GOOD AND BAD QUILTING DAYS

I was so pleased to finish all the "stitch in the ditch" quilting on my "Half Log Blues" quilt.  I even added the binding and got it sewn to the back by hand.  (I always do this before finishing the quilting - seems backwards but it works for me!)
I finally began doing the "fun" quilting on the half log cabin blocks and had a terrible day!!!!  I changed threads, needles, presser feet, I adjusted the tension, but nothing was working.  I decided to take a break from quilting, as I was going to destroy the area I was working on by so many failed attempts, and my waste basket was full of thread.

I took a day off and made some black currant jam!  DH and his friend were pruning some shrubs for an elderly neighbour, and she remembered how much my DS2 loved black currant jam.  She offered some black currants if DH wanted to pick them!  I managed to make one large and six small jars of lovely black currant jam, using the microwave method.  Tastes wonderful!!!!!

Finally decided to get back to my quilting.  I changed the presser foot one more time (I have 3 to choose from on my Juki), and like magic, everything was working!

Hopefully things will stitch smoothly today as well.  DH is playing golf today, the garden is watered and my chores are done, so I plan to spend the day quilting.  Wish me luck!

ANOTHER FINISH

Raggedy & Friends is finished!  Thanks Kaaren at The Painted Quilt. 
I wasn't sure how to quilt it, so I used Kaaren's quilt as inspiration.  I don't usually do regular feathers, but managed to stitch some in this project.  I reverted to my "Hooked on Feathers" type for the border.

 I stippled around the stitching in the redwork blocks with shiny white rayon thread.  The stitch in the ditch was done with monofilament (invisible) thread, and the stitching in the black sashing was done with the smoke colour monofilament.  The rest was stitched with a medium beige coloured thread, showing nice dimension in some of the areas, and showing up wonderfully on the darker fabrics.  I stitched area by area, and was surprised how quickly I finished.  I used a chalk pencil to draw in some guidelines, but just stitched freely, using my Juki set into a table and moving the quilt.
Now I'll be able to add the fabric used in this quilt to my stash report on Sunday!

Another finish

I think I'm on a roll!  Three lap quilts in about a week!

I decided to split the border, as it was too wide.  It allowed me to add some more of the hot pink fabric, and the light blue/green gave me a great place to quilt.  I stitched music notes, as it is a recurring theme in the original blocks.

"Those Swingin' Cats" finished at 50x56.5.  I used the darker green fabric for sashing and binding.  More SITD along all the straight lines, then I outlined all the cats and the block borders with monofilament (invisible) thread.  More variegated thread to stitch the musical notes.  Machine quilted using my Juki, without a frame.  This one was entirely made from stash - Hooray!
I also stitched a cloth book - Bazooples.  I brought a panel to make the book, one to make a baby quilt and some flannel for backing as one of my "must do" projects this winter.  Just found out that my best friend's niece is expecting a baby in July, so this will make a nice gift.

Another yard of fabric from my stash!

Quilt Top Finished

I managed to get the borders sewn onto my orphan block quilt top.  I haven't decided what to use for the binding.....

I spent some time with my friend yesterday, doing the same for her quilt.  I gave her some of the similar blocks.  She is looking for backing for hers, then she'll be over to quilt using my Juki.  She has an old Kenmore machine that works wonderfully, but she hasn't been able to find a walking foot to fit - it is a super high shank, I think.

I delivered the 5 baby quilts from panels to the organizer of the community quilts program for my guild, and I added the three flannel scrap rail fence quilts that I had made from leftover flannel.  I'm sure they will be appreciated by whoever receives them!

I finished piecing the backing for a couple of quilt tops that have been hanging around my sewing room, so I'll be pin-basting today, then quilting for the next couple of days.....

