No waste of batting - use those pieces up!!!

My log cabin quilts came back from the long arm quilter last week. She kindly returned the extra batting. Since two of the quilts had the same type/loft of batting I was able to sew the two pieces together to make a larger piece of batting that fit the guild's mystery quilt perfectly.

I use my walking foot, the widest zigzag and lengthen the zigzag to the maximum on my Janome 6600P. You do not overlap the batting edges. That would cause a bump and would not be good inside a quilt. I just bump them up against each other and feed them carefully through the machine. Voila' almost free batting!!!!

 Here is the "wad" behind the machine all stitched. See the seam?

 I used pink thread. In fact, I had bought a bunch of the John Flynn So Fine for piecing. I really like how it feels in my machine. But it cannot handle a good hot pressing. It melts away. Ask me how I know. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

But it works very well for quilting. It feels as if it is like a size 60 type sewing tread so it also fills the bobbin up quite nicely. The bobbins last longer with finer thread wound. My Janome 6600P works nice with size 60 in the bobbin and King Tut on top. It also likes Bottom Line and any thread on top.

Some fast pinning up and I am already quilting the mystery quilt.

Hey! It needs a name...any thoughts???

Dear Daughter #2, Laura, has already claimed this quilt. Well at least she moaned and groaned with joy seeing merely a picture of it. That is her shorthand for I want that quilt please. Her birthday is in May so I am going to gift it to her.

My math was off and the backing was not enough to do my leftover pink/brown topper. And there also was not enough batting either. I guess fate just said I was to keep that one for me and my sweet kitties.

I rarely get puckers when I pin baste. I feel the trick is to use LOTS of pins. I also use my B-Line quilt frame to do the pinning. There is no bending over or crawling on the floor. I can pin the backing on, float the batting and top and have a quilt all pinned in an hour or so.

I watched a DVD on Baltimore Applique' by Elly Sienkiewicz. She has a pleasant voice and makes the process look so easy. She was teaching needle turn applique'. And cutting away the top fabric as she sewed. I so want to learn applique'. This process seems to have the least prep involved. And that seems to be my issue. I have only so much time for hand work and drawing has never been my forte'.

XOXOXOXO Subee

Surprise Inklingo gift!

There was a package in my mailbox today that I did not expect. A gift from Linda Franz the talented inventor of the Inklingo system.

Linda sent me a printed sheet of lovely lavender fabric and a lavender ring pincushion!!!! 

Too cute!!! 

Too cool!!!!!

Much appreciated!!!!

I remember when I bought the programs. Her Husband said he loved customers like me. HA! I wanted it all!!!!!!!

And try as I might I cannot seem to get the link to her website and blog listed on my sidebar. I will continue to work on it. Sometimes it works so easy! (I managed to get Randy's "Sow-a-long" with no problem) Just a right click and a paste!

I did manage to get Linda's blog listed on the sidebar as a daily read.

I do have this software and it is easy to work with. Just some fabric prep and you need to know your printer's limitations. My old HP handled it just fine. This Lexmark has a few issues. Things change...

XOXOOXO Subee

Crocheted Vest from Mary Maxim

Besides being a voracious quilter I am also a manic crocheter. I have been crocheting with small threads since I was 6 or 7 years old. My Father's Mother did tiny doilies and she taught me to make the lace on pillowcases. It is something I have always enjoyed doing. Well...not making pillowcase lace but crocheting anything else. I had leg braces until I was in 2 nd grade. I think that was a big reason I learned to make things with my hands and why I can sit patiently for long periods. HA!
I make rugs from fabric strips and t-shirt strips. Slippers from all types of yarn. Sun catchers in brass rings...just about anything.
But the biggest gain I ever had in crocheting was when my hubby's Grandmother, Anna Cutigni, who spoke no English...just Italian...taught me how to crochet from a picture or chart instead of "reading" a pattern.  Magic Crochet (the magazine) has picture patterns. So much easier to read than boring lines. That liberated me and was such a great bonding experience with that fine lady. I was able to reproduce a crocheted doily for a friend at work. She had the really old doily that had reached the end of it's life span. I laid it on the copy machine at work and I was able to make her a pair of doilies that looked better than the original if I do say so myself.

When I used to lay in the sun to tan I always had to have something in my hands to do or I could not sit still. I learned the hard way not to do cross stitch on dark fabrics in the sun. I was making a picture on navy blue Aiada cloth and the sun faded the cloth. So when I had it framed they managed to cover the faded part.
I even remember crocheting with elastic thread with fake pearls strung and made all types of jewelry from necklaces to rings to pretend sandals.

 Here is my latest creation. It just came out in Mary Maxim's Spring catalog. I knew I HAD to make it for DD #1.
http://www.marymaxim.com
item# 99205
Isn't it beautiful???
Only took a few days of crocheting. The two pins on the vest are where the pattern said to stop but Lisa wanted her vest a bit longer. So I added a few more rows.
I have no affiliation with Mary Maxim or DMC. I am just a happy customer!!!!

Now it still needs to be blocked out before Lisa can wear it. The instructions with this crochet cotton say to machine wash but lay flat to dry. Some crochet cottons can be machine dried too. But this thread has a nice feel to it. It feels slinky like Ce'be'lia thread cotton  made by DMC. I LOVE that stuff!!!!!!

