Quilting and a couple of ramblings.

Have you ever noticed, quilters have a multitasking personality. I believe it carries over, not just in my need to work on many different projects at once but, also over to my reading habits. I'm currently reading a novel, a small book, and a collection of short stories. Go figure.

Now, at this time, like the squirrel collecting her nuts, I'm dillegently trying to finish piecing the Diamond in the Rough quilt pattern for my MIL's Christmas. Before you think, what a nice DIL I am, please know that I've forgot her birthday more times than I can count on both hands and can never come up with a likable Christmas present (for her-I don't know what happens, I like everything I get her) ((even the 3 strand pearl necklace made popular by first lady Barbara Bush)) (((What was I thinking?))) So here it is to this point. All the fabric is cut and about 2/3's of the center is sewn.

I hate laying things out on the floor. Most of the time I have a design wall, constructed of Thermore or any flat batting. You take 4 yards of the batting, cut it in half and sew up the seam for the middle. I then use push pins and hold it to the wall in my sewing room. I took the last one down, because it had collected a lot of threads. This is used in a quilt. It's okay if it has a lot of thread on it, it's what fabric is made of and so my last quilt was embellished on the inside.

I've made the pattern a little more complicated and am making it scrappy instead of using one fabric for the sashing. I had very good intentions of using what I had. And, since Moda is one of the best for continuing a collection of fabric, by making it coordinate with another one, I was able to combine 2 different fabric lines to make this quilt. I first fell in love with the blue in the Folklorique line and then I think the Three Sisters is the other line of fabric I coordinated with. I think it works pretty well. What to do for the border is my next question. Any suggestions? Don't make it too difficult, I've got to finish today or tomorrow, as we are leaving for Tulsa, Oklahoma on December 22 so it needs to be quilted by then. I figure I can sew the binding down on the road to family, while blissfully listening to headphones, conversation in the car and dreaming of the next quilt to be made.

Happy Quilting!

More fabric for my scrap quilt...

I needed to make my quilt larger, so I bought more fabric. Something is wrong, but, you know I gotta make it right. So, I'm off to matching my fabric in my intended scrap quilt. Scrap quilt should be using up scraps! But, I just have to make this one match. I will be making a version of a string quilt that our lovely member Shirley will be teaching us how to make soon. This is the pattern. Strings of scraps sewn together and then cut into this pattern, alternating with a solid or tone on tone, using this pattern also. I'm going to be going to NYC when she teaches this next week. I think I can figure it out though, it's a lot of piecing end to end of a variety of 1 to 2 inches strips-any length. We also will be making a signature block for our next exchange. I'm thinking about having the members sign hearts. This time, besides the names, we will be adding our own person tip or favorite saying to the name. We can also decorate them to our hearts content or not.


Upon reflection of my previous post, I suppose all quilts must come to these particular quilting zones as the float on down the river of a finished quilt. First the boat is launched in the upstairs bedroom and cut and sewn pieces together. Next the Quilt makes the first turn into the dining room and is machine quilted. As much as I love hand quilting, I do want to finish it in my lifetime, so I've become a machine quilter. Lastly the trip to the pier and docking at the handwork zone of quilting in my house, the basement, where I can watch movies as I put on the binding. I live a blessed life!

Diamond in the Rough and NPR...smile

Bloomin' Roses aside and parties complete, it's on to other things. My next project in the queue is the Diamond in the Rough quilt. My MIL was over for my daughter's graduation and she liked these blocks, so, I'm going to make this quilt for her. I haven't been much of a quilt gifter. Other than making quilts for high school graduation for my daughter's friends and a baby quilt for my niece. Making quilts is like raising children, there's so much work in them, I can't give my children away. All the quilts that are stacking up around here, have been labeled with one daughter or the other on the back. I've been switching back and forth, make one for Jenni, make one for Chelsea, etc. Some of the quilts they really like, some they don't, but, I figure, one day they, or their kids will enjoy one of those quilts. The original pattern is for maybe a twin size bed, but, I'm enlarging it to fit a bed. My super practical MIL wouldn't probably want it any other way. Maybe she'd use if as a lap quilt, but, I think this design will look stunning on a bed. Moda makes great fabric. They are smart to build on previous collections. The blocks in this project began with the Folkloric collection. Once I decided to make the quilt larger, I knew I needed more fabric. The light bulb went off and I remembered there was more Moda fabric on the shelf I had intended to use on another project. The project is a scrap project, although, I'll admit to buying more fabric to complete the scrap project. There's just something in me that wants things to look right. But, like I said, luckily I did have some fabric I'd already purchased that will work great for the scrappy sashing. Yeah, I like when things work out that are a complete surprise-those are usually the best for me.

Here's a wonderful tool, the Alto's cutter. It really makes cutting multiple layers smoothly, diamonds, squares, whatever.

Waterfront Wednesday and National Public Radio...smile. There aren't many places left where you can bring your lawn chair down to the river and watch great live music for free. Here in Louisville, Kentucky, USA, it's called Waterfront Wednesday. From 5:00 to 9:00 there are big acts, Duncan Sheik, Jonatha Brook and not so big acts and soon to be big acts. The public radio station in this town supports the local music scene and I like that. When an artist that is lost and finds that he or she is good at singing or playing an instrument, I think that is the best gift anyone can give or receive. Thanks WFPK.

Binding is on and I'm on to the Diamond in the Rough.

Binding is the final touch to make your quilt complete, er, well, almost, one must always, always, always put a label on a quilt. The future needs to know the story about this quilt-who made it; when it was made; etc.

Off my soap box about the labels.

I like a 2.25 inch binding. Fold it in half and sew this all around the edge. I don't trim the batting until after I've sewn on the binding.
Sew up to the corner, all the way to the turning point, then fold back and turn the corner and begin sewing again. If you need clarity, Fons and Porter sells a great cheat sheet, tool sort of thing for this. It's laminated and well worth the money. The back shows how to make continuous binding. The card/tool also shows a great trick for sewing the binding ends together.

I'm whip stitching it to finish while watching a movie called The Good German. I'll let you know if it's any good.

The Diamond in the rough has started out as a scrap quilt (excuse my dirty floor, must quilt, not clean right now...smile). I did end up buying some more scraps to match. How crazy is that? I wanted the scrappy, coordinated look I guess. Anyway, I wanted the sashing to look scrappy and was a bit befuddled at how to accomplish this. Until I read one of my really great blog inspirations (to the right), that being the Quilting Daze Blog. Funny thing is, she admitted to using another quilter's ideas and gave her full credit for the idea. I'm now giving full credit to the Daze for her sashing technique, that I'll employ in this quilt. Is that okay? Are not all quilt blocks a rendition of another quilter's work. If not today, then certainly in the 1920's or 1930's when a lot of these blocks were designed?

Even though quilting is a craft handed down through the years, I still like my technology today. I'm a full sensory kinda gal. This is me sewing the Diamond in the Rough with my noise canceling headphones on, which are plugged into my ipod. I keep these on when my DH is watching something on TV I'm not particularly interested in. He bought them for me for Mother's Day this year-yeah DH! Notice my big radio in the background-it is my daughter's-like mother, like daughter.

Happy Quilting!