Thursday, January 30, 2014

Yahoo!

What can I say!  I do get a little bit restless.  I would definitely admit that I am "house bound" and some days I get a little antsy.  It is mostly my choice but for all intents and purposes I am doing the world (GTA) a favour by not driving.  Because of the medications I have chosen not to drive lately.  I just don't feel that under the influence of Oxycodin I have the same quick reflexes as I used to.

I do enjoy it however, when my friends drop by and I was pleasantly surprised when Linda (H) called me yesterday to say she'd be out this way today and would drop by.  She was going over to Sandy's (Lindal) to pick up her quilts and also wanted to drop off some Ensure to me.  She didn't stay long but she did share her quilts.  First, a really bright little baby quilt -
It's sort of a Japanese coins pattern and came out beautiful.
The red border really sets it off.

Sandy did a great job quilting it (as usual).  The quilting pattern really enhances the quilt.
Hopefully you can get a good look at the pattern she used.

Linda also showed off her Irish Chain, beige on beige which really did come out beautiful after quilting and Sandy also put the binding on for her so all she has to do is stitch it down now and then on to the bed.....
It really is a gorgeous quilt
Hard to see the quilting but that's the point, beautifully quilted 
with a thread that just drops right into the quilt - perfect!

Now - what I've been up to.  First - the history of this quilt project.  Way back in 2002 I found this great little 2 bedroom cottage just outside of Lakefield, ON. which I managed to rent seasonally.  I love to decorate and so the second bedroom was meant to be this rustic "cottagey" kind of room, with bears and moose and fish, etc.  On one of my trips to New Jersey I stopped in at Patchwork & Pies and found this fabulous flannel quilt kit.  The panel fit in perfectly with my cottage theme and I couldn't resist it.  I also bought the backing at the same time, not one backing but two, since I wasn't sure which one I liked more.....

This quilt is all BORDERS, virtually a nightmare!  Funnily enough, had I made this quilt 12 years ago when I bought the kit, I'm pretty sure it would have been absolutely wonky!  In those days I used to just "slap" those borders on.  You know, cut the border size, sew it on and then cut it to fit the quilt.  Luckily, I waited until I actually knew what I was doing and everything was measured properly so the quilt has turned out square....
I had to fudge it a little to make the first border the right size

When I ran out of bobbin the first time I decided to clean the machine.....I figured after working with flannel the past few quilts, it was definitely time for a cleaning.....
Quite a bit of felt all hiding inside that bobbin casing.....

I can't tell you how much better your machine will run if you do this on a regular basis.  It's much easier to do this often then to let it get to the point where it causes major problems.  Honestly, my machine just purrs each time I do this.  A good rule of thumb is after each project or if you are working with fabrics and thread that tend to shed, maybe halfway through your project.

Done - ready to start making backings....Yeah!!!

Okay, so back to the quilt!  I worked all day Saturday and Sunday, measuring, measuring and measuring and got the first 4 borders on.  It was important that I measured because the 4th border is pieced and made up of 6" squares.  Because I measured it all went together perfectly.  Last night I put on border #5.  It is done and measures 72-1/2" x 90-1/2".  The fifth border has corner squares (hard to see) which fit perfectly as well.

It would have looked great on that bed in the cottage but alas, there is no more cottage and it no longer fits my decor.  I'm not sure where it's going once it's quilted but the top is done and that's the first step.  It would have looked great in the house, in the guest room too but that's gone too!  

So now I will concentrate on backings.  I have quite a bit of fabric left over which I've decided to piece for the back and then start cutting into those backing fabrics which will hopefully stretch to make three backings, at which point I am having a flannel bonfire to get rid of what's left....

Don't get me wrong, I love working with flannel but enough is enough!  I had no idea that at one time I was so into flannel. The nice part about the flannel is that it lines up beautifully and doesn't shift when you are sewing it.  I found it was really easy to keep my 1/4" seams.

Today is Jonathan's day off (he's still sleeping) and I will soon banish myself to my room where I think I will first take a nap and then start working on my 57 piece 6" block which is the next one I'm doing for the Farmer's Wife. I still have to mark and cut the pieces so that will take a while but the piecing should go quickly.....

Have a great day everyone, get outside, it's warmer!

Jo-Ann


2 comments:

  1. Yeah Joanne. You are sewing up a storm. Keep it up

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  2. joanne you are amazing....sending good wishes your way....let me know if there is anything i can do for you....frazzlednow@hotmail.com

    Shannon Olden

    ReplyDelete