Merry Christmas.
Sunna.
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Eight quilts found a new home
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All the photos show quilts that went to a new home this December, there are lots of children that come to this home to stay, some for long periods, other stay not as long and I gave the quilts to the home with the words that it was up to the workers there if the quilts would be given to the children, or if the quilts would belong to the home. I took the photos at my mom's home. The panels are from old curtains that I was given because the owner could not bear to throw them away.
There are three elephant/lion quilts.
I wish now that I'd only made two of them, with six animal each, like the doll quilt.
When I was quilting the panel quilts I got to thinking that the older kids tend to be forgotten so I finished making the rest of Bonnie Hunter's Virginia Bound blocks that I'd used some of to make the quilt I sent to Japan, there were three more stars in the Japan quilt so I made the top and bottom border bigger to get it to similar size.
I also finished Log Cabin blocks that I'd been making, using strips that for various reasons were not fitting in with the hero blocks I sometimes make for my guild. There is no log the same in these 7" blocks and I love how the quilt turned out. I'm definitively going to make more of those blocks and I'll be using this setup again too.
| Two more of the smallest quilts. |
Boy, am I having trouble with this new blogger features.
I was going to make good on a promise to post about my sewing machines, but I can't find the photos I'd taken of them and I don't even have four of them around as they are in the city undergoing repair and/or cleaning and oiling. I have no idea when I'll get my machines home, but I will make a post about them when I have them back.
One of the machines was given tome last November. It's a Pfaff 262 (made in 1965- 68) cabin (hope this is the right word) machine and I've sanded and oiled the cabin. It's looking good although the door is missing. The machine itself has a very good motor, but there are to many things wrong that it would cost as much as a new machine to fix it proper.
So the repair man is going to fix it so it sews straight stitch only and I'm happy with that. You wouldn't believe how beautifully quiet the motor sounds. I'll be able to sew long into the night without bothering hubby after I move the sewing room upstairs to the room next to the master bedroom. LOL.
Sunna.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Finished quilts
DD1 wanted to give a baby quilt to friend that had a girl in May so I made this for her. I used happy blocks from Mary's tutorial. Fast and fun to make and they make a beautiful quilt.
A quilting detail.
I finished this quilt in the end of Marsh and mailed it to Japan in early April. I used more than half of the blocks I'd made for the Virginia Bound quilt from Bonnie Hunter's book, Scrap and Shirttail (I think I remember this right) I named the quilt Japan Bound.
Details.
This quilt, a mystery named Circle of Friends, from a Yahoo group I'm in is a birthday present to my older brother who lives in Denmark. He will turn 50 in two days and I hope the quilt will have reached him then. I quilted this in early June.
The back is a part of curtains I got at Good Will. They are very soft and I got seven pieces that will most likely be enough for the back on six quilts. I made Japan Bound also with this backing and I love how it turns out.
In May I quilted this quilt for a dear friend of the family who was graduating from college. This is Dinah's Delight, a mystery from Iowa Star Quilts. I added the four patches on top after I made the quilt to short when I decided all those green borders were just to much, and cut most of them away. A decision I regretted because I figured out after the deed that I'd only needed to cut some of the side borders to make me like it better.
Detail.
I got me new glasses in May and have since then finished hand sewing the binding on the back of both my California Christmas (mystery from Bonnie Hunter) quilts. It's great to be finally able to to hand work while watching TV. I quilted those two quilts last winter.
This is the Christmas Star part who belongs to hubby now. The blocks are 16 " and there was one left that I later used as a center in an international Round Robin I'm in. My center is now in Japan at it's last stop.
Back of Christmas Star, I think I quilted it (the sashings) a bit to much.
The Poinsettia part has not gotten a home, it will in time, just not jet and I will say no more about it. Lol.
This is the back, I thought about quilting it some more, but then figured it would be an over kill. I like it best as it is.
My goodness, how very productive I appear when I post so seldom. LOL.
That's it for now.
Sunna.
Fjallkonan 17 júní 2011
Fjallkonan, or the Lady of the Mountain this year in Bolungarvík was my DD2 Ebba.
June 17th is the Icelandic national holiday and it is tradition to have the Lady of the mountain recite a patriotic poem at the celebration. The Lady of the Mountain always wears this costume which is one of the Icelandic national costumes. The name, Lady of the Mountain, is a metaphor for a free Iceland. If you are interested you can read about it here.
This costume is not a true costume, it's made of velvet with painted on pattern and poly lace. A true costume is made of wool (black) and hand embroidery at the bottom of the skirt and sleeves and on the front of the bodice. Like in this photo.
It's been much to long since I've posted, I wont promise to be more active but I'll try.
Sunna.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Lots of Tops.
I have been busy lately sewing when I should really be quilting, but I feel like sewing so that's what I've been doing.
This morning after milking it finally felt like there was no wind so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take some photos in a good light.
First of all is my version of the Thread Head quilt along I told you about in last post. The top is finished and as you can see I had to really stretch the golden brown fabric to make it last for the bprders. Lol. It measures 74 x 56 inches.
