Crafty Sewing & Quilting: My Minutes for Me Adventure. Re-Construction Quilts

Showing posts with label My Minutes for Me Adventure. Re-Construction Quilts. Show all posts

Monday, November 21, 2011

Think Outside the BLOCK Quilt Completed!

This was project Number 12 from the list of UFO's from My 4 Day Adventure in Quilting! I took 13 projects along to finish. I finished 9 at the retreat and I am gradually completed the rest of them.

Update: I found a link to this pattern. It is a FREE Mystery Quilt available as a Downloadable PDF Pattern. A Judy Hopkins Mystery Quilt Pattern

I took lots of photos from all different angles, so you can see the quilting too. The up close photos also show that the corners didn't come together correctly and I had to cut off some points and corners!

Even though I had to cut through the blocks and it isn't perfectly straight, I really like this quilt! I am so glad I found a simple way to make it into a quilt.

A view of the back of the quilt.

The all machine embroidery binding.

The sun was shining in the window at the end of the day. I snapped a few photos. Look how different the blue looks in the next three photos and you can really see the swirl quilting with the shadowing of raised sections with the sun shining on it.

I stitch my first name and the year on all of my own quilts.

All in all I would have to say I am very pleased that this quilt turned out half way decent and I had fun creating the new design! Click here for the posts about creating the new design. The link includes this post so scroll down for the other three posts to get the whole story.

Enjoy your day!

Marcia

Don't forget to enter the Big Birthday Quilting Giveaway! Drawing Nov. 24, 2011 at 6pm. Winner announced on Nov. 25th.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday - A Pieced Backing for My "Think Outside the BLOCK Quilt"

What do you do with all the scraps leftover from a quilt?

If you are going to stitch them together to create a cool backing fabric, you need to keep a few things in mind as you assemble it.

Tight stitches as your backing fabric will be rolled onto rollers and stretched by your long arm quilter.
It will be stretched and pulled, so there may be some wavy seams that you weren't expecting on the back of your quilt. I'm OK with them, because I know why they are there.
Your backing fabric for a long arm quilter is at least 10 inches larger and wider, so put the pieces you want on your back in the center sections of the quilt - not all the way out to the edges.
Try not to have too many bias seams, as those will stretch and get wavy on the back side of your quilt.
If you are having special quilting on your quilt it might look really weird on the back of your quilt, if you have completely different design blocks on the back. I would suggest an overall quilting if you do a pieced backing. That will look best on both sides.
Ask yourself will my pieced backing enhance or distract from the beautiful front of the quilt? This is important as you have put a lot of work into your quilt top and you want to be happy with the finished quilt.

You have several options when creating a pieced back out of your leftover scraps.

Make more blocks.
Sew the pieces together in a new block design.
Sew the pieces together in rows.
Add another solid color. Use it to border the leftover pieces and partial blocks.

I chose to sew mine together in rows with the solid strips of blue in between each of the pieces.

Then I added long blue strips in between the rows and added some to the ends of the short rows.

Then auditioned fabrics to attach to the sides. I liked this one best.

I added a large long strip to each side. The wider strip on the right to off center the rows.

I started quilting it today and hope to finish it by tomorrow. I will post photos later in the week of the completed quilt. I am taking this quilt with me for show and tell, this weekend, to a quilt retreat in Belmont, Wisconsin. I started the mystery quilt at that retreat 2 or 3 years ago. The quilt Retreat is hosted by Quilts by Barb.
Previous posts about my Think outside the BLOCK Quilt.

I had fun sewing the pieces together to create a backing, but on most of my quilts I use the Extra wide backing fabrics.
I carry 30 backing fabrics in stock and they can be ordered through my online store. On weekdays, I ship out your fabric within 24 hours. You can order a sample package of all 30 fabrics (5 inch squares) for matching your colors.

Back to quilting...
Marcia

Linked with:
Think Outside the BLOCK Quilt - Oct. 30, 2011
Extra Wide Fabrics
Today's Creative Blog: Get Your Craft On - Nov. 8, 2011
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia: Tuesday's Treasures - Nov. 8, 2011
Life in Pieces: 15 Minute Challenge - Nov. 8, 2011
Freshly Pieced: WIP Wednesday - Nov. 9, 2011
Savvy Southern Style: Wow Us Wednesday - Nov. 9, 2011
Somewhat Simple: Strut Your Stuff - Nov. 10, 2011
The Thrifty Groove: Thrifty Things Firday - Nov. 11, 2011
Confessions of a Fabric Addict: Can I get a Whoop Whoop? - Nov. 11, 2011
Roca and Company: You ROCK #9 - Nov. 11, 2011
My Repurposed Life: Catch as Catch Can #52 - Nov. 11, 2011
Quilting in My Pyjamas: Favourite Things Friday - Nov. 11, 2011
2805 Potpourri Party #11 - Nov. 11, 2011
Stuff and Nonsense: fridays unfolded #41 - Nov. 11, 2011
Homemaker in heels: Weekend Craft Soiree - Nov. 11, 2011
So Many Ways: Sew Darn Crafty Party Week 40 - Nov. 14, 2011
Sew Happy Geek: Manic Mondays Linky Party - Nov. 14, 2011
Sew Chatty: Made with Love #51 - Nov. 14, 2011
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday - Nov. 15, 2011

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Reconstruction of My Mystery Quilt - Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday

I like it and I am very pleased...
After sewing all the blocks for my mystery quilt, they were all different sizes. They measured 12", 12 1/4", and 12 1/2". I weighed my options and decided to reconstruct the blocks into a new design. I tried different layouts on my guest bed.

