Friday, October 25, 2013

I'M ON A ROLL (MAYBE)!!!

Hurray!  Another finish!  It feels soooo good to finish up some of these older projects.  I had purchased this fabric quite a while ago and made a quilt which sold in my shop!  I put the rest of it away waiting for just the right pattern!  In the end I chose a simple 3-patch (not sure if that's the correct term, but that's what I call it)!
 

 
This is Bella Butterfly by Michael Miller! Isn't it pretty! It's so soft and sweet.  I may list this in my shop or hang onto it for myself the Dunbar Craft Fair next month! Hope to see some of you local Vancouver quilters there! This craft fair has long been considered to be the best one in Vancouver. I've shared a table there with my SIL for quite a few years and it's always a fun day!
Linking up with Amanda Jean for Finish It Up Friday! 
Have a great weekend!

Sunday, October 13, 2013

ONE NEW THING WEEK 29!

I'm back with something new for this week. Now, obviously, I've fallen quite far behind with 52 new things in 2013, but I'm going to see how many more I can do by the end of the year!  This week it's another quilting project!  Stippling on minky!  Here's the result...

 
 
A sweet little wholecloth quilt backed with minky. I've been wanting to try this for ages. My first attempt was a disaster.  I think I must have stretched the minky too much when I was basting the quilt. This time, I carefully taped the minky to the floor being careful not to stretch it.  I was advised to use spray basting as well as pins but discovered that my can of 505 had dried up.  (Jeez that stuff is expensive - the price sticker on the can says $16.95. I had bought it quite a while ago and forgot how pricey it is.) Anyway, I decided to give it a go with just pins! I also used a very thin polyester batting instead of the usual cotton/poly mix that I normally use.  I stuck with my regular Aurifil thread and used an 80/12 Organ needle. (If you haven't tried Organ needles, I highly recommend them, especially for FMQ.) I guess the quilting fairies were with me because I didn't have one problem - no thread breakage and no tucks in the minky at all! I did find the FMQ a little more difficult - it doesn't seem to slide over the machine as easily as cotton and it's a little more bulky to work with but otherwise there were no issues!  I rounded the corners on this quilt and attached the bias binding to the back of the quilt and machine sewed it down from the front side. Definitely not perfect but I like the security of machine sewn binding.  I'll definitely be making more of these little wholecloth quilts backed with minky!
 
Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian readers!
 

Friday, October 4, 2013

TWO FINISHES!

Have you ever started making a quilt completely unsure how it will turn out? Me?  Never!!! (Kidding!) This was the case with this quilt...
 

 
I found myself with one Googlies fat quarter with no idea what to do with it!  I was about to cut it up for bibs, but then had a brainstorm - Road Trip! I managed to find quite a few coordinating prints from my somewhat limited stash and whipped up this quilt in pretty short order! I rarely make multiple quilts from the same pattern, but I'm a huge fan of the Road Trip quilt pattern and have made several (a huge thanks to Allison for such a great pattern and tutorial)! Anyway, this quilt has turned about to be one of my all-time favourites!
 
 I also quickly put this scaled down version together...
 
 
Same pattern but the pieces were cut slightly smaller!  This one finished at about 32 x 26 inches. I know I promised no more tops (see previous post) but old habits die hard don't they!
Linking up with Amanda Jean! Have a great weekend!