Sharon's Latest Beauty

 

Yes, Sharon and I still attempt to make time to sew together, but I tell ya, the stuff of life does have a tendency to get in the way from time to time. Last Thursday, we had a lovely day of stitching, one that resulted in a gorgeous finish for Sharon. Take a look.

 The pattern is Chock Full O' Charm, one that both Sharon and I have made several times. The fabric is French General - La Vie Boheme. The coolest thing: our friend Dee gifted two charm packs plus yardage (border!!) to Sharon a little while back and now already this gorgeous quilt has come together!!

 

I don't know about you, but I've never met a French General fabric I didn't like. This line is just as wonderful as all those previous lines. Absolutely scrummy! (A reference for viewers of The Great British Baking Show.)

Isn't she a beauty?! That narrow inner border really does the trick in setting off both the interior of the quilt as well as the fantastic outer border. A gem of a quilt, for sure!

Hope you are getting things done on this fine day! We've had a whirlwind of activity lately. From a swarm of bees on the front porch to window additions on the back porch, we are certainly staying busy!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Slow Sunday Stitching

I'm rather pleased to tell you that I hand-tacked the binding on two quilts this week. Recent finished quilts had been given the machine-bound treatment, but these two smaller quilts were tacked down the old-fashioned way -  on my lap with needle and thread.

I had an audio book I wanted to listen to, so I needed something quiet to do while it was playing. Some books lend themselves to listening while machine-stitching, but this was one I couldn't follow unless I gave it my full attention. I'll get to the book later; let me get back to the quilting.

The most recent finish was last evening when I finished off French General Charms. I wrote about it in my previous post. I am just discovering that I've misnamed it in that post, though, so here is the correct name -  Chock Full O' Charm.

This morning, I spread the quilt out on the bed and snapped these few pictures. Because it is more lap-size, it just barely covered the top of this queen-size bed. This gives you a good look at the whole quilt, and that beautiful border print. This was the only change-up I made to the pattern. It called for 6.5-inches wide; I used 8.5-inches wide just because that fabric is so very gorgeous.

This is the second quilt finished on the long arm this month, and if I get really industrious, I think I will be able to get myself on schedule for accomplishing my goal of quilting two per month. It helps when I select smaller quilts, but I will have to do some big ones at some point.

My previously finished quilt with hand-stitched binding was this baby quilt you saw a few posts back.

I will link with Kathy over at her weekly Slow Sunday Stitching party. Wonder what all the ladies are up to today? Do you suppose any of them will be watching the Super Bowl tonight? I'll be rooting for the Bengals!

Oh yes, the book! The Perfect Horse by Elizabeth Letts is based on the actual events occuring before, during, and after WWII involving rare purebred stallions which were taken by the Nazis in much the same way they took priceless art and artifacts. Click the picture to be taken to the Amazon link. I still have a couple chapters to go; I have found it fascinating. Kudos to Letts who did a tremendous amount of research.

Happy Quilting, Friend!

I'm On a Roll Now

Yesterday I loaded another quilt onto the Tin Lizzie, and after supper I quilted it! My goodness, but it feels so good to have this growing confidence on the long-arm. From the closet of quilt tops, I bring you French General Charms. This quilt top was made in May of 2016 when Sharon and I together, made Charm About You, a quilt that looks like it made with lots of setting triangles, but in fact, is sewn together in straight rows, and then cut - yes CUT! - and rearranged to form the on point effect. One drawback is that points are lost when adding borders, but I'm not too bothered by this. From afar, it's still a beauty and the missing points are of no consequence.

One little thing occurred while I quilted, and it is a very strong indicator that progress is definitely being made. After I roll the first pass up I have learned to always inspect the stitches to make sure the underside looks good. This time, while it didn't look awful, I did think the tension could be improved. So I adjusted by a quarter-turn of the tension knob, and by gosh, that made a huge difference in the beauty of the stitching. I felt so smug about diagnosing and adjusting on the spot like that. Bit by bit, I can feel my confidence growing.

I just love this border print. What a statement it makes with its big sweeping floral design and that deep gorgeous burgundy-red. Luscious. The charms are from an older French General line Rue Indienne; I'm cannot immediately identify the border line.

And VOILA! It's quilted! At 72" x 48", it didn't take long. Despite my growing confidence, I discovered that my learning curve continues. I had a devil of a time keeping track of my stitching on the center portion of this quilt. The center is made with a haphazard placement of colors and squares - quite different from quilting well-defined blocks, such a stars or churns or 9-patches. This will be my next skill to master.

