Finished!!

I can't believe that I have finished my Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along quilt!

This has been going on since January and I absolutely loved belonging to a quilt along. Thanks Rachel!!
You can see other wonderful Pinwheel quilts over at Flickr. It is amazing to see all the other variations.

I love this block.
I chose to quilt free-motion feathers in the pinwheels. They were so much fun to quilt and great practice. I realized that the secret to nice feathers is the angle that the loops come off the stem (vein?).

I used flannel for the backing,


and Hobbs Tuscany Wool batting (my favorite - to work with and to sleep under).

The layer cake (and part of a charm pack) I used was Alliance by Moda,

and the background was by Buggy Barn. All the fabric for the top is from KickAss Country Store, the people there are so wonderful and helpful!
I used Invisafil by Wonderfil for all the quilting (also from KACS), it has become my new favorite quilting thread. It is easy to work with and disappears into the fabric - seems to hide mistakes! I used Aurifil #50 in the bobbin, and a #80 Microtex needle to quilt.

I joined the 1800's Reproduction Fabric Club from KickAss Country Store awhile ago,

and in the Fall I plan on starting making blocks with the fabric I have collected. I am thinking of doing it as a very informal quilt-along. I would like to post a block (or two) every week (designed with the help of EQ7). I have a couple of ideas for quilt layouts too.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

Finished Free Motion Quilting!

I finally finished free motion quilting my Pinwheel Quilt!

A close-up of the quilting

I really like how the feathers in the pinwheels turned out. Nothing was marked, it was all free hand. I used Invisafil for the whole quilt - absolutely love sewing with it. It disappears into the fabric and when you go over the line a few times, there is no thread build-up.
Just the binding left to do, but since I have been doing nothing but quilting for the past four days, it is time to catch up on my "regular duties"!

Goldfinch at the feeder

The robin babies are filling up the nest

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

More Free Motion Quilting

I am still free motion quilting my pinwheel quilt.


I really like how this block turned out. I am very pleased with the feathers in the pinwheels,

but I still don't know how I feel about the large "McTavishing" in the background. I think it looks too "sausage" like. I am hoping that by the end it will work out.
The little pinwheel just have a stitched in the ditch X in them.
I hope to finish this quilt in the next three days - I am home for a change, and I need to get my dining room table out of my kitchen (my large quilting project set-up). Four blocks quilted and 16 more to go!

I have been meaning to mention a wonderful fellow Manitoban's blog - Tactile Pleasures....In Fabric. Myra had a wonderful Show and Tell post showing some great free motion quilting by Melissa Marginet. Who, coincidentally, I met when I volunteered at the MCC Quilt Show. I recognized her bag from her website!!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

Pinwheel Quilt

I pinned my pinwheel quilt together.

I used flannel for the backing and the batting is wool. It will be a large lap quilt.


I decided to do a large version of Mctavishing in the background and feathers for the pinwheels and a curved line for the triangles.
I was worried about all the quilting taking out the loft of the wool batting, but I think it will be fine. I enjoyed quilting my mother's quilt so much that I thought I should try a variation on mine.

I am using Invisafil thread for the quilting.

Last week I bought a new free motion foot to replace the one that broke. I was told that it was my fault that it broke, so they wouldn't replace it but gave me a discount on the new one. I thought I would take a video of the new foot as it does the same as the old one. The original free motion foot broke because the wire that is supposed to sit on top of the needle screw would get caught underneath the screw when I turned my machine on and the needle did the little dance (re-calibrated itself).
The wire finally broke when it got caught in the needle screw slot - I was also told that it was my fault for having the needle screw slot horizontally - there is no other way it can be when I tighten the needle in!! Not my fault!!



I have a Husqvarna 870 Quilt, and I am using the Husqvarna free motion spring action foot that goes with my machine. If it breaks again, I wanted documentation!! Thanks for putting up with the rant!!

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Finished?

I think I have finished piecing the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along Quilt!? I was going to add a couple of borders, but now that I see it I think it is done.


What do you think? Do I need borders. Right now it is a pretty large lap quilt (63" x 78"), if I added borders it would be a bed quilt, which I don't need, another reason why I think this is fine.

I ordered some Invisafil thread, and it came yesterday. (My oldest child named my blog and I come by the name honestly - you can never have too much thread!!)



It is a very fine polyester thread said to be an alternative to invisible thread. Where I ordered it they said it was great for machine applique. It has a matt finish, which I thought would be good, since I sometimes find invisible thread catches the light too much (even smoke coloured).



Well, I wanted to try it out so I used it on the fruit table runner. I used the dark thread for stitching in the ditch in the green, even though it wasn't the same colour it blended beautifully. I used the white to "McTavish" in the white section. I also tried some silk thread in the orange star. The invisafil was about the same size as the silk thread, and I thought they both worked wonderfully. I usually have trouble with polyester in my machine, but it was fine.

This was the first time I tried the YLI #100 silk thread. I used a #70 Microtex needle. I am using wool batting in the table runner.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

So Much Goin On!

Wow! What a busy day, where to begin?!

I will start with the most important for me.

May 4, 1991

My oldest child turned 19 today!! Where did the time go? He is such a wonderful young man and we are so proud of him!! ♥

Next!

Free Motion Quilting Challenge

My friend Wendy thought it would be a great idea to challenge each other to free motion quilt for the month of May, and we thought that maybe you would like to join us!

