Teddy Bear

I have been working away on a Teddy Bear quilt.    I started it quite a while ago.

I stopped working on it because I was not feeling well, but I decided I need to finish it while the baby is still a baby ( I hope to get it in the mail tomorrow)
I was very careful to get all the steps on video and just finished downloading the video to find out that there is no sound!   So here are a few still pictures.

I just have to finish the binding.

I have my procedure on Thursday and hopefully I will be back t o work on Friday!   I have so many things I want to do.

Happy Quilting
Tim

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First hand quilting of the new year

Yesterday I wrote about not being afraid to make mistakes or try something new.    Today I made a mistake.   I started the hand quilting on the Alphabet quit top.

I recently bought a baptist fan stencil that I wanted to try.     I ordered it on line and when I got it I knew it was not right for me. I never use stencils so I am not even sure why I bought it.   The arcs are too small for my liking but I felt like I should use it since I bought it so I started to mark the top and hating it even more the more I marked.    I should not have talked myself into using it.   The mistake here was ignoring my own judgment.  I made myself stop after marking about 1/2 of the top.

The lesson here is to trust you instincts.   In the end it saves a lot of time and effort.

Instead of re marking I just basted the layers together and got it in the hoop.   I am hand quilting big circles….following the size of the hoop and working in to the center .

You  can see the quilting better on the back

You will notice that it is not perfect…..just doing it by eye.  I like it 🙂  it feels right to me and that is what is important.

I am just quilting over the marking I did and ignoring it…I’ll wash it out when the quilting is finished

Here are some more pictures (click picture to enlarge)

Happy New Year and Happy Quilting

Tim

 

 

Alphabet piecing

Last time I posted pictures of the fabric I bought for a baby quilt.

I started on it today.    First I cut the squares apart.  If you have ever used one of these kinds of printed squares it is frustrating that they are not all the same size!   so I am sort of taking the average.    The sasning pieces are Cut to the width of one block.   I cut the sashing 2.5 inches wide and 7 3/4 inches long.

Next I cut a bunch of 1 1/2″ squares of blue fabric.  A blue square goes on the corner

sew from corner to corner of the square

cut off the corners

press open

do the other 2 corners

press open

I am  using a 2 1/2 ” square of blue for the cornerstones.   and when they come together they look like this

I still have to make a bunch of the sashing pieces.     Once they are sewn together the corners will look like stars…now they are a bit wonky looking but that is just because they are not sewn together.

This does produce a big pile of very small triangles.

I know that many people would save them and hope to use them in a future project.   I don’t foresee ever making something with such small pieces so mine are going into the trash.

The weather was not nearly as bad as the forecast.    The Ice they predicted never stuck to the trees and power lines so it was not bad.   It was a mix of sleet, and snow and ice…and it did accumulate on the ground.   It did require shoveling and it felt like shoveling a 5000 gallon slurpee….cold and frozen but wet and heavy….and sliding off of the shovel.

Snow flurries today….back to sewing for me

Happy Quilting

Tim

Dr Seuss Quilt Finished

I finished the Dr Seuss Quilt last night.  This is the fastest I ever made a quilt!  I bought the fabric on Saturday Jan 4 http://timquilts.com/2014/01/04/dr-seuss-quilt/

I did the piecing and started quilting the next day….http://timquilts.com/2014/01/06/dr-seuss-quilt-progress/

and last night I finished the quilting and added the binding

The backing is really a light blue flannel but it is photographing as white 😦

the quilting is a series of overlapping circles (similar to Baptist fans but the circles are more complete, Baptist fans are closer to 1/4 of a circle)

Dr Seuss drawings are so quirky that I decided to go with “imperfect” quilting.  I market the outside of each circle with a small plate but the inside quilting ( the concentric rings) was just quilted free hand) the result is that no 2 are the same and I think that works with the fabric.  The circles are a nice contrast with the square blocks.

The quilting went fast because I did utility/big stitch quilting at about 6 stitches per inch.  Once again the fabric told me how to quilt.  These quirky whimsical figures didn’t seem to call for meticulous tiny stitches….I think relaxed and casual is a better fit.

I still need to add a label and wash it ( with the sub-zero temps in the last few days the pipes to the washing machine have frozen so that is on hold)

I might need to start making more baby quilts….they go so fast that it sure makes you feel productive!

Now back to  one of the many UFO’s in the pile!

Happy Quilting

Tim

Dr Seuss Quilt Progress

I have been working on the Dr Seuss Quilt.

I finished the top on Saturday

I got it layered and pin basted and marked.  I used a  small plate to mark the overlapping circles and then quilted them.

Now I am going back and adding the additional quilting.

The back is actually a light blue flannel but it came out white in the picture

I am using a very thick tan thread and only about 6 stitches per inch (utility/big stitch quilting).  There really was not a color of thread to use that would blend in because of all the different colors in the blocks so I decided on a somewhat neutral color.

It is going very fast so I might be ready to bind it by tomorrow.

The binding will be the same brown as the sashing.

I will post pictures of that as soon as I finish.

Meanwhile it is 3 degrees outside and will go down to negative 7 tonight with windchill temps of negative 35.  We had well over a foot of snow yesterday (drifts 24 inches +) and everything in the city is closed.  What else can a person do but quilt?

Stay warm and Happy Quilting

Tim