A Great Trip and Project Pictures

What a beautiful day today was!  After a lot of rain on Friday and really grey skies on Saturday, today was filled with blue skies and brilliant sunshine.  I was so lucky to be able to spend the weekend in Pittsburgh visiting my son and his DH.  Despite the grey skies, we had a fabulous time.  I wanted to visit a quilt shop in their area, The Quilt Company, and both were very patient with me once we got there.  

It is a wonderful shop, filled with great lighting and one of the best selection of fabrics I have ever seen.  Did I buy anything?  Need you ask?  Of course, although a tight budget restrained my spending to some extent.  I bought a pattern to make a stitch'n'flipped small bag and the hardware to attach it to.  The bag can really be as elegant as you want it to be, although the picture of the bag made up is fairly plain.  I plan to embellish mine like crazy.  Future pictures to come!


I also bought a bundle of ten Moda fat quarters, all in soft, taupe colors.  I have always wanted to try this color scheme ever since first being introduced to it in Quilter's Newletter many moons ago.  I love the Japanese quilters' work and how intricate it can be within a restrained color pallete.  The fabric is all so beautiful, I will have to plan very carefully when I use it, otherwise I will fear that I might ruin it.


Despite the grey skies on Saturday, we went to a wonderful fall festival at Sorgen's Market.  It was a great time, despite having the day turn colder as it went on.  We had hot, spiced cider, saw plenty of pumpkins, and watched all the little ones having a great time at the petting zoo.  One little goat kept butting his head against a little boy's hand, making him laugh with delight.  We finished up the day with a wonderful dinner in a beautiful little town north of Pittsburgh called Zelienople.  It was so much fun to spend the day with them.


The beautiful sunshine got me out today to take a picture of a finished project that I have posted pictures of in progress previously.  It is one of a planned series of four small quilts that will use pictures I have taken of flowers and printed on fabric.  This is the quilt that spoke to me so vehemently about removing the cranberry colored stitching I had used on it.  I hope you enjoy seeing it finished at last.

If anyone reads my posts, you may remember that I am taking an online class from Sharon Boggan on Encrusted Crazy Quilting.  I have made a lot of progress on this project and wanted to keep you posted on its progress.  Sharon is a wonderful teacher who can take complicated design principles and explain them clearly and make them easy to understand.  Her class is given through Joggles' web site.  I highly recommend it.  Here is a picture of the progress I have made since I posted the pieced block without any seam treatments or embellishments.

I hope any readers who stumble across my humble efforts, both at quilting and blogging have healthy, happy coming week.  Keep stitching in peace and happiness!

New Block

Happy Sunday to all!  I am home recuperating from oral surgery, which has really slowed me down.  However, I did manage to get this block done before I had the surgery last Thursday.  This block is for Sharon B.'s online class: Encrusted Crazy Quilting.  It is really a stretch for me out of my comfort zone, as far as the colors I chose.  the block was not that hard for me to put together, but we are in week 2 now.  Week 2 starts into seam treatments and I am having a little harder time.  Of course, that could just be my being kind of worn down from the surgery, too.  I can hardly get my jaw open today.


Anyway, I wanted to tell people, if anyone out there has actually read my blog, what a fabulous course this is.  You can tell that Sharon is not only a great textile artist, but a great teacher, as well.  She knows how to take complicated theory or concepts and break them down to seem simple.  Even if you don't have any art background, it is easy to understand what Sharon is talking about.  Thank you, Sharon.


Hopefully, I will be on the mend soon and can get into a stitching routine that is not so much of a struggle.  It is no fun having to pick stitches out, no matter how good a scissors you have!

Lessons Learned from the Learning Curve Sampler Quilt

I really learned a lot about making this quilt and wanted to share some of the things I learned with others.  Hopefully, it will be of some help to others who feel that they are constantly learning, or just beginning a machine journey, too.

Never try and sew on your machine with a curious kitty sitting behind the machine (or type on your blog, for that matter!).  I was going along quite well, when all of a sudden my top thread ran out.  At first, I could not understand because it was a new, large spool of thread.  Then the light bulb went on:  the thread had been chewed through!  So much for company while I stitch.

Slow and steady wins the race.  Mary Mashuta recommends in her book that you slow down when using a walking foot or decorative stitches, as opposed to speeding up when doing free motion quilting.  In this case, slowing down produces greater accuracy.  Slow down and enjoy the ride.  Thank-you, Mary for you book, Foolproof Machine Quilting, and all of the great tips it contains.  I have not given up on free motion quilting, but felt this was a better way for me to ease into machine work, as I have always done everything by hand before.

Make a detailed sample on scrap fabric.  I like to use 2 layers of inexpensive felt.  That way, you can work out any glitches ahead of time, as well as practice using your decorative stitches.  You can determine the best settings and look at how the size of the stitches works with the overall design.

