Becky's quilt obsession

I have shamelessly “borrowed” these pictures from Sue Daurio’s Blog http://suedaurio.blogspot.com/2015/03/just-beachy-fresh-from-frame.html This is my Just Beachy that I started with two other quilting friends about 10 years ago. We shared our batiks so we would have more variety. It is from a Karen Stone pattern, although I enlarged mine. Karen had a unique way to make these blocks with fusible. You put fusible on a full square of fabric, then carefully cut out the pattern and then fused both parts to two other pieces of fabric. I used a lot of Steam a Seam, some original and some 2. Every edge is machine embroidered down. I used a variety of threads and stitches from my machine. I blogged about it here http://beckyquiltobsession.blogspot.com/2012/08/just-beachy-ready-for-borders.html   We had to put tear away stabilizer under each block including the sashing to keep them from bunching up. I have a few blocks left over – ones where I was trying techniques and...

Close-ups of the embroidered star blocks: The embroidery and hand coloring was done by my friend JoAnne several years ago. They were cut 7.5”, so DGD sewed coping strips of black on each one to bring them to 8.5” cut. I then added star points from various Halloween fabric / scraps. DGD picked these out. The top center green with skeletons glows in the dark. The 4 other blocks were cut from a panel I bought up in Nebraska when visiting with Diane Harris. I added coping strips to bring them up to the odd size needed to fill in the sides. The spider webs with spiders that look like M&Ms filled in the top and bottom rows. I hate losing star points, so I added a small outer border cut on the straight of grain. This helps so much when long-arm quilting to keep things square. This was the first time I successfully tried continuous curved quilting for the star points. I bought some HandiQuilter melon templates and they had an arc that I managed to make work with some consistency on...

DGD’s Halloween quilt is finished. Her mom held it up for a picture tonight. She will take it home tomorrow after coming here to Trick or Treat. I will hang it in my entry as a backdrop for handing out candy to the few visitors we have. She showed it off to her class (2nd grade) yesterday at the end of their party. They all loved the feel of Minkee on the back. JoAnne Glass did the machine embroideries that fill the center of the star blocks. They were colored after stitching. Quilted with several different Superior threads, Thermore batting and Minkee backing. Ruler work and freehand quilting. Happy Quilting, Becky

I somehow managed to not blog about my 5th finish for Scrap Squad, a quilt I really like as I finally found luminosity. This is from Carolyn McCormick’s pattern Star Struck, which appeared in Quiltmaker in Oct-Nov, I believe. DH made acrylic templates for it down in the shop as the star points and even the central “diamond” were unusual shapes for which no commercial templates are available. I’m so fortunate that he can do this for me. I quilted this one using the Circle Lord frame and a spiral circle, not my usual long boards. This way I was able to center the spiral in each diamond. I picked yellow thread (Superior So Fine, with Bottom Line pre-wound bobbins) for all the quilting, but have mixed feelings about how it shows on the black as I had starts and stops that I, at first, was not good at hiding. I did improve on this. On a side note, my quilting friend, JoAnne, who made these quilt s had a house fire the night before Thanksgiving. She had smoke and water damage in...

This is my final Scrap Squad project, back from my wonderful friend Linda Kriesel, who took pity on me and quilted this huge thing on her 14’ long arm. I love the panto – Bountiful Feathers, designed by Hermione Agee for Lorien Quilting. I managed to trim it on Sunday, and am working on the 550” of binding. I used a Quilters Dream wool batting so we might be able to turn over when sleeping under it. That may never happen, but at least we will have a “bedspread” for when guests are here. On the design wall next to the piecing machines is this memory quilt I’m making for a friend. I’ve used it as a leader / ender all year and now it is time to put it together. The shirts are a poly blend, so I have to press it when the iron is turned down so it’s a bit of a PITA. I hope to have it ready for the quilting machine soon. It will have to be a freehand pattern so I can avoid buttons and pockets and such. I was going to include the front of some overalls, but they were just too heavy with th...

I’ve been so busy, today I’m just veg'ing. After our Quilt show I went to the AQS show in Des Moines. I came home on Friday and the following Tuesday I was the substitute speaker at my local quilt guild.  In order to show quilts that I’ve made, I spent the weekend traveling to my son’s, my stepson’s, my nephew’s and my friends’ homes to pick up quilts I’d made and given them so I could show them at guild. I also did a lot of washing of quilts that weekend. I have allergy problems with pet dander so needed to get rid of it. Also, the first big quilt I made had been vomited on, and my DDIL couldn’t get the smell out. I soaked it overnight in the “Recipe for Stink Removal”, then had to wash it in Synthrapol as the burgundy fabric I used nearly 20 years ago still bleeds. I took 8 laundry baskets of quilts (thank you DH for carrying so much stuff) because I make large quilts for beds. After Guild was finished and DH was off to Nevada, I started a labor of love. A dear niece had such...

My design wall today is actually a quilt blocking surface. DH and I went to Home Depot and bought some 3/4”  dense foam insulation to use as a blocking surface. I laid some batting on it, and then pinned my Halloween medallion on it. Several years ago DH bought me my own laser level so I could have a straight line to pin against. It’s not a perfect set-up, but it beats anything else I ever tried. I quilted the medallion with my Cog 18” Circle Lord template, and then tried to put 3/4 cogs in the corners.  I hate that you have to work the CL from the back of the machine, because it is almost impossible to backtrack without looking right down on the stitches. They make a CL that works from the front of the machine for APQS, but not for Nolting. I wish they would work on one for Nolting, but I don’t think there is much demand. I’m hoping engineer DH will come up with something when he has time to think about it. I did do one more little thing, a journal cover out of the s...

