Cursing While Basting

My absolute most hated step of quilting is basting. I have refined my technique over the years so I'm pretty efficient but I still avoid doing it until I really need to.

I finally decided to baste the Flying Geese quilt I made for my husband's aunt. The quilt top, backing and batting have been hanging over my railing for a couple of weeks now. When one kid was at a movie and the other was napping I decide to bite the bullet and get it done.

It did not go well.

My technique is to tape the quilt back using wide painter's tape to my dining room floor. Then I layer on and smooth out the batting and attach it one half at a time with 505 spray. Then I add the quilt top and half at a time secure that with spray. Roll the whole thing up and you're good to go.

I couldn't do without my 505. A gazillion pins? No thank you.

The darn backing would NOT cooperate. It kept shifting around. The tape would not hold to the fabric no matter how much I used or how firmly I pressed it. This has never happened to me before! And it was a nightmare of shifting and swearing and smoothing and retaping and shifting again. I'm sure I redid it and resmoothed it about six times.

Now I've started quilting, starting in the middle and working out. I am about a foot from the edge and I can tell things are shifting again. Insert more swearing. I've hung it back up on my railing and I will tackle it when I have the patience to try to work through the backing issues. 

What gives? I've used Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets as backing multiple times without issues. Any insights into my basting woes?

WIP Wednesday: Closer to Finishes

Having some extra free time over March Break meant that all of the current WIPs I'm working on are moving toward finishes.

The Quilt of Belonging blocks made by the second graders all got their colourful borders. There will also be thin strips of black between each block to mimic the real Quilt of Belonging. Currently the bottom row is missing two blocks- one with the name of the school, class and date, embroidered by the teaching assistant from the class, and one made by a member of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nations, a local person from the First Nations community where the school was built (on their traditional territory). Then a black sashing strip all the way around and between each row, and I get on to piecing a grey and black backing with a stack of rainbow rectangles.

Rainbow.

I also made a pillow out of the paper pieced butterfly I made for my goddaughter. Now I'm avoiding the hand sewing that is required. I really suck at hand sewing.

Did I overdo it with the clips?

I also managed to baste and quilt AeroPlus. It needs the binding made so I can get this one finished and off to the new, one-month-old owner who lives in Ottawa!

Straight line quilting to match the Greek crosses.

I did have this frustrating glitch. Booo. I was almost finished when I noticed. Fortunately it was near a corner, and with some stitch ripping, some pressing and more 505 Spray,  I was able to smooth this right out with no ill effects.

I am hoping that my next finish will be AeroPlus, followed by Little Eyes, my daughter's I-Spy quilt which is basted and waiting for quilting.

If only every week was March Break!

Backing Woes and Basting Foes

It is interesting how things happen sometimes.

Take for instance, my backing woes this week. My aunt, who is actually my mom's longtime best friend, makes quilts. When my older daughter was born she made her a quilt- entirely hand pieced- based on a pattern and fabrics I picked. It was (and is) gorgeous. But when my second daughter was born, I had been quilting for a couple of years so she assumed I didn't want her to make my little one a quilt. Wrong!

Of course I wanted both my girls to have a hand pieced quilt from their great aunt. She happily agreed, so I picked the fabric and pattern, and even prepped the fabric for her. Knowing she hates the binding step, I told her I would do the binding.

That is where the problem started. She assumed that I wanted the binding made out of the backing fabric and made all the binding. Then she didn't have enough backing fabric for her long arm quilter to quilt the quilt. Oh no! And when I told her I had the separate binding fabric it was too late!

So she came up with a solution. Take the backing fabric, seen here:

This is a Leah Day print that I LOVE. All the fabrics on the front are pulled from this gorgeous colour combo!

And get me, with my machine, to insert a big white plus sign into the fabric. The timelines were very tight because she is taking it to the long armer when she leaves for Florida in less than a week- and then she's gone for three months!

So I went along with the plan and now I think it was a happy accident because I really like the visual break that the white provides:

Nothing a little Kona White can't fix!

