Saturday, May 24, 2014

A Yard Sale Buy!

Hi all!
I hope that you are all enjoying the nice weather and spending a bit of time outside!  This morning my Mother and I decided to go yardsaling and we had a blast!  It's always fun to see what is out there and we get to spend some time together sans kids!

This morning I was at the yard sale of a quilting friend of mine and she happened to be selling this!

 
The Elna Press Alize! 

 

Here it is open.  I have wanted one of these for a while to press out my finished rug hooked pieces.  Even though it was a reasonable price I at first hesitated.  But, after I got home I thought - why not!  So, I went back and grabbed it..

I had a spot in my sewing studio that was pretty much just covered in what ever I needed to throw somewhere that turns out to be the perfect spot for it; so, I cleared it off and it fits perfectly.

I switched it on and wow does it do a great job of quickly pressing those blocks and units.  I know that I will be very happy with this addition :-)  My husband is also happy b/c he will be able to iron his work shirts LOL!!

I love yard sales :-D







Sunday, May 18, 2014

Scrappy Trips is Finished!

Done and done!  Quilted and bound!

  

Scrappy Trips is finished and ready to be donated.  I am very happy with how this turned out.  I am extremely thrilled with how many scraps this used up.  My 2.5" strip bin is nearly empty after my New Years mystery quilt and this one.  I backed this with a large piece of flannelette I have had forever and didn't really have any use for but didn't want to get rid of.  Even the binding was EXACTLY the right amount to bind the quilt with very little left-over.  Awesome!  I think that I will try to keep one of these on the go to be donated.

 

Here's a close-up of the quilting I used my loricles swirls grooved board and  a 40 weight variegated cotton thread top and bobbin.  I have to say - after working with Glide thread so much I forgot how temperamental and linty cotton thread can be!  Don't get me wrong I still like it but you definitely cannot move the machine as fast as with the Glide thread. 

I am really enjoying doing these charity quilts again.  I feel like it is a win-win situation.  I use up scraps, get to quilt; and, I am not storing yet another lap quilt that I honestly don't need.  I mean really - how many quilts does a girl need?!

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Sick Day Sewing

Hey all!

I have a wicked spring cold and it has really taken me down.  I can't do anything requiring strength or deep thought  and that has resulted in me being extremely bored!  I wanted to do some sewing but I don't feel up to doing too strenuous.  I remembered my Scrappy Trip Blocks (Bonnie Hunter inspired!) and thought that I would sew some together of them for a charity quilt.


You wouldn't believe how long this took me to do LOL!  It was like I was sewing in slow motion.  It is a little bit big for a Victoria's Quilts but I think they will still accept it. 

Hmm now to find something else to do.  Are you able to sew while you're not feeling well?  Any suggestions?

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Testing the Quilting

Hi all!

What a fine, rainy day it is today!  It is the perfect day to stay in your pajamas and play if you ask me!

I have been wanting to get quilting on Night Sky but I was a little apprehensive because what I want to do is a bunch of techniques that I haven't done a lot of before.  Then I remembered the left-over blocks from the quilt!

I grabbed the blocks and pieced them together into a runner so that I could test-quilt without the pressure ;-)  These are the less than perfect blocks so if it's not perfect I won't be too upset at myself.

I decided to double layer the batting as well; cotton on the bottom and silk on the top to see how I like quilting with a double layer - might as well try it out here and not on the quilt!

 

Now I am just laying out a few different threads to see what colours I like and then I can get to work.  I think I have everything I was needing for this quilt, sigh, I was really hoping that I could justify some thread purchasing LOL!! Maybe next time.

So any thoughts about the threads?  I am envisioning some pretty heavy quilting on this one so it should be fun to see where it all goes!  Time to bring over some more light so I can see on the black.

2022 Christmas T-Shirt Quilt Gift

As promised - here is the T-Shirt Quilt Christmas Gift from 2022! I did share this on my Facebook page but not on my blog, (whoops sorry!) s...