U.F.O. update

One baby quilt finished and presented - wahoo.  Updated my UFO list on the right hand side of the blog page and noticed that I've mentioned my Buckeye Beauty which is on my design wall.  Wanna sneak peak?

This is another scrappy adventure.  Are we having fun yet?  Oh yes we are!  I threw everything in here, even if I thought the pattern was too bold.  I like the effect and have thrown off all control and welcomed every block in.  The quilt police have been dispatched elsewhere.  They do not live at my house any more.  Don't you just love being liberated??  Oh yeah....

Baby Quilt Buzz

I absolutely love my ministry at my church.  I am privileged to make baby quilts for our newborns (or older if we're really behind...) and to welcome them to our world and to the family of God.  Today was another one of those days.

This is a picture of the quilt I presented this morning...

These nine-patch blocks came from a Canadian Quiltswappers Block Swap. All I did was frame them alternately with dark brown and beige and then added a teddy-bear border.  There are sheepies on the back.  I think this qualifies as a scrap quilt and for sure a stash buster quilt.  I didn't purchase anything new for this quilt and love the scrappiness of it.

I better get back to my sewing machine.  We have a bumper crop of babies due this spring and many, many more quilts to produce.  Til next time...

and the battles rages on...

in my soul, that is.  I tried a friend's quilting machine (which is comprised of a Little Gracie II and a Janome 6600).  She can do a baby quilt in 1-2 hours.  I visited yesterday and even got to test drive on a charity quilt she is working on. It was great fun!  I came home wanting that or a long arm...again. Sigh.  But I had to see it.  Isn't that what it's like?  You don't want a new car until you go for that test drive...and then you're sunk unless you have the willpower of ..well I don't know what or who, but you get my point. 


I've been working very hard at being content, I really have, but for the last 24 hours all I can think about it how to get my own long-arm.  I really thought I was settled about this.  We simply don't have the cash right now, so practically speaking, it's not going to happen.  But then why this sudden onslaught of lust after what I cannot have?  I repent...I will be content.  And if I really need to try it out, my friend has offered to let me take a quilt to her place and test it on her machine.  That's good enough for me!

One hopeful option for my quest (or non-quest depending on my state of mind at the time) - I am married to a mechanical/woodworking genius.  My dear husband is pondering building me the quilting frame.  With my Janome 6500 I would have the equivalent, basically, of my friend.  Wouldn't that be nice...but for now I will wait.

And there ends today's rantings.  Time to go play some more on my handquilting project.

Mavis

Handquilting vs Long Arm Quilting vs Machine Quilting on Domestic Machine

My Double Delight quilt top is finished (started January 2009 at Quiltville.com but had a few stalls along the way).  About 3/4 of the way through piecing it, I realized that I wanted to hand quilt it.  The process of arriving at that decision was a long one.

Long had I wondered, pondered, decided, then undecided, and pondered some more about whether or not to buy a long arm.  I find that machine quilting is difficult on a domestic machine.  I must not be alone here as how many quilters do I know that get stalled at the quilt top stage?  In my mind I justify the expense of a long arm setup by adding up what it would cost to have my quilts long arm quilted by someone else.  10 or so quilts and it's paid for right?  I don't think I would ever have the nerve to quilt someone else's work and it causes me anxiety to even think about that option.  So, I just need to justify the cost by my own savings. And I feel adequately confident that I can justify the expenditure as a long term investment if I simply crunch enough numbers.  After all, if I have quilting retreats at our B&B then I could offer the long arm as an added bonus.  Think of the possibilities!!

But then I go to a guild meeting and see the amazing work of other quilters all done by domestic machines and feel challenged to 'make do' with my domestic machine.  I can think of many quilters that have produced absolute works of art (and award winning quilts) on their domestic machines:  Ricky Tims, Barbara Shapel (www.barbarashapel.com), Ana Buzzalino (of Calgary, AB), Martha Cole  (www.marthacole.ca), and I'm sure there are many, many more.

With the economy still unsure, I know many of my quilting friends, as well as myself, have gone 'no buy' for fabric. I'm on year 2 of 'no buy' but I did fall off the wagon on a few occasions.  I went on a year long magazine 'fast' too.  I've worked hard at sewing from my stash and delving into scrap quilts (Double Delight was my first).  Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville is very inspiring in this department and it is a totally different challenge than buying specific fabric for a specific pattern.  You'll know if you have control issues when  you attempt your first scrap quilt and squirm at the colour combinations that randomly fall together.  It's such freedom when break past that barrier!!

Friends, our hobby has grown into big business but it hasn't always been that way.  I personally think it's time to look backwards a decade or two or ten to gain some inspiration from our ancestors.