There was some light breeze, but I managed to get photos of all the tops, here is a mystery from a yahoo group called Threads_Of_Friendship. The quilt is called the Friendship quilt and I did it after the mystery was revealed. I used 2 3/4" strips instead of 2 1/2" as I have a lot of them stored since doing mysteries from Iowa Star Quilts. I also only sewed the last strips around every other block to use them as sahsings. It became very dark so after I put a 2 3/4" inner border with the same fabric as in the corner stones I compensated by putting a much bigger, lighter outer border. It measures 76 x 59 inches. Bigger than I meant to make it, but that's how it wanted to be.
Then come some tops I'm making for my free motion practice/charity. They are made out of panels cut from curtains and lots of scraps that I've been sewing together in twos for years. These smaller tops measure 40 1/2" x 33 1/2". Here the only difference is the outer borders. The left is from a quilt fabric, the right is from a curtain bought at Good Will.
The difference here is the thin inner border, well, aside from the panels being mirrored. Wow, that's a word. Lol. The outer fabric is very old from my Granny Bubba. It's rather coarse and only measured 33" wide. I've taken it out many times for use, but it never felt right until now. I got this really nice feeling when I laid the fabric next to the half sewed top. I guess Bubba amma is happy too.
The last of the smaller ones has a border made of old curtains, bought some time ago at Good Will. Lovely fabric shop, Good Will. LOL.
This top measures 51 x 40 inches and the border (which I will also use as backing) is from a duvet cover bought at.... you guessed it, Good Will.
And in the end comes a girly quilt that I have still not finished quilting. I was quilting it when my Janome 6600 started complaining about not having had a check up in the four years I've had it. I've got the Janome back home now, running ever so smoothly, just haven't felt like quilting. That will hopefully change in the near future. This quilt measures 46" x 39". I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made the top and bottom border so much thinner. Now that I think about it I seem to remember not having enough of the fabric. Plan ahead, plan ahead.... measure fabric, measure top.... (see first top at the top of post) LOL.
That's it for now.
Sunna.
This morning after milking it finally felt like there was no wind so I thought it was the perfect opportunity to take some photos in a good light.
This is what I took with me out to the clothes line.
A basket full of tops.
A basket full of tops.
First of all is my version of the Thread Head quilt along I told you about in last post. The top is finished and as you can see I had to really stretch the golden brown fabric to make it last for the bprders. Lol. It measures 74 x 56 inches.
There was some light breeze, but I managed to get photos of all the tops, here is a mystery from a yahoo group called Threads_Of_Friendship. The quilt is called the Friendship quilt and I did it after the mystery was revealed. I used 2 3/4" strips instead of 2 1/2" as I have a lot of them stored since doing mysteries from Iowa Star Quilts. I also only sewed the last strips around every other block to use them as sahsings. It became very dark so after I put a 2 3/4" inner border with the same fabric as in the corner stones I compensated by putting a much bigger, lighter outer border. It measures 76 x 59 inches. Bigger than I meant to make it, but that's how it wanted to be.
Then come some tops I'm making for my free motion practice/charity. They are made out of panels cut from curtains and lots of scraps that I've been sewing together in twos for years. These smaller tops measure 40 1/2" x 33 1/2". Here the only difference is the outer borders. The left is from a quilt fabric, the right is from a curtain bought at Good Will.
The difference here is the thin inner border, well, aside from the panels being mirrored. Wow, that's a word. Lol. The outer fabric is very old from my Granny Bubba. It's rather coarse and only measured 33" wide. I've taken it out many times for use, but it never felt right until now. I got this really nice feeling when I laid the fabric next to the half sewed top. I guess Bubba amma is happy too.
The last of the smaller ones has a border made of old curtains, bought some time ago at Good Will. Lovely fabric shop, Good Will. LOL.
This top measures 51 x 40 inches and the border (which I will also use as backing) is from a duvet cover bought at.... you guessed it, Good Will.
And in the end comes a girly quilt that I have still not finished quilting. I was quilting it when my Janome 6600 started complaining about not having had a check up in the four years I've had it. I've got the Janome back home now, running ever so smoothly, just haven't felt like quilting. That will hopefully change in the near future. This quilt measures 46" x 39". I'm not sure what I was thinking when I made the top and bottom border so much thinner. Now that I think about it I seem to remember not having enough of the fabric. Plan ahead, plan ahead.... measure fabric, measure top.... (see first top at the top of post) LOL.
That's it for now.
Sunna.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Flying geese, quilting and quilt along.
I have tried many different techniques to make Flying Geese or the other unit (like when making the Poinsettia block) and have not been happy with any of them. Gradually I found out my own way to make the Geese and although I try new techniques when I come up on them I always go back to my way, that can be described as cut before sewing. I like using my 6" ruler with the yellow line from corner to corner best.