Quilting the Scrappy Double Irish Chain Quilt

As almost always, I began quilting with straight lines.  I decided to stitch through all the scrappy squares first.  Then I continued on, to stitch-in-the-ditch around the plain border; then I added the binding, so that I wouldn't have to deal with the raw edges of the quilt.  I always used to leave the binding until the end, but prefer this method instead.
While tidying up my sewing room, I found some quilting designs, prepared on "golden" tissue paper, that were the perfect fit for my alternate blocks!  I had to make a few more before stitching the pattern.  The original pattern was from a Quilters' Newsletter free download in 2003 - amazing what you find tucked into corners in your sewing room!

Then I decided to stitch loopy fans in the background areas of both the white and purple edges of my scrappy border.

I finished off with a couple of swirls in the 4-patch in each corner.

This quilt was machine quilted, using a Juki, and hand guiding without a frame or stitch regulator.

Back to the Sampler Quilt

I did the basic "stabilizing" quilting and stitched the binding on this quilt before heading north.  I finally managed to finish the rest of the quilting, washed the finished quilt and checked for missed thread tails.

The pattern is Play Date Sampler by Nancy Mahoney, found here.
A picture of my finished quilt top may be found here.
I machine quilted rows of curves in each of the blocks, turning in a different direction for each of the 12 blocks.  These were marked using a wash-out type marker, then stitched free motion, hand guided on my Juki.


I decided to stitch leaves and a looped vine in the background fabric between the final two borders.  I did the outside space first, stitching a heart-shaped leaf into each V-shape, with a small wavy loop at each point.
On the inner background fabric I used the same motif, but stitched it in alternating directions.  I find leaves, vines and flowers an easy way to fill in borders without doing too much quilting.

 

Shades of Blue Pt 3

More alternate blocks, machine quilted with blue variegated thread.  All these are designs that are found here.
These were machine quilted with my Juki, hand guided without using a frame.

Finally a picture of the whole quilt!

Decided to name this one

"Oh, My Plaid Stars!"

Asked a friend to come over to be a quilt holder yesterday.  He and my DH stood on ladders while I photographed the quilts that I have completed this winter.

I always find it difficult to take pictures of quilts that show all the details, especially in the quilting.  At least I have a record of all the quilting in the different areas.

The background fabric is more of a tea-dyed colour of muslin, and the star colours are much brighter as well.  I must learn more about Photoshop!

Last Section Quilted!

Finally finished the last round of feathers!  These travel between the gold and rust stars, and the blue plaid "chain" area.

Once again, I planned the route that the stem travels by tracing a pencil line on the gray-scale print out of the quilt design.

Machine quilted using my Juki with no frame.

Just the feather quilting took 14 filled bobbins of tan thread!  Now I have to spend some time checking the front and back for stray threads.  I try to do this while I am stitching, but there are always just as many "hidden" on the quilt - especially a busy quilt with a pieced plaid backing!

Now I just have to wait for a wind-free day to get a picture of the whole quilt!  This is a big one - blocks are 12 inches finished, and they are in a 7 x 9 layout.  DH wondered why I wasn't adding a border!

Plaid Star Quilt Centre Close-up

Another view of the centre "circle" of the plaid star quilt.  This shows a close-up of the "Hooked on Feathers" filling a slightly awkward area.  Once a decision is made about the spine shape, the rest is quite easy.  I actually used a gray-scale picture of the full quilt, and drew the spine line in each area as a guide to my stitching.

As always, machine quilted with my Juki and not using a frame.

Plaid stars Heading to the Finish

 

I finally figured out a path for the centre area of the quilt.  The "Hooked on Feathers pattern seems to fit into almost any space with just a bit of pre-planning.

This was machine quilted on my Juki, without the use of a frame.

The end is in sight!

Circles of Feathers

There are quite a few small yellow plaid stars in this quilt, so I decided to quilt a circle of feathers around each one.

I found a plastic bowl lid that was just the right size to mark the circle, using a hera marker (sharp edged plastic that makes a visible creased line).  Once the stem was stitched, I was able to make "Hooked on Feathers" hooks and flourishes on both sides of the stem.  Hand guided machine quilting with a Juki machine and no frame.

