7/4/11

Design Wall Monday--July 4, 2011



Happy 4th of July!

These are my Red Velvet Cupcakes with red, white, and blue sprinkles for our fireworks celebration this evening.  My family is heading down to the east bank of the Willamette River to spend the day.  I hope you have something fun and/or relaxing planned to celebrate Independence Day.  But on to my design wall . . .

LOTS of hand-sewing this week, and my wrist is complaining bitterly about it.  The embroidery for my Kitten's Tale BOM quilt is complete, the yo-yo's are made and sewn on, and the blocks are ready to be stitched together.  I can't believe this one is nearly finished.  I've been working on it for more than a year and a half.


The rectangles for the outer border are all cut and the strips for the inner border are cut as well.  The backing fabric and the binding fabric are both coming from my stash.  Hopefully, I'll get to start sewing it all together later on this week.  But first . . .

I have to finish the free motion quilting on my Flip Flop quilt.  I'm about half-way done with it now.


The quilting is difficult to see by design.  I'm using a variegated yellow on top and a multi-colored variegated thread on the bottom.  So far, I've only worked on the yellow squares, but I'm also planning to quilt the sashing and border using a nice midnight blue thread.  I'll keep the same bobbin thread throughout.

The yellow fabric is leftover from a back I made a while ago.  It reminds me of beach sand, and so I'm trying to make the quilting suggestive of sand dunes.  You can be the judge of how successful I am with this.


It's a little easier to see the design on the back.



I'm also planning to outline the flip flops with monofilament thread to give it more texture and to improve the looks of the design from the back.  This is only about my fourth real try at free motion quilting, so I'm keeping it pretty simple.

Once I've finished this quilt, I'll be able to get to work on my Kitten's Tale quilt once again.  The blocks need to be sewn together, I need to make the outer border, and I'm planning to free motion quilt it too.  Still lots of work to do, but I feel as if I made a lot of progress this week.

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13 comments:

Jo said...

Have fun with your family on the fourth! Watch out for sunburn! We took a ride to fossil,Oregon, over the weekend, for the fossil mining but never got to do it as there was a classic car show and bluegrass thing going on so we enjoyed that quite a bit. I didn't feel like I was getting a burn and even had sunscreen on but I look like a roasted lobster now. Be careful!

lotusleaf said...

Such beautiful quilts! The yellow fabric does suggest the sand, and the flip flops are perfect!Thanks for dropping by.

MJ said...

that is so unique!!

Nina Marie said...

wow you've been busy - so glad you are nearly done with the BOM - what a good feeling. I love the flip flops!

Quilter Kathy said...

Love your kitten quilt...the borders are beyond adorable...great job!

Kate said...

The flip flop quilt is really cute! Love your quilting idea and the backing fabric. What a fun project!

Amy said...

Lots of neat projects! Doing a great job with the free motion quilting.

LethargicLass said...

I think you made the sand dunes perfectly, it looks great! Happy 4th of July!

Michelle said...

I like the quilting!

Karen said...

Oh I just LOVE your flip flop quilt! I must make one! I just started quilting, so it may be a while till I get around to making it.

Denise :) said...

The flip-flop quilt is just darling! I've got a pattern for one...I think you just inspired me to get it out and do something with it! Happy Independence Day! :)

quiltzyx said...

Everything is looking good :D

I think your sand dunes are very successful & a great idea!

Enjoy the fireworks tonight. :D

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

Great quilts. That flip flop one is adorable!