Last year I offered to quilt some tops that were donated after the tsunami. Then shoulder stuff happened, then other things. To make a long story short, I’ve now started on them. I had expected tops ready for quilting, but since I don’t quilt for others, I guess I don’t have an appreciation for how some toppers prepare their quilts. I’ve done quite a bit of work on the few tops I’ve worked with, some of work at my own choosing. I quilted some Heartstrings tops last, and sent them to Las Vegas for the VA hospital. Since I think they are still short, I was looking at this box of tops to see if I could add borders to some to make them large enough for VA needs. (I figure the Japanese quilters have taken care of the tsunami victims by now.)  I had navy fabric that worked with the first top, and there weren’t but a few tiny flowers in the strippy parts, so I added borders to it. The second top was obviously of kid fabrics, so I left it as is. It was the only one in the box that was nic...

Linda said I needed to update my blog. Okay, but there’s not a lot to say. This is the recipient with the two quilts I made for my friend. I made the little quilt for her DGD who is one day younger than my youngest. Her quilt is reversible. These are the two tops from a Heartstrings member that I finally quilted with swirls. They are now complete, and may have arrived in Las Vegas where they are part of the 300 needed for the opening of a VA hospital there. We can’t forget the vets. They have given so much for us. I have some other donated tops on Black Bart now for quilting. My big project right now is the finish work on the cabinets DH made to go above the computer desk we made last year. These are upper cabinets for me to store more of my office-type stuff in. I don’t actually have a desk except for the computer one, so I need more shelves to put stuff on. I’m still working on the Judy Niemeyer star as well. Happy Quilting, Becky

The landscaping is finished; my shoulder is now missing a big hook-shaped bone spur, and I’m back to the quilting machine thanks to the Physical Therapists! I’m starting with some HeartStrings quilts that are needed for Robin’s project. This first one was made from blocks sent by Kathy (I think). I finished it in my favorite way, adding sashing just wide enough to cover the seams, similar to a quilt as you go, but just on one side to make the top. This way I don’t have to try to press all the seams open! I had just a yard of this stars on blue print, just enough for sashing and binding! I love it when it uses the fabric all up! Kathy sent backing, so that was great. This second one is a top sent by Melva, one of Bonnie Hunter’s mysteries. I had it over the couch to finish drying and my daughter walked it, saw it, and said did you make it? No. Well, can you make one like it? These are the colors in my living room and it matched perfectly. I love Ohio stars set on point! There is a t...

This has been a week of quilting, not piecing. This is an eBay top that I purchased because of the red, and the original 30’s fabric. I quilted it with Baptist fans on Black Bart. The muslin binding is made, just needs to be applied, hopefully today. I will machine sew it all, as my grandmother did with all her quilts. She quilted by hand, but turned her backs to the front and machine stitched them down. This one was a challenge to keep somewhat square as the center was not as large as the borders. I’m trying to learn how to make adjustments, so it was a good practice quilt. We received the new Circle Lord templates this weekend, so I just had to use them. My friend’s baby is almost due, so I quilted this panel for her with the new template. I love how the back looks. It really doesn’t show much on the front of the quilt, which is just a panel with bunnies on it – the mom loves rabbits.   Please go to Judy’s site to see other design walls. Happy Quilting, Becky

This is the baby quilt I finished yesterday. It was started about 6-7 years ago by my friend that embroidered the blocks. She had made two sets of them, and we both started making  quilt tops at the same time one Sunday afternoon. We were having fun- good memories of a group of us meeting at my house on Sunday afternoons –and were making matching quilts. JA trimmed her corner squares too small,  gave up and threw the quilt in the corner. I put it away until last year, then added the strip around the outer corners to finish the quilt. It has been waiting for quilting for a long time. I wanted to be able to do something that would show off the embroidery. A few months ago we bought the Circle Lord radiating lines template for Black Bart (the long-arm). It took me quite a while to quilt as I was learning how to place it. It is an 18” template on a 24” table. I ended up having to move the quilt  to match template placement instead of vice versa, like I usually do. I liked h...

I'm working diligently on the crayon quilt from the guild blocks. I finished putting the triple sashing on two sections of two rows. I have most of the next section finished, just need to sash the last row and sew on both sashings. I thought I would be saving myself time by making triple sashing, then using snowball cornerstones with those fast triangle corners (sew a square across on the diagonal). I really don't like doing triangles that way, and I don't like them any better now. It's fussy to match the corner to the sashing, and I hate points not lining up. I like the effect, though, and the first border of red is part of the sashing. I think I'm adding one more border of crayons, then it will be a finished flimsy. These four blocks are still on the edge, and are the next project to work on. I was using it for leader/enders until I changed to dark thread for the crayon quilt. They are for DGD#1 - the pink and purple princess room - but it is doubtful I will fini...

Bonnie asked me to post some pictures of my Leadergrips. Here they are. The above picture is of the leadergrip dowel inserted into the casing I've sewn on the new leaders. You may note that I have straight stitching until about the last 5 inches, and then it is wobbly. That's because the Nolting machine doesn't reach to the end of the leaders, so you have to loosen them and "fudge" to finish the casing. This works fine. This second picture shows the leadergrips in place (I took these pictures when removing a quilt). It doesn't always work out exact like it did in the picture. For a 12' table, I have 3 lengths of the plastic things, 2"starters, 6 mid-size and 6 long ones. I left extra space at the top when loading this backing so I could just turn the backing of outing flannel over for the binding of this polyester double-knit "quilt". This project is for me to practice line dancing on something that doesn't matter. I bought the quilt of...