Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Wedding Quilt - update

DSCF2026 I thought I’d post an update to the saga of my latest quilt project, the wedding quilt.

I started it this weekend and even took Monday off to see if I could get it finished.  It's for a family friend, and the wedding is at the end of September and I have a million other things I need to do....they drove it here from Washington state, and the mom didn't have enough time to complete it so I ended up putting the borders on it.  I used the straight of grain for the outer border, just like Brenda Hennings from Bear Paw Productions suggests.  I was determined I was going to get it done Sunday night, as I was going into the 10th hour, and got to the last row and the border was puckering, big time.

So, I decided I couldn't really “quilt it out”, and with it being a wedding quilt, as well as the gal's first quilt and all...so I ripped out the thread holding most of the border and I literally ended up with an extra 2 inches!!  Now I have to take it off the frame and fix it, then finish that last row.  I'm going to wait until the weekend to finish it, well, maybe I’ll get to the border on Thursday, but I have been ignoring a TON of stuff that needs doing around the house.  Sigh, where does the time go??

I've been trying to help DH figure out a billing problem with his business, and now I’ve gotten all riled up.  He finally decided that he should take the problem back before I blew a gasket.  I probably didn't help him any, and I didn't accomplish anything toight that I wanted to, either.  Drat!

Better get ready for bed...well, maybe a row or 2 of knitting on my hat will calm me down first.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Wedding Quilt

I'm not sure if I’ve mentioned in the past that I volunteered to quilt a wedding quilt for my husband's best friend’s oldest daughters wedding…. did I?

wedding quilt-before borders So here's the story:  The youngest daughter, DD2, approached me to find out information about making a quilt for her sister's (DD1) upcoming wedding at the end of September.  Since I was going to make my own quilt, I thought that it would work well to simply quilt her quilt as our wedding gift.

The catch is that DD2 has never made a quilt before, and she wanted to make a King sized quilt!  I am never one to discourage such ambition, especially since I did the very same thing.  We discussed patterns and she eventually picked one called True Lover’s Knot, which is much like a Log Cabin.  Since many people start on those as first patterns I told her that would be just fine.  Personally, I think sewing the narrow strips is much more difficult than the larger strips.

I told DD2 that she needed to get me the quilt before the end of July because I would be starting school in the middle of August, as well as to account for any possible delays.  With the help of her mom, she did just that, arriving this weekend from out-of-state with her dad and the quilt in tow.  Her mom however had run out of time to attach the borders and asked me if I could do that as well.  I agreed, as long as she sent me the border fabric washed and ready to go.

There were a couple of problems, however.  First, the border fabric was not the same solid color that was used in the top, and it did not enhance the top in any way.  Secondly, several of the seams needed to be picked out and re-sewn.  So, Friday afternoon off we went to Quilt Expressions, where Karen H. helped DD2 pick new border fabric and came up with a unique solution for the inner border.  We got it into the wash, inspected the quilt for areas that needed to be fixed, started fixing them, and then ironed the new fabric on Saturday.

We had decided to go floating the Boise River Saturday afternoon and we did just that.  No need to have me stay home and quilt while everyone else is off having fun in the sun, right?  I ended up with a pretty intense sunburn on my legs, from my thighs to my ankles!  We also had planned a barbecue for that evening and we had a great time with mutual friends who had recently moved to Boise as well.  We had tons of food and I ate way too much!

Dad and DD2 left early Sunday morning, as she needed to get back to work by Monday.

I spent all of yesterday afternoon fixing additional seams that I found that needed to be re-sewn, and in the evening eventually got the borders added to the quilt.

Today, I will finish getting the quilt loaded and start the quilting.  Optimistically, given the quilting pattern we selected, the quilting should only take about three hours if each row could be accomplished in 15 minutes.   However, I am not fast nor am I optimistic, and it will probably end up taking me the entire day.

So, I better get started!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Sewing Morning

I have really gotten into working on the knitted helmet liner caps, so have sort of taken a break from working on my quilts…gasp!

I completed one on Friday and started casting on stitches for the next one. finished-hat    Last night I got the ribbing done and have started the main body.  I had intended to sew this morning, as we had company coming in the afternoon, but I decided that I should work on cleaning up some of the mini piles that have popped up instead.  I’m glad I did, but it sure wore me out!  I had to lay down and take a nap!  We haven’t seen them in several years, and it was sure a nice visit.  I did, however, completely fall off the diet wagon, and I am going to pay the piper in the morning!

As for my current quilting project, I need to “tighten up” some of the half square triangles on the quilt top I am currently working on, that I haven’t named yet, that I took the borders off of early last week.  That way I can put the black inner border back on, and I need to cut the replacement border fabric so I can finish it up.  I’d like to enter this one in the quilt show in Oregon in September.  As a featured guild, the Boise Basin Quilters can enter quilts for no fee, and I plan to take advantage of that!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Border Fabric - Update

I have decided to go with the new fabric for the borders, and make the black border skinnier.  So, the new inner border fabric is not getting used in this project.  My mom said it looked sort of brown and blah from a distance, and I have to say I agree with her.

