Quilting Bag Canvas

I'm quilting up more fabric to make insulated shopping bags. My goal is to make three of them. Even though I still haven't been able to finish the last seams on the last one, I'm confident I found a solution to get them finished, so I am preparing to make at least two more bags. I quilted more fabric, this time light canvas. They're not the greatest quality as they were pretty inexpensive from JoAnn, but I liked the colors.

I had a long piece of the solid navy canvas for the backing and I quilted one of the printed pieces and then I added the second. This first piece is quilted with Let it Bloom! Edge-to-Edge 3 by Christy Dillon.

This second piece is quilted with a pantograph called Jacobean Flower & Vine by Jessica Schick. I really like it, but I may have shrunk it down a bit too much.

As for my solution for sewing these bags, I bought a new-to-me light-industrial sewing machine, a Pfaff Grand Quilter with an extra high lift of the presser foot. I got a really great bargain because the woman who was selling it lost all the accessories for it. She did still have the power cord and foot pedal to make sure it would actually work but she was missing the bobbins, feet, etc.

I've ordered the replacement parts and I should get them in the next week then I'll be able to take it for a spin, and hopefully finish my Ultimate Travel Bag.

Linking up with:

Finished or Not Friday
Friday Foto Fun
Whoop Whoop

Chocolates and Roses

Like a nice date with Chocolate and Roses, I spent my Friday Night finishing up my squirrel from a couple weeks ago! I have no more flimsies left to finish! It's taken me more than a year, but my closet is now bare. =)

Inspired by the name of the pattern, Chocolate Dip, I named mine Chocolates and Roses. I used the last of my Quilter's Dream Green batting for this quilt and I used inexpensive MaxiLock thread in a dusty rose color for the quilting. 

I chose Donna Kleinke's Carmen's Roses 3A pantograph because that curly tail reminded me of the knots in my quilt. Once I'd started, though, I'd rather wished I scaled it a little smaller. (To be honest, that's my one gripe about Donna Kleinke's pantographs, they are sized so huge that it's hard to know how much to reduce them to make them look good.)

Originally this pantograph had another row on the bottom, but when I realized it was exactly the right size without it, I edited it out with my ProStitcher Design software.

Linking up with:

Brag About Your Beauties

Friday Foto Fun

Off the Wall Friday

Peacock Party

TGI Finished Friday
Whoop Whoop

Morris Garden Quilted!

Hip-hip-hooray! 🎉 I managed to get this beauty quilted just in the nick of time—right before the month's close. Binding, however, will wait until after I do my next round of quilt labels. 

It's another really big quilt so it's hard to hold it up to get a good photo.

The quilting shows up better in dim light

This project pushed me into uncharted waters, throwing me design and alignment curveballs. It was a fantastic practice session, letting me flex and explore the alignment tools of my ProStitch long arm computer. What a relief it is to wrap up this quilt—it's been patiently waiting, making it the last 'flimsy' in my pile, urging me to summon the courage to quilt it.

Flapper's Fancy Finished!

Flapper's Fancy is Finished! I actually finished it a couple of weeks ago, but I've been too lazy/distracted to finish my blog post.

I originally designed and pieced this quilt in April 2021. I tried to find blocks in Electric Quilt/Blockbase that aligned along the edges and I think I was pretty successful. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. 

As I previously reported, all the quilt pantographs I used were from Donna Kleinke's Genevieve line. For the extra large blocks, I stitched them out in two pieces, as shown in this Handiquilter video on how to stitch Oversize Blocks. For the sashing, I was fortunate it fit (just barely) in my quilting space and I was able to do the sashing strips without rotating the quilt on-point, so this project actually ended up being easier than anticipated. It really did help that I selected pantographs which came in smaller pieces.

This is basically what I stitched out, though the outer flower border sashing is better aligned on the actual quilt.

This quilt has already been gifted; my brother visited last week, and I sent it off with him to deliver.

But its departure is a little bittersweet because I do really like it so I may dig through and see if I have enough of the Deco Elegance border/medallion fabrics left to make another for myself.

Linking up with:

Finished (or Not) Friday

Friday Foto Fun

Off the Wall Friday

Peacock Party

TGI Finished Friday

Whoop Whoop

Comet's Revival Quilted!