If you do not have a top of the line, computerized machine (I don't), re-set your settings each time you begin a new grouping of decorative stitches.  It will assure greater consistency.

A caveat to the last paragraph: you don't need top of the line, expensive machine to do good work.  Don't let the lack of one hold you back.  Go forth boldly on the machine you do have!

Keep an eye on your bobbin thread.  I found it best to re-thread when I was getting low, rather than wait for the bobbin to run out.

These are some of the lessons I learned from using my machine for this quilt.  I hope they might be helpful to some stitchers out there who are machine newbies, like me.

Peace and happy stitches to you all.  xoxo, Debby

A Finished Quilt

This quilt began as some small practice squares.  I was working with the flip and stitch technique and trying out some different colors (for me).  My son liked them and gave me some nice, positive feedback, so I decided to see if I could put them into a quilt arrangement.  The quilt is approximately 34.5 inches by 34.5 inches.

I have named the quilt, "Learning Curve Sampler".  The quilt was truly an exercise in working with this particular technique, including trying to make spirals with it.  The pieced inner border was something new that I tried, as well.  Usually I hand quilt all my work, but on this quilt, I began to try and develop machine skills.  I am quite happy with it.  I used the new bamboo batting and it is quite warm.

Here is another picture with a funny kitty named Louis.

Keep quilting in peace and happy stitches.

A Lesson from the Quilt

In my last post I wrote about why I quilt.  I also wrote about how, at times, I try and make the quilt do something and, at other times, the quilt tells me!

The block I have been working on is a good example.  I had some nice, dark red cranberry colored perl cotton and thought it would be a good contrast color on the block.  I thought it would be great; however, the block had something different to say.  In fact, the more I looked at the block, the more it screamed to me, "Get this darn cranberry color off of me!!!"

Finally, after several attempts to salvage the motif with the cranberry red, I gave in and listened to the block.  The block was right, the red had to go.  The block was telling me that, although some of the green fabrics were quite dark, the embellishment and stitching I had chosen were more delicate.  The cranberry red was a contrast to the rest of the block, but it was much too harsh, nor was it tied in to the rest of the design.   The softer pinkish red used for small french knots was a much better choice. I think the lesson for me to learn from this is to let go of what I think should be happening, and trust what the quilt, or in this case, the block is telling me.

So, last night, I took out the dark cranberry red, let the block sigh a deep sigh of relief, and began remaking that section of embellishment.  Keep quilting in peace and happiness!

Why Do You Quilt?

Why do you quilt?  That's a question I frequently ask myself.  Sometimes, when I tell people that I am a quilter, I joke that it is my therapy.  But, that is really only a half-hearted joke.  Quilting relaxes me and allows my right brain a chance to take over, quieting that judgmental, over-talkative left side.  It seems to give my whole being a chance to just kick back, relax, and release all of the tension that accumulates during my working day.

I also quilt because I love the medium so much.  When I make a quilt, I try to make it as beautiful as possible, which is an artistic motivation.  But quilts are more than beautiful objects, the way that a painting or drawing is.  Quilts are tactile.  A beautiful quilt makes you want to reach out and touch it, to fondle it, and trace the lines and shapes with your finger tips.  When you make a quilt for someone, you give them, not only a gift of beauty, but of comfort and warmth, as well.

I also love the process of  making a quilt: designing it, piecing and stitching it, making the sandwich, quilting it, and adding the binding.  I love the way I start out making a quilt, and how the quilt frequently has its own ideas about how it should develop.  I have learned that there are times I have to stop trying to tell the quilt what to do and listen to the quilt.  If I listen carefully, the quilt will tell me what it needs.

These are my answers to the question "Why do you quilt?"  Could they, perhaps, be your answers, too?

Having Some Fun

Well, I've been  busy bee, learning more new things about blogging.  I'd give myself a big pat on the back for managing to post the blogs I currently follow on this blog, except that it only took me several days to figure it out!!!  Once the light bulb finally went on over my head, it was very easy.  It just takes me awhile.

Here is a picture of something that took me a lot less time.  I have painted and stenciled fabric almost from the time I began quilting, but I never tried painting thread before.  So, yesterday, I measured and cut some #8 DMC pearl cotton into six foot lengths.  I bundled them into little skeins and got out some paints.  I used  Jacquard fabric paints and a small brush.  I wet each skein (unknotted) and mixed my paints on a paper plate, then went to town dabbing the paint on with the small brush.  They turned out nicely variegated by using more or less paint.

When the skeins were dry, I was disappointed to find them very stiff; however, by running them through my fingers several times, they began to soften up.  Pictured below are some french knots and a length of thread that I have already used.  The threads were actually very soft to work with by then.  I was very happy with the results and had a great time painting them.  hope you enjoy seeing them as much as I enjoyed painting them.