But sometimes it gets lost in the clutter in my sewing room and then I use my triangle ruler. Those are the Poinsettia units, as you can see, not the Flying Geese. I can't find the pics. I have, where I took photo of every step. This is the last step, a white square placed on top of the unit and then cut in the right direction, If you cut in the other direction you end up with a FG.
I have finished quilting the birthday quilt for hubby, just straight lines, but I like it.
Here is the back, I've been waiting for my Janome's to come home from the service they had so I could sew the binding on. Well the machines are home, but I've been busy doing some happy sewing instead of the obligation ones. (And believe me, binding feels like a obligation). That quilt is over a year late so it doesn't matter if it waits a little longer. Lol.
This is what most of my time has been spent on, the Thread Head Quilt Along. It began last October, but I only learned of it recently and started on it last Friday. I've made seven of the eighteen blocks that will be in the quilt and five of the alternate blocks. I'm only making one of each block instead of two as most others are making. If all goes as planned I'll have made the blocks by the end of the week. The eighteenth block was posted last week so I'm not that far behind. I'm using solid white as a background in all the blocks.
I scanned the blocks and as they are 9 1/2" they didn't quite fit in the scanner so there are corners missing on two sides. And the colors are not quite true, but I'll post a photo (taken outside) when the top is done and then the colors should be more true.
Block # 1.
It has been great fun making thees blocks, but the reason for the Flying Geese talk in the beginning is because of the new (to me) technique that Joanne of Thread Tales uses. And I'm simply not good at it so I ended up "doing it my way".
I've also made lots of tops in January and February for kids, that will be given to charity when they are done. I'm using them as a practice pieces for my free motion quilting so there is a bit of selfishness in there somewhere. Lol. Will post photos later.
Sunna.
But sometimes it gets lost in the clutter in my sewing room and then I use my triangle ruler. Those are the Poinsettia units, as you can see, not the Flying Geese. I can't find the pics. I have, where I took photo of every step. This is the last step, a white square placed on top of the unit and then cut in the right direction, If you cut in the other direction you end up with a FG.
I have finished quilting the birthday quilt for hubby, just straight lines, but I like it.
Here is the back, I've been waiting for my Janome's to come home from the service they had so I could sew the binding on. Well the machines are home, but I've been busy doing some happy sewing instead of the obligation ones. (And believe me, binding feels like a obligation). That quilt is over a year late so it doesn't matter if it waits a little longer. Lol.
This is what most of my time has been spent on, the Thread Head Quilt Along. It began last October, but I only learned of it recently and started on it last Friday. I've made seven of the eighteen blocks that will be in the quilt and five of the alternate blocks. I'm only making one of each block instead of two as most others are making. If all goes as planned I'll have made the blocks by the end of the week. The eighteenth block was posted last week so I'm not that far behind. I'm using solid white as a background in all the blocks.
I scanned the blocks and as they are 9 1/2" they didn't quite fit in the scanner so there are corners missing on two sides. And the colors are not quite true, but I'll post a photo (taken outside) when the top is done and then the colors should be more true.
Block # 7.
Hm... Block # 6 seems to be lost in space somewhere.
Blocks # 5.
Block # 4.
Block # 3.
Block # 2.
Block # 1.
Alternate block.
It has been great fun making thees blocks, but the reason for the Flying Geese talk in the beginning is because of the new (to me) technique that Joanne of Thread Tales uses. And I'm simply not good at it so I ended up "doing it my way".
I've also made lots of tops in January and February for kids, that will be given to charity when they are done. I'm using them as a practice pieces for my free motion quilting so there is a bit of selfishness in there somewhere. Lol. Will post photos later.
Sunna.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Big Quilts
I took on a task for a friend of mine, to thread baste a big top she had made to give her daughter. When the basting was done I agreed to machine quilt it too. I wisely did not measure it before quilting it, if I had I would have given up before I began. Here it is laid out on my bed, it was to big to take outside to my laundry lines for a photo. The day was a bit overcast so the photos are rather dark, which is not so bad cause it makes the quilting not show as well as if the day had been bright.
This is certainly not my best work, but I simply had trouble handling the bulk of the quilt while free motion quilting it and my Janome 6600 with it's 9" throat space got pretty annoyed there at the end. It's working still, but it's long overdue for a checkup. So, I need to figure out how to get it across country to the repair man. This morning I suddenly remembered that I saved the box the machine was in when I bought it (at least four years ago). Sometimes I do get things right. I should be able to send my Janome safely with a truck company, but I think I'll buy an insurance all the same, just in case. I really, really like that machine.
I took this photo standing on the steps you can see in the first photo, it's hopefully dark enough. LOL. The computer I usually make these posts on shows photos very dark, I'll have to check this post on my laptop to see if the quilting shows. Oh, well, it is what it is. Anyway, the quilt is beautiful, I absolutely love some of the fabrics used in it.
That's all for now.
Sunna.
PS. Forgot to mention how big this quilt is..... I had no help when I measured it, but it's ca. 90" x 100" For me that is humongous and a bit scary because I have two tops in progress that are of similar size. Sigh. Not good, not good at all.
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