Almost Done!

I finally made some progress on the black and white tree quilt. Everything is basted/pinned and ready for quilting now.

I even learned a few lessons along the way:

1. Taping the quilt backing to the floor is not an optional step, even on small quilts. It helps eliminate wrinkles that later require taking out and putting back in pins. Ugh.

2. Some fabric is better than others for raw edge applique. I'm still figuring that one out.

3. I tried sewing on leaves in groups so that I wouldn't have hundreds of tiny pins poking my belly while I sewed. This worked. Unfortunately it also led to some uneven grouping of leaves and not my best layout ever. Perhaps the poking of pins in my belly will not be a problem in a little while.

4. I want to find a different width for my binding. Cutting strips at 2.5 inches, then folding it in half makes for too narrow of a binding for my tastes. I'll work on this one.

5. Not so much a lesson, but I need to figure out why my permanent fabric marking pens died on my so quickly. Not cool.

Wish me luck as I finish up the quilting and binding this week/weekend! I'd love to have this quilt done and move onto a special custom order I've received. More on that tomorrow!

Doe It Ever Get Any Easier?

I had the best of intentions of finishing this quilt last weekend, but it felt more like I took one step forward and two steps back.

I had the whole quilt top put together, then I decided I didn't like the borders, too many mistakes. So I went to JoAnn's and bought the right fabric. I ripped seams and sewed on the new borders lickety-split. I was even impressed with myself.

Then I basted all 3 layers together and quilted the top in a zig zag pattern. Bad news, it looked awful! I just had bad luck with this quilt and too many errors in the beginning that built up over the course of its completion.

Error 1 - I repurposed an old bed spread for the white squares on the quilt top. The fabric is slightly stretchy, not even a match for my walking foot. Plus it's thick and soft (why I chose it) so it was hard to quilt, causing pulling and stretching while I quilted. The stretchiness also let me get away with not squaring up the squares as much as possible, leading to the pattern not always lining up perfectly. I cannot emphasize enough that cutting the fabric correctly right away in the beginning is so important to a stress free project!!!

Example of the squares not lining up - I do love that white fabric though, look at the raised details!

And when everything doesn't line up and the mistakes start to accrue, it leads to even more wonkiness in the end

Error 2 - I picked a soft and cuddly fabric for the back. I think the feed dogs couldn't pick it up as much, causing more stretching and bulging.

post edit - here is the back after quilting from the middle first. Of course I miscalculated a row on the front and the middle rectangle isn't centered on the back! Oy a quilt of many mistakes, but I tried my best.

Error 3 - I didn't start quilting in the middle. I started on one end and worked my way to the end. Oy. I felt like an idiot when I realized what I had done. The stretching and pulling just magnified itself as I went.

So I spent the weekend pulling out stitches instead of putting the final touches on the binding and we're back to square one. I have a freshly basted quilt on my sewing table and I hope to find the time to finish it. Wish me luck!

post edit - I hunkered down and got all but the hand stitching of the border done yesterday

Tree Quilt

Isn't it just gorgeous!

I have fallen in love with making this quilt. I had more fun making it than I can remember while making other recent quilts. It's a lap sized quilt (I hate going beyond 44" wide!) and I think the most fun was the quilting part. It's just pinned in this picture, but I ended up outlining the whole tree and then adding branches amongst the leaves to quilt it.

I've practiced free motion quilting a bit since I got my sewing machine back from the maintenance shop, but it still isn't working out. I even used the tips they gave me at the shop, but to no avail. Perhaps my work horse of a sewing machine just isn't meant for free motion quilting. But I was able to get away from "stitching in the ditch" with this quilt. And that felt gratifying.

The binding has been sewed on the front. All that is left now is some handsewing for the back of the binding. I can't wait to gift this to the wonderful couple it's meant for. I know it makes me smile just looking at it. I hope they feel the same way.

My Crabby Day Part II

After 3 broken needles in one hour I came undone. I went into our tiny half bathroom and cried. I hate to admit this. I hate to admit how much I lost it, but I want to be honest and sometimes that means sharing the uncomfortable, the truth. I cried. I didn't just shed a tear or two and dab it away. I bawled. I let it out. I sat on the toilet in the dark and ranted.

Apparently I was upset over more than a few broken needles. I was mad at God. And I wasn't afraid to tell Him as much. Hey, if He's the God I believe in, He can take it.

I was mad at the great plans my husband and I continue to make for our family that always fall through. I was mad that I didn't know or understand His plan. I still don't. And I'm still not perky and happy about it. But I accept it. Because His ways are greater than my ways. And His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I believe that and I try to remind myself of that, even when I'm sitting on a toilet seat yelling at Him. I also know He has a sense of humor in all of this. Why else would I end up in the bathroom?

When my husband came home I shared my lovely rendition of the day with him. He corralled the toddler into a coat (not an easy feat) and ushered us all outside for a walk...

Views of the backside of my free motion quilting experience

When I first started the backside had these loose stitches.

But the straw that broke the needle's back (corny I know) was when the tension discs for the top thread grabbed the thread and created these messy knots on the back. (Please note the really nice stitches to the right!! I did something right!) This is a regular occurance even when I straight stitching, but in the free motion quilting aspect it actually broke the needle. I'm taking my machine in for some maintenance. And hopefully I know enough about what I'm doing now to  guide the store employees towards correcting this problem. It's not as simple as adjusting the tension knob, something else is going on. If all else fails I'm going shopping.

And as always any advice is always greatly appreciated!

My Crabby Day Part I

This past Saturday was not one of my finer moments.

Do you remember those table runners I was working on? Well I was finally ready to quilt them. I have always stuck with the "stitch in the ditch" technique, too scared to try stippling or anything to do with free motion quilting. I finally sat down with my sewing machine manual (God Bless that manual) and verified on the internet (got to love the internet) and was ready to start scaring myself with some free motion quilting on my historic sewing machine. I took the foot off. I raised the throat plate. Ready Set Go. Not so bad for my first time, right? Don't answer that. I was proud of myself. That's all that counts.

But then I broke a needle, and another needle and another needle. Within an hour I had broken 3 needles and my inner reserves were crumbling. I came undone...