New baby Quilt Update

This one is now on the longarm, and hopefully quilted in the next couple of days, I plan to work on it after church tomorrow because the expected baby is on her way via C- Section as I write!

The construction process was interesting as the plan below shows. 

I have only had one other quilt pieced in odd shaped blocks before, but in this case it was simple and everything went together perfectly flat and square.

 I have a few of these little design boards that really helped

 to keep all the pieces in order as I sewed.

I worked on only one section at a time to avoid confusion!

Its much prettier in actuality, does not photograph well but perhaps quilting will help that. I dithered around about quilting design thinking to do something custom and modern but it did not suit so I am doing E-E freehand feminine feathery thing!
We had our monthly MeetUp today, only four of us there but we all made some progress. I managed to piece the 35th. Ave BOM, I am so pleased to have that one done it is not my favorite. I paid no attention to the order I sewed the blocks together and it probably made no difference?! Add that one to the other half dozen of my own quilts awaiting the longarm!

The blocks have their own sashing that makes a secondary pattern so I did not add more and there will be no border, it's already 45"x72" and will probably be a baby quilt. I have some pink and grey striped fabric that I think will work for the backing.

 I had to search the internet for "Quadriga Cloth"- it was manufactured by Ely and Walker Dry Goods Company and has a special finish that makes it appear similar to a polished cotton, very soft hand and fine thread count. The company went out of business decades ago so this is likely a vintage fabric. It's only 36" wide and was given to me at some point years ago! Any further information would be welcomed!

New Project!

But before I could begin, I felt the need to do a bit more on Ringo lake. I have a very difficult time with UFO's, I am a finisher at heart and I can only wonder at those who have mega numbers of Partly Sewn Projects! It would make me very unhappy to have so many unfinished quilts.

I also needed a little wine to help me along! Because I make these Flying Geese four at a time they have to be trimmed and it's a very boring chore!

The pattern I chose for the next baby quilt is called "Triangles At Play" by Sarah Ruiz and it may be downloaded free from Craftsy.com. It will be a very speedy project I think.

I am using only two colors, those the mom-to-be chose, yellow and grey. I managed to get all the pieces prepped ready to sew later tomorrow, after church and a visit to see great granddaughter Paisley!

 I did take a little time out for a quick, healthy dinner, Aussie lamb chops smothered in mushrooms with organic salad greens from my friend's garden and oranges from mine and another glass of that nice red Zinfandel, yummy!

Two More KS Quilts Off The Longarm, And A "Friendly" Border!

These go back to California as soon as I find a large enough box!

 I think this is Turning Twenty Again, quilted with Superior King Tut variegated Blue Nile

 in an all over freehand feathery thing!

 The batting is Quilters Dream Pink, 80/20 cotton poly.

 The same Blue Nile thread worked great on this quilt with another edge to edge freehand this time using Peacock feathers.  Batting is Heirloom 80/20 cotton /poly.

As I was quilting along I discovered a "wavy" border on one side. This has happened often enough that I have a simple fix to take up the excess fabric and avoid puckers and tucks in the quilt top.

You can see that with this much excess fabric it would be impossible to get a nice smooth result.

Undoing the seam and overlapping the fabric takes up the "slack" in the border, but I also needed to take out a couple of inches of the quilting I had done to allow for distribution of the excess fabric.

 Then use tiny stitches by hand to resew the seam before quilting over it.

I doubt that you can even spot the seam once it is quilted

In this close up you can just make out the re-sewn area. This is a handy idea to keep in mind in case you encounter friendly borders that wave at you!.

The Bombo Genesis!

Our annual Christmas time vacation in the north east was a very chilly event, many days in single digits and nights at minus something or other!

Consequently we had a lot of time around the fire drinking warm/adult beverages, but I have done a little sewing too!

We attended a performance of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Love Never Dies”at the Providence Performing Arts Center, in case you didn’t know it is kind of a sequel to “Phantom”

We enjoyed it but found it less exciting than “Phantom” and the music not as catchy. The voices of all of the performers were top notch especially the young boy soprano playing the part of Christine’s son Gustav.

We went looking for a Brewpub after and ended up at Trinity Brewhouse. The Bisonburger was terrific and we chose our beers from a flight. I had a gingery beer called Screaming Viking, it was most enjoyable.

Some progress on “Ringo Lake”, close to finished on part #6. I appear to have left the coral FG at home so clue #7 is incomplete and I am unable to begin constructing the blocks.

 We celebrated New Years day with friends of the family coming over and I made a Pavlova, might seem a little strange with the temperature in the very cold zone but the house was warm!

We arrived home late Sunday night, weather issues delayed the flight departure from Boston an hour and a half. Monday night we watched the College Championships at "Fatsos".

Below is a mock-up of my Ringo Lake block, the turquoise is very washed out under flourescent light. As soon as I get the current KS quilt off the longarm [maybe tomorrow] I can get back to sewing on Ringo Lake then I need to whip up a baby quilt for a little girl who is due any day!

I am not very impressed with the color combo at the moment butI hope it will be better once the quilt is constructed.