Get ready for a comeback story – the tale of my second finish from the Comet blocks of my May UFO goal! It had a rough start; a quilt flimsy riddled with pleats and puckers that was far from perfect. I can't even imagine what possessed me to finish it in such a state (though, honestly, I probably just couldn't wait to be done...LOL).

Now aptly named Comet's Revival, this quilt breathes new life into the purple Comet blocks with fresh sashing and corner blocks. I'm thrilled that I didn't purchase a single new fabric for this revival! Instead, I used only fabrics I had on hand and I recovered the purple paisley fabric from a square dance skirt I made years ago for the sashing corner blocks. It was a small sacrifice to make, considering the skirt was gathering dust in my closet. For the backing, I unearthed a hefty piece of green marble-look fabric, a relic from the early 2000s.

For the quilting, I experimented with various feather blocks. Admittedly, I'm not completely in love with the result, but the idea of disassembling the whole thing never really took a serious hold. After spending an abundance of hours earlier this month unraveling the quilt stitch by stitch, I simply didn't have the heart for another round! The main culprit of my dissatisfaction is the large square feather block – it lacked symmetry, and with a nine-patch design, it's all the more noticeable. Nevertheless, I decided to stick with it.

But it's not all bittersweet! I adore the outer border feather from mycreativestitches; her Midsummer Dream Simple Border and Corner worked wonders. For the sashing, I went with a pantograph called Flipped on Feathers that came with my long arm. And the adorable corner blocks are the Funky Feather block by Anita Shackleford, another that came with my ProStitcher software.

The batting is my go-to – Quilters Dream Green 100% recycled batting. I paired it with another MaxiLock serger thread, this time in a Churchill green shade. For these low-stakes leftover block quilts, I see no need to splurge on pricey threads.

What a relief it is to have completed my May UFO before the month's end! There were moments of doubt, but I pulled through. And now, with a quartet of quilts piled up, I'm considering dedicating a few days to creating quilt labels and binding them all. A perfectly productive way to celebrate the completion!

Linking up with:

Midweek Makers
Needle & Thread Thursday
Brag About Your Beauties
Friday Foto Fun
Off the Wall Friday
TGI Finished Friday

Cosmic Cabin Quilted!

I was on a real roll from Sunday afternoon straight through to Monday evening, only pausing for a well-deserved sleep break! I've been absolutely set on completing these two quilts by month's end, and that resolve has turned me into a quilting powerhouse. It's been all about stitches, patterns, and fabric - until these quilts are done, my world revolves around them!

It's 92x92 so a little large for one person to hold it up

Here's a glimpse into my quilting strategy...

I employed Donna Kleinke's Spiral Pantograph (slightly tweaked to make it a block design) on the Comet blocks, while her Simone's Gems Corner block brought the log cabin blocks to life. The border was adorned with her Simone Feathers Border and Corner Set, and oh boy, did it turn out beautiful! It was rather thread-hungry, practically devouring a whole 3000-yard spool, but it was worth every inch.

The backing of the quilt sports the 108" Dream Cotton Solid in a rich Hunter Green from Marshall Dry Goods. The quality-to-price ratio is just stellar, and I'll likely incorporate more of their fabric into future projects.

As for the batting, I opted for Hobbs Heirloom 80-20 Premium Cotton Batting. It was the perfect width, so no piecing necessary! I bought a 15-yard bolt several years ago and I've been slowly using it up. After this quilt, there is just a remnant left, freeing up some much-needed space in my long arm room.

And let's not forget the stitching! I used a budget-friendly MaxiLock serger thread in a delightful Tea Rose shade. It was conveniently on hand, and this year, I've been on a mission to finish projects without splurging on extra supplies.

So there you have it, the cosmic journey of my Cosmic Cabin quilt. I should have just enough time left to finish quilting my Comet's Revival before the end of the month!

Linking up with:
Wednesday Wait Loss
Brag about Your Beauties
Friday Foto Fun
Finished (or Not) Fridays
TGI Finished Friday
Off the Wall
Peacock Party

Midnight Mosaic Quilted

I just realized I finished another quilt a few weeks ago and totally forgot to post about it. It's another scrap quilt in the Broken Bricks/Zipper pattern. If you remember, I kind of went bonkers for that pattern last year - it's like my comfort food, but for quilting. 

