DWM 1-18-16

I guess I should say it is design bed Monday since my design wall is not large enough to hold all these blocks. I finally got all the blocks and setting triangles done and if you read my last post you know I had to piece the setting blocks twice. I hope to get these put together this week. I work late Tuesday and Wednesday so maybe with a little luck that will happen.

The ripping this weekend was not limited to the mystery quilt. The first row I quilted on this baby quilt had to be ripped out. I thought I had my tension right but NOT, it took about 10 minutes to quilt one row and 2 hours to rip it out. After I got that corrected the rest of the quilting went pretty well except for the thread breaking several times.

And the ripping didn't stop there and neither did the thread breaking. A friend wanted me to quilt this flannel quilt for her with no batting. I had the same trouble with the breakage but had my tension right until the last two rows I did before I stopped for the day on Saturday. I had quilted two rows without the thread breaking and was really happy. Planned to finish it on Sunday and get her second flannel quilt done as well. That was when I discovered those last two rows had to be picked out due to tension trouble.  It took most of the afternoon to finish this one so I am going to wait until I get a different spool of thread before I quilt the second one.

Hope things go better this week. Happy quilting everyone.


Teresa

A Ripper of a Day

That is seam ripper in major use this morning. Last night my plans were to quilt that baby quilt this morning. However my leg hurt so much during the night that I didn't rest well and since I have to work this evening I thought that would be too much time on my feet. So the next best plan was to work on my mystery quilt, just had one more block to finish but a piece was missing. I still had the setting triangles to do. I had pieced two the last time I got to sew. This morning I plowed through the other 16 and discovered the missing piece of the last block so I sewed it together and was ready to start putting the rows together.  I am pressing the setting blocks and discover something doesn't look right.

This is how it should look, it is already attached to the first block.

This is how the other side looked which is all wrong. Guess what? I did all the other 16 this way, so now I have a lot of ripping to do. Thinks I should have just stayed in bed.

Happy stitching or in my case unstitching,

Teresa

DWM 1-11-16

I am still working on the Bonnie Hunter mystery, but I also need to get a baby quilt done for a little one who's arrival is in March. Friday I was going through some old quilt magazines and found this pattern in a March/April 2013 Quiltmaker magazine. I started cutting is out Saturday night after work and finished the blocks on Sunday. Just have to put them all together now. It makes a 54 x 66 quilt which is more  a kid quilt or one to grow with. I am still a little unsure about the border fabric. I have a green but it is not as bright as all the other fabrics. The pattern showed it with a turquoise blue, so I may have to do some shopping. I was able to use the white dot that I had already cut for a black and white disappearing nine patch.   I have other blocks made to in large that one and no longer plan to do the applique border.

Got to work today, freight day as usual but for all Alabama fans it is a big day, National Championship game. Roll Tide and have a great day.

Teresa 

DWM Jan 4, 2016

I have added 5 more blocks since my last post. I am working a few blocks in between other projects. I had a lady who wanted me to bind a quilt for her. It was a huge 92 x 108 so that took a little while, but  before I could sew on the  binding I had to add a strip to the back that had come up short in the quilting process. The person who had quilted it didn't quilt all the way to the edge so it was pretty easy to add the strip, didn't have to take out any quilting. This was just a good lesson for me to always triple measure the quilt top and back.

At first I wasn't sure I was going to like the mystery with my color changes, but now with a few more blocks made I think it will be fine. It is just going to have a totally different look. I really like her color selection too and maybe one day I will do it again using those colors.

I quilted this one on New Years day using swirls. I had been drawing and drawing swirls but still wasn't happy with them. When I got this little one loaded I thought just go for it and try the swirls. I have to say I can quilt them better than draw them. Of course they are not perfect and I learned a lot about starting and stopping them, but I am happy with the outcome.

I also quilted this little trip around the world. Still practicing the daisy pattern. I added the binding to this one yesterday as well. Now I have a couple of items for those times I just want to sit and prop my feet up but still get something accomplished.

I have been wanting an embroidery machine for over a year but after I got the long arm just didn't think it would happen. Then about a month ago the sister of my best friend in high school came in the store and she tells me she bought this machine without realizing that it was not a sewing machine too. It was the exact model I had been looking at. So yesterday I just took it off her hands. It was brand new still in the box. I have unpacked it but that is as far as I have gotten. I can see I will have to do a lot of reading and learning. This is almost like a whole new language. Hope I can handle it.

Meanwhile happy stitching,

Teresa

Happy New Year 2016

My Mother always said whatever you do on New Years day you will do all year long, so make sure you don't do any washing and ironing. I think I had to work last New Years day and it seemed like all I did in 2015 was work. So I hope to drastically change things this year. I do not have to work today so I plan to do a lot of the things that I really like to do today like quilting so that maybe I can do more of that this coming year.

Last night Bonnie Hunter had her reveal for the 2015 mystery "Allietare" .  I didn't do her mystery last year because work was so busy and I really missed stitching along with her. This time I decided I would make the time to do it. When she first started showing her color options I immediately thought autumn so I made a few color changes in keeping with that theme. I substituted a brown for her grey and dark greens for her black. I am not sure I made the right choice with the brown. I like the dark green but the brown may be too dark.

I really like this block.

And I like this one as well, just not sure if it will have the same effect as Bonnie's quilt, which I think is the prettiest one she has ever done. I may redo steps 1 and 2 and change to the gray. Just don't know yet. I could use the 20 dark blocks in another quilt. I think I will just keep stitching and see how it goes. I had not got the parts done for the setting triangles that use the brown so I wouldn't have to redo that step.


I hope everyone has a happy new year and gets a lot of stitching done. Happy quilting.

Teresa