With that unexpected sewing in the middle, I also had to tackle my least favourite part of quilting: basting. Welcome to Canada has been sitting there, front and back pressed and prepped, batting at the ready (thanks to a generous donation from my friend A). Hubby was going out for the evening so I threw on some Netflix and tackled the least-fun task.

Some painter's tape and 505 Spray and you can't go wrong.

I got the quilt all basted and now it is ready for quilting. I think I'm going to stitch about 1/2" out from each seam to make a big grid. The backing is a solid red, also donated by A, which is not my favourite (the solid) because it shows all errors in quilting. But red is very Canadian and it is high quality fabric in a nice colour, so I couldn't not do it!

It is a twin-sized quilt that I hope will make one new Canadian feel welcomed.

I see much straight-line quilting in my future!

Basting Mania

It has been productive end-of-line sorts of sewing around here lately. I got the binding sewn on one baby quilt and I'm just trying to get the hand sewing done on the back to get it finished. This quilt is particularly special and difficult because I will be gifting it to my friend's baby daughter but my friend passed away a week after giving birth. I will blog about the whole story in another post. Finishing the quilt has been a form of therapy but bringing it to the baby will be a difficult visit.

Binding is a satisfying step because I always feel like I'm so close to a finish!

I spent my long weekend getting this pretty purple and grey quilt top together to surprise a new friend who is expecting a baby girl this summer. She has no idea I'm making her a quilt and I hope she loves it!

The fabric is mostly from the Brambleberry Ridge line of fabric from Violet Craft. The gold accents throughout the fabrics add a beautiful dimension to the quilt.

I spent one evening basting. I hate basting and I can't thinking of any quilters I know (in real life or online) who actually enjoy this step. I also had to piece some batting together because I ran out of my roll of batting.

Basted!

And I got the Science baby quilt for a co-worker all basted too. It is even quilted now so just some binding to finish on this one and I can get working on the next few in my list!

This quilt is at least a bit of a smaller quilt so the basting wasn't quite as difficult.

Here is one little close up picture of some of the Science fabrics I used for the quilt. It is such a fun baby quilt.

There is much binding in my future, and a few photo shoots. This is while packing up my house to move in early July so things are a bit crazy. Wish me sewing time!

Of Course the Quilting Couldn't Go Smoothly

As I continue to plug away at my grey quilts, the plus quilt in particular seems to wish to cause as much difficulty as possible. After finally getting it pieced correctly and basting it (tell me, does anyone like basting?) I wanted to jump into the quilting. The problem was that I had not considered that a very dark back (a tone on tone Pearl Bracelet in shadow) combined with wanting to keep a crisp (Kona) white front meant that when I did a little practice on a mini quilt sandwich that had the same fabrics I would discover this:

I quilted very quickly, not carefully, hence the pulling on the edges where I went too fast. But the major issue is that the white Aurafil from the front of the quilt shows through on the dark back! Argh!

I researched some options and consulted my quilty friends. Friend A asked for further advice from Triangle Sewing in Guelph who suggested Sulky in smoke. A picked up the Sulky for me and then gave me her clear as well to see if anything would work.

Smoke and clear. What will work?

These are the brands in case you are interested.

I then did a lot of practice. A had also recommended using my walking foot to see if that would lessen the amount the thread pokes through. I tried many combinations, as you can see below:

The trick was for it to not muddy the white but not to be seen on the back.

Ultimately I decided to go with smoke in the bobbin and clear on top. And I opted to use a walking foot as per my friend A's suggestion rather than FMQ because when I tried with the other thread it kept snapping. I didn't want any part of that, let me tell you.

It went quite smoothly other than one incident:

That sucks.

I got a huge nest of thread that involved some seam ripping (which wasn't too bad) and cleaning out my bobbin case to find the culprit (in this case a small three inch piece of the clear that had somehow become lodged in the machine). I then got back to work and...

Finished! Well, binding sewn on the front and waiting for a marathon session of some tv show to get done, then a good wash to get out the fabric marker.

I was so relieved to be finished that I used my enthusiasm to baste my grey Pow Wow quilt! It has now sat for a week without being touched yet, though. I hope some sewing mojo comes my way to conquer that quilt as well!