I started with the border print which was a remnant leftover from my Queen's Jewel quilt and then I dove headfirst into my scrap bin and emerged with a colorful medley that came together beautifully in this quilt. This time, it's donned a racy solid black background, sprinkled with a mélange of purples, blues, and greens. It's a kaleidoscope of color in the night sky, hence the name - Midnight Mosaic.

The backing is a black broadcloth fabric I scored from Marshall Dry Goods. It's 60"-wide Prime plus and delightfully meant no piecing. It’s almost like the fabric knew I dislike that part of quilting. Guess who's going on a shopping spree soon!

I've filled it with my trusty Quilter's Dream Green batting, made from 100% recycled bottles. Not only does it make my quilts wonderfully cozy, it also makes me feel a little bit better about my environmental footprint. I also used an inexpensive MaxiLock serger thread in their mint green color to quilt it because I thought it would show up well while still having a green-tone, but it looks almost white on top of the black.

For the edge-to-edge pantograph, I used the Diana pattern from MyCreativeStitches. It stitched out like wonderfully, giving the quilt that perfect finishing touch.

Once I get the label on and finish up the binding, this quilt will join my growing pile of ready-to-gift creations. Who knows which lucky family member or friend will be the recipient of this Midnight Mosaic beauty? The anticipation is half the fun! 

So there you have it! A finished quilt that almost slipped under the radar. It's a good thing I have you all to share my victories with, otherwise, I might forget they even happened! Happy quilting, everyone!

Linking up with:

Brag About Your Beauties
Finished (or Not) Friday
Friday Foto Fun
Off the Wall Friday
Patchwork & Quilts
Peacock Party
Put Your Foot Down
Whoop Whoop

Cosmic Cabin Plan

Well, folks, I did it! I finally finished tearing apart that pesky old quilt and have been having a grand ol' time playing with the blocks. After giving the Comet blocks a gentle wash and a nice press with the iron, I realized they were still slightly stretched out. But then - cue the choir - the blindingly obvious solution hit me like a bolt of lightning: Just make the extra strips on the log cabin blocks a smidge wider. Duh!

So, with renewed enthusiasm, I dove back into Electric Quilt and toyed with several options for which edges to add those extra strips. After much hemming and hawing, I settled on this fun layout: 

I'll add the lavender strips to the light side of the log cabin blocks, and then - for that extra pizzazz - I'll use sashing between all the blocks, with two different colors depending on their location.

I've already cut out the lavender strips and started sewing them on. I am feeling quite pleased with my progress. Fingers crossed, I'll have this stellar quilt finished within the next week or two. Here's to hoping my squirrel-like attention span doesn't get the better of me!

Linking up with 
Put Your Foot Down
Finished (or Not) Friday
Friday Foto Fun
Off the Wall Friday
Whoop Whoop

Flower Paths Finished (Nearly)!

As usual, it still needs a label and to be bound, but the quilting has been finished and I've trimmed off the excess. I tend to let a few quilts pile up because it is more efficient to make multiple quilt labels at once. I'm happy to get this one done before the end of the month, as this was my one monthly goal.

I initially played with an intricate design where I quilted all the blocks individually, but I struggled to come up with a good design for the borders so I decided done was better and settled for an edge-to-edge design. I used Christy Dillon's Garden Fairies pantograph that I purchased during their last sale. (I bought so many great patterns from them recently, it was difficult to choose which one to use.)

 

I used Quilter's Dream Green batting for this quilt; it is my batting of choice because it is made from 100% recycled bottles. And I used inexpensive Maxi-Lock serger thread in dark purple because I've had good success with it. 

I designed this pattern in Electric Quilt and I used fabrics already in my stash. I'm really trying not to buy any more fabric this year. I'm quite happy with how well this project turned out.

I'm linking up with 

One Monthly Goal Finish
Brag About Your Beauties
Finished (or Not) Friday
Friday Foto Fun
Off the Wall
Peacock Party
TGI Finished Friday
Whoop Whoop!

Finger Lakes Log Cabin Finished!

This is Judy Martin's Finger Lakes log cabin pattern, but I don't really like that name so I decided to call mine Bordeaux Violette. (That's basically burgundy purple in French. I like how it sounded.) The pattern is available in Judy Martin's Log Cabin Quilt Book. I've become a big fan of her patterns and this is the third of her quilts I've finished.

