A Finished Top

I got my Greek Cross quilt top finished last night, or rather, very early this morning. I got in the zone and was not stopping until it was finished. Anyone else ever pull an all nighter in the name of quilting?

I randomly pieced these together. Really, I was just to lazy to move the cutting table to access my design wall:S. The only 2 fabrics I fussy cut ended up next to each other as a result. I took the photo of the top upside down. Another lazy moment:)

I used my most prized fabrics including DS, Heather Bialey, Anna Marie Horner, Amy Butler, and Tula Pink. They all look so good together!

I have one leftover block which I think I will incorporate in the back.

I'm linking up with Leah Day for UFO Sunday.

You all have a great day. It looks like a beautiful one outside!!

Friendship pincushion

I made this little pincushion using my leftovers from my "It's Raining Hexies" quilt for the Friendship Quilts Blog Hop which you can link up here. 

It's kind of hard to see but I used a chevron pixilated type of design. And as you can see from this angle, the roof isn't quite even, because I closed it at the top. Hmmmmm, I will definitely close on the bottom from now on. I could go in to why I closed on the top...blah blah blah, yadda yadda yadda......but it didn't work anyway, so who cares:) I might re-do this later.

I did a little embroidery on it, and truthfully, I think it's the best part of the pincushion! I have minimal experience with this so it's pretty organic, but I love it!

So now, who am I gonna give it to? Ahem, after I fix it? It's a toss up. It is between my Mother-In-Law and my neighbor's Mom.

My Mother-In-Law is one of the greatest ladies I know. She has always been there for us. Always been supportive. She treats me like her own daughter. My husband CLAIMS she treats me better than himself. UM, he's a little jealous;) sometimes, HA! I really feel like I lucked out in the Mother-In-Law department. I love her:)

or

My neighbors Mom. She just moved here from Louisiana. Neat lady. I haven't got to know her alot yet, but just a thought to welcome to the neighborhood. 

Both these lovely ladies are sewers so I know that they will appreciate it. I guess I will have to flip a coin, and then make another one.:D

I'm going to link this up with
Diane from blank pages

Parade Day  with Katie from There and Back
 

and Kristie @ Quiet Play for TGIFF

I'm Finished!

 Many of you know about the panic I had the other day when my mini sample wrinkled like crazy in the feathers.  After blocking and re-blocking many times, and following Leah Day's suggestions, it still looked like this.

So, what did I do? I made an investment in this little Dritz iron. Man, they are expensive! But I had a JoAnn's Coupon for 50% off, so I got it.

After carefully ironing, it looked like this.

It was very humid today, so it didn't stay completely flat, but MUCH better!

I'm not totally happy with it. There are many things I would do differently.  But I am elated that IT IS DONE! It's outta my hair. Finito. Finished!! I can't say I enjoyed this project.

One good thing came out of it. I learned ALOT! Thank you everyone  for all of your input on fixing my sample!

Here's my snake paisley. Not sure what's up with the wrinkles. It doesn't look near as bad in person. Oh well. I think stitched out on green it looks like tropical leaves:)

Oh, I almost forgot. I tried Aurifil  thread for the first time. It was the orange spool I think, 100% cotton. I had 4 breaks in this snake paisley sample. It stitches beautifully, but not worth all those breaks! I'll stick with Isacord for FMQ;)

I'm linking up with Leah Day for Quilt Along Wednesday's:)

HELP!!

I got to the blocking stage of my mini quilt this evening. IT SHRUNK LIKE CRAZY!! I washed it on delicate, cold/cold water. Maybe this is where I went wrong instead of just soaking it, but I did this because I wanted to get the basting spray out. OIY! I'm smacking myself on the head!

I did NOT put it in the dryer at first. I decided that is what I need to do( at least until barely damp) to hopefully fluff that batting back up???So I unpinned it from my bulletin board to fluff it a bit. Then I will re-pin. Hopefully it helps! I will update you on this. I also think since I used 100% cotton thread made my feathers shrink like crazy! This is something I didn't even consider! I Bet Isacord wouldn't have shrunk like that;) Leah:)))) what would you do in this situation?? It's not pretty! I got the wrinkles out everywhere but the feathers. There are just to many small feathers going in to many directions. If I have to start from scratch, I will have to get more supplies and I may pull my hair out!:(((((((((((((((((((

I

I have made good progress on my mini quilt sample for my local quilt shop. I will get the quilting finished today and hopefully get it blocked tonight!(I must remember to measure before I submerge into water!!) 

I need to get this one done so I will feel good about finishing my UFO Greek Cross quilt!

I settled on Mettler silk-finish 100% cotton 50 wt. thread. It's not my favorite. The shop's thread selection was very limiting. It lents up like crazy. It will be the last time I use it. It will be the last sample I do for the shop. I have learned that if its is not in my heart, it's not enjoyable. I will not waste my time on a project that I don't have TOTAL creative control over!!

Hopefully by Wednesday, I can show you the finished product!! 

I'm linking up with Leah Day  for UFO Sunday on the Free Motion Quilting Project!

Now, I'm off to finish!

