works in progress

Everything I have been working on this week is not originally my project. However, they all need to be completed for the Airing in April so I had to get them done, sooner rather than later. Most of my own projects are at the basting stage and I need to make a trip to my LQS to use the big table there for that process so now was as good a time as any to work on other people’s projects!

Here’s what I've been working on (or plan to work on) this week:

1. four patch quilt – to be bound and labelled
2. triangle brights and flowers – to be bound and labelled
3. pink brights and gingham – backing required
4. K’s project – quilt, bind and label (binding supplied)
5. QAYG string blocks – 14 more blocks needed

At our community quilting group, when projects go to the long-arm quilter, there must be a top and a backing. When projects come back from the quilters (who volunteer their time to help us), the project is usually given back to the original maker to bind. Sometimes the original creator is not there – either they are a member who is absent that day or the quilt top was donated.

Projects #1 and #2 came back from the quilter but the original makers were not there so I ended up with the quilts to bind and label.

For some reason, the member who donated project #3 did not provide a backing so I was asked to make one.

Project #4 was donated to our group by my quilting teacher – the quilt sandwich is made so the trickiest part is done for me!

I have already made a quilt from the donated QAYG string blocks (project #5) but I still have 28 x 9” blocks left. That’s not enough to make a quilt in the size required in our group so I will have to make some more blocks which shouldn't be too much of a hardship given the number of scraps around here!

So, how has my week gone so far?

MONDAY

I didn't do any cutting or sewing: the heat/humidity has stopped me sleeping well and I was too tired to use my rotary cutter and sewing machine safely! Instead, I auditioned fabrics for bindings for projects #1 and #2, both 280” around.

 

Then I read a novel in a day! It was The Dancing Master by Julie Klassen – historical, romantic (Christian) fiction. Ms Klassen has been described as a ‘modern day Jane Austen’ – I’m not so sure but it was a light, enjoyable read.

TUESDAY

I auditioned fabric for the backing of project #3 then put the fabric in the washing machine (on the  ‘easy iron’ setting) because it was stiff and very creased. It’s the same pink fabric in the photo above.

I cut the binding strips, joined them and made binding for both quilts. I then made labels for both quilts from leftover triangle scraps (note to self: write the label after attaching it to the quilt – or write smaller!).

I had to watch a video on binding, because I haven’t bound a quilt for over a year and couldn't remember how to start! Thank goodness for YouTube and all the generous video makers! Eventually, I attached the binding and label to project #1 and began the task of hand-stitching the binding down – I got a little more than halfway (the quilt is 280” around) before it was time for bed!

What looks like a brown and white check is actually tiny white stars on a brown background; which I didn’t notice until I’d already cut the binding strips. It doesn't look like a good choice with that blue backing; but the quilt was mostly browns – here’s a hint (see the checked fabric in the block?:

WEDNESDAY

I started writing this post before I got on with attaching the binding and label to project #2, then I watched another video on mitred corners because mine just weren’t working! They are fine on the front but the back is terrible! I attached the label to the quilt then started sewing on the binding. I got to the second corner and realised there was a hole in the fabric, eight on the fold line of the binding. I had to undo twenty inches so I could remove the hole – it was close to a join in the binding strip – and rejoin the strip. I was about to start sewing again when I realised I was attaching the binding to the back of the quilt! *sigh* 

If it were my quilt, I might have been tempted to keep going but it isn’t and I couldn’t take the risk of bad corners on the front of someone else’s quilt so I spent more than thirty minutes un-sewing the rest of the binding! :-(

Things improved somewhat; I got the binding on eventually. It’s not perfect but it really is the lest I can do. After pressing the binding (I can’t remember ever doing that before but I think I must have – my teacher is very big on pressing) I moved onto project #3.

Piecing a backing involves a bit of maths and, for me at least, the rough drawing of diagrams. Eventually I had it sorted and went to find some strips to join my pieces together – I can’t help myself; it has become my signature to have a panel or some sashing on the back of my quilts. This isn’t mine but I did it anyway. I cut the pieces for the sashing and for the backing. There was some more reverse sewing after I sewed the right side of one piece to the wrong side of another piece but, all in all, with the help of lots of pins, I got the backing finished.