Here's a few more random shots. I have not yet trimmed the sides, so better, full-on pictures will be forthcoming.

Today, Sharon will be here to sew. We've not sewn together since December! Lots of catching up to do! Before she gets here, I have an extremely cluttered, messy quilting room to tidy up. She is used to my messes, but right now it's a whole lot worse than usual. Yikes.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Chock Full O' Charms

Back in the middle of February, Sharon came for a long day of sewing. Our time together has taken a backseat to other priorities in our lives right now, so the occasions when we can schedule some sewing time are special ones!

We both worked on our Chock Full O' Charms quilts in late 2018. I finished my quilt top at our Veterans' Day sewing, while Sharon still had some work left to do on hers. The link shows where we both were back in November. Below, she is reviewing her pattern to see where to mark and cut the parts. Look at that concentration!! *smile*

And all that concentration paid off, because take a look at what she was able to accomplish!

The fabric she used is 3 Sisters/Moda Luna Notte; it has always been a favorite of Sharon's, and this looks spectacular. She brought two choices for borders. Take a look.

Either option would have been wonderful, but she chose to go with the blue paisley. This look was softer and more subtle. It lent a gentle, cottage-y look to the whole quilt and was exceedingly romantic. I hope I can get a full-size picture of the finish to share with you. I am sure it will be spectacular.

I have said, I think, that both Sharon and I are all about fast, easy quilts this year. We have such massive-sized stashes that we simply must work more quickly to whittle away at them. We are good at encouraging each other, so we should have some success at our goals.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sewing With Sharon

After the Frienzie Brunch on Thursday, Sharon and I headed upstairs to the sewing room. We have been so sporadic in our sewing these past few months. And with my OUC schedule changing next semester, it will get worse before it gets better.

When presented an opportunity for sewing, it must be seized!

Sharon wanted to continue working on her Chock Full O' Charm quilt, which she did. And I have no new pictures of her progress to share. I can use this throwback picture from November, however.

I had a chance to do a bit of fun sewing. Several months ago, Sheryll (of the Frankfort Girls) shared a couple of cute creations that I attempted to imitate. The fabric is Pom Pom de Paris. (I think!)

The center panel is a 6.5-inch square fussy-cut from a fat quarter. The borders were cut at 1.5 inches, and the outer border was cut at 3.5 inches. The finished size is 21.5 inches and it is now ready for quilting. Or, I might make more and see what I come up with.

It felt good to get back to the sewing machine. All the holiday prepping and semester finishing and friendly gathering have limited the sewing time. I do love all those other things, and savor them all for the blessings they are. Sewing/quilting is always on standby when things slow down.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

October Update

I gotta' get my act together! October is nearly over, and I have not accomplished near the tasks I had hoped.

This teaching gig is seriously digging into my sewing and quilting time. *whine!*

I had to cancel sewing yesterday with Sharon because I still had 15 essays to read. Plus, book club is tomorrow and I had barely started the book. (More on that later.) And I admit, I do a substantial amount of running around whenever friends or family want to do something. So, I am complicit in my sewing shortcomings.

I want to make the remaining week of October productive, so I am going on record right now with the following goals:

1. Finish the basket quilt top.

I have just 2 or 3 horizontal rows to attach along with their sashing strips. Should be one afternoon without interruptions to accomplish.

2. Finish Chock Full O' Charms quilt top.

Apparently, I haven't taken any pictures of the current CFO'C quilt, so above is a smaller version of it which I made 2-3 years ago. I am using 8 Charm Packs of Rachel Remembered, and it is going to be gorgeous! I have some of that luscious blue floral for the border. Mmmm… It will be a beauty. Stay tuned!

3. Finish the Schmidt baby quilt.

This has been a UFO for at least 3 months. I just keep putting it off. I have the border and backing fabric purchased. Like that first quilt, this would require just one nice, long session at the machine and I'd have a finish. Do I need to mention that this baby is at least 6 weeks old already?? *sheesh*

 So, three goals to try to accomplish by next Wednesday. Let's see how I fare.

Hope you are having a great Wednesday! I am about to head off to class. It's a gorgeous day!
Happy Quilting, Friends!

Chock Full of Charms - Sharon's Second

Yes, on Tuesday when Sharon was here to sew, she did indeed finish her second Chock Full of Charms quilt top. It is just as wonderful as her first, perhaps even better, because I love the dark brown inner border she used with her floral red outer border. Here's a pictorial of her progress throughout the day.

