Welcome to Saturday Quilting Bring & Share π An opportunity to have a bit of a virtual sew-in: Bring along your project(s) and share in some of the conversations going on in the Worldwide Quilting Community. Do add your thoughts and links in the comments box at the bottom of this page. Thank you!
I’ve spent a lot of time in my sewing room and not so much time at my laptop (blog posts are stacked up in my inbox :-O). I got a bit obsessed with the Dear Dottie project, the need to have a finish under my belt has been a driver for me. My plan to chain piece the final 17 blocks worked well and it was very satisfying to get all the blocks arranged on my design wall.
The 6 x 7 layout fitted sideways onto the design wall!
But! Oh! My! Why do I always underestimate just how long it takes me to pull off a finish? Maybe partly because I compare myself to the prolific finishers on social media who seem to have a new, finished quilt to share every week (how do they do that?). Anyway it took me a whole morning to piece the backing of the quilt, most of an afternoon to baste the quilt sandwich and several l-o-n-g sessions at the sewing machine to complete the quilting! And now I have strips of left over fabrics to make into binding…
Never mind I am determined to announce a FINISH sometime next week π
When I haven’t been in the sewing room I’ve been in the garden. Gardening requires a bit of patience too but it is so gratifying when seedlings pop up through the compost and long-awaited flowers come into bloom. Bean seedlings emerge in quite a dramatic fashion…
And the bluebells under the Beech hedge are spreading a little further each year…
Now onto the inspiring projects and posts from other members of our Worldwide Quilting Community:
Angela Walters hi-lights how she used a simple dot-to-dot triangle quilting design in several different ways on one quilt (a quilt made by Tula Pink as it happens!). Angela’s explanations and observations are inspired, she also gives a link to a free video tutorial.
Please pardon a little self-indulgence… A video overview of my dream machine, the Juki 2200QVP Mini π
Another way to use up scraps? Yes, please! Jo Avery has shared an easy to follow tutorial breaking down the process of making Scrappy Improv Log Cabin blocks.
Alyce shares how to make a portable design board – so handy for keeping block pieces in order as you move them between cutting mat, sewing machine and ironing board.
Sally kindly shared a link to a project initiated by Karen Herrick. A ‘Sewcial’ group quilt making ‘patchwork prayer’ blocks to bring hope in these unprecedented times. In this video Karen gives an explanation of how to mix creative stitching with prayer and the requirements needed to make a block for the quilt.
If you’ve ever made a mini-mini quilt (think 5″ square or smaller) then you may struggled to bind it neatly. Yvonne has produced a step-by-step tutorial sharing how she has mastered the art of binding mini-mini quilts.
I hope your circumstances allow you some Happy Stitching this weekend.
Allison
You are not alone, Allison! I am slower than you at getting quilts made! Ha, ha!
Still loving your Dear Dottie project! π
I plan on planting my beans sometime this week…maybe even this afternoon! I love your bean photo!
Ha! I wish I knew the secret to speedy quilt finishes!
It was surprisingly difficult to photograph the bean seedling – as soon as I got in close the bean just seemed to be reflecting light and all the detail was getting lost. Maybe there was too much contrast with the dark compost? I’m afraid I tend to leave my camera on auto. Maybe I should take the time to understand and use the manual settings… But preparing blog posts takes long enough as it is doesn’t it? I read recently that on average a blog post takes 3.5 hours to write and just 37 seconds to read! Are we mad? π