From the leftovers come another quilt!!!!!

I finished the guild's Mystery quilt. When doing that tricky pieced border I ended up with some really nice units that were too nice to throw away.
I also harvested some from the end of the mitered border strips to end up with enough to make these 4 blocks below:

 I added some sashings and corner stones and now have a 38" little topper that I am sure the kitties will enjoy snuggling on. I am sure they will because they helped put it all together during the sewing process. HA!
Another reason I made this is I was wanting to use up the backing I had pieced for the first quilt. This little one will take up the leftover backing with almost no waste!!!
WHOOHOO!

The leftover borders pieces are in the left top pile. I just added some more little pieces and had a lot of fun not knowing what I was making or how it would finish.

 Voila' a nice little block. Made three more and I now have the topper done.

My birthday is tomorrow. My Secret Quilting Sister gave me my present at the last guild meeting. Everyone knows how I love neutrals. I actually do not have any of these fabrics already! Too cool! And check out those kitty scissors!!! Too cute!

I am so blessed with great quilting friends to help me celebrate my birthday! My only complaint this year is the time change falls on Saturday evening. Bummer! I do not like the Savings Time method of keeping time. It is a pain! Messes with my internal clock and the kitties' clock too. They are soooooo predictable.

 Above is my sweet Bess. 

She loves to eat thread and sometimes there are needles attached. 

I have learned my lesson but she has not even after a $$$$$ abdominal surgery to remove two quilting needles w/ threads still attached!!!

And MaggieMae is so overdue for a haircut.

She is a tiny kitty but looks so big with all that fur attached!!!

Guild's Mystery Quilt is complete!!!!

I really am pleased with myself for sticking with this mystery quilt. The designer is Marti Mitchelle. She has a great sense of color. I followed her color suggestions and they were right on. But...her sewing and cutting directions were really very confusing.
Nevertheless, I managed to get it done today!!!!!

 I love the look of mitered corners but have never been happy with my sewing of them. Either I am getting better (yes!!) or I got lucky today. I did not have to resew any of the four corners!!!
Below is the left corner pressed out:

And below is the right corner pressed out:

 And the quilt on the ironing board before sewing the four corners:

I am so very happy with this quilt.
And of course it is a beautiful day today. It is 60 outside with lots of sun. There is a bit of a breeze but the kitties are loving having the door open.

Gotta go make supper now. But I wanted to share this with you all!!!!
XOXOXOXO Subee

Ohio Star blocks

 I used up my 500+ hour glass units!!! They are now residing in 62 brown/cream Ohio Star blocks. 31 are light stars and 31 are dark stars.

It is spooky how I really did not do any counting or sorting of any kind but just did two days of manic sewing. 

For the totals to come out even in the light/dark combination is really neat. 

For EVERY unit to be used up is scary!!!

 I really did not do any planning. I had a large container of brown EZ Companion Angle cut triangles left over from some sewing project. I do not even remember what project. But I did know they came from 1 1/2" strips cut with that ruler. I was digging around and found them just gathering dust on a shelf.
So I cut some more cream triangles to go with what I had leftover from my gray/pink Ohio Star blocks. Once again, no counting, just lots of cutting and then some major sewing time.

 Today they are all done and pressed and put away for what ever I do decide to use them in. Since I have discovered my love of scrap quilting this method works so well. They will go with whatever I decide to use them in.

I also went through all the loose papers on my computer desk. I threw away all the junk and gathered up all the "Bonnie Hunter" stuff. I have two binder notebooks with all of Bonnie's patterns and mysteries. I now have a third one started!!!! The first one had all the free patterns from her website. Then I bought a hot pink binder and all the mysteries are in that one (with a picture of Bonnie on the front). The third one is going to be all the quilts she designs from her Addicted To Scraps column in the Quiltmaker magazine. (Also all the tips and tricks she shares with us)

Note to self: Buy a couple more binders!!!!

I have started using an old pillowcase over my small ironing board cover to preserve the new cover I made a couple months ago. The cover is made from very heavy pillow ticking and they do last a long time. I had bought this material to make the leaders for my B-Line quilt frame. Why I bought an entire bolt of it I have no clue. Oh well, it is here when I need it....forever it will be here!! HA!

Pink Mariners' Star

After the Saturday paper piecing class I had such a great desire to sew on the units I was using as the teaching lesson. I had only sewn two seams to demonstrate the technique to my students. I then turned them loose and was like a bee flitting to each quilter answering questions and helping with machine issues.

I now totally understand why Our Bonnie Hunter sews in her hotel room after teaching. Watching others sew while you are teaching is a bit frustrating.
I only spent a few minutes and I had the block units done. After feeding DH I then sewed the units together.
With the following results:

 Below are the units...I love the spotlight that little Ikea lamp produces.

 Today I am mindlessly sewing more hourglass units.
This time I am using browns and neutrals. I had these already cut and just sitting in this little container gathering dust. I am about halfway through the sewing. My goal is 500 units.

And I am clipping my little dog ears as usual!

I love those EZ Angle rulers. This unit is made with the Companion Angle ruler cut from 1 1/2" strips.