December is flying --- and I want it to slow down!
There are two projects that HAVE to be done in this time home ---I need to finish my “collaboration celebration” quilt that I’ll be teaching at a retreat here in the beautiful mountains of Western North Carolina with Mickey Depre in August – whooowhooo! I’m pulling fabrics and getting ready to get down and scrappy with that one. And my brain is working on the project for August’s Alaskan cruise too!
Why am I panicking so far in advance? Because next year’s calendar is so full that I just need a bit of breathing room by kicking these projects off my list NOW.
I did finish a top and a backing this week for the next book, and while I can’t show you the top…..here’s the backing to entice you!
It’s not been fully pressed yet!
Remember the pieced border I was trying to do and how the units didn’t work? These are THOSE.
And actually, they weren’t churn dashes in the border either, just half square triangles and some little strip units and a plain rectangle and then on to the next area…..so when I removed the borders, I had 4 lengths. By adding the center strip down each length I could turn the borders IN to churn dashes giving me 2 strips to piece into the backing.
It would have been easier if I had just made churn dashes! LOL!
Closer up!
And yes – that is a 1980s red Christmas fabric with a bow on it in the far left hand churn dash! I tell you – these would have been easier to just make as blocks instead of doing them in strips..and then after I had them into one length I thought “oh, it would have looked great if that center yellow strip was a different color so it looked like a ribbon weaving through ---FORGET IT! It’s done! It’s a BACKING!
That red star fabric I’ve had hanging around for a long long time too…so I’m happy to have that go. It’s an orangey- almost madder kind of red with gold stars.
The best thing is, I don’t have 4 wrong borders left over to deal with that didn’t do for this quilt what I wanted them to do – and I don’t have to save them for another project. They’re gone. I used cuttings from my cutting table to finish what I needed to do to get the lengths right for the backing, so I cleared up the scraps in that way too. And it’s much cuter than just a plain backing of gold stars on madder red.
I finished the clean up on my table by cutting more spool blocks from scraps that were big enough.
I finished the clean up on my table by cutting more spool blocks from scraps that were big enough.
I finished piecing the batting out of scraps last night too, so today --- the machine quilting begins!
Tomorrow? CLUE # 3 of Easy Street!
There will be no Quilt-Cam tonight as I’ve made some holiday plans to be out with friends tonight ----but if all goes well, we can shoot for Quilt-Cam tomorrow evening :c)
19 comments:
Yikes! It is Friday tomorrow - have not finished my purples....sew lady sew....
Looking forward to new clues tomorrow!
Well, at least I am printing instructions..lol have fabric but not time yet to cut and sew.. tomorrow another print instruction. lol Maybe on Sat. I will be able to cut and sew.. hope... Backing looks great. thanks for all the inspiration.
MMMM another background. This time all treadles, no patches. Are you tuning in to the hardware?
No time this weekend for easy street, there is a black blouse under the needle, and I thought I should spice it up - it has to be black-black-black! - with velvet and satin. The choir I am participating in is having an anniversary performance Sunday, and this should be the "uniform". As a color girl, there was no black in the closet! Now I am depleting the stash from black. Still pants to go too, think I'll manage 8^).
Tomorrow I'll be hunting choclat letters: Sinterklaas is over now, so those will be on sale.
For now: Have a nice weekend - though it will as always be too short.....
Love from an overcast Amsterdam, drizzling rain, icey cold.
Excellent weather to work with a sewing machine!
Love, Irene
My week has flown right by too! Hang in there!
I love using scraps from the top side on the back so I don't add them to the scrap bin. Also keeps from having the same fabrics in every quilt I make as well. Do we have dates and more info on the retreat in August yet? Need to plan ahead, and I know there are a few other bloggers out there that are teachers, and want to go and are hoping it is early in the month before school starts. I hope there is more info.
I've been off all week. Tuesday morning, I thought it was Wednesday (so did my kids). Then this morning, I asked what day it was, and my 9 year old said Thursday. UGH! I could have sworn it was Friday. This week has been crazy!
I am with you on your feelings about the iron on tape for putting batting pieces together. It's not cheap and you would probably need more than one roll to put all those strips together. Plus, it's work, too, as far as I am concerned - just at the ironing board/table rather than at the sewing machine. And I also wondered about having all that fusible in my quilt.
"It's not been fully pressed yet." How do you do that? Like so many of us, in sections on our ironing boards, or if we have one, on our big board? Or do you have a presser? I keep looking at them longingly, knowing they could make pressing easier and faster...
The churn dash strips on the back are really cute. Sure would love to see the front. ;)
Are we speaking of the 8th month of 2013 already? MERCY! I can see you really do plan ahead. Don't think I could do that. Pack the night before a trip - yup, I mentally have decided on each item...John packs a week before lol.
Like the backing Bonnie..interesting way to make those churn dash blocks. Another Bonnie book will be bought at my house :)
Smiles, JulieinTN
VAlerie
Those Big Board are very easy to make up. Home Depor or Lowe's will cut a 4' x 8' piece of plywood for you into the measurements you give them FREE...2 cuts FREE. 2 cuts is all it takes. Lay the board on the floor, place your ironing board upside down position where you want it to be. Place 2 strips of wood (we used 1" x 2" 4 foot loong pieces) at the coorect angle you like. GLUE THEM DOWN WITH WOOD GLUE. While John used some screws also. John tends to over 'secure' things lol.
Bet just the glue would hold.
On the board's ironing surface layer some batting and a piece of muslin. Fold the layers over the edges of the board. Staple, glue or thumb tack the fabrics to the underside of the board. This will cost ABOUT $30. Honest it works.
JulieinTN
when life hands you lemons.....make a pieced backing. :>)
We've made 3 of the larger ironing boards and now wonder how we've lived so long without them! They're awesome. We used denium fabric to make a padded cover. Love the larger ironing board, they'll last for forever too!
I have a feeling you get a heck of a lot more done when you are not talking with all of us on the quitcam!
Nicely done Bonnie.........
Happy Sewing :0)
Press a backing?? No, no! Just mist it very lightly with water, and roll it up on the backing roller. It will smooth itself out by magic in a few hours or overnight!
That's a cute idea....piecing so it looks like a ribbon going through it. You should file that idea away for a future project.
Have a FUN & well-deserved party night!
I like your pieced backing - churn dash or half square triangles. Hope you had a nice dinner with your fiends tonight.
Question about book orders. How long does it usually take for you to ship a book when the payment goes through PayPal. I'm anxiously waiting for my book to arrive and it seems like it's been forever! Probably not that long, but was curious. It's order # 5735 in case you need to know. Thanks much for all you do for us, I especially love QuiltCam evenings.
Question....do you baste your quilt sandwich? Or is it required on the longarm? Thanks so much for LISTENING to all of us!
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