 

Lava Paisley- Quilt Along Wednesday's

I tried the FMQ design Lava Paisley that we were to do for  Quilt Along Wednesday's with Leah Day. I  used Kona cotton (some yellow variety??) with YLI Variations sunrise. The thread and fabric, along with this design illuminated in perfect harmony!

Every one else seems to having an easier time with this design as opposed to paisley. It wasn't super hard, but I did find paisley much easier. Maybe because I have done paisley before, but not the lava paisley.

Over all, I really like the design and would definitely use this in a quilt. I just need a little more practice!!

Here is my quilting question for Leah. My Greek Cross quilt will be composed of 30 blocks. I hadn't planned on a border, nor did I really want one. Plus, I don't have any more of my background fabric. I did not plan ahead for extra fabric on the edge blocks. What should I do in order to quilt to the edge. Is there any option other than adding a border. I was actually thinking of using some sort of tape(like surgical tape.....I guess because its fabric) to tape the edges down(as close to the edge as I can) once I got close enough to them. I have no idea if this would work. I could do a multiple print border, but it's not the look I was going for.

Until next time........;)   EDIT: WAIT! I just had a light bulb moment! maybe i could baste the edges down as I get close to them. It would be a little extra fuss, but it beats buying fabric. Does anyone else have any suggestions for this dilemma??

UFO Sunday's

I'm linking up with Leah Day for UFO's Sunday's.I got my fabric for my Greek Cross Quilt cut and ready to piece. I have 19 completed blocks, so I need at least 6 more, although I may go with an extra row, bringing it up to needing 11 more. I bought 1 more yard of Peacock Kona. I am cutting it really close, but I think I have just enough this time:)

I did manage to complete a little Beaded Lace Medallion UFO I had laying around!

I had it on my coffee table for about a month half finished.  Leah's bracelet post last week was just what I needed to get it done! Probably a good thing before it got reduced to a pile of beads!I found it while cruising Pinterest. You can find the instructions HERE.

I will admit I haven't beaded much. I used the bead string suggested except the weight was different. It's what I could find at Hobby Lobby. She suggests OO Nymo thread, I used D Nymo thread. It kind of looks like dental floss. Mine turned out a little flimsy.

I ran my extra thread tail back through the main outer beads which helped stiffen it some. I am thinking of using a thin sheer ribbon, or some braided DMC floss to use for the necklace part. Any suggestions???

Quilt Along Wednesday's

I got my homework DONE! YAY! I really like doing paisley!! I did make that one big one in the middle, but oh well. I can't wait to do lava paisley!! 

 Be sure to check out my post on my Friendship Quilt! It's my day today and the reason I have been late on my homework lately!! 

Sorry this post is so short...er,um, I'm at work and my break's over.......bye!

Friendship Quilts Blog Hop

 It's my day for theFriendship Quilts Blog Hop and I have a lot to show you. I compiled all of my photos into mosaics to make it a little easier. Let's get the funny stuff out of the way. My '80's picture!

^^big hair^^

 I was 10-20 years old through the '80's. Here are some of the things I loved in no particular order. Stickers, Michael Jackson, friendship bracelets, friendship pins, Prince, pac-man(Ya, I pretty much had pac-man fever), MTV, Def Leppard, bandana's, Madonna, Metallica, the skating rink, running the streets....shhhhh....don't tell my kids.


Now on to my Friendship quilt.

It's Raining Hexies Friendship Quilt

I'ts a 15 1/4 x 34 1/4 wall hanging. Instead of showing you a total tutorial of how to put this together, I thought I would instead show you how to keep these thin strip pieces from getting crazy wonky on you. Why? BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TO ME!! see?

When I got halfway done, i realized that this goes under the WONKY category. Not what I was going for ...haha!

Let me back up.

I cut my strips of fabric to 1 1/2 inches, sewed them together and cut the sewed strips in to 1 inch strips. This is where it gets delicate.

To correct the WONKINESS of my first try, I stay-stitched along BOTH sides of the newly cut strips. This helped keep the cut strips from coming undone from where I had sewed them together the first time. It locks in those other stitches. Next, I lined each piece up against my ruler, spray startched and ironed. This gets the strips back into straight strips.

I lined the strips into my desired pattern, then sewed them together changing the end that I started from with each strip. This, and the ruler starch trick helped keep everything straight! Once sewed together, it shrunk up quite a bit!

See how these tips make a difference? On the left, I stay-stitched, lined up the strips to the ruler and starched and ironed, and last, I flip-flopped which side I sewed each new strip on. On the right, I did none of these. It might seem like overkill, but had I done this in the beginning, I would not have made two!

Here are a few details. I made a hexi quilt label. I love the binding fabric I found. I thought it was great to find a fabric print that went so well with all of those solids. And I did Double Stippling by Leah Day for the quilting.

And I gave it to my friend Sundy for her birthday. She loved it!We met about 8 years ago at work. We have so much in common. Funny thing is we ran in the same circles when we were younger, but somehow never met earlier. I'm so glad we finally did. She is such a great friend.

If any of you out there have any suggestions on how to keep strip-piecing from going wonky, Let me know! This is how I did it and I hope it helps somebody out!
 

the schedule runs Monday through Friday with weekends open for spotlights and recaps.

