Pineapple border, machine quilting, and a few little quilts

 

Border possibilities - Piano Key?  uh, nope, I like this one.

 I basted this in the house - it's about 63" x 63" -- sorta do-able on my sewing table.

And this morning ... ta dahhhhh!  I am so excited to begin the machine quilting - my favorite part!!!  I started with a Schmetz 14 quilting needle, but right away, it skipped, so I changed to a Schmetz 14 topstitch and voila.  Happiness!  This is an allover, kinda lighthearted in feeling, center is a swirl with a posy and then an echo around the posy.  This was inspired by Christina Cameli, in her recent MQ book.   LOT of seams, my machine goes thru them.  (Janome MC 6500, no stitch regulator). 

 

 Here is the top quilting thread - a King Tut variegated.
  

 

Here is the backing I found, on sale - Yeahhhh Pats Creative Stitchery!!!  Back thread is white. 


New subject - these are 2 little quilts I made starting with 9-patches, cutting the 9-patches, and rearranging the pieces.  For whatever reason, I have always LOVED making blocks and then re-cutting them.  They are too small for Linus quilts so I just look at them!  8-))) I call them 9-Patch Puzzle.

Tumalo Trails aka "Cowboy Up", DONE

I call this "Cowboy Up" because it looks so  ... blue sky, outdoors and I'm here in western Nebraska, where there are a LOT of blue skies, and real cowboys!    It's about 86"x 106", all MQ'ed on my Janome MC6500.  Whew!  In case anyone wonders, I have 8 7/8 inches from the needle to the machine housing. 

Thank you to Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville.com for the inspiration.  The border is my own idea. The darker blue corners took a little fidding on graph paper.

This is the quilt that started one day when I just HAD to sew something, and made about 100 little 9-patches, wondering what I could do with them.  At the same time, my PILE of accumulated stuff on my sewing table was out of control.  Suddenly a blue plaid shirt that I had not yet cut up, fell on top of the 9-patches.  My gosh, it was the PERFECT fabric!  It had been given to me by my friend Janet, who knew I liked cotton shirts.   I used every bit of that large shirt, with NOTHING left over. 

I learned the border quilted swirls using the clear Janome foot that glides, doesn't hop, with red guide lines that help to keep the arches approximately even.   Thanks to videos from talented Angela Walters.  This design uses a backtracking method.  It really helped to have thread matching closely to the background.  I quilted each side in about one hour.  That narrow dark blue in one of the borders is a dimensional flange - just for touching.

This clever design is called pea pods.  To avoid boredom, I used a number of quilting designs on different rows.  

Oh yes, about 3600 pieces!  

2015 - My birthday tree planted about 5 years ago.  Fortunately, it grows faster than I do!  LOL

In case you don't remember - I MQ on a DSM, currently a Janome MC 6500.

Below is one border edge on my huge "Cowboy Up", aka Tumalo Trails, from Quiltville.com.  I am practicing these swirls, and I think the end result is quite passable!  8-)) .  I had originally thought this design would be very time consuming, but NO, I did about 60 inches in one sitting.  I was careful to match the light blue thread to the border color, so hopefully, the texture will show, not the thread. 

 OK, I keep showing it - but hey, I LOVE it! 

I'm getting ready to take a driving trip and frequently dig in my quilting stash for gifts that might be suitable.  I love ALL of my quilts but they don't do anyone any good in the closet.  The Rocky Road to Kansas (blue string) that I call "Stringing my Blues" is one of my favorites. The quilting in the white area was done in a variegated white and pastels - turned out really nice, but kinda feminine.  Next time I will quilt something more masculine in style. 

The hourglass turned out nice as well.  This is an easy quilt with strip piecing.

Below (left) is my "Handsome Log Cabin" - I had a man in mind but then remembered he is from Canada!  Uh ohhhh, WRONG colors!!!  

LOTS of Machine Quilting on Tumalo Trails/Cowboy Up

I have been machine quilting on my Janome MC6500 every day, for 20 minutes or so each time, several times a day for the past month or so.  I change positions, so as not to strain shoulders and neck.  There are 48 blocks in this quilt, by Bonnie Hunter/Quiltville.com.  She calls hers Tumalo Trails, and I call mine Cowboy Up, because I think it looks like cowboys, big skies, plaid shirts, etc.  It is HUGE, over 86 x 106 or so.

