north winds quilting

New Mittens

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:43:00 +0000

I have conquered thrummed mittens. I started this mitten three different times. On the second try I probably had half of it done, then realized it was going to be a couple sizes too large, so I ripped it all out and started again. I could probably still go down one more size, but they'll be fine as they are.

The pattern I was given was for a double knitted mitten to be worked on on two needles. Knitting the hand wasn't much trouble, but it got more complicated when I got to the thumb. I had no directions on how to knit it flat and join it to the body, so I knit it on double pointed needles and sort of made it up as I went along. It was a feat of sheer perserverance and patience to knit the thumb with the thrums inside.

Here is a pile of thrums waiting to be knit into the mittens. I tear off a wisp of wool from my roving, fold the ends to the middle, and then twirl it between my fingers to sort of felt the middle. That did make them easier to work with.

This is what the mitten looks like on the inside. All these little wool bits will eventually mat together and form a nice, soft liner.

The other mitten is now well underway, and felted mittens are next on my list. My good friend Sherry is also going to show me how to make a pair of mittens from an old sweater and some fleece, a two-layer mitten that sounds incredibly warm.

Knitting Nights

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:57:00 +0000

Yesterday it flurried off and on for most of the day here in Maine. By late afternoon it was snowing more heavily, and this was the landscape this morning when I woke up--about three inches of snow on the ground. The leaves haven't even finished falling off the trees yet. In the seven years we've lived up here, I can't remember that it ever snowed this early in the season, and I sure hope this isn't a precursor of what winter is going to be like this year.

I haven't worked on my September Sun any more this week, but I have been doing some knitting. November marks the beginning of a new challenge in my Knitting Nights class--mittens. We are making two styles, mittens with thrums and felted mittens. For those who may not know, thrums are tufts of unspun wool that are knit into the mitten. On the outside they look like little colored V's in the pattern. On the inside, all the fluffy bits of wool are exposed, and eventually they'll all mat together and make a nice thick cozy mitten. This is the beginning of what will be a thrummed mitten. ......Actually I suppose this looks like the beginning of a sock too.

October was more a month of knitting rather than quilting finishes. I finished up this little yellow sweater from the September class, size 1T. We've done baby sweaters before, but this was knit from the top down, all in one piece, all on a circular needle. The idea behind the top down sweater is that when you're done knitting, you're done. No seams to sew up. I LOVED this method.

I also finished the fishtail lace scarf I started in class several months ago, made a nice thick scarf for one of my sons, and made a beanie for the other one. Now I'm working on a beanie for my husband along with the mittens.

The burgundy scarf was a trip to make. My son wanted it really long so he could wrap it around his neck, so I used a super bulky yarn and size 13 (big) needles in a K1, P1 pattern. The fishtail lace scarf took weeks for me to finish. I knitted 6 feet of the burgundy scarf in 4 days. I had so much fun with it I may have to make one for myself.

Who'd have thought I'd be needing hats, scarves, and mittens in the beginning of November?

Did you know you can wind a whole ball of yarn on your thumb? As a beginning knitter, I recognized that I couldn't knit from a hank because it would get tangled, but I had no idea how to wind a ball of yarn. The automatic winders are silly expensive to me, so I googled it and discovered several methods for accomplishing the task. My favorite was this one. The idea here is to wind it in such a way that you can pull from the center of the ball when you're knitting, which I think is just so cool.

The September Sun Project

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:53:00 +0000

Life has been awfully busy the last several weeks; and when life gets busy, something has to give. For me, blogging is the least critical activity, so that's what usually goes first. I've had no time to either read blogs or write my own, so I have lots of catching up to do, and I look forward to it.

What am I so busy with?
*Social obligations, most of which involve either quilting or knitting, so that, at least, is a good thing.
*Things around the house and fall clean up. I am home alone most of the time, so everything pretty much falls to me. I'm still behind with the fall clean up. I don't think I've ever seen so many leaves in the yard, and they're mounting by the day, but we've had enough rain to keep me in the house.
*Work! I went back to work at the beginning of October as a seasonal hire. Even though I only worked a grand total of seven days this month, it's enough to disrupt the schedule I've developed over the last six months. I've had to develop a new schedule to make work the priority.

