Quilting A King

A lot of people ask me how I quilt a king size quilt on my home machine, so I thought I would show you all.  This photo was taken near the center of the king size quilt I am currently working on.  I push the whole thing through as I go.  Sometimes it is a tight fit, but I can always maneuver it enough to get a smooth quilting section near the needle.  There is really only a small section that is super tight and as you quilt there is less and less going under the machine so each row gets easier.  In these tight sections, I find that I spend more time shifting the quilt around instead of quilting.  But if you go slow and shift to get a smooth quilting surface then you won't have any puckers on the back.  Another important thing to remember is to have somewhere for the left side of the quilt to sit.  Otherwise it hangs and the weight of it pulls the needle and either breaks it or curves the stitching.  I quilt next to my computer desk and use it as an overflow to catch large quilts such as this one.

Ok, break time is over for me.  I better get back to quilting.
I have this one scheduled to be completed by the end of the week.

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Next on The Machine

This top was made by another guild mate of mine. It's a biggie.  

I basted it last week. Quilting on it starts today. 

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Baby Panel

I quilted this panel for a guild mate of mine.  I had a good time playing around with this one.  My favorite is the lamb.  I love to rub my hands over him and feel the texture.

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Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along

I am participating in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along and have picked out my 16 fat quarters.

Block instructions start on the 27 and will be announced every other Tuesday.

Hopefully I can keep on track with this one.  :)

I had a hard time getting this photo without cat legs in the picture.

Below you can see why.

The curtains pulled up and a nice pile of fabric were too hard for Sheen to resist.

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3 Quilts Basted

This weekend I didn't have my internet connection.  I was busy for most of the weekend, so I didn't miss it for  much of the day, but in the evening when I read the quilting blogs, play games, and catch up on my shows I really started going through withdrawals.  After staring at my monitor for about and hour willing the internet to work, I decided I better do something else.  I have a nice to do list of quilt related items that need to get done, and one would think this was the perfect time to get those done, but instead I decided to do work on quilts not even on the list. They don't have deadlines and they aren't for other people,  I pulled three tops from my UFO pile and decided it was time to play with them for awhile.  I was going to baste all the quilts on the pile, there are 4 more, but I remembered I needed to save my pins for a customer quilt that I need to work on this week.  So I stopped at three.

The first was my Le Petite project from last November - Butter Churn Shcnibbles.  I used Christmas fabrics for mine and displayed it during the holidays last year just as a top.  This year I want it to be a finished quilt when I put it on the coffee table.

Next was my Brocante top, which was also part of the Le Petite project.  I picked this one to baste because it fit perfect with a leftover piece of batting I had.

The last one I basted was my two tone purple quilt.  I started this quilt at the end of 2009 and finished the top in the summer of 2010.  

After basting, I started quilting the purple one.  I was on a roll and making great progress till I had to get up and help one of the kids with something.  When I came back, Jasper had decided I needed a longer break and took up residence right on my quilt.

I left him to his nap.

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Spot

I spent what little time I had this week for crafting working on my Le Petite for this month.  September is the last month in this year long program and we were able to pick out any shnibbles pattern we wanted.

I picked one the the newest Schnibbles called "Spot".  I am using the Moda Countdown to Christmas charm squares by Sweetwater.

I have a few more red and white strips to cut out and then I can sew up the rest of the spot blocks.

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Feline Love Update

I had a few 30 min trips to town this week and two trips to the beach. Since I wasn't driving I worked on my Feline Love cross stitch.  I also had two dentist appointments for the kids this week and that gave me even more time to work on it.  With all that waiting, I got quite a bit done.

This Weeks Progress

Last Week

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Honeycomb Quilt Finished

I finished the quilting and the binding on my extended Honeycomb quilt today.
This was the first time I have done a scrappy binding.  I really like how it turned out.

When I look at the quilting on the back it looks like a totally different quilting pattern.

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Marsh Drawing

I finished adding color to my Marsh drawing this evening.
Our excursion at the marsh this summer was the inspiration for this drawing.  The water at the marsh isn't really this blue, but I wanted it that way so I colored it that way.  

