I’ll do “Nothing” when I’m dead.
I’ll do “Nothing” when I’m dead.. I loved the look of this project!! What a great idea to put in your assorted sewing things.
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Archive for the tag “learning”
Binding the weekend away
A friend of ours that’s been there for us throughout the last three years is going to receive a quilt on Monday that she knows nothing about. This will be the first time we’ve given a quilt to someone outside our immediate family. This means though that I’ll be binding all weekend since I plan on finishing the binding on a Christmas quilt that was put together in March. After that quilt is finished, I’ll bind our friends quilt and finally the Arbor Lane quilt. Not bad now that I see it in print… binding three quilts in two days!
If you are interested in the how to of binding, check out this link Crazy Mom Quilts. This is more or less the method that I’ve used since I started up quilting again two years ago.
If I can squeeze it into the weekend, I’ll also finish the mini quilt that I started and maybe piece one of the nursery blankets together for my nephew.
Shopping Day
Yesterday was a shopping day for me. I had specifically purchased fabrics for three quilts minus the backings, but had received a couple of coupons from Joann Fabrics for 30% in addition to any other discounts. So, off to the store I went where I found the Heidi Grace fabric collection.
This I thought would make a really nice queen size quilt. I ended up buying enough of the fabric to make a queen and a twin. My plan was to make a twin first as a sort of proof of concept and then make the queen. I had assumed that I could readily find a pattern for this fabric set… and that’s what I get when I assume! I laughed until I cried. I will find something suitable however and soldier on.
I also found a couple of quick nursery blanket kits that I intend on making for my nephew and niece:
And of course a shopping trip wouldn’t be complete without buying some more Jelly Rolls
There was another item I was able to pick up was some of my favorite Warm & White batting. Have you done any shopping lately?
Jelly Rolls and Persian Plum Block 4
At lunch I slipped out to buy something from the fabric store, not out of need but there are a lot of sales going on and I just had to. After almost an hour of trying to decide between fabrics I ran across some jelly rolls. I used my last one that I received for Christmas for a quilt that my son absconded with recently. As I have no other jelly rolls at hand, I wanted to get some should the mood strike me. Let’s be honest, can you really ever have enough fabric?
On to Block 4 of the Persian Plum BOTM
So now onto the new block. This was definitely one of the easiest I had the pleasure of putting together! And the colors as usual were stunning and magnificent. If you were looking for a beautiful block this one turned out rather well. There is some cutting involved, so be aware.
And the finished piece!! Block 4 of 12, hey that’s means we’re already 1/3 the way there.
Winner for the Persian Plum Block 7
And the winner is…
Pillowsalamode!!! If this is you, then you are the lucky winner. Please email me at txmlawrence@bistroquilts.com
And for the rest of you, I’ll be having another giveaway in two weeks. Stay tuned and as always keep quilting!!
The Bobbin Surprise
Among the things that give me pause while quilting is the sewing machine bobbin. It’s the red-headed step-child of the sewing machine. It is busily doing all of these wonderful things behind the scenes and rarely (did I say rarely?) complaining. As much as I remember to check my top thread, I’m almost always surprised when the bobbin runs out. The thing is… it doesn’t even upset me when it happens.
While piecing together a top furiously… (can you imagine yourself in action?) Three times in a row, the bobbin ran out at the end of what I was sewing, so no inconvenience encountered. At times however, I am so intent on sewing straight and managing the fabric while it goes though the machine that I don’t realize that for the last yard and a half the bobbin was empty!
I HAD an excuse when I was using my Singer Brilliance machine. There was no way to know while sewing as it the bobbin is enclosed for that model. Using the Viking Sapphire though leaves me with no excuse other than I like to gamble. It is a top-load bobbin with a see-through window so you can check see the bobbin on the fly.
One of my other peccadilloes is to wind two bobbins at a time. I know that I’ll still have to stop and change it out when it runs out. It feels though like it will be quicker than having to wait to wind it every time it runs dry. Do you have OCD about certain things while sewing? You heard it hear first from my, mine is “The Bobbin Surprise”! Happy Quilting.
The Scissor Effect
Nostalgia has me in its grip this week apparently. I found myself talking about some of the things my wife and I have discovered as beginning quilters. I started talking about the scissors we use most. I thought it was hilarious that after spending our time, energy and money on selecting these large and really nice scissors, (one of them bought by my wife is purple even on the cutting surface) that aren’t even the one’s we use the most. I’m not opposed to spending money on useful items but we both try to stay away from frivolity in our purchases (most of the time!!). Although we’ve used everything we purchased, when we were thinking about it, the scissors we use most are the little 4 ½” detail Singer scissors. I think they cost $5.95 Of course out of all the things we do while quilting, the cutting, sewing, measuring, ironing, and washing this is one of the key instruments that when I can’t find it, can really be a bummer. We actually have two of them and they are exactly the same… well last month our daughter visited and left them too close to the iron which partially melted one of them. Even with two around, there are times when we sit down to sew and go to clip off the thread that they aren’t where they’re supposed to be. Sometimes Kay is the culprit and sometimes it’s me, but at that moment we just want those lightweight little gems. Don’t get me wrong, we’ll use the “bulkier”, more expensive ones when push comes to shove, but the little scissors are definitely in the “can’t live without” category. What is the implement of destruction can’t you live without? 