Here is part of my story:  In March, 2009 our family had a medical diagnosis which meant that I may be spending consistent time every month hooked up to an IV and so would my son. This would mean monthly trips to a different city to the hospital.   Through this difficult time of coming to terms with our family's genetic disease, this was also the turning point for me in the long-arm debate. My decision was now made, for the time being anyway.  I decided that I needed to focus on portable hand work. But I needed to learn some skills.  So last year I learned needle-turn applique.  I was at Quilting in the Trees Annual Retreat at Pearson College in June 2009 and began a wall hanging with one of Nancy Chong's patterns.  It's still classifed as a UFO but I am making great progress and have one portable project to take with me wherever I wish. These are not instant gratification projects.  These are the ones that you add a few stitches here, a few stitches there and one day you have a finished project.

Then I took a quick lesson from a friend on hand-quilting. After that I bought Alex Anderson's book and decided there was nothing left to stop me.  The needles cost a mere $2.12 and I was given a quilting hoop.  Equipment - check! So, I am happy to announce that I have  joined the ranks of the hand quilters.  I am enjoying the process although could still do with a good thimble as the fingers are a wee bit tender.  I love the look of the hand quilting and this quilt really lends itself to hand quilting, which is why I chose this quilt as my first hand quilted project.  And here it is...my Double Delight!

I guess all of this is to say that I wanted to share with you my journey through this debate.  I'm very happy and content with my domestic machine (Janome 6500) and will do my best to produce quilts that I will be proud of and that will be cherished by  my family and friends who receive them.  I will take what I've learned from Ricky Tims (about level working space for machine quilting) to do machine quilting, will keep working at my hand quilting skill and will enjoy the learning process and forgive myself for my first stitches.    Here's a closeup of the quilting:

If one day an opportunity should arise for me to have a long arm then I will revisit that option.  But for now, I'm glad to be slowing down and enjoying the therapeutic approach to my hobby.

Disappearing Nine Patch

This is a very simple construction technique and very quick to assemble.  This is one I made my niece Becky for Christmas 2009:

No-Sew Block Swap

Here is a picture of the block I chose for an online no-sew block swap: 

This is called "Annie's choice" from www.quilterscache.com and I can see why it was her choice!  It was SO easy and cut and sewn in 1/2 hour.  I prepared 8 baggies of triangles which I will now put in the mail to the swap host.  On February 1st she will be mailing me 8 different packages of fabric for 8 different blocks.  The result?  A nice red, white and blue sampler.  Isn't that a whole lotta fun??

2010 brings a new mystery

Well, it really started on the US Thanksgiving weekend when my friend Celia from Seattle arrived at our B&B for the weekend with her husband Howie and her Brother Embroidery/Sewing machine.  Celia always takes her machine on vacation with her.  I would too if I could get away with it. 

Celia had packed up enough quilting projects for two trips and she was raring to sew as soon as they settled in.  I knew we were in for a fun weekend.

About the same time, Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com was announcing a new mystery quilt on her website.  She called the new quilt "Carolina Christmas".  In my most mischievous voice I asked Celia, "would you be interested in starting a mystery quilt with me this weekend?  It would mean, of course, that we have to go shopping...".  I didn't need to twist her arm much.  We set out to Cloth Castle just before they closed on either Thursday night or Friday night.

After we had acquired some fabric for her (OK and maybe a few fillers for me), we printed out the first clue in Bonnie's mystery and set to cutting.  Here are some photos of our time:

 Celia cutting her gold fabric for the mystery quilt.

Celia's greens, reds and neutrals

My non-scrappy #2 Carolina Christmas colours.

My half-scrappy, half controlled #1 Carolina Christmas colours.  Did I not mention I'm doing 2 of these?  The plan is to do 2 queens or maybe 1 queen and 1 king for the Queen and Princess or Queen and King suites of our B&B.

It doesn't look like much but these are my #1 gold and neutral step 1 units.  They aren't going to be four-patches.  They will be part of poinsettia units (not there yet but I peeked ahead!).

This is the same step 1 of my #2 CC fabrics.  I couldn't resist these fabrics when I saw them on sale at Fabricland at half off (which is why I'm now doing two).

And these are Celia's step 1 units (hers is scrappy).  Lovely tones...

I've moved beyond step one but haven't taken any more photos yet.  I've cut some green and I've cut some red and I've cut some more neutral.  I'm working on my poinsettia star units.

Bonnie's quilt is gorgeous and can be seen at Quiltville.  I'll upload some more pictures soon. 

And Celia and I are in contact from time to time to check on each other's progress.  It's not a race at all but it's nice to have a quilting partner to share this with!