I’m in the process of stitching down the binding — by hand. That’s not something I normally do, but I wanted a narrower binding than I usually use. I hope to have the binding and label on later today, then into the wash so hopefully it crinkles up.
Check in with me tomorrow or Wednesday to see the completely finished quilt and to find out why I took on this challenge.
In the meantime, check out some more design walls by following the links over at Patchwork Times.
It measures 20 1/4″ square. Now off to quilt it.
Forty-nine stars, 36 setting blocks, 24 side triangles, 4 corner triangles — but yet less than a yard used. That happens when you make a mini quilt. On the other hand, I stayed out of the quilt shops this past week, but have a trip planned Tuesday afternoon for backing for two more quilts and the crossword puzzle quilt.
Fabric Added the last week: 0 yards
Fabric Added to Date: 46.269 yards
Fabric Used the last weeks: .93 yards
Fabric Used to Date: 54.271 yards
Net Used for 2011: 8.002 yards
Checkout the links over at Patchwork Times to see how others are doing.
All of the mini Ohio Stars are made. Now it’s time to get this top completed.
Instead of making the last seven stars, I played with the setting blocks. I’ve decided to go scrappy — not that its easy to tell in this slightly blurry cell phone picture.
The next set is cut out.
Three sets to go.
Jill’s Year of the Pig Question #8 is —
What part (or parts) of the process of making a quilt are your least favorite? The part (or parts) that you just dread and that make you throw your projects back into the dark recesses of your stash closet? Have you found any tricks to break the cycle of being held up on the parts that aren’t your favorite?
This question got me thinking. Is there any part of making a quilt that I dread?
It’s not the binding. Once I get a quilt quilted, I want to get it bound. I don’t sew the binding down by hand, so that is probably why this doesn’t bother me.
I used to hate sandwiching the quilt. It’s hard on the knees crawling around on the floor. But I’ve figured out how to get it done on my big board ironing board (I generally make twin size quilts or smaller these days).
One could argue that I must not like the process of quilting itself. Putting stitches through the three layers which makes the quilt top a quilt. I say this because I have around 40 quilt tops waiting to be quilted – three from September of 2006.
It’s not that I don’t like this step, it’s more a case of not knowing what to quilt on a top. Until last fall, all of my quilting was done on my sewing machine. I’ve tried free motion quilting and I need more practice, but don’t want to do it on my “good” tops and mess them up. So, I’ve been limited to straight line quilting and soft curves — especially on anything bigger than about 40″ square.
But last fall I discovered Rocking Chair Quilts in Butler, Missouri rents time on their longarm. It’s an hours drive, but well worth the time. My oldest completed top was from 2005. I think it was 96″ square — no way for me to get it done on my sewing machine and not “good enough” to pay someone to quilt it. I took it down to Butler and quilted it in an afternoon. It won’t win awards, but that’s not why I quilt.
Hard and fast deadlines also get me going. I’ve got a stack of 5 quilts w/backing fabric which need to be quilted by the middle of June. All of them have been waiting to be quilted for at least a year or more. A couple I’ll quilt here at home and a couple I’ll take down to Butler. I have a rough idea of how I’m going to quilt at least 4 of them. The fifth one is giving me fits, but I’ll figure something out.
Click over to Jill’s to see how others get past their least favorite part of quilting.
Small as they are, I can only fit a dozen stars on my scanner bed. Seven more done last night. I’m not planning on doing any yard work tonight, so maybe I can get two sets of 7 done tonight. Of course, I’m thinking about two other quilts and I’m itching to play in my fabric.
I’ve gotten the last name I need for the crossword puzzle quilt, which is really more of a Scrabble quilt, and now I need a “theme” for the rest of the fabric. I’m leaning toward red — which is probably the color I have the least of! I wonder if it’s an unconscious decision so I can go fabric shopping?
The second quilt is one more that needs to go on my 7 by June, which would make it 8 by June if we hadn’t already added another quilt which means the count is up to 9 now! At least the other quilt just needs quilting and I’ve been thinking about that as well. But back to the second quilt. I’m leaning toward using Bonnie Hunter’s Strip Twist and doing it in neutrals – scrappy of course.
My EQ drawing looks so elegant. I hope my stash delivers. (Yes, shopping is required on this one for the border and backing).
It’s mini stars for the mini quilt I’m supposed to have finished by the 28th (1 of 7 by June). Actually they aren’t so mini. These are 265% larger than my original mini stars. Originally the stars were going to finish at 3/4″, but since I put off finishing the quilt, I’m going bigger at 2″ finished. I’m still having to rip out a bit, but it’s much faster to make the larger stars and the finished quilt will still meet the guidelines. I suspect it will also be easier to quilt.
Only 35 more to go.
Follow the links over at Patchwork Times to see if anyone else has a crazy project like this on their design wall.