Free Persian Plum Block 7 Give-A-Way
Believe it or not I happen to have an extra Joann Fabrics Persian Plum block 7 that I am going to send to some lucky bistroquilts.com follower.
How to Enter:
1. [Required] Leave a comment on this post. What would you do with your Persian Plum Block 7?
2. [Required] Be a follower of this blog. It only takes a moment to click the follow button.
2. {optional} Like BistroQuilts.com, and then leave a separate comment letting me know you did {or that you do already}.
If you are reading this in your email or feed reader, please visit the actual blog post to enter. Email entries, Facebook comments, and Twitter messages will NOT be counted.
Prizes:
At the end of the week on 6/16/12 I will randomly select a lucky recipient to send this prize to. This is not restricted to the U.S., I will send anywhere in the world.
Five quilts in nine days… well almost
It was ridiculous of me to think I could have finished everything, I mean five quilts in nine days? I was on a mission to be sure and ready to take up the challenge. To be fair, two of the quilts (Arbor Lane and the School House) were in their final stages of completion and since have been taken to my long arm quilter along with one of the Sage Garden Patch quilts I made here. So, in a way that doesn’t make it sound like I’m cheating, I finished off the assembly of two quilt tops, put two entirely new quilts together and have one nearly across the finish line.
“I kept complaining that although I have made a few quilts, I really hadn’t kept any for myself.”
Just in case you were wondering and hadn’t read any of my previous posts, I have been suffering from separation anxiety regarding the quilts I’ve made. It might have something to do with the fact that every time one of the children stops in for a visit, I end up one quilt lighter . Three out of seven children have a quilt made by me or by my wife and me. We’ve come to the conclusion that we should just make one for each and call it done. This means of course, we still have four other quilts to make and give away which is tough to do when you want to stock pile quilts for your own personal use and enjoyment. Trying to complete five quilts in so short amount of time isn’t anything that I’ve done before. I have to say that nine days ago when I started this I wouldn’t have believed I would have accomplished this much.
My vacation is over and I am back to work again. I will most likely finish the fifth and final quilt tonight as I have already started to sew the strips together. To be honest, three of the quilts are of the same pattern, with only varied fabric selections to make them look different. I chose to make a few for its beautiful, yet simplistic style and each quilt only calls for three colors. Having never assembled a quilt the way this one goes together, I also wanted ample practice getting those points together with minimal space between or losing them to the border. All three turned out far better than my expectations!!
So, what are you making? What goals have you set for yourself this summer?
Sage Garden Patch Quilt or Two day quilt
As a teaser for the book, I’m posting some pictures of a quilt from a book Quilting a Patchwork Garden that I did a review of. I completed this quilt in two days, although it could have been done in one day. I changed up the borders from what the book called for because I wanted it to be a little larger and liked the added flair as well.
The block above is as hard as this quilt will throw at you. It is important however that you pin all the panels when sewing them together!! When I was telling my wife about this quilt and sending pictures to her as it was coming together
She thought it was really nice and had a clean look to it. In my earlier post of the review for this book I mentioned that it had a garden theme, and as the first quilt you come to in the book the Sage Garden patch quilt didn’t disappoint.
And this is the point when I decided to change-up the borders and add my own bit of flair.
And not satisfied with just a white border on the outside, I added a green square to all four corners.
In closing I’ll say that it was a blast to put this together. The funnest part was when my wife came home to see this sitting on the couch and said “WOW! We need to go to the fabric store so I make this quilt this weekend.” The pictures that I took do not do this quilt justice. If you’re looking for a beautiful quilt to make for a loved one or friend that won’t take forever, then this pattern is for you.
For the serious quilting I will mention two facts that we had discussed while I was making this. This can easily be pieced together in one day. Kay had asked me if I was working on it all in one sitting for both days and I have to confess that I goofed off for a large portion of both days, rather than keeping at it. Second, there is some minor changes in a couple of the measurements that I would suggest.
It is already at the long arm quilter (trying someone new) and I’ll post another picture after its bound, but before it goes off to its lucky new owner.
Contact me if you are making this and would like to hear about the changes I would suggest. Until next time… quilt on!!
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