Her finished inner section is placed next to the inner border and then the outer border. Mmm, scrumptious.

Fresh off the ironing board.After a day of stitching borders, then pressing, this 'finally finished' moment is most satisfying for quilters, wouldn't you agree? The process of making a quilt is over, and you have a wonderful new creation to love. Makes me moony; do you get that way, too?

We spread it out on the guest bed. Ahhhh. We just took a step back and admired all that loveliness. Pops of blue; wonderful reds; that fantastic inner border. What a great quilt.

Two more shots of it - what the heck. You just never get tired of looking at a beautiful quilt, right??

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Sharon's Progress

To clarify, that would be her progress as of last week. I have been so lax in posting, that a full week later, I am just now getting around to posting this.

Sharon worked diligently on her second version of Chock Full of Charms. You can click back here to see her beginning it. The yardstick is for marking the lines where she will eventually cut. The time consuming part for her was to try to keep like fabrics from touching when sewn back together on point. She removed and repositioned, and still found that more was necessary after all was said and done. No pics of that, unfortunately, but she took it home to work things out.

Today she is back and we are set to get lots done. Hopefully I will bring you news of our accomplishments in under a week this time.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Making Chock Full O' Charms

Sharon and I made matching quilts this week. I think she would agree with me when I say that making Chock Full O' Charms was initially pretty daunting, then confusing, and eventually very, very satisfying. We would make another in a heartbeat, I do believe.

Sharon's Finished Top

My Finished Top

When we bought the fabric for the outer border, we knew we would make our borders very wide just to show off that lusciousness. The pattern calls for a 6.5-inch outer border; we went with 8.5 inches. The finished quilt top measures 58"x72". I have no immediate plans for quilting mine; I don't know what Sharon's plans are.

Here are some shots taken during the construction process. You really have to have the pattern for this. While the initial sewing of the squares is easy enough to do without instruction, the details provided for cutting it apart are absolutely essential. The pattern is available for download from the website.

Sharon and I were making a lap size quilt and used 3 charm packs of Moda/French General's Rue Indienne. The pattern calls for 96 squares, therefore we had 30 extra squares (42x3); it just so happened that there were 10 plain squares in each charm pack which I removed, leaving exactly enough. Because she wanted more red in her quilt, Sharon cut extra squares from her border yardage and removed squares accordingly to get her 96 required squares.

In the photo above, the 3 pieces of paper pinned to the quilt are marked A, B, and C, for the 3 sections this will be cut into. Yes, cut. This caused us some trepidation, but we did as the instructions said and had no trouble at all. Lines are drawn diagonally across the quilt at very exact locations. The photo below shows a closeup of the lines criss-crossing the quilt.

The next step is stay-stitching 1/8" on either side of the drawn lines. Now, ready to cut. Whew. This surely tests one's faith in the directions.

Sharon is lining up her ruler on the cutting line.

A zoomed-in shot of preparing to cut.

Next, we laid out the parts on the floor to see what we had. It turns out that all the stay-stitched pieces are the outer edge of the quilt center. Nice. That shouldn't have been a revelation to me, but it was.

Sew the parts back together, and you end up with a quilt center on point, and you didn't have to cut out a single triangle. It's pretty amazing; I wonder what sort of brain one needs to draft this all out and make it work. My brain is not so equipped. I considered it sufficiently challenging just to count the rows and cut accurately.

Above we have my quilt center on the left, and Sharon's on the right. Hers does have more red, which she desired. We added the 2.5"-wide inner border, and then the wide, gorgeous outer border. Mine is still spread out on the guest bed, and I love glancing in at it when I walk past.

Since Sharon and I sew together so often, we came up with the idea of doing occasional projects together. This is one, and it proved to be a huge success. The next one we are doing involves Kaffe Fassett fabric. You'll hear more about it as mid-June approaches.

Now, I need to get busy on commissions. I have been doing some "brain work" on them, but some actual sewing machine work must begin.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Reporting In

I'm late to the blog today, and my stay is going to be brief. I'm here just long enough to show you the results of yesterday's work with Sharon on the Chock Full O' Charms project we worked on.

We both got as far as attaching our inner borders. We were losing steam and Sharon needed to get home, so we stopped there. I will be trying to get my outer borders on soon, and so will Sharon, but if that doesn't happen, then we will finish these off next Tuesday.

I took several pictures of our process, but time does not permit me to go into all that now, so perhaps I will be back tomorrow with more complete details. Let me just finish by saying that this was a really fun quilt to make. And, yes, I would make another. :)

Happy Quilting, Friends!