So, last night I removed the borders, then cut the black inner border down 1/2”.  I then admitted that there is too much fabric in that border, it would not lay flat for anything and as I was trying to starch and press it out, it simply wrinkled on me.  That’s exactly what it would do if I tried to quilt it this way, so I decided to take them off too, and see what I can do about easing them back on and make them flat.  I think the fullness is coming from the bias edges of the half square triangles….bleh!

Now I’m back down to where I started on Saturday!  Will get the outer borders cut Thursday night and see how I can take in the fullness too, so I can get it finished this weekend.  We have company coming on Sunday, and I’m getting my hair done in the morning on Saturday.  With all of those distractions I’ll be lucky if I get anything else done!  DH invited me to go on a date tonight, so will be spending some quality time with him.  He’s such a sweetheart!

Monday, July 12, 2010

Border Fabric!

DSCF1984 I went to the fabric store at lunch today to get more border fabric for a quilt I am finishing up.  I got over zealous and cut too many strips for the sides and now I only have one large piece for one of the borders.  Since it’s a busy, but large, print I don’t want a seam going down the middle of it, as it would be distracting.  So, off I went to get another 1/2 yard.  Of course I didn’t bring the quilt with me!

Well!  Not only did I find more of my border fabric, I found a different border, as well as a different inner border that I think will make this quilt look great!DSCF1985  I was ambivalent about the borders I was putting on, and now I am just EXCITED about getting home to see how this will look!  I will post photos of the before and after…because what this means is, all the work I put into getting the borders attached yesterday is going out the window!

I really think it’s going to look 100% better, though!

Once I see it tonight, I’ll put the fabric in the washer and get it ready to finish by this weekend.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Lone Star is finished!

lonestar-center

This is the king sized customer Lone Star quilt that I’ve been working on.

I did mostly custom quilting in the middle. and a large overall meander on the border sections.  It has Hobbs Tuscany wool batting with Sew Fine on part of the top and all of the bottom, and a new-to-me shiny silver polyester thread called Hemmingworth Polyselect.  She wanted something that looks like fire and to accentuate the star and make it sort of “pop out”. lonestar-bed

She didn't want to pay very much so we initially decided on an open "flame" design that would sort of outline each of the 8 petals, and a small stipple in the setting squares, but then the petal was so large that I couldn't reach the tip from the middle of the star to make a smooth motion to make the flame.  I also was worried about making the meandering small enough, consistently enough.

lonestar-back-outsideSo, after beating my head on it for a couple of weeks, I called and asked her if I could just do what I wanted to do, without her knowing the design ahead of time, but still keeping her original idea in mind, if the price didn't change and she said yes.  So, now  it's finished and I’m really pleased with it!

She picked it up tonight and loves it!

Monday, July 5, 2010

4th of July

I wanted to share a new project that I started yesterday, that I thought was quite appropriate for the 4th of July celebrations.  What?  A new project without finishing the other one first?  That never happens! ;-)

You’ve seen me post about the organization called American Hero Quilts, who donate homemade quilts to wounded soldiers who come to Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma, WA.

Well, if quilting isn’t your thing, then I want to let you know about another opportunity to help.  The Yarn Shoppe, a local business here in the Boise area,  is working to make knitted “helmet liners” for The Idaho National Guard’s deployment early this fall.  According to their website:

We are continuing our call for knitters to help make helmet liners for the Idaho National Guard's deployment early this fall.  The 116th Brigade from Idaho , Montana , and Oregon is shipping out to Iraq in September.  There are about 1500 Idaho soldiers and 1200 from Montana and Oregon involved.   We are helping this effort by distributing patterns, discounting the wool yarn needed, and providing a drop off point for the helmets.

These caps are used to help keep the soldiers warm in the winter and can also be soaked with water to keep heads cooler in the summer under the military helmets.

These caps MUST be knitted from 100% wool for safety (acrylic yarns can melt in a fire or explosion) and MUST be in medium to dark earth tone colors (black, grey, browns, tans or greens).

I stopped by their store yesterday afternoon and got a new pair of circular knitting needles and two hanks of the approved wool blend yarn.  I started on the pattern last night after dinner and I completed the ribbing before the dogs started going crazy over the fireworks noise.   I’ve never knitted in the round before, which is what this pattern calls for, so I’m learning a new skill, too.

Fast knitters can probably complete a cap in 4 hours, and, depending on your gauge, one hank of yarn will make 2 caps.

Please consider making a helmet liner, or recruiting someone to do so.  Visit The Yarn Shoppe’s website to find out more information.

This is one small way to let those who give so much for our great country know we care and think about them daily.

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