Happy Mid-September Tuesday!
How was everyone's week?
I've been quilting away and my pile of
finished tops is now down to just one!
Last Week's To-Do's--Now Ta-Da's:
1) Bind and label Meow: Done!
Meow! 46x54
Last week I avoided close-up pics due to my "off"
quilting but then I realized this was not sticking to
my "keep it real" rule so this time I'm including pics.
2) Finish quilting Squirrel in the Secret Garden: Done!
Squirrel in the Secret Garden 88 X 104
Because nothing shows off a spring quilt like....
uh, pumpkins!?
Oh well.
(more true to color here)
The quilting went a little more smoothly with this quilt
but I still felt I could have done better. I don't mean to
make an issue of it--I just want to diagnose what's up.
Perhaps it's just this pattern. I vaguely remember
thinking this it's not quite as easy as it looks.
The entire pattern has a pretty drastic "wave" to it
which can really add some strain.
I always feel pantograph quilting requires a different
kind of hold on the machine--one that, in my opinion,
uses more of the body. Actually, it uses the entire body
right down to the toes to keep a smooth and fluid control.
But as a pattern gets farther away from you, the more
you have to lean and eventually rely on just your arms,
thus losing some of that smooth control. Not sure if that
makes sense but I think this is why the pattern isn't as
easy as it appears, especially with chronic pain issues.
But all that aside, I'm happy with it and I love the quilting
pattern that I chose for it, even if it was a little tricky.
I can't wait to pull this one back out next spring!
3) Choose and start on border for the garlic knot quilt
Done!
I really wanted to put a black pieced border on this but
when I went to "try out" fabrics next to it, I really liked how
they looked and suddenly I was just putting them on.
Another quick toss-on-the-bed pic; no staging.
This quilt is pretty much the same size as my
Secret garden quilt since it's going on our bed
as well--only much sooner.
I hit my fav-clearance-section quilt shop and
found a nice plaid fabric that screamed
"Put me on the back of a fall quilt!"
(They should definitely make more assertive fabric like that.)
Plaids, stripes and other linear patterns aren't great
for backings but this looked to be printed very straight.
I was happily envisioning turning back the covers on cool
evenings to reveal this cozy fall fabric before I realized
there clearly was not enough for a queen quilt.
and will likely never be seen but it still matches very well.
Certainly I could add something from the stash?
(Ah--less guilt!)
Hubs loves plaids, too, and I knew he'd appreciate the
masculine touch it would bring so I snatched it up.
(Hubs thinks it's perfect.)
I may or may not have grabbed 11+ yards of
another fabric but who's keeping track?
Actually I am, and I'm supposed to be thinning out
my bolt stash most of all but if one can catch the
good stuff marked down to $5/yd and have a solid
purpose in mind for it, well then grab away!
And besides, I think that's the thinnest I've seen
that clearance collection--is this a sign of how the
Shop Hop might go? Definitely safer to grab now.
It might even show up on my next project--likely
before the Shop Hop.
So now the garlic knot quilt is loaded up and
ready for quilting. Amazing.
Stuff is gettin' done, I tell you!
Here's a random quilt that caught my attention
at the shop, btw. So pretty!
4) Other things:
Continue canning tomatoes, fall decorating and
make something yummy with the first pumpkin.
My collection of tomatoes is growing:
22 quarts and 20 pints total (reg and Italian-style)
so far. Not bad, but I'd like to double it.
To this latest batch I added roasted garlic--yet
another step but it'll be great in certain recipes.
I didn't get anything made with pumpkin yet
but I got two baked and pureed up.
Looking forward, the weather is going to be super
so I want to focus a little more on fall cleaning.
But all work and no play makes me dull grumpy so
I do plan on getting some quilty things done still:
Next week's to-do's:
1) Finish quilting garlic knot quilt
2) Load up West Point quilt
(start on quilting when thread arrives)
3) Start on West Point table runners?
Hoping to pop out 2 or 3 here.
4) Garden Stuff
More canning.
Start garden clean-up.
Happy quilting!
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