I continue to fit in as many sewing days as possible, and today our small group who is working on the September Sun project is meeting at Sherry's house for a day of sewing. I came down with an awful cold on Monday and decided it would be best to stay home today so as to not expose the others. But I'm still working on the project and communicating with the girls by phone, and I thought I'd share my progress today as I go along.

11:00a
Here is what I've got done so far--all but the center four blocks. The last time we met, two of the girls worked on the center blocks and expressed their difficulties in a pretty colorful way, so I suppose I haven't been looking forward to it.

I made some templates for myself to assist in the process, and my strips are cut, so I'm ready to go.

3:00p

I've sewn all the strip sets together for the center star block. After a couple of well-chosen expletives and some hair pulling, I also got two of the required eight diamonds sewn together into a quarter of the block. There's a darn good reason why I never made a Lone Star quilt. My motto today is, CLOSE is GOOD ENOUGH.

I called Sherry's to see how everyone was doing. In the background, I could hear things were heating up over there too. Barbara is working on the same set of star blocks I am, and she was using a different set of equally effective expletives.

Sherry is teaching her sister Sandy how to make mittens from old sweaters today, and she's going to teach me too. Up here in Maine, you can't have enough pairs of warm mittens.

9:00p

Anyone still with me? My head hurts. I have spent far more time ripping than I have sewing on this block, and my patience is at its end for tonight. This half of the block looks pretty good until you look at the square in the upper right corner. I've lost nearly all the seam allowance for the blue square, and it took me ages to figure out that the seam allowance on the strip set wasn't quite large enough, which threw off that whole corner. I'll be ripping some more again tomorrow, but at least I know what NOT to do for the second half. It'll come together--just not tonight.

Right now I'm going to do something mindless. I'm knitting a scarf.

Hourglass Log Cabin

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:46:00 +0000

Last night I finished sewing all the blocks together for the little log cabin quilt. I think I will be happy enough with a 3/8" binding to frame the quilt, so no border on this.

Several people wanted to know how big these blocks were, and I'm sorry I didn't think to include that information. Each of these little blocks finishes to 4" square, so each little log finishes to 1/2" wide. Because the pieces were small, I cut strips or rectangles from my scraps that measured at least 1-1/8" wide. Then I paper pieced the blocks, trimming any excess fabric off as I went.

Playing With Scraps

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 21:54:00 +0000

I haven't spent much time sewing in the last couple weeks, but that is not to say I haven't been busy in my sewing room. I finally finished the last of the mini log cabin blocks, 36 in all. I enjoyed making these so much that I'm going to start on an offset log cabin block next or maybe a pineapple blossom.

I played around with all the traditional arrangements for these blocks and finally settled on this hourglass arrangement. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'll add borders to it. As it is, it will finish to 24" x 24", which is just right for its appointed space in my hallway.

Next I started rooting through several bags and a couple of boxes of scraps I've acquired over the last year and a half. Quite a few of them were channeled into ziploc bags for several scrap projects I have lined up. The rest were consolidated into two medium-sized shopping bags and stored under the longarm. Only a very few of the scraps were actually cut up, but I sure feel good about getting this all cleared out.

Since I was on a roll and felt like cleaning out more stash, I spent several more days going through my cabinets pulling fabrics I thought might be suitable for pillowcases. Some of these fabrics I bought when the kids were younger, intending to make some project for them that never got made. Others constituted a what-was-I-thinking-when-I-bought-this moment and went into the pile too. Everything got washed, and I kitted up enough for 29 pillowcases. I really like some of these fabric combinations, so I'll save several of them for the grandchildren I may never have, and the rest will be donated to the Conkerr Cancer project.

I also cut up about a yard and a half for a small tablerunner. All total, I busted 32 yards of fabric that week and didn't buy a thing. Too bad I'm not still doing stash reports!

More September Sun Blocks

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:43:00 +0000

Over the past two days I finished 16 more blocks for my September Sun quilt. I unwittingly switched the two inner strip colors thereby losing the gradated effect; but since I don't have any more of one of those fabrics, it's staying like it is.

Now there are just four blocks left for the center star. Yesterday our little challenge group got together for an all-day work session, and two of the girls worked on the center block. It's basically a lone star type block, and both girls had trouble with it, so I'll have to take extra care to cut and piece precisely.