It's a generous queen size and really too big for one person to hold but my husband did the best he could. This quilt was made with a set of fabrics I'd been hauling around for years. I did find a label on one of the edges of one of the set fabrics and it said Fabric Traditions 2001, so I guess this set of fabric is over 20 years old.

I quilted it primarily with the Trellis set of pantographs by Karen Thompson. I chose this plan because I thought I could do a good job stitching it on there. It was time-consuming cropping all those edge pieces, but the project was a pretty straightforward block-by-block job. This is basically the plan I used, but I filled in all those empty triangle spots with cropped edge pieces.

I used Quilter's Dream Green batting for this quilt. It's my go-to batting because it's made from 100% recycled bottles. And I used Glide thread in their Raisin color, though I wish I'd also purchased a creamy yellow color to use in the dark areas so the pretty quilting would have shown up better. 

Since I'm quite sure this will be one of my favorite quilts, I also made a couple matching pillowcases and a matching dress for Louisa, our stuffed dog. LOL

I'm linking up with

Brag About Your Beauties

Finished (or Not) Friday

Friday Foto Fun

Off the Wall

Peacock Party

Whoop Whoop!

Paducah Log Cabin Finished!

After four hours of wrestling with it to put on the binding, the Paducah Log Cabin is finally done! This is the best I can do for photos right now. Our weather has been rainy and stormy so who knows how long it will take me to get a good photo of it.

I will say it again, this is the Paducah Log Cabin pattern from Judy Martin's Extraordinary Log Cabin Quilts book. I made mine with a number of reproduction William Morris cotton prints. I started this project for my mother-in-law, but there was a miscommunication about the size she needed, so I ended up making her a different quilt and then made this one queen-size (98"x98").

For the batting, I believe I used Quilter's Dream 70-30 batting. I used Glide thread for the first time on this quilt and I'm still learning the correct tension settings, but it went pretty well. I actually edited the pantographs a little bit to add some tacking stitches to the beginning and end of each design because the thread is so slick that stitches will actually unravel which can be really disappointing.

I kept changing my mind about what pantographs to quilt this one with. I made at least 5 different plans, but in the end, I ended up choosing the Midsummer Dream pattern set from MyCreativeStitches because I liked that little knotwork detail, though it is hard to see on the finished quilt. I believe this is the final design I went with.

Linking up with:

• Finished (or Not) Friday
• Friday Foto Fun
• Off the Wall Friday
• Peacock Party
• TGI Finished Friday
• Whoop Whoop

Update later, managed to get a better, but still not great, photo at my quilt guild meeting.

Morris Garden Flimsy

I got an early start on my Friday Night Sew In and spent the day working on my Morris Garden quilt. It is finished! (Well, the flimsy is anyway; I'll obviously still need to quilt it once I get my long arm.) 

I gave up the idea of making all the corners match, this one is actually the best of the four. I decided done was better and right now I just don't have space to lay it out to carefully match the fabrics.

This is made from Jinny Beyer's free pattern, Midnight Garden. I used an old set of fabrics from 2012, called Morris Meadows, designed by Michele Hill.

The squares were all cut in kaleidoscopes. I layered four repeats of the rose fabric and then cut out all the pieces. I didn't fussy cut to get any special effects because I wasn't sure I had enough of the fabric.

I'm pretty happy with how this one turned out.

This also finished up my November One Monthly Goal.

Linking up with 

One Monthly Goal

Friday Night Sew In

Finished or Not Friday

TGI Finished Friday

Peacock Party and

Whoop Whoop

Morris Garden Almost Finished

I just need to add the mitered border, but the Morris Garden is almost complete! I'm really happy with how this quilt is coming out. 

This is the first time I've layered fabrics to cut out kaleidoscope pieces and it's definitely a technique I need to use again.

This is the border fabric I still need to add.

Messenger Bag Finished

My One Monthly Goal is finished! I used ByAnnie's MJ's Messenger Bag pattern, but I had to adjust it to accommodate a larger laptop than the pattern originally called for. It took me about three days to make this. I could have finished it much sooner but I procrastinated on the little shoulder strap pad because it was such a pain to sew on my sewing machine. It was so thick my sewing machine kept telling me the foot was up. Sigh. But it is finished now, and I'm pleased with the bag.

Excuse the photos, we have terrible light today.

Linking up with 

Brag About Your Beauties

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Finished (or Not) Friday

One Monthly Goal October Wrap-up

Peacock Party

TGIFF