It is pretty simple.
If you would like to join us leave a comment here or on Wendy's blog.
You don't need to FMQ for the whole month, just two weeks in a row during the month of May. It can be FMQ on anything, even practice samples.
You're on the honor system. We'd love for you to blog about it as you go (although you don't need to), we're not going to check every blog every day. If you cheat, we won't know, but you will!
At the end of the month leave another comment letting us know you successfully completed the challenge and your contact info. You will then be entered to win one of two prizes, either the book "Mastering the Art of McTavishing" by Karen McTavish or a white Clover marking pen and a couple of spools of my favorite Aurifil thread.


We hope that you will join us. We were amazed with how much we improved last month, when we tried it for a week!

Next! I finished two more Pinwheel Sample Quilt Along blocks today.

I will do two more tomorrow and then have the 20 blocks that I need.

I also washed my applique quilt - always a bit nerve racking when the fabric hits the water - but it looked so beautiful, the colours became more vibrant when it was wet.


It came out beautifully! The quilting is more pronounced now.

Have a great day and thanks for making it through this post!! ♥

Not Enough Fabric!

I made the five little pinwheels that I thought I would need to make my Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along quilt bigger.


Once the sashing strips are cut, I realized that I won't have enough fabric to make another four blocks!!!


Only 6 layer cakes squares left, with a few scraps and a square of background!! Oh well! I will put it on hold until the weekend and try to figure something out.

The view from our yard yesterday evening, I was surprised to see flames, they are burning the fields (it was much more impressive in real life).

This baby bunny was outside the window this afternoon. He/she is about the size of my hand! So cute!

Have a great day and thanks for dropping in!! ♥

Change of Plans

I had to order more fabric for my Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along, for the binding, so I figured I would make some other changes too.


I decided to add another row of blocks - hopefully I will have enough fabric. I also decided to add a border in dark brown. The quilt should be 66" x 81".

Today I also received this book -

When I wrote to Martingale & Company about an error in the "Fat Quarter Quilting" book, they thanked me by sending me a free book!!

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Finished Mini Pinwheels

Today I finished sewing all the mini pinwheels for the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along, and cutting all the sashing strips.


Tomorrow I will start sewing the top together.
I barely had enough fabric and will try ordering some complimentary fabric for the binding.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping in!! ♥

Pinwheels

Today I had the chance to sew!! I worked on my Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along, and made the last two blocks.


I worked out the layout on EQ6 (just found out that EQ7 is coming out this summer - you'll never be able to keep up Marie!). The sashing is 3", so the quilt will be 63" square. I decided to add mini pinwheels in the corner blocks. I liked the pinwheels in all the corner blocks not just the center ones like in Rachel's inspirational quilt. I am also using up the leftover scraps of layer cake and making the pinwheels with two colours from the layer cake, not one colour and the background.


7 made and 18 more to go. They will be 3" finished, so I used four 2 3/8" squares to make the half square triangles.

The rest of the pinwheels waiting to be sewn.

Have a great day and thanks for dropping by!! ♥

Saturday Show and Tell

DH and I had a very busy week laying hardwood floors at his sister's new condo, but we finished today!

From the hall into the kitchen and living room,

in the kitchen,

the dining room/living room area,

and the spare bedroom.

Once it is all painted we will put the baseboards back and do the finishing touches. It all went together beautifully. It was a real privileged to spend time with my SIL and her DH, they are an amazing couple!! ♥

Now back to my regular activities!! I hope to finish machine quilting my applique quilt -



and to finish the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt Along.

I have two blocks to catch up on, I might do more and then the sashing - I will also add the mini pinwheels as corner blocks in the sashing.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥

I just noticed that this is my 100th post!! I can't believe it has been that many!!

Update

I was unable to access my blog yesterday, so lots of catching up!!

Yesterday, my youngest son, who is 12, designed (with EQ6) a quilt



and started sewing blocks. 5 done, 15 more to go.



They are 12" blocks and it will be a bed quilt. He has already made a few quilted items, but this is the first large quilt he will make. He has done all the sewing so far, and did a great job - look at those points!!

I made four blocks for the pinwheel sampler quilt along. I decided to do Blocks #4, because I was worried about running out of fabric from the layer cake. The other two are a variation of Blocks #1


Only one more week of blocks to go!!

At the quilt show I bought some Aurifil #50 thread, and have been trying it out. It is wonderful!! Nice and fine, and so easy to sew with. I also pieced with it and it makes the seams flatter. The bobbin also lasts a long time. I was so impressed with Aurifil, that I ordered more from Tristan Italian Threads in BC.

The end cap of the thread comes off so that you can wind the end of the thread and replace the end cap, so there is not threads hanging every where.

I tried out some designs.


I don't like the dark thread on the light background.
Also tried colouring the designs with watercolour pencil crayons (a Christmas present from my oldest son).


Today I was checking out older posts from Feather On A Wire and Karen McTavish's website, and was inspired to create this -

I was working out my own version of a background design -
I like the "pearls", the "swoops" remind me of a cross section of a sand dune.

I used a gold colour thread for the centers and one echo.

This -
has now become this -


I sure feel that I have a lot more control of my stitches after a week of practice!

Now I am ready to try out machine quilting on some actual quilts. I think I will start with a mini quilt.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!! ♥