I will say that this has not been an easy quilt to piece, but I think it's a good thing to challenge ourselves as quilters from time to time. The results will be worth it.

Felted Bowls

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:52:00 +0000

These are before and after photos of one of the projects in my knitting class this summer, felted bowls. We were given instructions for a set of five, and I recently finished knitting the last one and got them all felted. I used fisherman's wool, and they felted up beautifully, very thick and sturdy. I can imagine how nice and warm a pair of felted mittens might be, and I'd like to make a pair for this winter. The coolest thing is that all five bowls nest together.

People keep asking me what I'm going to do with them, and I keep telling them I don't know yet. I do know one thing. I'd like to make two or three more of these, only larger than the largest bowl in this set and half the height--large, shallow bowls. Then I'll use them to toss leaders and enders into as I get them made, one for four patches and maybe one or two for half square triangle units. I think I'd enjoy seeing them sitting on my sewing table.

A Few Hexagon Blocks

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:42:00 +0000

When Robyn started The Great Hexagon Quilt-Along blog, I thought it sounded like fun and I joined. The inspiration for the blog is a quilt constructed entirely of diamond-shaped hexagon blocks. I tried English paper-piecing years ago and enjoyed it, even though I thought it a very slow method. By the time Robyn started her blog, Linda Franz had already published several of the Inklingo collections, so I decided the time was right to give it another try. I made one block, then the project fell by the wayside.

This week I decided it was time to get it back on track, so I collected a few more fabrics for it and started washing, pressing and cutting. I'm using primarily civil war fabrics for the quilt, plus scraps of whatever else appeals to me; and I plan to stick to the colors used in the original quilt--red, pink, blue, brown, tan, and cream--but probably in different proportions.

I'm using the Inklingo software to print hexagons right to the fabric, so there's not much preparation. I'm sure the ability to pretty much get right to the sewing will hold my interest longer. I'm trying not to think about the fact that I'll need 82 diamond blocks to complete the quilt as it was originally shown, and I'll just keep plugging away at it.

Since I've just gotten started with this project again, I've made one additional hexagon and nearly finished a second. Handpiecing 25 hexagons together into a block takes me a long time, but I'm really enjoying it. I love looking at the backs of these blocks--all those little hexagons formed by pressing the seams just look so cool.

Orange Crush Revisited

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:06:00 +0000

At long last, my Orange Crush quilt is completely finished--quilted, bound, and yes, it's labeled. The top has been done since last October, almost a year now. I guess I was putting off quilting it until I got more proficient at quilting from a pantograph, but I decided it was past time to get it done, good or bad. I quilted the bubbles I wanted on it, and I'm really pleased with the way it turned out. I'd forgotten how big this quilt was, nearly queen sized. I love this quilt!

It's A Wrap!

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 16:03:00 +0000

That's the name of this quilt, and today it also signifies that the quilt is finished--quilted, bound, and labeled! I quilted Christmas trees on it using the Tannenbaum pantograph from Willow Leaf Studio.

That's another one completed from my Power of Ten list, so I cleaned up the list, removed the projects that have been completed, and added the Orange Crush quilt. I finished quilting that one a couple of days ago. Now I just have to bind--and label--it. That makes eight projects on my list, but five of them were added in June, so they're old, and I'll wait until I make some progress with those before I add anything else.

I've completed several Christmas projects this year in different mediums, and I guess this will be the last one for a while. Stephanie D has got me all fired up about Halloween, and now I feel a Halloween quilt coming on!

Credit where credit is due: "It's a Wrap quilt" design by Mary Ann Meador, Quiltmaker Nov/Dec 08

Do You Label?

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Not everyone does, but most quilt experts and historians agree that we should label our quilts--for future generations, for documentation, and for security. Signed quilts are also more valuable than unsigned quilts. Most importantly, labels can reflect the thought, care, and emotion that go into the making of a quilt.

I inherited this beautiful hexagon baby quilt when my mother passed away a few years ago. It is hand pieced and hand quilted, and in beautiful condition. And I have no idea who made it or how it came to be in my mother's possession, which is a real shame.

