29 Wednesday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I started binding the wall hanging today. I chose a plain black narrow binding as I don’t want it to dominate the hanging.
I said “sort of” a finish because it hasn’t been washed yet but I wanted to photograph it in case it all went pear-shaped once it was washed. I’ll let you know how that goes.
27 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I have four different square rulers. A 12.5″, a 9.5″, an 8.5″ and 6.5″. These I used a lot when I was making my Wonky Canasta quilt.
And I also have a special triangle cutting ruler. This Wondercut ruler is quite a clever idea. I have played with it but not used it for an actual project yet.
In addition to all these fancy rulers I have a 22″ and a 12″ ruler.
Many of these rulers were bought for half price at a closing down sale with the thought that “when I get onto more complex quilts I will need them”. Hmmm!
So what rulers do you have, and do you use them all? And has anyone used the Cutting Edge rulers that are supposed to sharpen your rotary cutter as you use it? If you have, please let me know what you think of them.
26 Sunday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Do you have many rulers? I’d be interested to know which are your favrouites.
I have quite a few different rulers. Some I use a lot and some less frequently. I have these Westalee rulers which are an Australia invention. They have a black fabric guide that you butt up against your fabric edge.
Then I have this one which helps you cut circles which, as you can see by the fact that it is still shrink wrapped, I have never used.
I also have one that helps you draw circles. This one proved very useful when I was making the Labyrinth quilt.
And that’s not all! More tomorrow.
24 Friday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
What a relief. While I really enjoy hand quilting this has a been a quilting marathon. I’m glad I used the Freudenberg Quiltlite it needles so nicely. Anway here are some photos of the back. I’m saving the front for the big reveal! If you click on the photos you’ll get bigger ones where you can see the detail more clearly.
22 Wednesday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
Gosh my hands and fingers are so sore! I’ve been quilting like a mad thing. Deciding where and how much to quilt the central medallion was difficult. I don’t want to quilt the whole Arabesque so I decided to quilt around the inner scalloped edge and also to do two rows in the centre. I’ve pinned the rest of it so that when I was wash it holds it in place. Fingers crosssed!
20 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
A I told you, I decided I had to quilt around the appliqué of the wall hanging. The red and black parts were easy. I was able to quilt on the background around the appliqué but the central medallion was more of a challenge. I did quilt around it on the background but I knew I had to do at least some on the appliqué itself. The trouble was I didn’t have any quilting thread that was the right colour. I headed off to the LQS and found they were holding a clearance sale on Guterman hand quilting threads. They’re not going to stock them any more and so were selling them for $2 a reel. Looks like I was in the right place at the right time! What’s more they had the exact colour I needed so I bought it and nine other reels. Aren’t the colours pretty?
18 Saturday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I started the cross hatch quilting on the wall hanging and I was very happy with the way it was going when there was an interesting conversation on quilting density on the Yahoo quiltsbyhand group.
Doris asked a question about quilting density and Sylvia gave a really comprehensive answer which got me thinking, that my wall hanging may have a problem.
Sylvia pointed out that quilts that have differing quilting densities in different areas of the quilt can have problems. That sounded like a description of the wall hanging as I wasn’t planning on quilting the appliqué at all and the central medallion is quite a large percentage of the quilt.
So after I had done all the cross hatching, I had to set to and start quilting around the appliqué.
16 Thursday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
I wasn’t going to quilt the wall hanging. My plan was to just sew a backing to it and then turn it inside out, hand sew the small opening and just have it as two layers of fabric. So much for plans. I guess that’s how almost all of my projects go. Even if I do have firm ideas to begin with they seem to take on a life of their own and evolve as I work on them. That’s what happened here. The wall hanging just demanded to be quilted, and not just a little quilting here and there either! I’ve chosen 3.5cm squares and I’m planning to hand-quilt it. Wish me luck!
I’m using the lovely Freudenberg Quiltlite batting for this and a marbled “mushroomy pink” for the backing. And “yes” the dreaded safety pins are back.
14 Tuesday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
My husband has been working late nights and weekends now for almost 6 months due to all the natural disasters we’ve had and finally he’s taking some time off to rest and recuperate. Naturally I want to spend some time with him as we seem to have hardly seen one another for the last few months so I’m not going to post everyday. I’ll try to post every other day to see what you’re all up to and let you know what, if any, sewing I’m getting done. I hope you understand.
13 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in Sew journal
The postie brought me another Bee in Oz block. This time it was from Chérie. I think it’s gorgoeus! This is going to be one riotous quilt. What do you reckon?
