I'M HERE TO INSPIRE AND BE INSPIRED!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Moving On


 I'm moving on to my last UFO. Yesterday I realized I had enough practice samples (25) to put my QAYG quilt together. I was thinking I could get this done, or close, yesterday.

Each square is cut down to 12 1/2 in. So, that would make my finished quilt 62.5x62.5. That is a little short in my book, unless you are a kid. I'm not particularly tall, but I find the standard lap quilt, 50x60in., a little to short to comfortably stretch my legs out for a nap. So, I made the decision to make another row. Plus, I eliminated a couple of my squares I was not happy with and made new ones. Here is what I have so far.






You see my Lost Data in there? I have it done early! YAY! I have one more square to quilt out. then I'm ready to bind these together. I'm trying to decide on a design;)

Now is the decision on what fabric to use to bind it all together. Originally I was going to go with black. It would go nicely with all of the different colors. Kinda boring though. I was thinking a small print would be nice. Then I remembered I had bought a couple of yards of this Jay McCarroll Habitat print.

I know I am taking a chance here. Besides the purples and oranges, it has all of the other color families in it. Also, the pixelated image on the print kind of mimics all of the quilt squares:) So I think hope, it looks good cause I'm going for it!


I ordered Leah's Craftsy class! I had it running last night as I was quilting my squares. I know that I can't pay to close attention while I am sewing, but I swear, it was like we were sewing together. Besides, it is my class forever, now and I can re-watch it whenever I want! And there is something to be said about the subconscious. Even though I wasn't watching intently, I was listening;) The pebbling video came in handy when I went to do the pebbling quilt square above. I haven't done to much of that design. I had a LOT of trouble with this design. My quilt kept puckering on the back! See...

It did this all over. I changed the needle and it helped, but still kept on puckering. I'm not sure if it was my speed ratio or what. I did notice I had the backside of the batting up top. I have heard that there are two sides to batting. The top side and the scrim side. Am I saying that right? And if you get them reversed, it can cause quilting problems.  In any event, it was quite annoying, but I'm not gonna remake this block, it's going in the quilt;) What do you think, Leah?

* I had great time sewing with you last night, Leah;) Seriously, your Craftsy class is totally AWESOME. You give great attention to detail. You really ARE a great teacher! If it weren't for you, I don't know that I'd be quilting at this level today, if at all. I always wanted to quilt since I can remember. It was not until I found you on YouTube a little over a year ago that you gave me the confidence and skills to do what I have always wanted to. I thank you for that.

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

Now I am off to the sewing room............bye;)








20 comments:

  1. I love your practice sample squares. They'll make a great quilt and a great way to review some of your stitches. I also bought Leah's Craftsy class. I just started watching it today and just love it so far! It will be great to go to when you have a problem and see the right way I should be doing it! Love that it's ours forever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I won't be able to review with this quilt except through pictures. It's a Christmas gift for my step-daughter. Shhh, don't tell:)

      Delete
  2. Your last UFO - you mean the last one you have??? How can that be? I always have at least a few and I like things finished in a timely fashion! Anyway, I love your squares and can't wait to see your quilt. I need to buy Leah's Craftsy class - thanks for reminding me! ~Jeanne

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ya! the last. Sorta. The last one I have actually started. Now as for 2 bought patterns, and fabric to go with one, I still have those to go. But I won't be able to get to those until after Christmas. After this one is finished, I have to make 2 quilts from scratch for my boys. They will be mad if they don't get one for Christmas too. I'm starting to stress out that I won't get these quilts done for Christmas in time!

      Delete
  3. Oh my gosh....your FMQ is fabulous!

    ReplyDelete
  4. WOW! That's a great collection of samples. I absolutely love your feathers. You seems to be pro with feathers.

    Leah's craftsy class is awesome. All her knowledge in one place, on top of it you can take video notes and ask questions. Which she does an awesome job answering as always :-).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thank you! I haven't had a chance to watch the whole thing. I have been bouncing back and forth between hers and Elizabeth Hartmans Inspired Modern Quilts. Funny story with that. The week before Leah's class came out, Craftsy had a great sale. All classes for $14.99. I had EH's class in my cart, but forgot to go back and purchase it. Then Leah's came out. The sale was over. then Leah offered it for 50% off. So i thought, I'm not missing a good sale again. So I put it in my cart. And EH's was STILL in my cart for $14.99 even though the sale was over!!! YAY. So I got them both. So now I watch a segment of one, then the other;)

      Delete
  5. Someday I hope to be as talented as you are Danielle! Amazing FMQ.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh, how great!! Those squares are amazing! Practice? I think you got it down!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Wonderful, really beautiful.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Gosh, thank you Danielle! My goal in starting the FMQ Project was exactly that - to teach and help whoever wanted to learn. I've never, ever regretted the decision to give everything away for free because there's such a wonderful community of quilters willing to give back. I'm so glad you're taking the Craftsy class as I believe it's one of the best things I've ever made thanks to all the amazing help I had from my team.

    As for your puckers - how did you baste this block? I've personally never experienced issues with the wrong side of batting being up, but then again, some battings get weird, no doubt about it. Looking at the poofyness - it does look a bit thick. Maybe try this on a thinner batting and see what happens.

    Just remember - it's on the back of your quilt so it doesn't count! The pleats won't make your quilt any less warm or comfy to cuddle with.

    Cheers,

    Leah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I used that dang bamboo batting again. I love the way it feels and drapes, but it is much slipperier than cotton. It's pretty thin, though. I pin basted the 15in. block with 9 pins. I noticed the fabric shifting right away...as I was sewing an outside border first. maybe I should have stopped at that point and re-pinned. I thought maybe the pressure was to tight, but I checked it and I don't think so. Anyway, yes I keeping it in the quilt. It's a cuddler and the pleats are pretty small. I thought maybe this is a potential issue with the pebbling design. It may be a combo of that and the batting!. I will have to try this design out with cotton batting and see what happens. Maybe I just suck at pebbling, haha!

      Delete
  9. Absolutely fantastic quilting. Really like it and I think your strips in between will look awesome...just something a bit different.

    ReplyDelete
  10. How pretty your sample blocks are. I am going to make some up so I am ready with Leah has something to teach us. I was too busy with other things to do all the recent samples. Did you make both sides the same color. You are a great quilter Danielle and I get a lot of inspiration from your work.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did make them all the same color on this quilt....the front and back of each square, that is. Obviously, each square color is different, haha! I made mine 15in. square so I could easily trim them down to 12 1/2 in. Plus, I found that this size gave me a good area to practice on. Hope that helps! Thanks for your sweet comment:)

      Delete
  11. LOVE your quilting. I got the Craftsy class too. Love it so far!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I love the class. Leah is so detailed! She really does have 2 gifts! quilting AND teaching!!

      Delete
  12. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete