Welcome to Saturday Quilting Bring & Share and Hi! from windswept UK – storm Kathleen is making her presence felt! But in the sewing studio the hatches are battoned down and all is peaceful so… Bring along your projects and enjoy being part of our Worldwide Quilting Community – a community that revels in sharing latest projects, inspiration, tips and tutorials. Use the links below to visit other patchwork quilters, leave an encouraging message and/or helpful tip in the comments section found at the end of most blog posts.
Dash, Dash, Dot flimsy. Sorry about the photo quality – we are still struggling with grey days.
I’ve had an unusual patchwork-quilting week: I’ve been quilting using three different methods.
First Quilting Method: Walking Foot I finished piecing the Dot, Dot Dash flimsy, adding borders to use up more of those 2½” squares as well as an odd shaped strip of left over fabric from a previous project. I found the perfect extra wide backing at Purple Stitches and quickly had the quilt sandwich pin basted.
After a bit of musing over quilting designs I decided to go with echoing a wavy line across the quilt. I’m using a variegated 50wt thread and the lines of stitching are 1½” apart.
That’s a little closer than usual. I want to make sure all those pieced seams are securely held together. I’m still deciding whether or not to quilt echo curves in the opposite direction to create a grid pattern… Might be dependent on how much thread is left on the spool …
Second Quilting Technique: Free Motion I persevered and managed to FMQ ‘wavy orange peel’ designs in all of the 21 Nine Patch blocks of the Retreat Scrappy Quilt. There were a few thread breaks along the way and none of the quilted designs are particularly even but they are done.
I’m giving this quilt a bit of a rest while I dive into Christina Cameli’s new FMQ membership group called Free-Motion Circle. There’s loads of design videos to watch and the first of the live tutorials was great – concentrating on quilting ‘vine’ designs and variations.
The Third Quilting Technique: Big Stitch Hand Quilting I’m enjoying having this project to pick up and put down in short bursts of activity. I’ve stitched the first row of Baptist’s Fans across the bottom of the quilt and have begun the second row.
I thread basted this quilt sandwich just in case I want to use a hoop while I’m stitching. I’m having to experiment with how to comfortably hold the quilt as my stitching lines move away from the outside edge of the sandwich – maybe a hoop is the way to go?
I think the next few weeks of stitching will just be a continuation of the past week, alternating between projects and methods, hopefully making steady progress. Although the call of the garden and allotment is getting stronger – if only the wind would calm and rain stop falling! My tomato seeds have germinated, thankfully they are indoors for warmth as my mini-greenhouse blew over while we were at Church this morning!
Here are the links to our Worldwide Quilting Community:
Click on the link to view Amy’s Economy Block tutorial and her free download giving measurements for the Block in three sizes.
In her post ‘Fun at Retreat‘ Carole shares some of the project ups and downs she experienced along with all the ups of spending three days in the company of lots of fellow sewing enthusiasts.
‘Just Four Fat Quarters‘ was all Krista needed to make a quick quilt for a baby shower. She shares a tutorial including a cutting diagram and a way to use up just about every inch of those four fat quarters!
Decorating greetings cards with little orphan blocks and itty-bitty scraps is a great idea. See Rachel’s blog post for inspiration and tips.
Sandra has put a lot of thought into the creation of a pair of place mats. By using different colourways to suit the recipients and switching around the placement of the background fabric she’s made a fascinating, complimentary pair using the same pattern for each.
As well as sharing her project progress Linda also reviews the books she’s been listening to whilst being creative in her sewing room. Click the link to read a round up of the books she’s listened too (with her ratings) through March.
Some quilts have special meaning to their makers and Aby has a made a quilt with a wonderful, comforting, connection to one of the Grandmother’s who taught her to sew. It’s not a long read but definitely heart warming.
Linking with Alycia for Finished or Not Friday. Alycia does have a finish to share, inspired by the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colour for March she’s made a Quilt of Valor.
Happy Stitching!
Allison
I love yourDash Dash Dot quilt! Do you have a pattern? I looked but didn’t find one similar to yours.