Quilting a plenty

The quilts pin basted.  I used a hera marker to mark the quilting lines for the red and white quilt.

The binding all sewn together.  I am using a single layer binding.

Designer: Cheri Payne (freebie)

 I finally tried free motion quilting.  It was really scary but interesting at the same time.  The stitches are not perfect and their some jagged edges too if you look closely.  But I hope with practice the meanders will truly meander :)

Designer: Ann Hermes

I used the same colour scheme in the magazine instead of those in the instructions.  Straight line machine quilting in the form of a chevron.

Broken dishes block, straight line machine quilted.

The X-Quisite blocks quilt and Little Star blocks quilt (both are challenges on SQT) are all hand quilted and now for the binding.

It looks like I'm trying to clear all the WIP quilt tops that I have before I embark on a new one.  I've not done any piecing for some days now :p  But I think I need to pull out some fabric for some test Jacob Ladder blocks as done by Lucy.  

Peahen's Valentine. Designer: Appleseed Prim (freebie)

Tutorial for zipper bag found here.

  It's Margaret W's birthday today.  She messaged me to say she has opened her package.  It's a needlecase similar to the one I made for a swap recently but in semi-prim fabric Beach House by Blackbird Designs.  The zipper bag was easy to tackle but the bulk caused by the fusible batting was a concern.  I think I shall use regular interface the next time.  I made another zipper bag for Jackie W too.  Quite fun really!

The curtain is finally up but I think I need to swap the panels, too much red side by side.  A little busy if I may say so but I hope to get used to it.

I'll leave you with some tin whistle music.  Still working on Silver Spear :(  This is a basic The Foggy Dew but I hope to learn the ornaments and incorporate it into this lovely melody.

Le Moyne Star quilt top

 I got the quilt top completed about a week ago.  It measures 41-1/2" x 52-1/2".  Blocks are 8" square finished.  The 9 patch setting squares are 3" square finished.  Fabrics are Beach House by Blackbird Designs for Moda with Kona Solid Snow.  I opted without a border because I got lazy and decided I had enough of this quilt!

Before I put all the fabrics away, I cut up the binding and sewed them together.  This will be a scrappy binding.

Designer: Primitive Bettys

The crow pincushions are all stuffed and sitting pretty on my desks.  Weighted it with walnut shells and did some elongated blanket stitch all around the pincushion with cotton a broder thread.  Just love the pairing.  Beneath the pincushions you will see the X-Quisite doll quilt which is currently being hand quilted.

Patchwork curtains still in progress, took more time than I anticipated :s

 Bought 2 more spools of YLI silk thread off eBay.  So I got the lights, mediums and darks covered for future applique!

About Crows

Designer: Primitive Bettys (Freebie)

When I was working on the applique portion of the bow-tie quilt, I was using a piece of felt to poke my needle and applique pins.  For someone who does needlework, it's a shame :)

So I looked for simple pin cushion patterns and loved those by Betty Dekat.  She's a generous soul with so many lovely freebies.

Her most recent freebie is Sunflowers & Crows.  It was stitched with DMC 928, 3011, 3820 and 782.  As for Crow it's stitched with DMC 3371.  The linen is 35ct Fagales by HDF.  I really love the pairing of these 2 designs, quite primitive I must say.  I will weigh it with crushed walnut shells and finish it with a blanket stitch variation all around using Anchor's coton a broder thread.  One for my stitching table and one for my sewing table!
 

 I've completed the 20 star blocks and the 12, 9 patch setting squares.  So now it's a matter of sewing up the sashing and the blocks together.  It's gonna be a good lap quilt size and I'm quite pleased that it is nearing completion. This has taken a while.

The layout will 4 by 5 blocks.

I'll leave you with an Irish folk tune!  This tune is recorded earlier before the lessons got to be more technical.  Learning very important ornamentations in Irish tin whistle playing ... it's tough ...