I MQ'ed each block separately in the entire row with the same motif.  Sashing will be quilted simply and separately.  This first photo below was done using the Janome Convertible clear plastic foot, with the red guidelines.  This is the first time I've been successful - it helped tremendously to have my machine cooperating again.  Since I am also in love with scrappy multicolor quilts, my "backtracking" shows in many places.  The thread is a soft muted cotton medium blue/grey.  There is NO thread in the world that would blend with all the lights and darks.  However, I am reasonably happy with the end result. 

This one (below) has a charming floral posey-like motif.  It can be resized, reformed, pulled pushed to whatever space available.  This idea is from Christina Cameli, author of one of my new best favorite books. 

 I used 3 or 4 of her ideas in this quilt.  She also has several other ideas on YouTube, a web site called A Few Scraps  Her designs are fresh, casual, and the ones I liked best are friendly, outdoorsy, and informal, especially suitable for this project. 


I LOVED this motif - so versatile!

New quilting design

I ventured forth and tried a new quilting design.  The are basically 4  "S" curves back and forth, with a swirl at the end of 4, and then taking off in a new direction - something like a large McTavishing, (IMHO).  But as soon as I tried these, my hands just kept curving, swirling, filling in gaps, making "S" curves - they were not hard, and  watching it on YouTube made it do-able.  8-)   The thread is a light variegated King Tut that works well on my machine.  This quilt is 70" x 80", not a small quilt, and the backing is again, made up of 10 inch squares from stash.  

This Hourglass quilt should be completed in a few days.  I'm working on the border quilting.  

Warm days in western Nebraska have been filled with yard work, except for a brief return of winter and snow, now gone.  I do NOT overdo!  Also, one little screech owl is in our tree almost every day.  No owlets yet, but I presume there is a nest nearby.  

Retreat, RRTK and Machine Quilting, Hourglass

I spent last long weekend at our Guild Retreat, located at a beautiful lodgey YMCA, with friends, a LOT of food, and beautiful views.  I think this was my 5th or 6th retreat at this location.   If you've been to a Quilting Retreat, these kinds of photos will look familiar. If you HAVEN'T been to a retreat, you are missing something. 

 I think that head on the pink shirt is Marlene!

 This pink shirt belongs to Donna, the recent Raffle winner of a quilt I helped make last year, called Prairie Schooler - lucky girl!

 Another view - we had a fireplace when needed.

These are part of Scotts Bluffs, the view out our window.  Just beyond the rail fence is the North Platte River, gurgling away, full of ruching water.

 The walk in front of the various rooms.  I believe there were 5 or 6 double rooms.

More North Platte River, with the noisy, gurgling tributary.  

 This is the entire lodge where we stayed - so comfy, economical and pleasant.  We gals did the meals, all taking turns in the wonderful kitchen.  No one went home hungry!!

My workspace - that "red" around my quilt is a flange, not binding.  I was with 2 other friends, and we were comparing work spaces -- neat or messy.  Note - no mess on the floor under MY project.  Also, I have learned to use a boat cushion on my chair to help me sit high enough.    A boat cushion doesn't compress, nor does it make rude noises when I plop down on it!

That portable machine worked just fine for much of the machine quilting.

 Carol, one of my roommates, also works neatly.  Note, no mess on the floor.  This was her first retreat, and we KNOW she had a great time.

 And then there's Tina - my other roommate, who said her floor was a mess because she was piecing a tiny chicken that took her all day, and there was much unsewing!   8-))

 This was just to show to DH, how much of a mess we all make and that he is not alone when he comments about MY mess at home.

I almost finished my project, a Rocky Road to Kansas design, that I call "Stringin' My Blues"  I DID have to unsew one entire border side of machine quilting as it just "didn't do"! The improved version was 2 simple evenly-spaced lines using my walking foot -- soooo much better.  Even someone who has machine quilted a LOT makes errors in judgment.

Also, some of the gals were interested in how I machine quilted on my DSM, questions about  what did I draw with, what stencil, etc.  Repeat - this is all free-form - no drawing, no stencil, no paper.  At first, thinking about quilting those swirls in the white border scared me and I had planned to draw them, or draw guidelines, but almost right away, I realized I could do them just fine free-form, and they are all surprisingly evenly spaced. Frankly, I'm amazed they ARE evenly spaced and wonder about brains and hands actually being able to coordinate so well. The design itself took about 10 minutes of practice to get the right size for that border width.