I am as guilty as anyone else of not labeling my quilts. I used to do it religiously, but a few years ago I began testing patterns and often didn't take the time to make the label. I have some catching up to do, but I'm also going to make a dedicated effort not to get further behind.

I am almost finished binding my Christmas quilt, and here is the label I made for it, a triangular label that is sewn to two edges of the quilt and only one edge to turn under. I love it! I first saw this idea on Pat's blog, Bell Creek Quilts, and thought it was brilliant. Last week or the week before I discovered Coleen's blog, Colleen's Quilting Journey, and she took the idea one step further and embroidered the text. You can see a couple of her labels here and here. I embroidered my label too and added a small Christmas motif as well.

Next time I make one of these, I'll make that trim at the top of the label about the same width as the binding. I think that might look better. Or I might finish that top edge and not stitch it down so I can use it as a pocket for a photo or something.

I have the same assortment of quilts with muslin labels and pigma pen writing that everyone else has, but sometimes I like to have a little more fun with my labels. My favorite method is to piece a smaller version of one or more blocks in the quilt and sew a row of them together with a plain block for the text. Sometimes the edges are too hard to turn under, so I'll add a little binding to the edge of the label before I sew it down.

The idea for this label came from Jinny Beyer's Soft Edge Piecing book. The background fabric was a piece of hand dyed fabric I'd made years ago, then I fussy cut eight pieces of fabric from a Jinny Beyer border print, stitched the pieces together, and appliqued the curved edges to the background fabric. It's one of my favorites.

For this label, I took a photograph of the front of the quilt, then printed the image on fabric and sewed it to the quilt back.

These two labels haven't made it onto the back of a quilt yet. The yellow one with the sun rays was a gift from a fellow quilter, and I never found the right quilt for it. The one on the right was a block gone wrong, so I cut it on the diagonal twice and used the pieces for the corners of this piece of muslin. I'll probably add some binding to the edges to stabilize the bias.

There are as many ways to make quilt labels as there are people on the planet. Consider adding a label to your quilts.

End to the Sunday Stash Report

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 16:35:00 +0000

It is a sunny, cool, breezy day here in Maine--perfect weather for working in the garden or sitting on the porch with a little handpiecing. Some of the leaves on my trees have already turned brown and fallen to the ground. It won't be long before Autumn is here.

I've decided to end my Sunday Stash Manager's Reports. After purchasing a bolt of 42 yards of muslin recently, I thought there probably wasn't much point in continuing to report it since the idea was to encourage us to reduce the stash. I am really pleased with the amount of stash I've busted the last year and a half, but I've been way more successful enhancing it. I also have to admit that my interest in reading others' stash reports is waning.

Funny thing about that, a couple of days after I came to my decision, I happened to see that the author of the website that originally hosted the Sunday Stash Reports posed the same question to its readers, whether or not to continue the Stash Reports. I have no idea what the outcome was, but I guess sometimes these things run their course, and then we move on.

For my own gratification, I plan to continue recording all Stash Events. I've really enjoyed keeping track, and I think anyone who stuck with it would agree it's an eye opener. I imagine there will be some discussion about stash busting in future posts, and I may even do an end-of-the-year Stash Report, provided the results are somewhat respectable!

Sunday Stash Report

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 03:33:00 +0000

I was busy all week working on my mini log cabin blocks, but I'm not reporting that stash until they're all finished, and I have six left to make for my little 36-block quilt. I also finished quilting my Christmas quilt, It's a Wrap, this evening, which makes me very happy!

I'll be loading another quilt on the frame this week, binding the Christmas quilt, making the rest of the log cabin blocks, and spending some time working on the projects on my Power of Ten list.

For the Stash Manager's Report, nothing in, nothing out!

Giveaway for Machine Embroiderers

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Serena Smith at Embroidery Treasures is hosting a giveaway for machine embroidery enthusiasts. The offer is for these four magazines. Plus she has an interesting site! You have until August 31 to enter the giveaway.

Carolee's Tea

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 01:41:00 +0000

This morning I worked some more on the binding for the snowman quilt and finished it this evening. This is the third flannel quilt I've made, and I really like the flannel, but it's a bit more challenging to do the quilting and binding because of the thickness of the layers. This pattern, called "Under the Stars", is by The Rabbit Factory.

