Labeling quilts

I have a couple fully finished quilts now and I need to label them. I have mock up, because I want to add quotes and graphics. Like the Persuasion quilt is from the Jane Austen book and I want to include the quote. I want it to be printed, not hand written. I have seen instructions that say you can print on muslin, but do they hold up? Any advice would be welcomed.

Goal update- March

Updated goals with some additions.
1. Finish Aster Manor quilt Done!
2. Finish Martinique quilt With Jenny
3. Piece Flag Day Farm quilt In the heap
4. Get all disciples in Last Supper done Done absolutely nothing
6. Sew one article of clothing Too cold to take pictures, but it looks awesome!
7. Continue with Layer Cake Quilt Along Eleven out of 12 blocks done.
8. Start and finish Split Decision quilt Still cutting
9. Start and finish Christmas quilt Still in the stash
10. Fig and Plum layer cake something quilt I think I am going to do the Sugar Twist pattern from The Pattern Basket
11. Skinny Strips Quilt using Prayer Flag jelly roll
12. Fresh Cottons jelly roll something
13. Patchwork Squared Solids Quilt Along I am agonizing over colour choices


I did my first quilt job with the Cherry House Solid Quilt Along. I am pretty proud of myself. I have another quilt top from that same quilt along that I would like to finish.

Persuasion

"I am half agony, half hope".

Price of fabric

Has anybody else noticed that jump in prices? I have been browsing online for the new Christmas lines and yardage is up as well as pre-cuts.

Brought to you by the letter E

It is really hard to believe there is only one block left in the Layer Cake Quilt Along. I liked the block, but the cutting and piecing weren't completely straightforward. I act like a teenager sometimes when I quilt. I ignore words like "scant 1/4 inch seam" and "1/8th inch". This block called for both. So some of my seams don't match up. I decided to cut my loses and move on.

Not feeling it

I have been doing a little bit of cutting for my Rural Jardin/Split Decision quilt, but I just haven't been feeling it.
On a MUCH happier note, my Martinique/Perfect Ten quilt is going to Jenny this weekend. Yay for Down to Sew!

It will shrink out

Whenever I make a mistake with piecing, I say it will quilt out. Well, when you make a mistake quilting, it will shrink out.

Pre-washing

I finished up my binding, threw the quilt in the wash and it looks great now! Yes, if you look at it for long enough, you see the wonky lines, but when it is keeping one warm, who cares?!

Post-washing

I've thoroughly enjoyed Cherri's Quilt Along. I don't think I would have ever tried to quilt, if it weren't for the quilt along. I am not sold on quilting yet, but at least I know what to do now. I am going to do the brown quilt next, but after that I think I may just do placemats.

Quilting is stressful

I enjoy piecing. As mentioned in the previous post, my black and yellows solid quilt was going to be my first quilting project. I basted and was going to wing it with the rumpled back, but thankfully Amy intervened. Her very detailed instructions made the basting so much easier. There was a lot of smoothing through the process. I have a very basic, cheapo sewing machine so I had to get a walking foot. I have only sewn through layers to do binding, but even with that minimal exposure, I could tell that a walking foot makes a HUGE difference. A quilting foot is wonderful! Anyway, I started in the middle strip because I figured that if I anchored the middle then I could keep working out and continuing to smooth as I got. I used painting tape to try and 1 inch 'stripes'. Yeah, that didn't work so well. I ended up with only 4 lines instead of 5. After fighting the tape for two strips, I figured out that I could use the quilting guide. Genius! My lines are wonky, but it doesn't look half bad. Since I was on a roll, I finished up sewing on the binding. With this time difference I am still wide awake, so I might as well start hand sewing. I am going to mess around with stitch length for the chocolately goodness quilt. Hopefully using the guide from the start makes a difference with my spacing. I am not sure though if I will ever be a quilter though. I may just piece. I will post pictures once the binding is done.

Thank you! Thank you!! Thank you, Amy!!!!

Wait for me!

I am a good two weeks behind in my Cherry House Solid Quilt Along. The flickr group has a bunch of completed quilts. I finally got around to getting backing fabric. I just went with solid black. I had left over batting from my quilts that came back from Jenny, so that worked out well. This is my first quilt job, so I am little nervous. I did a terrible job basting. I was very careful with smoothing out the top, but I didn't think about the backing. I pinned it all, flipped it over and it was messed up. I redid one side, but I am going to go ahead and quilt from the middle out to that side and then re-baste. Will be an after church project. Pray for Cherri, please. She has been well lately and has had to visit the doctor several times.

Dreaming of spring

It isn't quite spring yet here in Iowa. Last week we got snow. We are now in that see-saw between winter and spring. Block 10 of the Layer Cake Quilt Along looks like a tulip. Something as simple a floral block can cheer me up and this one did.

I spent a lot of time picking the fabrics for this block. I didn't have two matching layer cake squares for the background, so I had to go with coordinated fabrics. I used scraps as much as I could. That's kind of what got me into trouble. I had laid out all my fabrics, figured out my colour scheme and started cutting. One of my scraps I had miscalculated. I couldn't find an appropriate substitute that worked with all the other colours and I wasn't going back to re-pick fabrics. I just took another matching scrap and sewed it to get the appropriate length. So there is an extra seam in the block. My OCD for colour and print overrode my OCD for extra seams.

I think it turned out well. Since there isn't a real background fabric, it looks a little busy. There are only two blocks left. That is crazy! It seemed like May was so far away when I started. Now it is upon us. I can't wait to see what the final layout is going to be.