My new Sewing Machine - Brother Innovis 50

Image Source

 It came yesterday morning.  Although the old machine is fairly new i.e. 3 1/2 years old I figured it's about time I got a computerised sewing machine.  I wanted some features that my old Singer Inspiration 4205 was not capable of.  After all it's a basic model without bells and whistles.

And since I'm doing so much sewing, I thought I'd make it more enjoyable.  And I was looking for some features like needle down, speed slider, drop feed dogs, etc.  I narrowed it down to 2 sewing machines.  The other was the Singer 988 Computermatic.  Frankly, I 'm quite partial to Singer since their pretty old hands when it comes to sewing machines.  But this model just did not feel right.

For one, there was hardly any write-up / reviews of this model on the internet.  Singer USA does not carry this model.  Although I am aware that certain models are only available regionally, the Singer 988 is nowhere in Singapore or Thailand either.  It's only available here in Malaysia!  I emailed the Singer regional manager in Singapore and he in turn passed the buck to the local sales manager.  It's been 7 days and no return email from either of them.  In fact a Singer dealer recommended another lower priced model when I enquired about the Singer 988.  She said the Singer 988 had some inherent problems.  Something is seriously wrong

Nevertheless, I tested the machine in a Singer shop nearby.  To their credit the sales people were quite obliging and knowledgeable.  They even opened a new box to demo the machine to me. It had all the feature of the Brother Innovis 50 (Innovis 80 for you people in the USA) and then some.  It had a throat space of 7 1/2"  which is wonderful. But after trying it out the upper thread tension was out of whack even when adjusted. 

I decided on the Brother sewing machine without testing it.  I read up on the reviews, website, forums, videos and made my decision based on that and of course the price being lower than the Singer 988 surely helped.  I've been playing with it and it's really looking good.  I want to explore the FMQ capabilities of the machine. The throat space of this model is 6 1/2", still better than my old one.  It has a built-in 1/4" feature for seams when piecing.  I had a good discount even with the extension table from a reputable dealer JP Doshi.  The service was good and the delivery prompt.

 Friendship Stars blocks still a work in progress.  Piecing these blocks were a breeze with the new machine :)

The Cheddar Bow-Tie quilt top is completed.  Love it to bits. It's 12 1/2" x 18 1/2". And it goes into the 'to be hand quilted' basket!

Bow Ties Anyone?

Came across an interesting project going on in some blogs.  I first read about it on Juliann's blog post where she wanted to reproduce a Cheddar Bow Tie quilt that she saw during the Sisters Quilt Show.  She did start it but with a nice twist.  Really like her version of applique for the centre square.  Juliann shared the measurements with me i.e. the centre square is 3/4" finished and cut at 1 1/4".  The 4 patches are 2" cut.  I am using a remnant piece of Kona Solid Amber for my cheddar from Cheddar Cheese & Crackers Quilt.  There's a tutorial by Bonnie Hunter on how to do a pieced version of the Bow Tie block.

I like the use of silk thread to applique.  It's my first attempt and I find the actual thread could be a little fiddly but the results are lovely.  Now to get some basic colours to play with :)

 Sean's shirt is almost completed except for the buttons and button holes.  I did a better job on this shirt this time round.

Last Saturday's Civil War block #28 called Next Door Neighbour.

X-Quisite blocks doll quilt top is completed.  It's a challenge by Kathleen Tracy of the Small Quilt Talk Yahoo! group.  The size is 17 1/4" x 15 1/2".

 

Fabrics from This-N-That Fabric's recent sales arrived mid week.  Now in the process of being washed.  The days are cooler here and it's been raining.  But this morning as I write this, the weather looks promisingly sunny.

ETA:  I'm trying out the Google Reader MP3 Player, so please bear with me. 
ETA2: Sorry peeps, okay I decided to use another player provided by the files service instead.  Should work now ;)



A simple tune, not polished yet but I'm working on it!  It's called Roddy McCorely an Irish folk tune.

