Some Charity Quilting

Hi all!

I hope that everyone is safe and dry this Tuesday!

I decided to load a couple more of our local guild's charity jelly roll race quilts onto my frame and do some simple quilting on them on Phoebe!

 

I load the two quilts side by side along a wide-back backing fabric and one run of batting.  I thought that I would post a picture of this since a few people found it hard to "see" this technique.  Two jelly roll race quilts side by side are pretty much exactly the width of the wide-back - it's a little tight but doable and it saves fabric.

By doing this I make one pass across both quilts using the same thread.  It is so much faster and easier to load and quilt once instead of twice.  I did a very loose meander stitch in 40 weight Fil-Tec Glide thread top and bobbin.  Why such a loose meander?  One - the batting is very thick polyester batting and I didn't want these quilts to get stiff with too much quilting.  Two - these quilts are going to kids and i think that they will love the puffiness of these quilts better than a packed down quilt.  They are so cuddly!

Do you do any quilts for charity?

Review of the Accuquilt Go! Cutter With Smoother Rolling!

Hi all!

Look at what I got in the mail to play with!

Yep!  This is the new version of the Accuquilt Go! die cutter with smoother rolling action.  Notice the different box with Alex and Ricki on the front?  When I was offered the chance to review this cutter I jumped at the chance as I frequently get asked if the newer version of the cutter is better.  Of course I was skeptical but I was looking forward to trying it out.

As you know I have been a Go! user for a few years now so when I opened up my machine and put a few layers of fabric on the die and ran it through let me just say that my jaw was on the floor!  They really HAVE IMPROVED the rolling action.  Not just a little bit improved but a lot improved. 

I didn't have to hold the cutter down with my other hand while I ran the die through.  I just turned the handle.  I never had to put muscle behind the cutting.  This is a big improvement!

If I can be honest it is as easy to turn as the Sizzix machines now.  Not as easy as the Studio - they still have the market there - but - just as easily as Sizzix.  The rolling action was always the biggest complaint about the Go! and that complaint is gone now.  The cutter is still the same folding up machine that is easy to store but they have changed it so that the rolling action is smoother and more stable.

Thumbs up from me!

If you still have the original Go! this improvement in no way makes yours obsolete it is still the cutter that you know and love!  Don't worry - it's just nice when a company works to improve their products.  Yey!

Do any of you have the new Go!?

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all of the Mom's - expecting Mom's - want-to-be Mom's and Mother-in-Laws out there!  xo!

What did I do today?  I went to a quilt show and purchased a few Mother's Day pressies for myself!

Yummy aren't they!  These are all Fil-Tec threads that I am looking forward to quilting with.  The large cones are Glide the smaller are the variegated Affinity and the bobbins are  the magna-glide magnetic core bobbins with a whopping 132 yds on each bobbin!  I am really looking forward to trying these out.  I really liked using the Glide thread on Phoebe and was very pleased with it so when I knew that the dealer would be at this show it just gave me another reason to get to a quilt show and buy some more!

Fil-Tec threads are all  a 40 weight trilobal polyester thread that is strong (but not too strong) smooth and has wonderful colours and a shine that just makes the thread melt into the fabric.  I loved it for machine quilting - no thread breaks :-D

Isn't that green just yummy?  I have no clear destination for that thread but how could I leave it there!!?

Just had to share my quilter's candy!

Sun Bonnet Sue Red Work at the Quilt Show!

H all!

I thought that I would share a few pictures of my finished red work that was hanging at our local guild show today.  Sorry for the not great pictures - I will have to photograph this again in better lighting!

 

Here she is!  Isn't it pretty.Again - sorry for the badly lit picture this is the best that I could do.   The quilt is so large that it is difficult to photograph easily.

 

A close-up of one of the blocks.  The embroideries are all done by machine in 50 weight thread and I think that they are so cute!

 

Another close-up showing some of the hand quilting in the border.

 

And the border!  The quilting is all 7/8" in between and done by hand!  I pieced the top and marked it with a clover blue pen.  It took over 20 hours to mark the top - whew!  We quilted it in the bee that I belong to The Silver Thimbles.  The blue all washed out and the quilt puffed back up wonderfully!

I used a silk batting in this quilt - it hand quilted like a hot knife through butter and it is so soft and just drapes beautifully!

Hope you like it!

 

Meet Phoebe!!

Here she is out of her boxes - Phoebe!!

This is the Pfaff P3 PowerQuilter and she is a dream!  I have been looking at this machine for a while now and I am so happy to add it to my sewing room! 

Isn't she purdy!?  I love the touchscreen and the sleek lines of her.

So why did I name her Phoebe?  Well she is the P3 - and if you're a Charmed fan like me - you'll know that they were always talking about their "power of three" and Piper's bar was called the P3.  But Phoebe was always my favorite character so Phoebe she is!

We got her all set-up this morning and I put some UGLY fabric on the frame and started quilting - what a dream!  I ripped that fabric off the frame after I filled it and started to get a quilt ready to go on the frame.  Our guild just happens to need a bunch of charity quilts quilted so one of these will be going on my frame next - exciting!

I am just itching to get back to quilting so I am going to sign off for now - yey!

A Find

Lookie lookie at what I found!

 

And there were two of them!  Beautifully hand embroidered children's blocks.  I fell in love with them and had to have them.  I was even willing to pay the big $1 for both of them - yep - only a buck!  It made me sad to leave them there so I grabbed them.

 

Look at that close-up.  Are they not wonderful!?  Look at the cutie owl!  He makes me want to hug him!  Someone (not me) spent hours embroidering these and I hate to see something like this go in the trash bin or be discarded and not used.   This work needs to be loved by someone.

When I bought them I had no clear purpose in mind (except saving them from the trash bin) but after I got them home I realized that they would each make a preemie quilt very nicely by just adding a border on each one!

What better use than to make two little babies a quilt using these wonderful hand embroideries!  If you can think of a better use please send me a message and I will send them to you - but - to me and my mind - two little babies should get a quilt :-)

Please let this be a lesson to you all - don't throw it out!  Donate it or - pass it on - or give it away - but please don't throw it out!  It will be gold for someone else!

Rug Hooking!

Ahhh I love Sundays!

Sundays are my day off and I try to really take them off and relax.  So today I pulled out my rug hooking - which I have not done in quite some time!  I almost forgot how much I enjoy it!

 

This is what I have been working on  - it is called Pickering Oak and it is a design by Gene Shepherd.  I love his designs and sense of colour.  I am a member of his Internet Rug Camp and find the videos to be absolutely amazing and so helpful.  If you have ever wondered about ug hooking hop over and check it out!

In quilty news I finally finished putting the binding on that large white quilt and am now waiting for it to get out of the dryer - yey!!!  I love how it turned out and can't wait to show it to you!!