Basting=yuck.

If you are visiting my blog because of Jenn's recommendation from A Quarter Inch from the Edge, welcome! Visit again on September 1st when I will blog about my quilting inspiration and projects and recommend three more fantastic bloggers whom I think you should check out!

Lynn

WIP Wednesday: That's A Lot of WIPs!

I always thought I was a stick-with-it-until-it-is-done sort of quilter. I couldn't fathom how you could have 10 or more works in progress. One blogger I follow has easily 300 WIPs. Mind. Blown. However, as a busy mom and an obsessed quilter I do seem to now have lots of works in progress. It often has to do with what time I have because while I don't have time to free motion quilt a whole quilt I do have time to cut the fabric for another one. 

So when I put together this post for Freshly Pieced's weekly WIP Wednesday I was surprised and yet not surprised to discover that I sure do have a lot of works in progress!

I worked on my daughter's teacher's book bag this week.

And actually finished it! It just needs a good pressing (which I'll do in June before gifting it to her) so I count it as a WIP.

I have been spending snippets of time here and there turning those piles in the bin into those blocks at the top. There are lots of steps including pressing and trimming, so it is slow and steady work.

Here is what one block looks like. There have been lots of steps to get to here. I then assemble a quilt of 7x9 of these blocks.

This is a crappy phone picture, but I also have a WIP story pillow for my daughter's teacher. Characters in row one, then setting and finally details.

I have this pulled and ready to make a pillow for my youngest daughter's nursery.

I have this small baby quilt all basted and waiting for some FMQ inspiration.

And I have this cut stack of reds and whites (more whites are waiting to be cut) for a red and white quilt for my husband's stepmother's mother, Nana. This project is lower on the list, though, so it may get put away so I can finish projects that are due in the summer first!

I plan to finish my dad's Architextures quilt, named Tranquility, before I start another project. At least, that's the plan. Who knows what time and circumstances will dictate?

What are YOU up to?

Lynn

P.S. Be sure to visit my blog this Friday. Something SUPER EXCITING is happening! (HINT: Free fabric!)

Big Baby

A work friend is expecting her first baby this April and I got to working on her quilt right away. Originally I was going to use a quilt kit I had in progress and then I decided that she needed classier fabric. I used a Luxe in Bloom quilt pattern from quilt dad to create this quilt.

I love how the colours work together.

The quilt is much, much bigger than I had intended. I can't look at the dimensions of a quilt on a pattern and understand what that will actually translate into. I'm terrible at estimating finished size. I'm glad baby will get a quilt that should last him a while, though!

I chose a Robert Kaufman Up Up and Away fabric from my stash for the backing. I didn't have enough so I added stripes of Kona Artichoke (my favourite green Kona).

Cute, right?

All the while I was working on the backing, I was dreaming about cutting into my next quilt because it meant untying a jelly roll of Architextures. Isn't the roll so delicious?

Jelly rolls are practically decorative.

Here is a shot of the basting of this big baby quilt. I really need a name for the quilt. Hmmmm. Any suggestions?

I hate basting!!!

I have already free motion quilted it in a random stipple and now I just need to choose the binding fabric. Wish me luck!

Lynn

Baby Quilt Progress (Though Still Not Sure How)

During the second week of being home with my new daughter, I have been sneaking in every bit of sewing I can do. Admittedly there are thousands of other things (hello, cleaning and laundry) that I should be doing, but instead I want to sew for my own sanity. I also want Emma's quilts done ASAP now that she is here!


I made a double-sided flannelette baby blanket for my new cutie.

I originally planned to focus on one baby quilt in January and one in February. I really should have a) remembered what it is like the first week with a newborn and b) recognized that I would avoid the less fun parts of quilting (like basting) as long as possible, meaning I was actually working on both quilts at once.

I basted two baby quilts (Color Block on the left, the Indian Summer quilt on the right)

I quilted the Color Block quilt.

I got the binding done on the Color Block quilt.

