I tackled some book work this morning….but once a friend convinced me that this is a three day weekend coming up ((THANK YOU MICKEY!)) and that I really SHOULD take a long holiday weekend off and tackle work stuff come Tuesday after a rejuvenation period, I switched gears and I’m in the studio getting these Dancing Nine Patch quilts ready for the long arm!
I found two pieces of yardage that will do the job as quilt backings….one is a print I have loved, but it was so directional ((And not PRINTED STRAIGHT!)) that I have never used it.
Therefore, let me introduce you to backing #1.
I love the white salt box houses, red barns, tall corn and willow trees….so VERY VERY New England!
And that has nothing to do with where these nephews are being born, but since I spent so much time up and down the East Coast from Pennsylvania to New Hampshire to Maine & New York the past few months…I think it’s super cute! ((We are not going to even mention Newark!!))
Only NOT wide enough! That said – I think I didn’t do *THAT* bad of a job of matching up the print to join the two pieces….if you look at the far right side…down the center of the corn..I think you can see where I tried to make that seam as unnoticeable as possible…not perfect…but…pretty dang good!
This is a blue/green background and I’m going to match it with the quilt that has the green sashings. The quilt with the light blue sashings is getting a light blue plaid as its backing. Both tops can be seen HERE!
I also needed a zig-zag today ---I decided to be a bit Frugal-Frannie and piece my battings out of left overs.
This is Sally, my 1953 Singer 328!
I hadn’t ran her in a while…poor BROWN machine. What can I say? I really like my machines to be more fun than brown. LOL! But she DOES have a mean zig-zag stitch and was just what I needed. Unlike my slant-needle Singer 401 and 404 – she is a straight needle-bar short shank machine. And she DOES thread with the needle hole front and center. She takes a class 66 drop front bobbin.
There are cams that can make her do some really interesting decorative stitches, but I have never played with those ---I’m a two stitch girl: Straight stitch for piecing and applying binding, and zig-zag for joining scraps of batting together when needed!
Joining batting is easy…I just “barely” overlap, and set the machine on the widest zig-zag that it can do…and put my stitch length at the longest one it can offer ----and away I go!
I know you can buy iron on tape for this….but I do not want glue in my quilt. I don’t know what it will do over time. Thread is plentiful and it gives me a time to give the various machines a workout!
Completed pieced batting ready for loading into the machine!
You can guess where I’ll be tonight!
An update on Quilt-Cam: How about Tomorrow night – Friday May 24th at 9pm Eastern?
Saturday we have plans to head back up to the mountains to resume our Cabin Hunt.
Off to load the long arm ---
20 comments:
you don't even get to play when you're playing. have fun with crumbs or such! tomorrow night is excellent - I'll see you then~
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night and hearing all about your new machine and trip.
Looking good there Auntie Bonnie. You will have those two baby quilts done in no time. You are such a good Auntie. See you tomorrow night and enjoy the Cabin hunting!!
Yes, take a break from work; that's what holiday weekends are for! Have fund at Quilt-Cam tomorrow night. I probably won't be joining you as I'll be out of town and don't know if I'd have internet connectivity. (even if I do, I wouldn't have anything to do except stare at you!) So I'll wait to watch you until I'm back home and working on my project.
Oh my, HELLO SALLY!! My mother had a Sally and she and I went through 10 years of 4-H sewing from beanbags to a winter coat. I don't think I called her Sally but I did find other names for her every time I burned my hand on that light. There are times though when I long for the days of sewing on her. We had a large assortment of cams for fancy stitches. Thanks for the memory jogger. Enjoy your long weekend.
Love that backing fabric. Just the right thing ... adds some lightness and it just plain cute.
Been making a few quilt tops to tack for the Okie tornado folks. I can not even imagine standing where our house WAS, and seeing it basically dissolved into rubble.
See ya QuiltCam lol
JulieinTN
This IS playing for me!
I love saving some $$ by piecing my batting.
Enjoy quilting and cabin hunting. Sounds like fun.
Yay! Back in your own studio! Must feel so gooood : )
See ya manana!
I just pieced a backing for a quilt this afternoon. Love the backing -- you did an excellent job -- didn't notice the seam until you said something about it.
So good to know that you are a "scrappy girl" through and through~!~ I save all my batting off cuts too.
strips of interfacing (A la MArti Michell) work really well to peice batting. I just shipped off a baby quilt today.
I have a machine very similar to your Sally. I think mine is a 327, but I could be wrong. I think I may have schlepped it down to Las Vegas last month and there it stayed. I might have even played with it a bit. Mostly I think I played with the 503 I have down there. I, too love the backing fabric with the corn, houses, etc. Lovely. Sadly, I will miss quilt cam tomorrow, but I know I will get another chance down the road. And I will look it up on YouTube after I get home from work.
I will be working this weekend, as usual. Plus a bonus day of work on Monday. Followed by that landmark 'c' procedure that you did a while back on Wednesday. It's going to be a busy and interesting week.
Enjoy your long weekend, you so richly deserve it!
I have a machine very similar to your Sally. I think mine is a 327, but I could be wrong. I think I may have schlepped it down to Las Vegas last month and there it stayed. I might have even played with it a bit. Mostly I think I played with the 503 I have down there. I, too love the backing fabric with the corn, houses, etc. Lovely. Sadly, I will miss quilt cam tomorrow, but I know I will get another chance down the road. And I will look it up on YouTube after I get home from work.
I will be working this weekend, as usual. Plus a bonus day of work on Monday. Followed by that landmark 'c' procedure that you did a while back on Wednesday. It's going to be a busy and interesting week.
Enjoy your long weekend, you so richly deserve it!
oh my mom has a 328, workhorse machine like most of the older era machines. it's in a cabinet too...when it becomes mine, tho, i have to shorten the legs a bit. and quilt cam friday? i am sooo ready!
Sometimes a girl just has to sew. Enjoy your week end. Those quilts are very cute. Love that backing.
Bonnie I have a method for matching pieces that is as close to purfect as I have ever seen. The I dea is not my own but was not used for matching but for putting appliques in place. You do however, have to buy a tip or fashion one from a bic pencil so you get little glue and you use the washable childrens school glue that washes out.
Press your seam under so you have your straight edge. place the two pieces of fabric together (match them up) then place a small line of glue just under the edge that is on top and press dry. it only takes a second and when done you can place riight sides together by folding the top fabric back on the ajoining fabric and stitch in the pressed seam line. Once the quilt is washed after it is finished the glue is gone and you have a purfect seam as the fabric will not move on you.
Love your blog and books.
Thanks for all your sharing
Avon
I just pieced batting for the first time last week. It worked perfectly. Yay for saving money!
Sally's not brown, she's fawn beige!
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