I am a quilter. For the past 25 years, my quilting journey has been filled with endless joy filled with bright colors, warm feelings, and soulful peace.
Life is busy. And, it seems that sometimes it is just too busy to enjoy the things I really love, like quilting. I haven’t touched my sewing machine in way too long. I have a quilt in the works to be hand-quilted and one that just needs to be put together with backing and batting to be quilted. There just always seems to be something else more pressing to do. Ironically, that is the very reason quilting is so necessary. It soothes me, makes me happy, and keeps me somewhat sane.
Recently I decided to add some color to my kitchen. More info is available about this color choice at my personal blog at CHMusings.
What better project for a kitchen face-lift than a new table runner? I chose my new color in the kitchen to be turquoise, so I went through my fabric stash and picked out some fabrics. I have come to love this color and enjoyed working with it.
I decided to make the same table runner I have made many times before using the Double Star quilt block. I like to think of this as my signature block because I have made so many of them.
The table runner consists of three blocks, joined by a strip of sashing, with a similar border all around.
Rather than use my own pattern since I wasn’t quite sure where it was, and I was anxious to get started, I decided to just look for one online. Big mistake. There are several flying geese in this block and there are many different ways to make them. The pattern I downloaded used templates to cut and sew the pieces together. Have I mentioned before that I hate working with triangles? It may bear repeating. Although there was no waste involved in this method, the precision, at least for me, left much to be desired. I finished one block and was glad I didn’t cut out the pieces for all three, because I didn’t like the result. Haste does make waste. So, I decided to find the pattern I’m familiar with.
I like the method, such as in this tutorial from Connecting Threads, which makes flying geese using squares sewn to rectangles and then trimming the corners. There is a bit of waste involved, but it is so worth it to have points match and end up with uniform pieces.
I became acquainted with this block during a Craftsy project, the 2012 Block of the Month. I loved making that quilt and fell in love with the Double Star.
Once I found the pattern, I cut out all my pieces and began to sew them together. It went much smoother this time around. In fact, I found it all to be pretty enjoyable. It was nice to be back into the swing of it. I’ve really missed working with my sewing machine. While a little out of practice, I like how the table runner turned out. I’m pretty happy with it. It adds just the right splash of color to an ordinary drab part of my kitchen.
The latest tool in my quilting arsenal is foundation paper piecing.
I'm taking a Craftsy class by Peggy Martin using her technique which really does streamline the paper piecing process. I've dabbled in paper piecing in the past and wasn't completely enamored with it. I do like the results though. Who doesn't want sharp angles and points that aren't cut off?
Peggy's Quick Strip Paper Piecing method eliminates one of my biggest problems--working with triangles of fabric. I've listened to the entire class, which began months ago. I'm going over it a second time now, and actually making the blocks.
There are several blocks in the various lessons in the class. They may or may not end up as entire quilts--but I want to at least try making them. They seem to get more complex as we go through the lessons. I'm anxious to do more, now that I've gotten my feet wet.
So far I made a table runner, out of Peggy's Dreamweaver quilt block, which consisted of three blocks and a woven sashing, which she also demonstrated. It was fun to do and much easier than traditional paper piecing as I had learned it.
Initially I thought this star would make a great Christmas star with red and green points. But, then I decided I'd really like to have a table runner to match my most recent quilt--my pink flamingo quilt, which is draped across the back of the couch in our Florida room.
I had just enough turquoise batiks left to make sashing strips.
Once I finished the three-block piece, I couldn't wait to start quilting it. This is a work in progress, but I'm pleased with it so far.
First I printed out a sketch of the three-block piece. I let the quilt "talk to me" so I could decide what kind of quilting patterns I wanted to use.
This is the result. I'm glad I decided to use two different colors of thread. The first is a pink variegated that I had from another project. Of course the teal color is from all those pink flamingos.
One of the three blocks is complete. Forgive the blue lines on the checkerboard design. I haven't washed them out yet. By the way, I absolutely love checkerboards in quilts--they just seem to go together.
This is what the back looks like. It reveals the dense quilting in the star that isn't very visible on the front.
All these colors in a project really is a new thing for me. I'm enjoying this expansion beyond the boundaries of my former monochromatic comfort zone. I really love color and the older I get, the bolder I want it to be. I'm anxious to finish this project and see what it looks like on the table. Have I mentioned lately that I absolutely love quilting?
I've finally finished my Halloween project--three table runners for my daughter. This is the third and final one. I think I like this one the best.
There is no denying, this is for Halloween! I rather like scrappy string quilt blocks. They are so versatile, easy and fun to do, and the results can be stunning.
While this pattern is just fine the way it is, serving the purpose of resembling spider webs, it is also quite dramatic when these blocks are duplicated into an entire quilt.
For quilt makers, you already are aware of the kind of magic that happens when individual blocks come together to form another shape. But for those who aren't quilters, check out the photo to the right. These same blocks are just copied and pasted into a three-by-three grid to reveal just what happens when the blocks are put together. Note the four-pointed stars that seemingly appear between the spider web blocks. Quilting is just so much fun!
If the orange sashing were removed, the stars would likely be even more apparent. So try to imagine a quilt, using different colored strips on a white background. Or on a colored background with contrasting strips. I may one day decide to make one of these, since I seem to be accumulating leftover pink and purple strips from other projects.
