Still making!

It’s Wednesday. I have been home for a lot of days… forty-five? I had a trip booked to visit the Mad City Quilters in Madison on Monday but that didn’t happen… I was going to be packing my bags for a flight to Austin next week to see the Chisholm Trail Quilt Guild in Georgetown… I’m hoping to get there in September now…

But, all is OK. Steve and I are staying safe at home. Steve is still working hard every day and I am still making things…

Svetlana of s.o.t.a.k handmade posted a short video on Instagram last week and I just had to try making her tiny flower pot cozies…
I had a few problems cutting out the pieces accurately. I love my rulers with the extra 1/2″ but I do sometimes get confused 🙂 It just meant that I made three different size pots!

This one is actually the size and proportions Svetlana intended…

This one came out a bit small but I couldn’t not use the hedgehog fabric once I cut into it.Everyone needs a few pots to put things in? You can find the instructions for yourself on Instagram if you search for @sotakhandmade and look through the videos.

I have also been doing a little piecing and quilting, continuing on with the Kathy Doughty Horizons fabric. I actually quilted three baby size quilts yesterday. I’ll post pictures once I put the bindings on.

What I have been having the most fun with is the white/almost white whole cloth quilts. I am going to have lots of samples for my Further Steps in Walking Foot Quilting when I get back on the road again. I might even add a whole cloth class to my workshop offerings.

I tried some more curves, starting with some spirals and then filling in the spaces. (12″ square)
Just a little hand stitched embellishment.Not everyone wants to tackle those spirals so let’s try some straight lines.

This one started with sets of parallel lines. I filled in the spaces with straight line spirals starting at the outside of each shape, stitching towards the center. (20″ square)I added the running stitch down the center of the initial parallel lines.I started this one with single lines to split the space and added just a minimal amount of embellishment. (12″ square)

I have my machine set for three different stitches when I make the spirals. There’s my regular quilting stitch, a zero length, zero width setting for neat corner pivots, and 0.5 length for securing the starts and stops. As long as I concentrate it works well!

Then I went back to the curved lines… I used to use curvy grids years ago when I was playing with fused scraps. Let’s try again? Remember I just use the Integrated Dual Feed system on my BERNINA, either the 20D or 57D foot, depending on how large a grid I want.

The grid needed cross stitches in a pretty, neutral variegated thread. (12″ square)

The hand stitching just goes through the top and the batting. Each stitch is made individually before moving onto the next square. 

I start with a little knot which I bury in the batting and finish with a very small backstitch that I hide under the last cross stitch “leg” and then pull back into the batting for an inch or so before cutting.

People on social media seemed to like the grid (thanks for all the comments) so I have pursued them further. I have played with color underlays in the past. Time to add some color.

Straight 1/4″ grid with colored squares under a fine white fabric (possibly Free Spirit solid or Cotton Couture from Michael Miller, I don’t label my solids!)

This happened.I used a variegated 8 weight perle cotton from Wonderfil for the stitching rather than the hand dyed thread I usually use. It’s not very subtle!

Organic curved 1/4″ grid with four colored squares and another, paler, factory produced thread for the cross stitching.

I thought I had started my embellishment in the center but I guess organic curves have a way of doing their own thing?And that’s where I’m up to right now…

I am getting much better at facing a quilt. I think I have worked out what works for me. I started off using wool batting but the hot iron I need to use to persuade the facing pieces to lie flat didn’t agree with it so I have switched to 100% cotton.

I am hoping to venture into making a bigger piece using a combination of walking foot quilting, underlays and cross stitch. We’ll see? I certainly have the time right now so that’s not the excuse!

What to do today? It’s raining, as if that makes a difference… I have bindings to stitch, an ongoing knitting project and then there’s the flower designs to embroider… or I could read a book. Oh the choices when I’m stuck at home… all of them are good ones!

BTW If you happen to want to find out more about my walking foot quilting techniques I would be remiss not to mention that my on-line class with Quilting Daily is currently running… use the link at the side to find out more. Sign up for the current course ends on Friday. If that’s too much commitment the one hour video download is always available… there’s a link for that one too!