This afternoon was our tea at Carolee's house. Tables were set up in the garage with this lovely collection of china tea cups and treats for the tea.

We had some time before the presentation to see Carolee's extensive gardens. A tour through her gardens is a lot like a trip to a Botanical Garden--there are just so many varieties of plants. Her sun garden extends clear across the front of her house and around to the side. In the back are two shade gardens, and two more shade gardens on the other side of her driveway. Of course Carolee devotes quite a bit of time every day working in her gardens, so it's a wonder she still finds time to quilt.

The presentation by Sandra L. Hatch, editor of Quilter's World magazine, was an insightful look into her career as an editor and quilter that has spanned 28 years so far. She has an impressive list of magazines and books to her credit, as well as a large body of work as a quilter. Behind her, there were stacks of quilts on the tables, many of which were quilts she's made over the years for magazines and books she's edited. She had a large number of Christmas quilts and charming gift bags. She mentioned that she has 29 people in her family, and each family member has their own gift bag, which she fills every year at Christmas. I believe Sandra said she has recently resigned as editor of Quilter's World due to creative differences, but she will retain her position as technical editor.

Sunday Stash Report

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 00:15:00 +0000

This morning I finished hand sewing the binding on two sides of the snowman quilt, and I expect to finish it tomorrow. I started that quilt at a workshop in March, so I guess it will qualify as a WISP for this month's One Project a Month Challenge.

I loaded the Christmas quilt this morning and quilted about half of it. I was tempted to use my favorite red-white-green variegated holiday thread but decided I'd rather look at the blocks more than the quilting, so I'm using gold thread, which blends pretty well. The pantograph I'm using is Tannenbaum from Willow Leaf. It's an easy pattern, but I can't seem to get in the groove with it.

With the two quilt backs, I used up 7 yards from the stash this week and added some yardage from the quilters' yard sale. Here's the Stash Manager's Report:

Fabric used this week: 7 yards
Fabric used year to date: 81-3/4 yards
Fabric added this week: 10-1/2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 190-3/4 yards
Net used year to date: -109 yards

Tomorrow Carolee is having a tea at her home for our large quilt group. It will be outside under the shade trees where we can also admire her extensive gardens. The featured speaker is Sandra Hatch, who is the editor of Quilter's World magazine. I heard that she operates that magazine out of her home here in Maine.

I checked out the Quilter's World web site and noticed you can purchase a digital magazine subscription. Has anyone else tried this yet? I recently bought a digital subscription to Creative Knitting magazine, which gave me access to two years' worth of back issues online. They were all available as pdf files that I downloaded to my computer. I imagine Quilter's World does something similar. At least it will save me some space on my bookshelves, which are pretty full.

Progress on the Snowman Quilt

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 21:49:00 +0000

I finished quilting the snowman quilt last night, and I am thrilled with how well it turned out. I really wanted to use this stars and loops pantograph, but I was still undecided whether or not to quilt through their little heads. Finally my curiosity got the better of me, to see how it looked that way, and I like it just fine. In fact, the more I look at it the better I like it. I wouldn't hesitate to quilt through appliques again, even though some folks will probably tell me I shouldn't. Are there really any rules in quilting anymore?

Tonight I'll get the binding machine sewn onto the quilt, and I'm going to try get my other Christmas quilt loaded tonight and quilted tomorrow. The theme of the quilt is Christmas presents, so I'm quilting Christmas trees on it.

More Christmas in July Photos

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 20:58:00 +0000

Shopping with Helen this morning made me remember that I forgot to post the rest of the photos from our Christmas in July workshops last month. Helen has a lovely big home out in the country, and we actually had two sewing days out there this summer, the first of which was the Christmas in July one. Helen has a big covered porch that wraps around three sides of her home, so we sewed outside all day long and had a buffet table too for snacks and lunch. We ate a fabulous pot luck supper on the porch on the other side of the house too.

This is the porch on the side of Helen's home. Wouldn't you just love to laze around out here all summer long, sipping mint juleps or something?

What's a quilters' get-together without Show and Tell? I thought I had more photos, but I must have already posted them, so here are just a few more. These are Barb's adorable little pincushions. Barb has a thing about pincushions--they're a favorite of hers. No pattern for these, Barb just dreamed them up because she's clever that way.