 September
3: Friendship Quilts Kick Off! at from blank pages..., Diane!
4: Diane of from blank pages...
5: Whitney of The Peacock Tree
6: January T of Sew Sew Go
7: Melinda of Quirky Granola Girl

10: Courtney of Mon Petit Lyons
11: Jill of Made with Moxie
12: Danielle of Fresh off the Spool<<<ME
13: Kelsey of Kelsey Sews
14: Kristy of Quiet Play

17: Marika of Live, Laugh, Love... Sew
18: Karen of Sew Well Maid
19: Rachael of imagine gnats
20: Katie of There & Back
21: Lori of Lori H. Designs
   - LINKY FOR YOUR PROJECTS OPENS

24: A SURPRISE LINKY PARTY OPENS!!! (You do NOT want to miss this one!)
25: Secret
26: Secret
27: Secret
28: Link up closes for projects
30: Suprise Linky closes
October 1st: at from blank pages...  Judges Picks announced, Random drawing for the rest of the prizes,


And so I don't give it ALL away, here's a list of the great sponsors, but I'm saving their awesome prizes for the Kick Off!! ;)

 

A HUGE thank you to everyone who is participating in this event! And especially to our generous sponsors! You are going to LOVE what they are giving away!

Are you excited?!?! I know I am. ;)

Experiments with thread for UFO Sunday's

 I went to the sewing shop today to let the lady know I didn't enjoy working with the Sulky thread. She was out of town, but one of her workers tried to help me. I told her it was to thick for what I was doing. I felt like I didn't have good control of the stitches. As you can see from the back, I got a pucker and a few loops of thread. Plus, the stitches just didn't look nice to me.

She sent me home with 3 treads to try. these threads were already opened. They were ones they were using in the shop, so as not to open a bunch of new ones. So, they don't necessarily match my project. She suggested I practice with each one to see what I liked. So, I did. Also practicing with a few I already had:)

First, I tried the Sulky 30 wt. long staple cotton.It  wasn't fun to work with again. She had suggested I use sewers aid to help. IF you look at the backside picture, the lower left leaf looks discolored(from the sewers aid?) It did seem to help a little, but still not enjoyable to work with. Also, You can tell on the backside that my loose threads were NOT easy to hide. I just did not have any control over this thread at all.

Second, I tried one I had that I thought would work best. Isacord Blue Dawn, 40wt. I stitched the feathers  touching and not touching. I liked them not touching better;) It stitched beautifully. No resistance at all. Plus, the color gave a great contrast, although the picture doesn't give it justice.

Next I tried a thread I had at home. YLI Variations Ocean Trilobal Polyester size 35. I really like the way it stitches. I looks beautiful. I felt like I had control. I don't know how it would do with a lot of traveling. It is a bit thicker than Isacord, but I did enjoy stitching with it.

Next I tried Superior Threads Masterpiece #50. It stitched OK. But there was no luster to this thread. I think it's made for piecing, but she wanted my to try it, and I happend to already have one at home. I didn't have any problems with it.

Next I tried TIRE silk thread (lent from the store). I don't know much else about this thread because the bottom sticker was gone. It felt amazing in my fingers and stitched pretty easily. It's not the color I would have chose, but it's one they had open. I have a question later on this.

Next ,Mettler silk finish # 50(lent form the store). EH. Ok I guess in a pinch. Again, no luster.

Last, Mettler cotton #60 fine embroidery thread(lent from the store). Again, EH, no luster. Kind of blah to wrork with.

The clear winners were Isacord and YLI. THe store carries YLI in silk, not poly. I don't think the owner will let me use the silk because of the cost:( FYI the silk thread she let me use was not the YLI brand. The clear loser is the Sulky.

When I first told the store worker and manager that I didn't like the Sulky, I explained that I was used to using poly thread. OH, THE HORROR! They both told me you always use cotton on cotton and the manager tried to convince me that poly would lent up your machine much more that cotton. HUH? Sweetie, I think you have that backwards.(that is what I said in my head) So I told them it was a matter of personal preference. It's like this, If it aint broke, don't fix it. I did my lobbying for Isacord, but I think they are polyester haters. Some people just have their minds made up.


I will present this TEST sample for the quilt sample wednesday and tell her my preferences and concerns. I won't use a product that won't work for me. The only tread they carry in poly is Mettler. I didn't get to try that one, but it may be and option. I hope she lets me use my Isacord because the color is perfect, and I always have great results with it :)

The above photo goes with my question for Leah. This is the silk thread I used, but this seemed to happen on all of the thread.It just showed more with the silk. I guess I never noticed before. This is the orientation I quilt feathers(down-it's easier for me), and I was working from right to left. When I was pushing the fabric, the stitches looked nice and tight. When I was pulling the fabric, the stitches looked looser and more on top of the fabric. It almost looks like the tension is off ,but it looks fine on the back.Is this normal and I'm just being overly picky?

2  more things.....

I got my homework done and I got the fabric for my UFO's at 3 bucks a yard! Yay! Now I'm off to check on what everyone else is doing!!