pillow

Well I am totally addicted to tractor pulling.  In fact I have not even thought about sewing much for the last month or so.  I did get the plastic all picked off my sample that I showed you all last time.  I also peeled it off the other piece that I was working on, and got the quilting done for that.  I thought I would show you a picture, but I can not seem to find it.  So lets move along.
I get together with a group of 5 guild members every other week.  We saw this beautiful pillow and 4 of us decided to make it.  When I read the pattern it said it was made using trapunto.   I have never done that before, but after I read that you do the applique and the trapunto at the same time, I thought why not.  I watched some videos and set off with my free motion quilting foot.  Essentially you fuse the pieces on.  Then you add a layer of batting to the back and pin it well.  Use a very small stitch and free motion around the edges of the pieces, all of them making sure to cover the edge.  Then I added the french knots.  I am in the process of now cutting off the batting from everywhere but behind the pieces.  When I get that done I will machine quilt it and the extra batt will be raised.  The other girls were going to just applique it, but I have them talked into trying it now!!  Such an instigator I am (or an enabler as Andrea would say)!!
So here it is!!

Oh yeah, did I mention I am addicted to tractor pulling??

Until the next stitch!!

I experimented and need to update

I have been working away on drawing a quilting pattern onto Glad peel and seal. 

I came up with this great idea of drawing my pattern on first and then quilting it.  I have told a couple of people about it and one of my friends said "How does it come off??"  That got me thinking maybe I should do a small sample and test it out.  So I came home and did up one of my 5" samples and put it to the test. 

It was really awesome that I could see the pattern.  My foot kind of stuck to the peel and seal, but I got over that quickly.  Now I used a really small filler stitch that I want to do on another piece.  It took forever, really.  I think I have close to an hour in this little thing.  By the time I was finished I knew I did not need to mark this out again.  It is easy.  And thank God for that.  I ripped it our of the machine and started peeling the peel and seal off.  Oh no!!

It is not coming off.  It will have to be picked off. I got the tweezers out and it is going good, but I DO NOT recommend this for a small stitch.  I know the pattern now but I am some glad I tested this out before I did it on a larger project!!  Until the next stitch!!

Progress

Well I have been working away on a couple different quilts. I am focusing on finishing some of the blocks of the months that I have been working on. I did a block of the month with the group of guild girls that I get together with every two weeks. It is together but needs borders. I think it turned out nice with that big star in the middle!!

I have also been trying to finish one of the four kaleidoscope of Kolor. There are 58 appliquéd stars in the outside border. So I am appliquéing them and then attaching the border to the quilt. I even appliqued some of them in metallic thread and I must say it was not a pain, as I had feared. I am not a big fan of appliqué. But seeing I do want to finish them it needs to be done.

Now a friend of mine told me a big hint. One of those hints that when she started I thought I knew what she was going to say. But even thou you know something, sometimes you do not think of doing it in another way. I knew that you could use glad peel and seal to embroider faces onto appliqued blocks. You mark it on the peel and seal, sew thru it and remove it. It sticks to the fabric so you can see it. But my friend fought me on "knowing" that when she explained how I could use it for machine quilting. I am just beginning and like the idea of a pattern on the fabric to follow. So I can draft my quilt pattern on the peel and seal, quilt it and not have to worry about pinning it to the fabric!! What a great idea!! So I am motivated to get back to machine quilting again!! (Please read the next blog, it is limited!!!!)

Aug 1st. Time to check in with the fabric and thread that is going into my cat bag!! Here it is for July!!

 

Until the next stitch!