And here is Kay's Christmas project she worked on. I really liked this one a lot.

Quilter's Yard Sale

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 19:35:00 +0000

Earlier this week one of our local quilt shops sent round a newsletter advertising a Quilter's Yard Sale today, so three of us decided to take a ride down to Freeport and see what they had. I wish I'd thought to snap a picture of it, but folks set up their tables and chairs with their wares for sale in the parking lot behind the quilt shop, just like a regular neighborhood yard sale.

I thought it was a brilliant strategy for the quilt shop to host such an event. It was hot and awfully humid this morning; and as quilters got done with their shopping or had enough of the heat, they wandered into the quilt shop to cool off, and then they'd buy a few more things. I added a jelly roll and a pattern to my shopping bag. Outside, someone had the foresight to set up a grill for hot dogs, so after we cooled off sufficiently we went out and bought a hot dog and chips, sat in the shade, and ate.

There were only about a dozen sale booths, but there were some fabulous deals to be had. I picked up 4 yards of flannel, a piece of a Hoffman Christmas fabric, a Carol Doak book, a latte tote bag kit, and a couple of scrap bags, one in batiks and one in neutrals--all for about $20.

A Word to the Wise

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 03:16:00 +0000

When was the last time you stopped and thought about all the cool stuff you keep on your computer--quilt photos, family photos, software you've downloaded, tax files, business files, and so on--and what the consequences would be if you lost it all?

Two of my friends recently had major issues with their computers that rendered their data files inaccessible. They were able to recover all or most of them, which was good, because some of those files were irreplaceable.

Folks, if you haven't backed up your files lately, get yourself an external hard drive or some CDs and take the time to back them up. Make it a habit to do a back up at regular intervals, depending on how often you use your computer. I need to make myself do this as well. I checked, and the last time I backed up my hard drive was last November, so I sat down this evening and did it. I have an external hard drive, so I click and drag everything I want to keep, and it didn't take nearly as long as I anticipated.

Don't procrastinate--do it now.

Sunday Stash Report

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:33:00 +0000

So I'm a day late. Actually I'm a couple of weeks late. But first, a weather report. Here in Maine, June was the fifth wettest month on record. July was the second wettest month on record. So far, this summer has been the wettest on record in 138 years. Really.

It's taken all summer, but summer has finally arrived. Saturday was hot and humid, and yesterday we probably hit 90 degrees. Today was hot, sticky, and miserable; and tomorrow will be more of the same. I'm not complaining, mind you, because I know other folks have been hotter and for longer. Okay, wait, I am complaining. I hate this weather! It's why I moved up to Maine--to get away from it! I like cold weather so much better! On the up side, the lawn finally stopped growing, and I probably won't have to mow it all week. By Thursday we'll be back down into the much more reasonable 70s. Come on, Autumn!

Well, let's see, last time I did a Stash Report was July 26. I haven't accomplished anything significant in my sewing room, but I did work on my September Sun blocks. It's a 36-block quilt with 4 different blocks. The blocks will finish to 11 inches, and I've been kicking myself because I didn't redraft them as 12-inch blocks. What was Jinny Beyer thinking when she designed a quilt with 11-inch blocks? On purpose?

Over the last couple weeks I made two more pillowcases, used up about 3 yards of muslin for a quilt sandwich to play with a couple of new pantographs, and I bought a couple yards of one of my favorite green batiks to replenish my supply. Here's the Stash Manager's Report:

Fabric used this week: 7 yards
Fabric used year to date: 74 3/4 yards
Fabric added this week: 2 yards
Fabric added year to date: 180-1/4 yards
Net used year to date: -105-1/2 yards

No apologies, no excuses. But, hey, I'm less behind than I was two weeks ago!

Christmas in July

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 03:19:00 +0000

We had two Christmas in July workshops last month, and this was the project I worked on, the one called "It's A Wrap!" I put the last round of borders on and finished the top this evening.

I liked this quilt as soon as I saw it, and I really enjoyed working on it. It was a fun way to use bits and pieces of my favorite Christmas fabrics that I've collected over the years, and I might make another one sometime and use up a few more.

