All Day Quilting

About once a year our quilt group collaborates on making a quilt top in a day. One of the women had Veteran’s Day off so that is the day that was chosen. This year we had two quilt patterns and eight women who divided into two teams. We start with piles of fabric scraps from everyone’s past projects and go from there. We quilted from eight AM to four PM but each group only got a quilt top about half assembled, therefore we will have another day of quilting next week. 

One group is doing a tumbling block pattern made with fabric strips and using a template to cut each shape before sewing it all together. The other group is doing a more standard star pattern made from quilt blocks that will be assembled with additional lattice pieces surrounding them. See pictures below. We always have a grand time, with lots of great fellowship and conversation along the way. We also had a wonderful soup, and salad lunch with homemade sourdough bread and yummy desserts. Quilting is a lot of fun really. When the two quilt tops are done we will have a drawing to see which lucky two from the group will win them. I am in the running since I haven’t yet won one from years past. Everyone will eventually have a keepsake quilt made by members of the group.

You can see from the photos some of the chaos with piles of  fabric scraps on the cutting and ironing boards.  Some of the women cut the pieces with the rotary cutters while others start the sewing. If things are not working out (for instance the first assembled block our group made did not form the expected star) we start "un-sewing" or ripping out the seams and if all else fails we read the directions. Ha. 

Lou

Quilting Projects

Lest my family think that I haven’t been doing any quilting lately, here’s an update. I finally finished the binding and hemming on the Celebration quilt (on the bed in the top photo) that has been in the works since last Fall. My quilting mentor quilted it on her long arm Tin Lizzie quilting machine months ago, so I am glad to have it completed now. I really love the vibrant colors and patterns although it doesn’t match anything in my very muted home, oh well.

Another project that has been in the works for a long time is the Twisted Nine Patch quilt. I keep setting it aside to work on other things. I now have the top completed and since it is a little too big for my machine to quilt, I will be paying someone else to quilt it. Some people specialize in custom quilting and have mastered elaborate machine feathering and other designs that are “drawn” freehand. Quilting is not a cheap hobby! Custom quilting costs between $100 and $200 depending on the density of the stitching desired. My mentor gives everyone in our quilting group The Prairie Piecers a discount though. The Twisted Nine Patch quilt is on the table in the middle photo and will probably be a throw or lap quilt for the family room eventually.

There are also some future projects displayed in the bottom photo. A couple table runners and several wall hangings. Spring and summer are shaping up to be busy, exciting times with the arrivals of first a granddaughter and then a grandson so my quilting may slack off a bit until the fall.

I also have a somewhat secret project going on and another baby quilt to start. I have a pattern on order for a collection of fabrics called “On The Move” by Northcott Fabrics that I think will do nicely. It has cars, trucks, boats and planes with cute animal drivers.

All these things should keep me busy. I’ve also just gotten started on my spring cleaning which is badly needed since the bathroom re-model. UGH.

Lou

Some works in progress

Several of the women in an informal quilt group that I attend once a week are making a quilt called “Celebration.” It reminds me of a large interconnecting chain or honeycomb. Two of us bought the same jellyroll (a roll of strips of fabrics sold as a unit) consisting of 44 bright fabrics and bold designs and are using them on an off white background. Another woman is using all batik fabrics and it will be lovely too.

One problem we encountered was that the jellyrolls were not factory cut and we had to re-cut them to make them the exact two and a half inch width that we needed to piece the blocks, that was not much fun.

Today I arranged all my blocks on the guest bed to see what it was going to look like. I could immediately see that I still had one missing block, which I will remedy. I love the look! It will be a very fun, happy quilt when it is done. I've never used such bold colors before.

I am also sewing the little half square triangle leftovers into a doll blanket or something. The little nine patches they make when sewn together are so tiny and cute, it would be a shame to just toss them in the trash.

I have another unfinished quilt that I started a year ago and have a stack of blocks made for it. I also want to start working on a baby quilt or quilts in the near future.

The saying goes, at least in my quilt group that you aren’t a “true” quilter unless you have several quilts in the works all at the same time.

Lou