AT LEAST IT WASN'T MY FINGER (THIS TIME) !

After a near-miss a few years ago, I've trained myself to concentrate when I'm cutting fabric.  That being said, things happen!  (I have a 1/2" scar on the top of my right foot to prove it. After that little mishap, my wonderful SIL bought me this cutter which automatically retracts the blade.  I had left the blade exposed on my old cutter and it fell off the table and onto my foot. Note to self:  Don`t cut fabric with bare feet!)  Anyway, I`m a little hearbroken about this. This was my mom`s tape measure and every time I take it out of my sewing box I think of her.  I can still hear her saying, "It's not a toy" whenever we used it to play with the cat (amongst other things)!  She would have my head right now if she knew and I would have to sit through a lecture on paying attention to the task at hand!  Sorry, mom!

Now, on to more fun things!  To the three people who read my blog, you may remember from my previous post that I was going to give hand quilting a try. Well, I did, not very successfully!  I did take some pictures but unfortunately the memory card in my camera failed and I had to reformat it consequently losing all the pictures.  Fortunately, I had already downloaded most of them to my computer, but did lose the ones of my hand quilting efforts.  Unfortunately, I picked it out and am now in the process of machine quilting the little scottie quilt.  You will just have to take my word for it on this one.  I'm not ready to give up on hand quilting entirely.  I love the look of vintage quilts with hand quilting and envision making one for myself some day.

In the meantime, I have been working on turning this...



into this...

This is a girl's version of the freeform patchwork quilt I made a while ago.  I had listed it in my shop and it sold a few days ago!  Hopefully, this one will too (if that's where it ends up)! I'm really enjoying this method of piecing.  It's no secret that I HATE pins, and I didn't use one when piecing the entire top!  I'm not sure what I'm going to do for the back - I have a few things in mind. I'll be sure to post some pictures of the finished quilt. 



SOMETHING (REALLY) DIFFERENT!

When I first started quilting (about five or six years ago), I fell in love with all the vintage reproduction fabrics.  I took an applique workshop and made this sweet little quilt with Scottie dogs so I could practice my applique skills.  I wasn't sure how I wanted to quilt it, so I put it away with all my other UFOs (not that many)!  From time to time I would pull it out and think, Oh, this is so cute, I really should finish it, only to put it away again.  Well, about six months ago, I pulled it out again.  This time it was upgraded to a hanger on the back of a door and I even made a back for it. 

Here's a close-up of some of the Scotties!

Anyway, I've decided it's time to conquer my hand quilting fear and thought this would be the perfect project!  I think I have read probably a million (okay, maybe a dozen) tutorials on hand quilting.  Here's a picture of the basted quilt...

I'm wondering now if I used too many pins?  I'm worried about the layers shifting. I used all but about ten of my pins. I'm going to give it a try without a hoop or frame.  I'm going to keep the quilting fairly simple - just an outline of each dog and the inside of each square.  Wish me luck!  I'll post some pictures of my progress.  Maybe it's a good thing I used all my pins.  I need to get started on this or else I won't be able to baste any other quilts!



ON A ROLL!

Here it is - washed and crinkly!  I think it turned out pretty cute.  Overall I really enjoyed making this quilt. I will definitely be making more of these. I love the idea of the random patchwork, but want to try something a little more colourful.

Now, on to something completely different...

I spent a fair amount of time yesterday cutting these squares - 280 to be exact! This quilt will be much more traditional (and I think will test my patience). It's been on my list for a while so it feels good to get started.  This is the last of my Farm Fresh (sob). I'm sad to see it go but I'm on a mission to seriously reduce my stash. Out with the old...!



LUCKY!

I started with this pile a few days ago - bits and pieces left over from previous quilts. 

A little freeform patchwork later (is that the correct term?) I came up with this...



Here's a sneak peak of the finished quilt.  Notice the spool of thread.  That's all I had left after the quilting.  I feel like I'm constantly running to one fabric store or another (not that we have tons to choose from here in Vancouver).  I was determined to start and finish ONE QUILT without having to make a trip to the store.  I knew I wanted to use gray thread but only had one (new) small spool.  Off I went with fingers crossed (well, toes actually) and breath held!  Talk about cutting it close.  Just working on the binding (also with fabric from my stash) so will post a picture later of the finished quilt.