Credit where credit is due: quilt design by Mary Ann Meador, Quiltmaker Nov/Dec 2008

The Tacoma Lakes Quilters' Christmas in July workshop was held at Koleen's studio. I think there were about ten of us in attendance, and mostly we ate and socialized. I did get a start on my quilt, but I think only about three of us actually sewed. We had a great Show and Tell though. Too bad most of my photos were blurry. Here are some of the better ones.

Pauline made this lovely sampler. It wouldn't have occurred to me to put these colors together in a quilt, but I rather liked it and thought the colors worked very well together.

Some time before I joined the Tacoma Lakes group, they embarked on a group project called "Fool Around Fun". Sorry, no idea where they got this quilt pattern from. A number of ladies in the group made the quilt, and all the quilts appeared together at the Pine Tree Quilt Guild state show in July as a separate exhibit. I love how different they all looked. I think Margo has a picture of all of them on her blog.

Bea was the winner of the May Block of the Month blocks and assembled them into this interesting top.

BarbD showed this adorable little quilt top. I knew she hadn't appliqued it, because Barb doesn't applique. But she does embroider by machine, so I thought they were embroidered. Well, she still fooled me, because it's a cheater panel that she added borders to!

Koleen got a top finished too. A simple block with a stunning impact and gorgeous colors.

Kayleen made a pair of patriotic tablerunners using the same pattern I used for the one I showed you here, but she oriented her log cabin blocks differently. This was also a group project, and I managed to get in on the tail end of this one. I don't know why Kayleen's quilts remind me of the Confederate flag.

Tomorrow I'll put up a few photos from the other Christmas in July workshop. I think there were a couple of other ladies that actually did work on a Christmas project, but I only got a picture of one of them.

Pillowcases

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:09:00 +0000

I've been making pillowcases this week, six in all. The two pale purple ones with the dark purple bands go with my Springtime Stars quilt. The rest will be donated to ConKerr Cancer and will go to locations here in Maine. My deadline for this project is Friday, August 7, so I might have time for a couple more.

These are a nice little stashbuster too--each pillowcases uses about one yard and goes together in less than an hour. On the selvage of one of these fabrics was a copyright date of 1994. Does that tell you anything? I probably bought that fabric intending to make quillows or something for my kids.

My favorite is the one with the racing cars and the checkerboard border. I'm going to make one like this for my son's girlfriend's little boy. He turned two a few months ago and is now sleeping in a regular bed, so I think he needs a big boy pillowcase.

The Latte Block

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 03:03:00 +0000

Today three of us got together at Carolee's for our little embroidery group. We all have Bernina sewing machines with embroidery modules, and we want to learn more about them, so we get together once or twice a month to play. Carolee has a basement sewing room, which was the place to be today because it was warm and muggy outside. From left to right in the photo is Carolee, Pauline, and me. I tried to look busy because I don't like to have my picture taken.

Pauline took a bunch of classes after she bought her Bernina a while back, so she is the brains of the group. We try to choose something specific to work on at our get togethers, and today our focus was multihooping. When a design is too large for the selected hoop size, it becomes necessary to rehoop the fabric at some point during the stitch out in order to complete the whole design. Getting the design lined back up correctly is not an easy task for a novice, and I'm not too sure that I grasped exactly how to do this, but I'll play around with it some more.

The block we worked with today was one of the blocks from the Latte Quilt, a sampler of a dozen or so embroidered quilt blocks, and so named, I suppose, because it is all stitched in neutral colors on a neutral background. I've seen the complete sampler stitched out and quilted, and it's gorgeous.

What you see in the photo is two thirds of the design, which required two hoopings. The most obvious problem I had was puckering in the fabric, which is something that has frustrated me quite often. There must be about a dozen reasons why this might happen, and I never seem to get any of them right. (Teresa, are you reading this? Help!)

The second problem was that we actually loaded the wrong design into memory when we rehooped it for the right side of the embroidery. Some of the stitching crossed over parts of the center design, which wasn't right. Neither of these things bothered me, however, because it was a practice piece, and I had fun watching it stitch out. I was pleased with the quality of the stitch out today, which I haven't always been able to say in the past.

Next time we get together, we will play with machine embroidered applique.

Just Because He Loves Me

northwindsquilting@gmail.com (SueR) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 02:22:00 +0000