3/19/13

Monday's Sewing

Well, yes, it's Tuesday, but pretty much everything I'm about to tell you happened yesterday.  I'm a yesterday's child kind of gal.  I have lots to tell you and lots of pictures to show you, so I'll just get right to it.

Yesterday I finished up the center panel for the True Hope quilt.  I'm really liking the way this is looking.  Now it just needs borders.  It has one 2-inch border of the gray you see in the four-patch part of the triangle block, and then a wider border of the swallow fabric.  I'll probably use these same fabrics to piece a back for it and bind it in red or black.  But I'm getting ahead of myself because I won't do the borders until later.  For now, I'm going to set it aside and work on quilting the Perfect Harmony quilt.


I had a few minutes to spare before I needed to take off for the 2nd of four classes to learn to use my sewing machine.  I knew I was nearly finished with my latest Vintage Miniature Sewing Machine block, and so I spent the time tracing out the next motifs for the Gardener's Journal quilt.  The next two motifs for the third block are the dog house...


and "There's No Place Like Home".


And this morning, I actually did finish up the 11th of 12 blocks for the Vintage Miniature Sewing Machine BOM.  I'm still awaiting the arrival of the last block, which we are told is lost in the mail.  Hm.


I'll be linking this post to Slow Sunday Stitching later in the week.


Then last night I went to the 2nd of the four classes to learn to use my new sewing machine.  We spent some time playing with the fancy stitches last night and learning about some of the feet that came with the machine. The bottom row was to experiment with satin stitch and blanket stitch.  I can do a double blanket stitch now, and I think I'm going to love that for machine applique.  Also, check out some of these adorable stitches.  I was playing with the more whimsical ones.  Do you see the cat and the dog?  How about the dinosaur?  There are several fonts as well and I can program in a combination of stitches and lettering if I want to.  There won't be any excuse not to do my quilt labels now.


The class could have been half as long, but we were enticed to buy some of the more expensive optional feet.  Here is what I did with the piping foot.  I passed on that one.  It's cool, but I doubt I would use it enough to justify the substantial expense.  It's my one gripe about Bernina...the parts are fabulously expensive.


Also, she showed us the ruffling foot.  Again...maybe if I had a granddaughter, but I doubt I would use this otherwise.


You can even attach a piece that allows you to make the ruffle and attach it to another piece of fabric at the same time!  Very cool, and very expensive.


But here's what you've been waiting for.  Before I went to class, I picked up the Plain and Simple quilt from my quilter, Erin Davis.  I asked Erin to do traditional quilting motifs on this traditional Amish quilt, and I knew she would do a good job on it.  I was not disappointed.  These pictures are less than adequate, but the quilt is huge.  I really need my holder-upper men to help me.  I'll ask them once I have the binding on it--probably next month.  Here's a portion of the whole quilt:


Now I'll show you some of the motifs on the individual blocks.  She did a diagonal grid on this Around the World block.


Medallions on some of the smaller blocks.


I absolutely love this pretty motif she did on the solid color blocks.


Here's another shot of it along with a peek at the borders.


She did this combination of feathering and a medallion on this Amish Bars block.  This is one of the large 18-inch blocks.  She used this same motif on the Square in a Square block, also 18-inches.  My picture was blurry, and so I didn't include it.


Here's another peek at the inner border and cornerstone.


Here's what she did with the outer border.  Erin and I discussed thread color.  Initially I asked for black, but she talked me out of it.  I think it was a wise choice to go with tan, but I still wanted black thread in the black border.  Also, she used a black poly batting.  She was afraid a white batting would show through or beard in such a way that I wouldn't be happy with it.  (I'm glad there are folks who know about batting because I sure don't.)


Here's another image of the combination feather and medallion motif.  And notice what she did with the basket in the upper right-hand corner of this image.


And here's a peek at the back.  So pretty.  I'm going to bind the quilt in black.  


My quilter, Erin, has a gift for doing these traditional motifs.  She's quilted many quilts for me and she always does a beautiful job.  She's located in Wilsonville, Oregon.  If you're interested in contacting Erin, you can email her.

Today I'm checking in with my Curves coach and getting back to working out after a ten-day absence.  When I get home, I have a little housework to do, and then I'm going to start on the quilting for the Perfect Harmony quilt.  I hope your Tuesday is going well so far.

26 comments:

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Thank you for sharing all of the beautiful work by both you and Erin.

Kirsty said...

Oh wow, the Amish quilt is just gorgeous! Just stunning. The motifs are perfect and the tan thread was a great choice. Well done to you both. Also well done for saying no to the more expensive feet at your class. It is so easy to go overboard. I love the quirky little cat/dog/dinosaur stitches you can do, though. Fabulous!

Marti said...

Wow! I'm going to tell you the truth, when I first saw your pieced triangles strips, I thought they were pretty, but not outstanding. But with the fabric between them, they are suddenly outstanding. You have a great eye for color and pattern.

The Plain and Simple quilt lovely. Wonderful quilting on it. She really is talented.

Anonymous said...