Questions Answered

1.  Yes, the Glad Press n Seal that I mentioned is the tacky type of plastic wrap used in the kitchen.  I use pastel fine point Sharpie markers to draw the design onto the wrap.  I let it dry well before placing onto the quilt top and stitching.  I recommend testing on scraps before stitching on your quilt.  I tried using my Pigma Micron pen to mark, but some of the ink rubbed off on the thread as I was stitching.  I usually test all the different colours on a scrap of wrap to see which colour shows up best.  Remember to always test!
It is easy to pull off after stitching, but if you have done any stitching over previous lines, little pieces can get caught.  It takes a bit of time to pick all the bits out, but is good TV watching work.
2.  I use a Juki TL-98Q to stitch almost all of my free motion work, although I do some using my favourite Pfaff as well.
My husband altered my table so that my  machine can sit flush to the table top.  He cut a hole in the table top and built a box at the correct depth.  He even drilled a hole, so that the presser foot knee lift can be used.  I find that my quilting has improved greatly having the machine a table height, instead of sitting the machine on the table and adding the extension table.  I still use the extension if I go to a workshop etc.
The Juki is a straight stitch machine, with a great stitch, and seems easier to adjust the tension.  It comes with a walking foot and two free motion feet as well.  I don't like the 1/4 inch foot very much, but that is just a person preference.   I did purchase a free motion foot from Sharon Schambers, and use it when I have to follow a pre-marked line, as it gives better visabililty while stitching.  I only pre-mark quilting designs for about 10% of my quilting. 

 

This is where I sew while in Florida.  The sun  hits the room in the afternoon, so the matchstick blinds keep it out of my eyes.  You can see my Juki set into the table. 

Stitching around a larger Plaid Star

 

More feathers with a few more flourishes.  It is like a puzzle, trying to fill all the spaces!

It is very satisfying to see a plan develop, and I still love doing the "Hooked on Feathers" method.

This was hand guided without using a frame, stitching with my Juki.

Still more Plaid

 

I finally found a design that I liked for the gold and rust stars.  

I marked the design onto "Press n Seal", using a Sharpie marker, then centred the design in the gold square.

I stitched over the lines with rust thread, then pulled away the "Press n Seal".

There are two styles of gold and rust stars, which were all quilted alike.

I hand guided the designs, using my Juki sewing machine. 

And More Plaid

This is the centre block in the quilt - there is only one of these. 

I repeated the spiral with figure eight loops in the small green star, then quilted larger figure eight loops in the larger red plaid star.

This was quilted by hand guiding the quilt, using my Juki sewing machine.  I didn't mark the designs before quilting.

And More Plaid

 

I liked the spiral with the figure eight loops so much that I decided to repeat it in the dark green stars.

I used a bright gold cotton thread for a good contrast.

I machine quilted by hand guiding using my Juki sewing machine. 

More Plaid....

This was the second step in quilting the stars in my quilt.  I used the same colour thread and curved my way through the beige plaid squares in these blocks.

I changed to blue thread, and stitched hearts in the larger red triangles.

Then red thread repeated the curves in the small blue plaid squares.

I stitched a "square in a square" through the blue plaid rectangles in the full blocks, then petals in the blue plaid space in the connector blocks.

I hand guide-machine quilt, using a Juki machine set into my sewing table to make a smooth work surface.

More Plaid

 

After stitching the finished blocks together and pin-basting the quilt, I had to come up with a quilting plan.

I began by stitching in the ditch around all the star shapes.

Then I decided to quilt a spiral in the centre of the beige stars, with figure eight style loops extending into each point.  

I used a thread colour that matched the contrast in the plaid, matching the bobbin to the top thread.

As the backing of this quilt is large pieces of assorted plaids, I thought that the different thread colours would add another design element to the finished quilt.

In this type of quilt, I repeat the design in all matching parts.

BTW, I am quilting this on my Juki, by hand-guiding the quilt, without the use of a frame.