What looks like an off-what fabric is actually a very pale pink. It has some lovely details on the fabric which, of course, can only be viewed close up.

Because I have so many other projects to quilt in the near future, and because I think J. would like this quilt in this year’s Airing, I am not going to attempt to quilt it myself. I will pass the backing and the flimsy on to our coordinator, who will in turn, pass it on to one of the long-arm quilters. If I feel so inclined, I may even make the binding to go with the quilt. I’m thinking I’ll make it out of the same fabric as the back – I have some binding left from project #2 and lots of that fabric left. I’ll think on it – it may be too much having the same binding as backing fabric.

THE REST OF THE WEEK

So, here it is, Wednesday evening, which still leaves me two full days to work on the other two projects and to get the binding done on projects #1 and #2. I’m linking this post with WiP Wednesday over at Lee’s blog, Freshly Pieced.

What about you? Are you crafting this week or is something else occupying your time?

finished a flimsy

Linking up with Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday which is being hosted by Quilter in the Gap this week.



I woke yesterday morning from a dream about quilting – well, more precisely about piecing: Churn Dash/Shoo Fly blocks to be precise. No, I’ve never made one and, at this point in time, don’t intend to but you never know with dreams, do you?

Anyway, on Wednesday night I had gone to bed quite late after making several blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge which I will post about tomorrow. So I obviously had piecing on my mind.

I was working on the Rainbow Scrap blocks because I had finished the scrappy top I had been working on up to and after dinner. This top started from “extra” which I pieced when making a backing for a previous quilt. I went a little overboard and soon realised I had the beginnings of another quilt top.

I was intending to make a Coin Quilt but these pieces were a little too wonky for that. I have learnt that accuracy in cutting and piecing is just as important when making a scrap quilt as it is when trying to piece blocks that need to fit together. I also learnt that it’s way better to trim small sections like this to the correct size (where necessary) rather than waiting until the combined pieces are several feet long!

Anyway, enough of the lessons learnt, may I present my latest quilt top: Lost Kitties. You may have to look closely to find the reason for the name but they’re there somewhere! LOL

I love the teal sashing strips – in my opinion they make the quilt look modern and fresh, even though it has some very old-fashioned prints in it. Some of the fabrics were from quilts DD and I have made but most of the pieces were donated to Caring Hearts Community Quilting Group; I acquired the bag of scraps at my very first meeting back in August 2011. I’ve since made two quilts from this bag of scraps and there’s very little left.

The teal fabric was also a donation and I was very pleased to get all the sashing I wanted from the small piece I was given. Otherwise I may have had to go and buy a coordinating fabric.

Now I just have to piece a backing and get the current quilt off the quilting frame so that I can quilt this one!

Wonky String quilt finished

Last Wednesday I wrangled this quilt through the sewing machine to complete the sashing on the back.

The quilt is made in a "quilt as you go" method. The blocks were originally made by (someone unknown to us)sewing strings to a calico foundation. DD and I then quilted them onto wool/polyester wadding and a backing made from hand-dyed fabric that had been donated to the quilting group.

The combination of the thicker backing fabric and the extra layer of fabric between the top and the batting made the quilt very stiff and heavy. When I tried to sew the sashing on, I really had to wrangle the quilt. When it hit the back edge of my sewing table, it was so stiff it didn't bend and go down the gap between the table and the wall, it just crashed into wall and sent my stitching way off (It's rarely straight at the best of times).

I finally got the machine work finished. I'm not at all happy with it but it's done. On Thursday I took the quilt to the Caring Hearts Community Quilt group monthly meeting to hand sew the binding down. I made the mistake of stitching every 1/4 inch or so - only to remember (too late) that binding a quilt is not the same as hemming a pair of trousers! Nevermind, more stitches is better than less (I guess).

I finished sewing the binding on Friday night and washed the quilt and put it in the dryer yesterday.

So here, for your viewing pleasure, Wonky Strings completed!