabric scraps for this one.

Here are the 20 blocks I have done from the musical scrappy quilt top. (This pattern is “Leftovers Again?” from Evelyn Sloppy’s 40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts) I’m undecided if I like this scrappy one or not. I may have put too many medium neutrals into the light neutral blocks. [sigh]

For me, classes are good for learning new techniques but not for completing projects. This is another project that I started during a class (January 2005) and never finished. DD-R wanted to learn how to make a DWR quilt so I took this class with a friend using John Flynn’s book and templates so I could teach DD-R how to make the quilt. DD-R decided it was too much work. LOL It *is* time consuming.

I just finished up machine quilting a DWR for a friend in trade for some drawings she did for me to use in a couple of redwork projects. While I was quilting it, I was thinking I *really* need to get my DWR done because there is nothing like a nicely quilted DWR. :o)

Here’s a picture of Linda’s Double Wedding Ring Quilt

But you know, those arcs are a lot of work. I need 80 of them for a 54″ x 54″ DWR–yeah, mine is only going to be a 4 block x 4 block throw. You start cutting and sewing your strips together in the order you’d like your arcs.

I chose dark to light to dark.

Then you cross cut them–again, I needed 80.
Then the fun begins.

You resew *every* seam at an angle. . . I use a needle trolley on my index finger to help guide the fabric

(I switched the trolley from my right to left hand only to take the picture, in case you’re wondering.)

The seams can be chain sewn.
Then comes the pressing.

All the seams get pressed in one direction.

You need to make sure your resewing of the seams results in the proper sized arc. I have drawn around the plastic template on a piece of muslin.

I match up my sewn arc making sure that it hangs over or fits perfectly in the drawn arc.
The final step is to apply a little starch and place the plastic template over my sewn arcs to square them up with the template. So now I have all 80 done and it’s time to sew half the arcs to the melon shapes.