These blocks were constructed using foundation paper piecing. Varying strips of fabric are sewn onto pieces of (foundation) paper, in two different wedge designs. There are four of them for each block. The eight wedges are then sewn together to form the block. The paper is then removed. Because sewing is done on the printed line of the pattern, foundation piecing aids in creating sharp points and well aligned seams. In this 'scrappy' project, the seams were meant to be askew, so that wasn't important.
The only place the points mattered was in the middle where all eight seams came together. That is almost always a problem. On one of these blocks, I sewed the pieces together with the paper still attached. Never having done that before, it was a disaster. The points didn't come close to matching in the center.
So, once I removed all the (foundation) paper backing, which is sometimes more time consuming that crafting the entire block, I took all the seams apart. I had real second thoughts about that because what I was left with was a giant gaping hole in the center. The more I messed with it, the more the fabric began to fray. I was thinking there wouldn't be enough fabric left to make it work. I assumed I'd have to just toss that block and make another one. Much to my surprise though, I was able to sew all the seams together again. The points looked pretty good. I like to call that a quilting success. It doesn't happen often in cases like that, but I was pleased with how it turned out.
This was an easy block to construct. There are a variety of ways to do this, but I used a pattern I found online. There are oodles of them.
I just hope Jenny likes it. Now, off to the post office.
Even cats know what they like and what they don't!
While I absolutely love every quilting project I've ever made; this one, not so much.
I just finished the second of three Halloween table runners for my daughter, Jenny. She requested a dark one, scary with all black fabrics. Even Junior the cat turned away from it--not a good sign at all.
Thankfully, it is just for Halloween and not something to be used every day.
There are elements of this that I really like.
I like the pattern--the bow-tie block--but there should have been more contrast. It is hard to distinguish that those are bow ties. And, the quilting isn't bad--but using black thread on black fabric; certainly doesn't showcase the quilting.
The bow ties are quilted with lightening bolts radiating from the center, though it is hard to see. There are even lightening bolts in the fill design in the space outside the bows, but who can see them? The center four squares are quilted in a spider web design, but again, it doesn't show. I was hoping that washing the piece would make the quilting stand out, but it really didn't.
At least there is the spiderweb border that glows-in-the-dark. That will be really cool.
I've already alerted Jenny to this situation, and sent her a photo. She isn't crazy about this one either, but I suppose we should just chalk this up to, 'it's only for Halloween,' and move on to the third and final project.
I've already started on it and I know we'll like it so much more.
Disappointment all around; Learning experience:
When I set out to make a table runner, I looked for a pattern that would showcase a center patch. (That's funny, since the center is the part I dislike the most about this piece). When I saw the bow ties, I was drawn to it. I went to my Electric Quilt software to draft the block and estimate needed yardage. I also printed out the templates for the bow tie pattern. It never even occurred to me that there was an easier way.
Then, I didn't realize until I had all the fabric for the whole project cut out that I needed to make the dreaded "Y-seams" for this method.
It isn't that I've never done them; it is just that I don't like doing them.
In this video, one of my favorite quilters, Jinny Beyer, explains how to create a perfect Y-seam by both machine and by hand.
With four bow ties, each with 2 Y-seams, that translates into 8 per block and 24 in the three blocks. I actually thought about sewing all these by hand, since it is so much easier, but in the name of time, I decided not to. They turned out fine, however.
Once I had all of them completed, I realized what an inexperienced quilter I am. I found an online tutorial for a bow-tie block making this as simple as making a four-patch.
I have been quilting for how long now? It is alarming that I couldn't figure out this simple method. I'm over it now, and it was good to practice making Y-seams, but I was really mad at myself at first.
Check out Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Co. as she makes a quilt out of the bow-tie block.
I've always said, there is no end to learning in quilting. So, after more than fifteen years, I guess I'm still a newbie.
Although I already knew good quilting is so reliant on the thread, I thought I would try some of what I had been reading about--experimenting with different threads in the needle and bobbin.
Experimentation in this area was not fun. That doesn't mean I have given up; it just means that using different threads is now deemed well out of my comfort zone for now.
This table runner is the first free-motion quilting I've done with my new Janome DC2014 sewing machine. I have mixed reviews, but not about the machine. I love it! Despite it being so similar to my 30-year old model, there was still a learning curve. There are two new features on this machine that I didn't have before. 1) stitch speed and 2) needle up/down
Both were useful, but the needle up/down was a breath of fresh air. It was so nice not to have to grab and turn the wheel every time I stopped and started.
Because this project had a white backing fabric, determined by what I had on hand, I wanted to quilt the center star in a gray 40wt. Floriani thread and everything else in white 40 wt. Isacord thread. I decided to thread the need with the gray and put white in the bobbin. Once I finally got the tension right, so that little if any of the gray showed through on the back, I began quilting. It was nightmarish. My machine did not like what I was doing. I re-threaded, changed needles, re-adjusted tension, and most of all, picked out lots of stitches. I limped through it the best I could with minimal gray loops on the back.
The gray shows through, as seen in the photo at right. I'm thinking of painting it with white out or a little white acrylic paint just to camouflage it since this one square is the only one where the gray is so prominent.
If anyone has any tips about using different threads in a domestic machine, please comment. I'd love to hear them.