I managed to get the FMQing done on the Indian Summer quilt. I went with curvy organic lines and I quite like it. At least it was fast!

I couldn't believe it when I actually got to trim it!

I now have the Color Block quilt done and I am just starting the binding on the Indian Summer quilt (both of which still need names).

Maybe I will get some serious sewing in while home on leave!

Lynn

New Addition

Sorry for the long gap between posts. Post-Christmas mania and being huge and pregnant meant that not much was getting done around here. And then a special delivery came on the 13th!

Emma is here!

I got as far as being ready to baste both her wall quilt and her bed quilt before she arrived, and have had basically no time (or physical or mental energy) to sew much since. I did whip up one more double-sided flannelette blanket for her which I can post later. While in labour, I seriously contemplated basting her one wall quilt. A little time passed and I came to the realization I was a bit crazy (not that that is new information).

SO...here's hoping I can now get into a routine with both my daughters and then get back to sewing soon!

Lynn

Twin Quilt Progress

There has been some progress around here. Finally!


Two quilt tops, pressed and ready to go!



Two quilt backs, ready to go.

Sometimes you have to Frankenstein some quilt batting. Especially when the quilt top is 6" wider than the standard crib batting size. Sigh.

And, basting time. I got both quilts basted with few problems.

And so there is some actually sewing happening, and I even got in some initial FMQing starting with the little boy quilt tonight. Maybe they'll get their quilts before they're three months old! (Fingers crossed).

Lynn

Can't Post...Too Busy Sewing...

I have had a very productive last weekend and most of this week. Last weekend, a long one here in Canada, allowed me to do lots of basting, making binding, quilting and finally finishing binding.

I love the way a roll of binding looks. It sure is tedious to make, though.

A sneak peek of a quilt I've made for a special little boy.

Two quilts ready to hand bind. And guess what? They're BOTH finished!

A Zipper in Time is finished (hooray!) and will be gifted to my father-in-law in a little under two weeks. Look for a post on the finished product. Also, I managed to fit in a simple tumbler baby quilt for a special little boy turning one at the end of the month. I've kept all pictures of this off Instagram since his mom follows me, but I'm letting these ones out on the blog. I'll post finished pictures of this quilt in a separate post as well, but not until after it is safely with a certain one-year-old.

I'm also making lots of progress with the turquoise and grey baby quilt I'm making for a life long friend who is expecting her first baby, a little girl, August 18. I don't know if I'll make it before she is born, but she should have it before September arrives for sure! I'll post more about that quilt soon!

Lynn

Instagram Update: A Little Something Different

I have been working away on my father-in-law's birthday present for about a week. I now have the top pieced and trimmed and pressed, and the back pieced (just need to press and baste, today, hopefully).

I was starting to get a little delirious, though, and knew to take a break one evening when I did this:

Oops. I don't think 19 is supposed to go with 16. This was one loooooooong seam to rip out.

After the top was finished I decided to work on something a bit different. Here are some Instagram shots to give you an idea what else I've been up to:

I used the very last bit of my Echo by Lotta Jansdotter in my favourite colour to make the binding for a baby quilt (my Plus quilt) that has been sitting waiting for binding.

It does make pretty binding, don't you think?

It was a visual and mental relief to be working on something other than my Zipper in Time quilt!

This is a sneak peek of a secret project that I'm making for an event in August. You'll see pictures after it is safe to reveal!

I also got a good long stretch of time (with energy, for once!) to tidy up my basement including my fabric storage. I resorted and refolded some of my stash and introduced a new bin.

These are all my non-FQ, non-yardage, non-scrap fabrics. They make me so happy!

I picked up a new bin for my solids as the Sew Sisters FQs were taking over my FQ shelving unit.. The pile on the bottom right of this picture are the solids left from my Pink Chalk Solids 1/2 yard bundle bought for me at Christmas that haven't already been spoken for. The top right is bigger pieces of solids that aren't FQ or yardage.

I am now getting on my sewing machine to get more done. I love being productive and (fingers crossed!) I think I might actually finish A Zipper in Time in time for the party!

Lynn