Irish Influence

Block #27 of Barbara Brackman's Civil War Quilts.  It's called Irish Chain.  I kept to green.  Also I would like to incorporate plaids into future blocks.

 In keeping to the Irish theme, I bought a tin whistle over at eBay.  It's a Clarke's Sweetone in D.  I've been reading about inherent manufacturing faults in tin whistles.  So I decided to get a 'tweaked' tin whistle by Jerry Freeman no less!  It's sounding really nice and I am following online tutorials by Fr Ryan Duns.  So I think I am set up for some daily practice.

 Friendship Star quilt, coming along albeit slowly ...

 Added 2 more blocks to this long time WIP.

And the winner is ...

Pat from FL & MI. Thanks for playing everyone.

I've been reading about big stitch quilting and realise that I have actually been doing big stitch quilting all this while.  I suppose I was brazen to think I was doing tiny stitches instead! Ha! I don't think tiny stitches is going to ever happen soon around these parts :). 

Here's the depression block quilts that I'm really really hoping to complete.  Gosh I need to give it a good wash and get it on my bed!

I bought 2 of Kathleen Tracy's eBooks from Martingale & Company recently and have started the Friendship Star quilt from her book Prairie Children and their Quilts.  My basket runneth over ... oh ... how I wish ... :(

Giveaway!

It's been a year since I started blogging again.  Really appreciate the time you take to read and comment on my blog.  Through my blog I've met some new friends and kept some old ones.  I thought I'd do a small giveaway to mark the occasion.  Just comment on this post and I'll put it through the Random Number Generator on the morning of 30th June 2011 (GMT +8).  It's open to one and all.

The drawstring bag measures 8" x 12", fully lined with muslin and a pin pillow with a cross stitch design (freebie) by Primitive Bettys.

The blue and white quilt top is completed.  Design by Ann Hermes.  Instructions from APQ online.  The borders were really intense, it's not perfect but it'll do. Fabric is Kona Solid Navy with white muslin.  Measures 17" square.

 Jess' birthday gift to me is now all pieced.  I used Jan Patek's Lilac Hill mini charms for the border.  Looks a little busy to me.  Perhaps if I use a plain beige binding, it'll help calm the quilt down.  Destined for a wall hanging.  It measures 12 1/2" x 14 1/2".  Love the cross-stitching portion and it's sentiment!  Design by The Sampler Girl with a verse from Northanger Abbey.  Jane Austen forever!

Civil War Blocks Revival

I am now caught up with Barbara Brackman's  Civil War Quilt Blocks again.  Except for the dreaded Seven Sisters!  I think I'll skip that ;)  My blocks are now uploaded to my Flickr set here.

I must admit some of the blocks turned out not exactly 8-1/2" square.  I hope to remedy that by introducing borders and / or sashing.  But that can be figured out at a later time.  I had a lot of help from the excellent tutorials done by Ellen of American Homestead.  There might be some blocks that I will re-do but that can wait.

A surprise gift from Elyte who is enjoying her sewing retreat right this moment.  Love those tape measure like twill tapes, it'll be great for some sewing finishes.  So glad my signature block got to her before her retreat.  I did not get a picture taken of that.  Speaking of signature blocks ...

I suggested to some of the quilters who completed Lori D's Midnight Stars QAL, perhaps we could do up a quilt for Lori.  So18 of us decided on a pattern and sent them to Karen K.  Karen did a wonderful job piecing and hand quilting it.  Lizzy helped out further by sending a piece of vintage backing. Here's Lori's blog post.  My only regret is not using a pigma marker for the signature.  I  had one which was too fine, but I got a thicker one later from Bird Brain Designs.

Some fabrics from This-N-That Fabrics.  Love those blues.

This little red and white top is all pieced.  Measures 12-3/4" x 16-3/4".  Fabrics are Kona Rich Red and white muslin.

Clowning around with some rail fence blocks measuring 5-1/2" square.  Who knows where this will lead to.  I was inspired by the quilt on the cover of APQ.