Kona! Kona! Kona!

You know how when you are aware of something, you see it everywhere. In my quilting world it is Kona solids. I did a solid quilt along, I ordered a colour card and now they are asking for suggestions for new colours. I am taking this assignment seriously. I am looking at my colour card and trying to find gaps.

Fall colours:
Yellows. There needs to be more yellows going towards orange.
Orange. There aren't oranges. I even have a name suggestion- Clementine. Burnt oranges would be nice too. In a similar vein, a few more corals would be nice.

Straight green:
There are muted greens and bright greens and evergreens, but not enough old-school-yellow-and-blue-makes green. It would be in the range of Jungle.

Neutrals:
A couple more browns would be nice. Ash and Coal are the hot neutrals right now, but browns would be nice too. There are enough beiges/tans.

This is just a side note, but sometimes it seems like the name isn't reflective of the colour. I know that depends on the trends of the time, but Peach doesn't look like a peach. I would say Mango was more like a peach.

Oh, and when new colours come out, if there could just be an upgrade card instead of purchasing a whole new card. Especially when the new colours first come out.

Any other opinions out there?

Giveaway- Spun Sugar Quilts

Vickie E is having a giveaway over at her blog, Spun Sugar Quilts, because she has crossed 1000 followers. Vickie has designed several Moda Bake Shop projects and also did a block for the Layer Cake Quilt Along. I am not sure how I stumbled on her blog, because I knew of her before the Quilt Along. Apart from having neat projects, her blog is just very informative and relatable. Know what I mean? Anyway, the challenge (and I truly mean challenge) is to list what you would purchase if you won the $50 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop.

Enter away!

Goal update March-ish

I kind of forgot that I should update my goals.

1. Finish Aster Manor quilt- quilt and bind I am going to put on the binding sometime this week 2. Finish Martinique quilt- quilt and bind I have backing fabric. On sale!!!
3. Piece Flag Day Farm quilt In the heap
4. Get all disciples in Last Supper done Done absolutely nothing
5. Bind table toppers finished last year They look great.
6. Sew one article of clothing Tossing the fabric in the wash this evening. Skirt weather will be here soon. I hope.
7. Continue with Layer Cake Quilt Along Nine out of 12 blocks done.
8. Start and finish Split Decision quilt Cutting
9. Start and finish Christmas quilt Still in the stash

Goal 5: Complete

My seams are a little off, but I love this table topper. Perfect for Spring and Easter. I am sad they are discontinuing turnovers. They were the perfect way to get the entire line and get that scrappy effect.

It's here! It's here!

My Kona card arrived today. All 219 colours. It is BEAUTIFUL! I am already using it to pick out my other yellow and gray for the aforementioned Star Block quilt. I had some scraps and I did a mock up of my block, but I am not sold on my colours. Shall I go with Maize or Buttercup? Ash, Medium Grey or Slate? Charcoal too dark? I love my colour card.

Since I had to pay shipping for the card, I browsed the clearance racks and found Martinique fabric on sale. I was able to get the red polka dot for $2.38 a yard. Two dollars thirty eight cents. A steal!!! I finished my Martinique quilt last fall and I needed backing. It was the same fabric that I had used as my accent. Worked out perfectly!

This weekend I volunteered at the Iowa Public Television Festival. I was on during the Love of Quilting block and I got to talk to Marianne Fons. I was so excited. I may have come across as bit of a groupie.

Pashmina table topper

I LOVE my table topper! Thank you Jenny for the incredible quilting job.

The bunny, the bunny, I love the bunny

If you are familiar with Veggie Tales, you would recognize The Bunny Song from Rack, Shack and Benny. I hope it is stuck in your head, because it is stuck in mine.

I got sucked into the FabShop Hop. I saw it on The Fabric Shack website and registered, but never actually went looking for the bunny. Simple concept- look for the bunny button at different online shops, click on it and be registered to win prizes. In addition, they include blocks for a quilt. The blocks are usually themed with the season. They send out an email at the beginning of the month to say what the theme is. This month was star blocks. I love the look of traditional quilts and I thought the star block sampler would be a good one. Those FabShop Hop people are sneaky. They reel you in. I found the first couple blocks fairly easy, but then I had to spend a couple hours trying to find the rest. Some stores have hints, but some don't. I just did the ones that had hints. I did discover all sorts of new online stores though. One had beautiful ombres. I will return to that one.

Hobby Lobby had a bolt of Canary Kona in their clearance bin, my Kona card was ordered and everything came together. It is going to be a solid quilt with yellow stars and gray backgrounds. I already have a name for it- 'Sunshine on a Cloudy Day'. Hopefully it is done before the month of May.

Kona colour card ordered

I just ordered my Kona colour card. It was out of stock at Fat Quarter Shop, but they are back in stock. One should be making its way to me either today or tomorrow. I am so excited!
I have my sister to thank. It was a very late Christmas gift. So here is my statement of gratitude: "Thank you, sister, for my Kona colour card. You are a wonderful sister, indeed."

Just not motivated

This sat on the cutting mat for a week. I just wasn't that motivated. I couldn't decide on which layout for this block, but I eventually decided on option 4. I hope that the cream doesn't stand out too much in comparison with the other blocks. I like it. It reminds me of a wrapped package, like with a bow.

I received my quilts from Jenny yesterday. I am working on one of the table topper's binding right now. I think there should be a movement towards frayed/no binding quilts. I greatly dislike that final 45 degree seam. Ugh!