The flange sewn between the border and the binding definitely gave the quilt pizzazz - a trick I learned from my friend Jody (Goddess).  I DID purchase the RED for the last minute idea to add the flange.

 All of the other fabric for the top is from my stash.

Here it is today, hanging over my fence.  I hung heavy clamps to the top of the quilt that weight it over the top of the fence so wind does not blow it down.  The size is about 71" x 81".  As I frequently have said, "It turned out much better than I thought!"  

And here is my Hourglass, ready for sandwiching.  More stash use.  Hmmmm, how to quilt this????  This is probably the easiest pattern I ever made.  Onward and upward - Quilt ON!

Practice, Practice, Practice

I'm beginning to think about preparing to start to commence studying a possible plan for quilting this recent Rocky Road to Kansas.  Yes, my brain is NOT focused, and every time I get on a direction, some diddly nothing changes my direction - what's with that???

Here are some samples, and disappointments, or I should say, "not yet successful designs."  I was thrilled with the first McTavishing  (diamond on the right) but by the time I got to the bottom, hypnosis seems to have taken over and I totally became "lost" in the design!  Yes, I remember about half-way finished, "perhaps I need to stop for a few seconds" but I didn't.

The diamond on the left is OK and I might use it, but in softer threads.  The wonky triangles in the top middle look interesting and not as difficult as I thought.

The wiggly lines in bottom center have the right "feel" for my scrappy stars, if I use a soft blue/gray thread.

I've not machine quilted since ??? spring -- hey, a person gets rusty!  It's amazing how much improved a design becomes with a little practice.

This second practice piece is almost a total loss!  The "wormy" thing on the bottom left has possibilities.  I was using my own imagination which has a mind of it's own every 2-3 seconds! Even poor practice results are better then no results at all.  If you are not appreciating my dark thread, remember that a thread that blends will alter your surface dramatically.

My practice pieces are saved in a 3-ring binder in page protectors, just like PatsyThompson Designs.com suggests.  Many times I can't think of any design, but that practice binder always has reminders.

I am also practicing designs from www.FreeMotionProject.com, by Leah Day.  I own her big beautiful book, and added a spiral binding to it.  Free tutorials of all her designs from her book are on her site. These two generous machine quilters have given so freely.

3597 + 9 + 2 + 1 label

Last photo of "Determination", before it goes into the storage closet for an unnamed recipient.  Yesterday I did the binding in one day, and my hands were so cramped!  3597 pieces, which is documented on the label, but then I realized later that I hadn't counted the 9 binding strips, the 2 backing pieces and the 1 label!  So there, that's how many pieces.  Of course, the number of string units had to be averaged.  

The triangles on the border on ONE side were different than the others, so the quilting motifs had to be finessed, if that's what you call it!  I LOVE the black which is mottled, not pure black.  And I LOVE the thread, a King Tut, again a mottled/variegated black.  This was a very good idea and was visible even when eyes are tired.

New project - playing with strings, with basic, gentle machine quilting.  

 I do all my own quilting, on a DSM, a Janome 6500 MC.  This machine has been a workhorse - (knock on wood).

Quilt Block on the Shed, and a Wall Hanging with MQ

 Carol is a local quilter and friend -- she was so thrilled to paint these Friendship Stars on her garden shed.  I drive by to view it, so does DH, and others do as well - the blocks just make a person happy don't they? She's given me some ideas for my own blocks on our "barn" (which is really a garage).  A fall project, this year for SURE!

And, she is one heck of a gardener!  I drove by her house today for this photo and was the lucky recipient of veggies galore, which I took home.  One new potato, onions, zucchini, all stirred up with a bit of bacon - best lunch I've had for years!  Yummy, thank YOU Carol, for these special moments today.  

Different subject - following the organizing and making a quilt for a quilt raffle, I was left with 4 leftover well-made blocks, and totally forgot about them.  Tidying up recently, they reappeared.  It seemed unkind not to make them into "something" so here is what I made of them.  

(It just looks crooked.)  Below is the scroll design I put in the large HSTs.  I didn't want anything too fussy.  This time, I needed some chalk guidelines to get "the feel".  Look at the perfect points!

Below is a back and forth scroll on the border.  This is free hand, using the HSTs as guidelines.  I've not done this previously and practiced 15 minutes to get it in my brain memory.  I had brain and hand issues quilting from side to side, but up and down, no problem!  I'll give this back to the original block maker of 2 years ago -- I KNOW she will be surprised.