On The Edge

The Big Hex is finished, a flimsy no more. It is quilted and edge-finished with a lovely turquoise trim. Let me walk you through the finishing stage with photos; I am happy to report that this project turned out even better than I had hoped. 

After the quilting was completed, I trimmed the edges neatly on all sides. I had intentionally kept the quilting away from the edges to give myself enough room for inserting the trim. 

From there I took the quilt to the ironing board. I folded the top back and away from the binding and drew a line 1/2" from the edge directly onto the batting with a Frixion pen. Using that line as my guide I folded the top down exactly along that line and carefully pressed in an accurate 1/2" folded edge, with the iron, down onto the batting. Since the Frixion pen contains thermal ink the drawn line then disappeared.

I repeated the exact same procedure on the back side, rotating for each of the six sides.

I then took the quilt to my work table and worked my way around the edges, I trimmed away the 1/2" of extending batting as I progressed around and slipped the just-cut batting edge inside the folded edge of the top. As I worked, I laid the edge of the trim inside the "sandwich" and pinned through all the layers: top, batting, trim and backing; making certain that the folded edges of the top and backing were aligned and that the corners matched up.

Following the pinning stage I threaded up a long basting needle with thread that didn't match anything (for easier removal later on) and hand basted the edge as I removed each and every pin.

Once basted into position, I put on the zipper foot and, moving my needle to the far right, edge stitched along all six edges. I kept the needle as close to the edge as possible assuring that top and bottom edges were perfectly aligned and stitched very slowly, stopping and pivoting in each corner.

The edges turned out just fine, front and back, and the pom pom trim is securely attached.

This Big Hex quilt/play mat is all ready for gift giving. I hope the recipient will enjoy many hours of happy play time delighting in the shapes, colors and textures as much as this quiltmaker enjoyed every step of its construction!

Life is Good!

Up next: "Light Duty? Really?"

Hexed! (And A Winner!)

I have been hexed; yes, it's true, the textbook definition is as follows: to put a hex (a spell, especially an evil spell) on. The current Block-of-the-Month at my LQS has just begun, this session's theme is "Happy Hexagons". I simply cannot stop! The only explanation for this obsessive behavior must be a hex, although I certainly wouldn't call it evil, I am having too much fun. Armed with a well-stocked stash of novelties and a bin filled with strips for framing, there's no telling when this merriment will wind down. I do have an end in mind: a child's quilt, time will tell just how big this becomes. I need to find just the right setting. I have a winner* from last week's pattern giveaway: it is Susan C! Susan writes: "I love making zippered bags and use them quite often. As I'm on a quilt retreat now my organizational tip is to kit up your projects and put them in their own plastic box along with the instructions, thread and special notions that may be needed. Having everything ready like that makes for more productivity!"  Thank you, Susan, and for everyone who left a comment with an organizational tip, they were all great! Susan's pattern will go out in the mail today.

Life is Good!

*Winner was selected using Random Number generator, the number 12 was selected from a field of 1-16.

For Softness' Sake

"...With My Little Eye..."  ~ 47 X 54"

One quilt top, one Minkee (microfiber plush) backing, no batting; loaded on Snowbird and quilted into one incredibly soft and lightweight whole. Words cannot adequately describle the snuggliness of this quilt. I know she'll love it. 

Life is Good!

"...With My Little Eye..."

"...With My Little Eye..."  ~  47" X 54"

I  put this I Spy quilt together yesterday, it was quick and easy; I followed the directions in the pattern book to the letter. I was eager to try this pattern and the cutting template, both of which I purchased at MidAtlantic Quilt Festival last month. Created by Karen Montgomery, the book Crazy For More and the set of non-slip Creative Grids templates "Scrap Crazy" combine for some effortless and precise piecing. I am already planning my next project using these tools. The pattern book has many other appealing patterns and the templates are an absolute joy to use.

This quilt will be for Lynnleigh, her favorite color is orange.  She chose all the cute little novelty prints that she wanted in her quilt over the weekend. She dug deep into Nana's bins and placed everything that she wanted in one pile. You might think this would put a big dent in my fabric scrap bins. Think again! This bin, below, with its bulging cover is one of five.

I plan to back this quilt with a white Minkee-type blanket and quilt it on the longarm without any batting. It should be the perfect drag-along quilt for my favorite three-year-old!

Life is Good!

Why We Quilt

Meet Wade, he belongs to our small group friend, Nane; isn't he absolutely the cutest little guy?  When Nane and her husband were planning their trip to China this past spring to  adopt their son and bring Wade home, our group got busy quietly conspiring and contributing novelty fabrics toward a Picture Play quilt to present to our new little buddy. It was secretly pieced in one home and handed off for quilting; it made one more stop for binding and, before we knew it, our long awaited Sew Day  had arrived at Nane's barn! We were all about to burst with happy anticipation as the big presentation moment occurred... little did we know that our own excitement was about to be eclipsed by that of the recipient~ click here to view. The quilt has found it's forever home; with Wade, where it belongs. It's why we quilt.