This is one of the pictures I used as a base for my drawing.

It is the marsh in Murrells Inlet, SC and not too far beyond those trees is the ocean.

This is what the drawing looked like as I started to add color.

And below is the drawing in progress.
I was trying to scan it during different stages to see my progress.

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This next picture is the drawing I started today.  I was fiddling around not knowing what scene to draw when this one took shape so there are some rough lines and mistakes in this one.  Hopefully I can smooth things out and turn the mistakes into something else.  If not I will still keep it on hand for reference.  I like some of the new lines I put together in this one. 

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Honeycomb Extended

I took my Honeycomb table topper and added more rows to it last night.  The pattern had rows of 8 across 10 down, but I ended up making mine 10 across and 16 down.  Which is double the hexagons and makes the quilt the perfect size for snuggling.

Next on the list is to quilt it.  Last night I printed out some pictures of the top and drew some quilting ideas on it.  I came up with an idea that got me so excited to quilt it that I was ready to baste and get started on the quilting at 11:45pm. Unfortunately I didn't have any white batting, so I had to hold off on the quilting, which was probably a good idea because I also needed some sleep.

But now that I am rested and the laundry is done, I am off to JoAnn's to get some Warm and White. Thank goodness for 40% off coupons.  :)

Oh, and did you know that irons can iron clothes?  I was shocked that mine knew how to do that seeing how it has only ironed quilts in the past 6 months.  ;)
My hubbies shirts are finally happy to have nice straight collars and smooth button plackets.

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Feline Love Cross Stitch

I spent a few minutes this afternoon working on my "Feline Love" cross stitch kit that my good friend gave me.  I got two window panes outlined and part of the orange kitty done.  It doesn't look like too much right now, but pretty soon items will take shape.  I think it will be fun to watch the progress I make on this project through photos.

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Le Petite for September - Honeycomb

I have made a slightly smaller yet wider version of this month's pattern.  My initial thought was to make it just the right size to fit on my coffee table, but after playing around with these little hexagons, I think I may turn this into an even bigger lap quilt. I think it would be more fun to snuggle under this one instead of putting it on the coffee table. I have some extra 5inch charm squares left over that would make this the perfect size.   I think I will take off the white borders and add more hexagons later on this week.

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Pets On Quilts - 2011

SewCalGal is holding a virtual "Pets on Quilts" Show for 2011.  Anyone can enter photos for the show. To enter a photo and see the rules click here.  




Now on to my entry...

This is my lovely cat Sheen..At first glance he appears quite content watching me quilt but then...

He gets distracted by the shinny pins and tries to eat them....

 In his effort to get at the safety pins, he becomes an extreme sewing obstacle.

 After giving up on trying to get the pins I thought he would get up and go about his business.

 But his business appears to be getting comfortable on my quilt and sewing machine...

and taking a nap.  Needless to say, I was done quilting for the rest of the afternoon.

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Back To My String Blocks

I had some time to work on the string blocks for the quilt I am making for my husband's Aunt.

With 12 blocks complete I am halfway finished.

With the pieces I had leftover from trimming the above blocks, I fiddled around with some crumb blocks.    Hmm, I think I may be a little obsessive with the crumbs.  These blocks measure 4.5in square and the block on the right has 36 pieces in it... 

But, if I have enough crumbs left over to make 61 more of these then I can make a quilt like Natasha made here.

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Quilting Finished for Tish

Here is my latest client quilting project.  The quilt top was made by Tish from my quilt guild.  Tish said I could do what ever I wanted with it so I decided to do some simple custom quilting in each individual block.  I enjoy quilting around the lines of the quilt shapes and coming up with individual quilting designs for each block. I find it mentally easier than doing an all over meander and it is a more entertaining process for me.  I did do a meander for the border though, I can handle meandering small sections.  :) 

A close up of some of the individual blocks.

 A tad bit closer.  :)

Tish asked me to go ahead and sew on the biding so she can hand stitch it down herself.
That is why the binding is unfinished in the photos.

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