Card inspired quilt sewn!

     I continued to press on finishing the quilt that my grandson designed on my get well card. After piecing and trimming, I pondered on the stars. Ethan helped me pick out fabric he thought would work. I drew stars on freezer paper, cut them out, ironed them to the fabric, and used what I learned from Karen Kay Buckley- Magic Sizing applied with a brush to the fabric, folded againt the freezer paper, and ironed flat. I had a few different size stars and went with the smallest ones I made. 

    After dusting off the vintage Bernina 830, using a 70/11 needle and monofilament from YLI in the top and bobbin, and the blind hem stitch, the stars were on. It sewed like a dream. I don't sew on it very often thinking I will break it. 

      When viewing it on the wall, it ocurred to me if I had applied what I learned from a David Taylor lecture in Houston, I would have remembered shadowing and lined the stars. Oh well, it can't ever be in judged show, but I am not ripping them out. 
     I found some big piece of hand dye for the backing, cut some Quilters Dream for the batting and will baste it all together to quilt on a beloved 301. I think it is too small for the long arm.

An unexpected, glorious gift!

     My friend Susan, the one that did the dresses and had the snow dyeing party, stopped by and brought me some beautiful pieces she dyed. She knows I love the star burst ones. The colors are just lovely. So, now, I have to think what to make. What kind of fabric do I add to not take away the loveliness of the dyes? I don't want to cut into them, but sort of frame them. I don't want to make small things that just get folded away, so I need to think about 50 x 60 or so. This is where I have a hard time imagining how to make these pieces work without ruining or overpowering them. Thank you so much, Susan!

BasiX winner and fabric

    First, the winner of the BasiX template is Crickets Corner. The template is working its way through the USPS as I write. Thank you for all who took the time to write.
    Second, I bought a piece of hand dye fabric at the Genesee Valley Show from Stone Row Fabrics. I think this would be perfect for a lily pond. I don't want to use fusible on the appliqued fabric, so I need to come up with plan B.

     My outdoor garden has been doing well. The rain we got last weekend helped. Right after I took the photo above half hour ago, the sky opened up with torrential rain and I just got the photo in. It is still raining!
 

Great colors- A Kaffe fabric?

My little fish pond

Denim again, love denim!

     I found a beautiful denim quilt on Pinterest that was from Alicia on Lucy's Quilts. She generously gave me the pattern. I cut more jeans apart and carefully pieced this together with hand dye fabric cut in 1" strips. I think it looks like stained glass. I had so much fun making this quilt. I just love it. The pattern is sheer brilliance with nesting sizes and nesting seams. I will put a border on it with hand dyed fabric, maybe about 2". It is about 56 x56 now. I just love hand dyed fabric. I don't want to make it. I just want to cut it up and sew it.

    Now, I need to cut up some more jeans. Fortunately, people gave me a bunch. I still want to make some landscape quilts with denim and hand dyed. The logistics are escaping me to get one over 36".

Sewing the units together

Finished but for the border

My 15 Minutes of Blog Fame

  Vicki Welsh, on her blog, http://vickiwelsh.typepad.com/field_trips_in_fiber/, has an interview with me today. You can check out her awesome hand dyes. She will do custom colors for you and is just super to deal with.
  Tomorrow, I am headed east towards Cooperstown, NY for the CNYTOGA, treadle sewing machine gathering extraodinaire. It is hosted at Elizabeth's, http://mysewingmachineobsession.blogspot.com/. Can't wait. I will take pictures of all the cool machines and people.

Further Denim Lily Developments

   I have continued to work on the Denim Lily Quilt that I showed earlier. After sewing it all down with invisible thread, I used a variety of Isacord color thread. I tried using Superior Bottom Line in the bobbin, but it did not work very well. Using a neutral Isacord worked much better. I trimmed all the seams carefully but of course, did cut into the hand dye fabric in a couple of places. I will have to repair that with fusible I suppose. I think I have all the color quilting on there I need or want but will give it a couple of days on the design wall before I add the border or binding. I can add a denim border or just bind it. Not sure. Although I love, love denim, this project was difficult removing freezer paper and the ravels of the denim edges. I think it needs to be rethought on my part if I am to do it again. Once again, I based it on buying Hollis Chatelain's pattern for the instructions, design is my own. Pieced, zig zagged on the 401, quilted on the 301.

Quilt the size of a fat quarter

Denim Lily started

    When I visited Quilting by the Lake Tour Day, I saw a class by Hollis Chatelain, where she sews denim to a multicolor back fabric, quilts it, and then cuts the lines between pieces revealing the multicolor. I asked her if she had a book or video on it, but said I had to buy the pattern. I hate making an existing art pattern, but I bought it because I love denim, multicolor hand dyes, free motion quilting, and landscapes. I read it a number of times, but still am not real clear. I drew my own pattern from one of my photographs, bought some jeans at Amvets, washed and cut them up, and started. After I drew the pattern, I had to trace it in reverse and number the pieces. Then I had to trace it on freezer paper. I made sure instead of using just one color line, I drew hash lines in multiple colors to make sure I could  line up all the pieces. Thanks to a class with Pat Pauly, I was able to know to do that.
   Once the pieces were ironed to freezer paper and cut out, I had to zig zag them together side by side with invisible thread. Then all the pieces had to be zig zagged together. I used my wonderful Singer 401. The next part was awful. I had to take out the paper which of course was sewn in. In the process, a lot of the seams came apart. I would have to do that differently somehow next time. Then, I layered the denim, the multicolor hand dye, the batting and the backing together. She wrote not to spray baste, but I have no fingernails these days and could not do safety pins. So I spray basted. I thought I need to stabilize the piece, so I sewed straight stitch with invisible thread on top, Bottom Line on the bobbin around every edge at least 1/8" away from the raw zig zag edge to every piece. Now, I started to add the quilting lines and realize that I do not have enough colors, so I had to agonize deciding and place an order for some Isacord. I am waiting for the thread to continue. The pictures are my steps up to where I basted it all together. I will take some other pictures as I resume. By then, I will have calmed down from ripping paper and trying to understand the directions.

The Drawing

Reversed drawing with numbers

Pieces cut out and some sewed

Partly assembled

Sections together

Denim together pre-ripping paper