Play Time

Before I show you some of the things I've been playing with this week, I should show you my Leah Day homework!

Jagged Lines

I stitched this left to right and you can see that it took a few rows to get into the groove. I think on just the right quilt, this could be a really cool pattern. I had just a little problem with thread shredding, you can see the spot on a diagonal line, but for the most part it stitched smoothly.

I have been doing a lot of FMQ this week on my Expanding Possibilities quilt (the one that has given me so much grieve to stitch). And while I still don't have my insert for my sewing table yet, the new set up is working pretty well. (Leah, I'm really enjoying your sewing room organization posts)

I have three birds marked for the top section of the quilt.

I have been participating in Sew Cal Gal's FMQ Challenge all year and this month we played with different threads. I was a little concerned about this because I've had so many problems FMQ. But to my great surprise, all but one of the threads stitched just fine.

Click here to see all the different threads I used. What surprised me the most is how much I liked stitching with silk thread.

This was a really old spool of silk thread that was in my mom's stash. It really stitched beautifully. I might try this again.

On my Elephant quilt project, I played around and designed my first block. I wrote up a tutorial on how to make this block if your curious.

Since this quilt isn't a Christmas present, it doesn't have a high priority. That's probably why I really WANT to work on it!

And now for some shameless begging for your vote! No, not the presidential vote, the Blogger's Quilt Festival voting. Nomination starts tomorrow! I would be ever so grateful if my quilt was nominated in the best baby quilt and/or best home machine quilted. Then of course, if my quilt is nominated, I'll need your vote to win.

Baby Urban Nine Patch!

My quilt is number 276  - Favorite Baby Quilt and/or Favorite Home Machine Quilted
November 1 – 4 Nominations are made
November 5 -8 Vote for your favorites
November 9 Winners announced

Go to Amy Creative Side: Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012

My stats for the week:
In-process: (4)
Purple heart wall hanging  (quilting and binding)
Expanding Possibilities quilt (Continue to quilt)
Elephant quilt
Storybook quilt # 2 - All embroidery is done

New projects: (0)

Finished (0)
 
I'm linking up with  Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday and The Free Motion Quilting Project for QAL Wednesday

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Sew Cal Gal October FMQ Challenge

Well, I didn't get blown away last night with Sandy. For all of you (and your loved ones) that are in harms way, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

We haven't lost power (YET), which is a bit surprising, we normally lose power at the drop of a hat. I guess we were too prepared, we had the generator set up and ready to go. I took the opportunity to work on my Sew Cal Gal FMQ challenge for October.

 I really tried hard to reach outside of my comfort zone with this month's challenge. Teri Lucas challenged us to try different threads and different materials. I had a bit of wool batting, that I have never used, so I used it. I like it!

 I also tried a lot of different threads! I was pretty successful with all but one of them.

12wt cotton sulky

King Tut cotton (not sure of the weight, but heavier than I'm used to)

Yenmet Metallic (Humphrey is my dog. He said he needed a little attention)

Yenmet Metallic

Not sure what this thread is, the label is gone. It was heavier than the 12wt Sulky. This was the only thread I could not get to stitch without issues.

Isacord polyester

Silk thread

Transparent thread

A lot of these threads were older, many of them had been my mother's thread. They all performed well above my expectations. What surprised me the most was the silk thread, I really like how well that stitched.

Today I'm linking up with Sew Cal Gal for the October FMQ Challenge. Can't wait to check out what everyone else created this month!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

UPDATE: The first meeting of the Ithaca Modern Quilt Guild, that was scheduled for tonight, has been move to 1:00 p.m. this Sunday (November 4th) at Quilters Corner.

Watch Out for Turbulence!

Well, I canceled my trip to Indianapolis, I was to fly through Washington, DC (coming home on Tuesday). The thought of sitting in an airport for days, with no power, nope, just couldn't do it! I'm a wuss! So I took this time and did a little FMQ on my Expanding Possibilities.

Maybe the thought of turbulence was on my mind when I stitched this out, but I'm quite pleased with the effect.

Back of the quilt

back of one of the birds

In life we all meet a little turbulence, we just need to learn to rise above or go around, but continue to expand our possibilities. I still have quite a bit more to quilt on this quilt, but I'm making progress.

I hope that everyone is prepared and staying safe if you are in the path of hurricane Sandy! Keep Calm and Quilt on!

Today, I'm linking up with Sew Happy Geek for Manic Monday and Plum and June for Let's Get Acquainted.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Time To Fly!

I'm keeping focused on my UFO/WIPs. Today I decided to continue to FMQ a little more on my Expanding Possibilities quilt. What would be more appropriate than stitch out some birds?

I used the same method and "stencil" I used for the April SoCalGal FMQ Challenge

I marked three birds across this white strip in the quilt.

I went over the outlines numerous times to make it bolder.

I plan on outlining all three birds and then adding a background fill.

I plan on keeping this post short, so I can go FMQ!!! I'm linking up with Leah Day for UFO Sunday!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012

I love the Blogger's Quilt Festival at Amy's Creative Side because I LOVE looking through all of the quilts. So I just have to join in. I finished this quilt in July and it's currently my favorite!

Urban Nine Patch baby quilt

 I quilted this on my domestic machine. I tried keeping the quilting modern and fresh. This was my first all solids quilt (except the backing). I will be using solids a lot more in the future.

The Urban Nine Patch pattern uses the Quick Curve Ruler both from Jenny Pedigo at Sew Kind of Wonderful.

This quilt is approximately 40"x 40"
Quilted by me on my Babylock Elegante
Best Categories: Favorite Baby Quilt and Favorite Home Machine Quilted Quilt! My Quilt is # 276!

I'm linking up with Amy's Creative Side for the Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2012! Yippee Skippee let's go check out all of the cool quilts!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat

Elephants Under The Big Top!

I LOVE the design phase of quilting! So many possibilities! Last night I decided to have some fun designing a new block for a new quilt.

Approx. 19"x 23"

I've had this block in my mind's eye for a while now, but you never really know how it is going to turn out.

If you're curious, this is how I did it.

Fussy cut the elephants from the Caravan fabric. Size approx 9"x 12". The side strips are 1 1/2" wide. You will want to sew these on first.

Sew 1 1/2" strips to 4 1/2" strips (light green). Once strips are sewn on, I cut them to 7" long x 5" wide

Cut 5" blocks

Sew the block together and press.

Fold in half and make sure the the correct color face each other. Teal to teal.

Navy to navy

Stitch together and VOILA! Two-tone giant, dimensional, flying geese.

This was done for top and bottom of the block. Make sure you flip the colors so that they line up.

Cut a 5" square in half on the diagonal. Line it up so that about a 1/4" of the flying geese shows. It's okay if there is fabric hanging past the bottom.

Securely hold in place and stitch 1/8" from the bottom. I like to stitch from the back, easier to go over the seams and keep to an 1/8" (you don't want this stitching to show when you put the block together.

Once the bottom is secure, flip the edges up and press.

I hate using pins to hold this while I sew, so I use a thin line of Elmer's School glue. Then press. Because this is washable glue, it will wash out when you wash your quilt. I have never had this gum up my needle. Works great. Then stitch down each side.

Trim the excess that hangs below the bottom of the flying geese.

Two-tone Gothic Geese!

Stitch on the Gothic Geese on the top and bottom of the block and then add a 4 1/2" strip of green to each side.

Peek under the big top!

I'm linking up today with the fabulous Melissa at Happy Quilting for TNT Thursday and the wonderful Rebecca Lynne at Making Rebecca Lynne for TTT.

Color Me Quilty!

Pat