So here's what I did:

Squared up the blocks into two sizes, 12" and 12 1/2". That gave me two rows of 12" and two rows of 12 1/2".
I cut several lattice strips 2" wide.
Stitched a lattice strip on the bottom of every block. Pressed it.
Stitched a lattice strip on the left side of every block. Pressed it.
Sewed the rows together. Two rows are longer.
Placed the rows off set, so it formed nice connections at the centers.

Here's the bottom of the quilt.

Trim the top and the bottom with a rotary cutter.

Trim the little seam allowances from the edge where you cut.

Add borders (2" strips) to the top, bottom, and right side of the quilt top.

Add another border (3" strips) to all four sides.

I just laid the 3" strips on the edges, so you could see how it would look, so I could get photos before I ran out of daylight.
I do like the new design of my reconstruction quilt!
Click here to read the story (post) about what happened to my quilt blocks and why they didn't fit together to create the original pattern design.
So Project Number 12 is ready to quilt! Yippee!
I am thinking of using the leftover scraps and combining it with some black and white fabric for the backing of the quilt. I've got an idea and if it works I will share. Several of my customers piece the leftover scraps and blocks into their backing and create some really cool backs. I carry over 30 Extra Wide fabrics on the bolt in stock in my shop, but I've got some cool scraps leftover.

I'll dream about it tonight and see what I think in the morning!
Sweet Dreams...
Marcia

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Thinking Outside the BLOCK! A Mystery Quilt - Project Number 12

I took all the pieces out of the bag and started sewing, again. Looked like I only had 4 more blocks to complete. I have been working on this quilt on and off for a couple years. So I was on a mission to finish it this time.

I was stitching along, making great progress. It was Minutes for Me: 15 minutes on Wednesday night and 25 minutes on Thursday night. My husband fell asleep in the chair on Friday night, so I stitched for about an hour! I pressed the center intersections of my four patches. It made them lay nice and flat.

Didn't feel good on Saturday, as I had my flu shot on Thursday afternoon. I always swell up at the site of the shot. I took an antihistamine on Friday night to help with the reaction. I moved kinda slow, but I managed to sew on and off all day Saturday. I even got four loads of wash done and our sheets changed! Pretty good.

It was looking great! I was so pleased. At this point it looked like I had enough pieces cut to form another row, so I kept sewing...

I had to individually make some four patches to create three more blocks.

Cool all the blocks were complete! Yippee! I was so happy!

Oh no... some of them don't line up!

Oh no... some of them are bigger and some of them are smaller!

I could not just square up the blocks at that point, because the seams won't match up when I sew them together! There is almost a 1/2 inch difference in the sizes! Oh no!

I do know why this happened.

Let me explain...

This quilt has been taken out of the bag about 5 different times during the past 3 years. Each time I sewed a few blocks together and used a different sewing machine. I have three sewing machines.

My first Janome sewing machine is 15 years old and I love it the best. It has even "almost died" twice! The second time it almost died, was when it locked up completely. I cleaned and oiled it and was going to give up on it. Before I put it away, I tried moving the hand wheel one more time and it moved! I have now been sewing on it for the past two years. I use it as my camper sewing machine. It is a Janome 4000 and I love it!

I also have a Janome 6500. I love this machine too. I don't always take it to a retreats as it is too heavy. It usually sits on my dining room table. It is perfect for stitching bindings on customer's quilts to spread out the whole quilt on the big table. I sew my 15 minutes at a time on it too - Minutes for Me! This machine is about 7 years old and runs like a charm!

My third sewing machine is a Janome 3000. I bought it when my Janome 4000 almost died the first time, about 10 years ago. My 4000 sewing machine was in the shop for more than a week (something was wrong with the bobbin casing). I needed a sewing machine, but I couldn't afford to buy another 4000 machine, so I bought a step down version of it. I like my Janome 3000 sewing machine and I take it to retreats, as it is lighter then the 6500. It sews great. So far, no problems with it, but it also doesn't have all the hours of sewing that the 4000 and 6500 sewing machines have on them. Those minutes add up fast when you sew all the time!
I did not include a photo of the Janome 3000, as it looks just like the Janome 4000, only it has less embroidery stitches.

So needless to say at this point, every time I took the mystery quilt out of the bag to sew, I used a different sewing machine, depending on where I was --- at home in my dining room, at a quilt retreat, or at the River in our camper.
I know you are suppose to start and complete a quilt on the same machine, even if they are the same brand and you use the same 1/4 inch foot, you still shouldn't switch machines.
But I did!
Now I have a problem...

What are my choices?

Put the blocks back into the bag and never take them out the bag again. Then when I die someone else can figure out what to do with them. This would be an option, if I didn't like the colors, but I love the colors.
Stretch, press, starch, and pull each block. Then stretch as I stitch them together and try to make them fit. That is not a choice for me, as it will not look good!
Make two little quilts --- one with the larger blocks and one with the smaller blocks. That's a good choice!
Add a new design element using uneven lattice strips and off set them to create a completely different effect. I like this choice best!

I am going to solve my problem by using creative problem solving, because I can think outside the BLOCK!
First I will line up all the blocks by size.

The smaller blocks in one row and the larger ones on the next row and then alternate the rows.

I believe even the intersections will still look cool and the original pattern will still flow through the quilt design, thus creating an unusual connection of the blocks.