Life is Good!  

And Another Finish...

As promised yesterday, I have another quilt project to share, one that's  been moved to the "done" column. There's a lot to cheer about at The Strawberry Patch!  This is Lucy Ann's Picture Play Quilt, the pattern from Ami Simms' book by the same name. I posted a while ago about quilting this one with Nitelite glow-in-the-dark thread, one more fun element in this quilt full of little things to discover. "Funny Bunny, Bears and Honey" is bed-sized, she can cuddle up under it and have many sweet dreams for years to come; or, as pictured above, can spend hours on top of it playing, and finding objects to name, match, and describe. Loaded not only with hundreds of novelty fabrics but also photo transfers and fuzzy machine embroidered animals she'll be busy for a very long time! This fills my heart, this is why I make quilts.

A detail of the quilting, binding and accent piping.
"Funny Bunny, Bears and Honey"
66" X 86"
Life is Good!

Against The Grain

Ami Simms calls it OTF (Off The Floor) Patchwork. I use a folding table set up alongside my cutting table from which to pull all the odd shaped, irregular scraps for border building.  I suppose, by Ami's definition, I am doing OTT Patchwork, (eliminating the stooping)! I spent the weekend constructing borders for my latest Picture Play quilt. I have a bin containing the leftovers from fussy cutting a vast collection of novelty prints. There's nothing wasted when these hunks and chunks combine into units which, ultimately, join into border strips. There are no rules: just grab pieces one after another, stitch and trim. It's messy though... this type of piecing goes against MY grain, it's a burden I tell you. As borders grew the fabric debris accumulated until I couldn't stand it one minute longer; I had to stop and tidy up. Time spent folding and stacking may have been good for my emotional well being but it didn't help in my seeing the task through to completion. I'll finish up soon.

I'm almost there, more than  three quarters of the way around.

Neatness reigns, once again.
Life is Good!

Which Book?

Which quilt book is the hardest working one in your sewing room? Without a doubt this one, Picture Play Quilts by Ami Simms, is the most worn out and often used book in mine. I am currently working on my tenth (and soon to be eleventh) quilt out of Picture Play Quilts for two little ones that will both turn two years old within the next few months! I have been collecting novelty fabrics for well over ten years and have bins and bins of them. They're sorted by fat quarter cuts, four inch squares, three inch squares and two inch squares. I have a bin for the trimmings as well; those odd shapes and strips come in handy when crazy patching the borders as I will with these next two quilts.

This is the latest addition to my novelty collection, given to me by a friend who works at Krispy Kreme.
(It's not yardage as such; but rather, size 2X boxer shorts, it will yield a LOT of little squares!)
This hometown favorite adds even more fun to these next two quilts, it will find its way into both of them!

Here's the layout, on the design wall in its rough form. I am fine tuning the blocks by trimming them
to size and have begun placing the inner sashing and cornerstones, there are 117 blocks.
I plan to add a few photo transfers to further personalize the quilt and add some special appliques too.

In order for the newest Picture Play quilt to gain  layout space on the wall something had to come down!
Here's "Dixie, No Muskets!" with all her borders attached (96" X 96"). She's now waiting for a quilting date
with Sundance; she'd better get comfortable hanging in the closet...there's a long waiting list!

So, back to the original question: which quilt book is YOUR hardest working one?
Life is Good!

One Down, One To Go

I pieced two Picture Play quilts late last year. The first one, "Bears At The Beach" is done, I just completed the quilting and binding and will be mailing it off to a very special little boy that I know. I hope he will be happy when snuggling under it, love the game of discovering and learning words and colors from the pictures, and delight in the magic of the glow-in-the-dark quilting thread long after the lights go out at bedtime. A second, similar, quilt is being loaded onto Sundance today and will be delivered to my great niece later on this summer. These quilts are among my very favorite to make. As many of these as I stitch together you'd think that would make a dent in my novelty bins, wouldn't you? For some mysterious reason it doesn't work that way, the bins remain full to overflowing with 2, 3 and 4 inch squares!

Life is Good!
Bears At The Beach 43" X 56"

Fabric Hideaways

I found this piece of fabric while vacationing this summer. I had to buy a piece for myself and a piece for a friend... it's a challenge to see what she'll do with it! (I don't have any idea what I'll do with mine... yet!) You may know that I have a strong affection for novelties anyway, but a novelty that displays all the creative places to hide one's stash just had to come home with me! Don't ya just love it? Any ideas on how it might best be showcased? Now that my Studio is clean and tidy enough for a group tour and my closet is completely organized I'm ready to start planning the next project! The motif squares each measure 4", I was thinking they'd make darling block centers surrounded by bright logs; possibly quilted for a journal cover or even cut apart and fused to the fronts of note cards. How would you use this piece?

Life is Good!