Oh! I love the quilt, its colours and she did a tremendous job with the quilting! Absolutely beautiful!

it's good to see what you did at the lessons, I agree that some of those feet might not be that useful... I considered to get a few extra when I bought my machine, but then I discovered that I could do piping and ruffles without those special feet. I even bought a binding feet and haven't used it yet...

Anonymous said...

Oh! forgot to say that I like the the stitches in your machine! the bicycle and the cat are brilliant! I have crocodiles in mine...

Lynette said...

You got it back! I just love how she quilted this one. :) The kitty in your machine's stitches is way too adorable, the sewing machine block turned out so pretty (are they going to resend the final block pattern??), and I really love the swallows quilt center. Gorgeous.

Sheila said...

The quilting on "Plain & Simple" is beautiful. Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with your new machine. Just think of all the new things that you are going to be able to incorporate into future projects. :) Having a great day in my sewing room. Working on a Pat Sloan Redwork quilt.

Quilting Babcia said...

Wowsers! Plain & Simple is simply gorgeous! It's fun to learn all the fancy things these machines can do, but truth be told I use my fancy machine for SID and FMQ and that's about it. Still enjoy piecing with my oldies but goodies. Today is tax form filling-out day - ugh.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Lovely works in progress - The Amish looks fantastic and I agree with the tan thread. We have a student with that machine and every piece of extra that goes with it. She can't even master the quarter inch seam and has no idea what everything is for or does - useless nonesense!! Love the Smitty row!!

Quiltsmiles said...

Your "plain and simple" is anything but! What a Beautiful quilt. I agree with the tan thread and also that Bernina feet can be costly. Something I learned years ago is that Bernina dealers give a 25% discount off the price of Bernina assessories at quilt shows. So I attend them with a list of feet/notions wanted whenever I go. And because they don't carry all the feet at venues, it's good to have a 2nd and third most wanted items noted too. Before you know it you'll have anyfoot you deem worthy of the need and at a fraction of the cost! Even the Feetures Books, there's a set of 3 volumes, which is like a bible on the B feet can be purchased with this discount. Happy now that I have most feet including the piped, ruffler, needlepunch, etc... I know I'm spoiled, but I did work for them and do use them. I even share them with sister quilters who also have Berninas but not some of the feet. Jane

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

What fun stitches you have. Maybe I should send you my Harry Potter blocks and let you embroidery them (my Janome only makes one size of letters, not small enough)

Diane Wild said...

The Amish quilt is awesome. All I can say is WOW!

Becky said...

Beautiful quilting! You might want to check the 2nd from the bottom left triangle - the 4 patch is turned different than the others.

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Gorgeous quilting-unbelievable. I cannot even imagine what it costs to have that kind of skilled work done. How long did it take her to get so good at what she does ?~! Barbara, the quilt is stunning.

Teresa in Music City said...

Wow Barbara! Erin did a fabulous job on your Amish quilt!!! It is now an absolute masterpiece!

Lynne said...

Oh wow! The quilting is amazing!

I bought a new machine in 2011. I wanted a Bernina but everything about them is expensive here - the wide throat I wanted was $8,000! I settled for a Janome MC6600 for a quarter of that!

Junebug613 said...

Those are some neat stitches your new machine can do. You'd think with the cost of the machine, they could make the accessories a little more affordable. Wow! The quilting is amazing. I didn't even know that batting came in black. You really do learn something new everyday.

Brown Family said...

There are so many stitches in your machine! I think you have even more than I do! I use the piping foot (#12) when I make a piped binding.

She his an awesome job on the quilting!

Nan

Lyndsey said...

You had a fun and busy day. I love the True Hope quilt, the colours are lovely and the swallow fabric suits it so well. Drawing out embroidery patterns is another job I put off until I really need them. The dog house is cute. It is a fact that with a machine that does so many stitches you definitely need a grandchild especially so you can stitch that cute cat motif. I'm jealous as mine doesn't have that one.
As for the Plain and Simple quilt I am totally blown away. It was magnificent before the quilting but that just adds more to its charm. I can't wait to see it with the binding and when you have your holder uppers to help so we can get the full glory of it.

Dana Gaffney said...

I'm glad to hear you're not getting caught up in "you need this foot", you can always get it later. The quilt is lovely, she did a good job.

c said...

Wow, you have been BUSY! Wonderful things created. Thank you for sharing

Rachel said...

Amish looks fabUlous! Learning a new machine can be fun...buying the pieces, not so much...LOL

LethargicLass said...

first off I *ADORE* your new stitches! I would be using those all the time on things for my shop lol...

And Erin really did an amazing job... the whole quilt is probably one of my favourites

quiltzyx said...

{I tried to comment the other day from work, but couldn't remember my gmail password!}

Anyway....I L*O*V*E the quilting in your Amish sampler! Your quilt was beautiful before the quilting, but now...it takes my breath away.

Kate said...

Wow! The Amish Sampler is gorgeous, the quilting really enhances the piecing. Is this one going on a wall or a bed?

I agree Bernina is really proud of all their stuff.

Quilter Kathy said...

SO much wonderful and inspiring eye candy on your blog post today! Love the Singer stitching you finished. One day I'm going to buy a hand crank like that!
You finished quilt is gorgeous...the quilting is amazing! A masterpiece!
Thanks for linking up!