Saturday, September 26, 2015

The ZEN CHIC SEDUCTION... and the BATting OUT OF HELL

On Saturday, I spent a few hours sharing a fun sewing day at our local shop, A NIMBLE THIMBLE (In Tyler, Texas) with some fellow modern quilters. 
I precut all the pieces for another row... (from the 2015 Row-by-Rows that I have been collecting all summer). With my machine & supplies in tow, I was ready to set up my own little station. I would sit in the corner and chat some... determined to mostly sew and stay focused...

BUT... 

I was seduced by fabrics... yet again.
It wasn't my fault- really. 
MODA is to blame!

I had already fallen in love with the Modern Background PAPER fabrics that I used in my table runner.

Charm Squares 
Modern Background- PAPER 
 ZEN CHIC for MODA
(The Blues are from my stash)




Anyhow, On my way to the workroom, I spotted the layer cake on the table and it demanded my attention!!!


Modern Background- INK
 ZEN CHIC for MODA

I thought it paired really great with:


GRUNGE 
BasicGrey by MODA


So, I decided to make a quilt for my son for his first apartment.

By mid days end, I had pieced together several of the squares with an ink and a grunge from the layer cakes.

On Sunday, I finished piecing the rest...



Sunday

Later in the day I started creating 4 squares. (I'd have this quilt finished in no time at all, in spite of all my other "to do" lists)...


Well, I didn't get too far... 
but I finished up by Monday. 
I had 40 precut squares in each layer cake
Certainly big enough for a queen size quilt! 

They were just precut 10" squares.
Easy Peasy, right... How long could such an easy quilt take to create???

The best laid plans... 
NOT

So, On Monday- I finished up joining 4 squares.


Monday


And By Tuesday I had actually done so...



Tuesday


Next I laid them all out on my bed and started to arrange them into a quilt!


Tuesday

Once I found an arrangement I liked-
I started pinning it all together and piecing the rows...


Tuesday



Tuesday


I was really quite pleased with it all... 
Things were moving along,
not as fast as I'd hoped... but still, I was only a few days in- all was well...

UNTIL WEDNESDAY THAT IS!

That is when things started to go downhill...
Even after over an hour of pressing my backing still had creases from folds...

Even worse,
No matter how much I worked at it, 
the batting refused to lay flat!
I had chosen 
Warm & Natural: 
Needle Cotton Batting 
because I had had good experiences with Warm & Natural batting in the past. 

This bag said stitches could be up to 10 inches apart. At the time of purchase, I had planned to just sew on my seams and then hand stitch a knot in my pieced corners to give it a warm homey but simple feel... (Remember, I was making a "NO FUSS": really simple quickie quilt from precuts!)



Wednesday: Mid Morning


Wednesday... Later in Day

I thought I was going to go crazy... my frustration kept mounting, so I called it a day. 

I started back up on Thursday.
Overly optimistically, I hoped that if I quilted & ironed out each section as I went- it would lay flat.

I WAS WRONG!

The walking foot was jumping all over the place.
The thread was slipping & knotting & skipping stitches
The quilt kept bunching and getting stuck when it hit the wall...

The stitching was just plain awful.
I tore it out...
& started over.

But to no success...
It is awful & I must accept that I cannot quilt a queen size quilt in my current space
or
with my low shank machine  :(

Thursday


Reluctantly, 
I have decided to reach out to a member of my modern quilt group with a long arm and ask her to quilt it

Nothing fancy, straight lines on seams & perhaps some curved between...
I will have to tare out the 3 rows currently in place... and replace the backing and batting
(Although, I am considering giving the batting a wash to see what that does... I have prewashed batting for baby blankets in the past)

To Be Continued...

















Friday, September 18, 2015

Bindings, Boxes, & Piecing

It's been a fairly productive week! I continue to spend a few hours each day unpacking boxes... Will it ever end? I can't wait to finish so I can start packing up other rooms!

On the creative end of things:
I made a table runner... but needed to come up with a fabric idea for the binding.
I auditioned what felt like every blue in the store & finally settled on a batik one. 



It felt great to get it finished and on the table with a vase of flowers before dinner time!






I started on another row by row challenge pattern...
I haven't gotten as far as I would have liked on it... 
but I am off to a good start!














Friday, September 11, 2015

A Table Runner of Modern Background- PAPER

Somehow, 
In spite of feeling overwhelmed by all of the medias shared images & memories of nightmares past that will never be forgotten... today has been a productive quilting day.

For 14 years now, September 11 has become a day of remembrance... 
and between televised memorials & phone calls shared with loved ones... I have quilted. 

As a New Yorker... we all lost someone we knew.
It was devastating, terrifying, angering... 
I could go on and on. 

But I would rather share some quilting.

My local quilt shop: A NIMBLE THIMBLE
had a charm pack of
Modern Background- PAPER 
by Brigitte Heiland for ZEN CHIC
for moda
I just love it!


I am making a table runner...
Nothing too complicated.
Honestly... I haven't the attention span today.
I am just sort of making it up as I go...

I decided to create rows 
to include the precuts scattered "haphazardly"

I ended up creating 4 rows


I kept trying to decide on row placement 
and shifting them about on my design wall
(Some of the squares were too close to others-since I had not bothered to preplan or measure...)
Eventually, I decided to add in a strip between each row...

I pieced the back... put it all back up on the design wall, 
and realized I didn't like it... too wide :(
So... I removed one row...
yes... 
3 was right I decided...



I used an adhesive basting spray to attach the piecing 
to a scrap of batting I had laying around. 
I have no idea what type it is... or when it is from...



Using my walking foot, I started out quilting in straight lines


Table runners back


As I neared the sides I decided to use slight waves
 to add some motion


Ironically... I ran out of fabric before I could make a binding. 
(If I had not made cuts for the fourth row... I would have had enough...)
Hopefully my local fabric shop will have some more...
















Friday, September 4, 2015

September 2015: Lovely Year of Finishes ~ Goal



I have fallen in love with the new mode fabrics:

Modern Background- PAPER 
by Brigitte Heiland for ZEN CHIC
for moda

My local quilt shop sold out so fast! 
I was lucky to snag a charm pack! So today I started a table runner. I hope to have it finished sooner than later... but it will be my September goal!

Modern Background- PAPER charm squares


layout?


first column


A renovation week for Cabinetry

Week 4 of dining room renovations came to a productive close! 

I successfully unpacked all of our remaining glasswares and crystal... 
cleaned... 
organized... 
put away some... 
and displayed others.


Why do we have so many wine glasses?





I love the way the blue wall reflects 
through the crystal returned to its cabinets

I created new displays in the welsh cabinet in the kitchen using all the pieces I had forgotten about and rediscovered as I unpacked!
And also, in the new glass doored builtin cabinets. 

I was excited to be reunited 
with so many pretty pieces I had forgotten we had!

antique welsh cabinet


My cookie jars and a few special dishes were awarded 
the coveted double wedding ring cabinet display!



Meanwhile, In the garage... our old kitchen cabinets are being updated to sportswear sheik!


Primed

first coat red

second coat

garage storage and 
new steel counter ready for use!