straight line quilting | Needle and Foot

This summer flew by. I knew it would because we had a lot of different things scheduled when it started. That usually makes time go by (too) quickly. This week and last were filled with appointments for my 8th grader that are easier done during summer. The dentist, the orthodontist and the optometrist. When I took her for an eye exam (she usually only has the quickies that they do at school) and found out that she is near-sighted. She and I were both so surprised. He asked her if she has to squint a lot or if she had trouble reading the board at school. She innocently says, “No squinting but I can’t read the exponents during math.” I looked at her and wondered why she didn’t ever mention this?? The doctor said that when this happens gradually the person just doesn’t really notice. Now she is happily wearing glasses and keeps lowering them on her nose, looking ahead without them, then through the glasses. Comparing the difference with awe. So funny. In between all of that I got loads of time at the sewing machine. Hurray!! Here are some of the things I worked on. First off was this little baby boy quilt. Puppies and boys, perfect fit, right? I used a simple patchwork of charm squares for the center. Borders of navy blue were added, as well as a stripped border made from the leftover charm squares. This was inspired by a photo I saw on Pinterest. Very easy to do. I didn’t really do any math beforehand; rather I just built it as I went along. The fabric is called “Here Boy” by Abi Hall, designed for Moda. This line is adorable. It features puppies, dog bones and bouncing balls. The colors are bright and happy, blues, orange, reds, green and yellow. I backed it with a dark navy and white oversized polka dot. For the first time, I didn’t use a pieced backing. The dots are very sweet on their own. Finished it off with a crazy bright orange binding. I love the contrast. I bound it as I usually do by machine stitching to the front and hand stitching to the back. I am wondering though, if I should machine stitch both sides. Seems like a baby quilt is going to be laundered often. Would it hold up better if I machine stitched the binding on both sides? Give me your thoughts on this please!

Also got some time to work on my RSC14 blocks. I finished the red blocks that were scheduled for July. I love the cherry fabric scraps. They were from a bag of scraps that my neighbor gave to me. (What a fun bag to look through!)

I also finished the bright greens that are the color for August. Looking through my strips, I didn’t have tons of bright green but was able to find enough to do these two blocks. So, I still have to catch up and finish March, April, May and June. Here is what I’ve got so far. This weekend I am off with my sisters for our annual “sisters’ weekend”. Cannot wait!! Hope you all are enjoying the tail end of summer.

Linking with Linky Tuesday @ Freemotion by the River, WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced, Fabric Tuesday @ Quilt Story, and Let’s Bee Social @ Sew Fresh Quilts. Also to Needle and Thread Thursday, Crazy Mom Quilts’ Finish It Up Friday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop, and TGIFF which is at QuiltMatters today. Links to all of these are listed at the top of my page under the Link-Ups tab

Around December of last year I was (like most of you) planning some quilting goals for the upcoming new year. I wanted to be sure that I made some progress and improved my skills this year. How better than by making quilts!? My thought was that I would make birthday quilts for three certain woman. I have three sons and each one has a significant other. One has been married four years now. The middle son has been partnered with his girlfriend for almost four years. My youngest son has been in a relationship with his girlfriend for about seven years now (since they were 15 or 16 years old!) These women are such a part of our family and I thought it would be fun to make each of them a quilt for their birthday.

The first birthday, Kelly’s, was in mid-January. I started to work on hers just before Christmas. Because I had such a short timeframe, I chose a simple pattern. I used a stash fat quarters from Jeni Baker’s Color Me Retro line. I loved this fabric and thought it suited Kelly perfectly. After consulting with my son, he agreed! (I won this fabric from a giveaway at Diaryofaquilter.com quite a while back. It was the first giveaway I had EVER entered and I couldn’t believe it when I got an email from Amy Smart that I won. Of course I have entered a billion giveaways since then and never won again! But this was quite a prize.) For the pattern I chose to use “Tifton Tiles”. It was a tutorial at SewLuxFabric.com. I didn’t follow it exactly but the tutorial was really helpful in that it provided the basic measurements that I needed for the piecing. I added white sashing between the rows to add a bit of definition to the quilt. I think the quilt turned out very pretty. I made a pieced backing, which I love to do – it adds character to the quilt. I quilted it with an argyle, or cross hatch, pattern of straight lines. I think this was the first larger project on which I used straight line quilting. I was so thrilled when I happened upon Jacquie Gehring’s tutorial that talks about using painter’s tape for your guide. It changed my world – no more trying to draw lines or eyeball it and being so disappointed with the result! If you haven’t tried this, give it a go. It is a fantastic method.

Here is the front:

Here is the back.

And a close up of the argyle quilting pattern.

The second birthday was slated for the end of February. Once I finished Kelly’s I had to get right to work on Naomi’s (my daughter-in-law.) I wanted to try making a quilt with solids. I hadn’t done this yet. Working with Andrew, I chose Naomi’s color palette. Once I picked the colors I wanted, I decided it did need one print to add some interest. I can’t remember what line the piece was from.

I used a tutorial for a braided, striped pattern at www.anneandwill.com. I love the end result that I got but this was tough for me. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have difficulty with spatial relationships and when I was working on this quilt this whole issue reared its ugly head. The premise of the tutorial is that you keep building the quilt by adding rows at an angle and making each successive strip long enough to be able to cut a square perimeter when you are finished. Here is a picture of the quilt top before I squared it off for making the quilt sandwich. (My devoted husband is there in the corner – he is a great help with things like squaring the quilt tops. In this shot I think he was distracted by something on tv! Really, he is so good about helping with this process. 🙂

You can probably see that I cut the bottom strips way too long. I just can’t always visualize this stuff – so I had a lot of waste with this quilt. No, not waste – usable scraps!! I used a great deal of it when piecing the back.

Here is the (finished) front:

I quilted this one with straight line quilting echoing the V in each stripe. Again, I used Jacquie’s painters tape method. So much easier! I used a gray thread which blended well with each stripe. I love that about the color gray – it sort of mimics the color of the fabric that I quilt with it.

And, finally, the back:

The sun wasn’t in the best position for this picture so you can sort of see through the backing.

Once I washed this it softened and became beautifully crinkled. I wanted to wash it (using Color Catchers) to be sure the vibrant colors wouldn’t run.

So, two of the three birthday quilts are finished. I am not going to post anything about the third quilt as I have yet to give it to the recipient. (Actually I have yet to make it! I cut the pieces this week though so I am ready to start it.) It will be ready for a certain someone’s July birthday!!

Linking up with Kelly’s Needle and Thread Thursday at www.myquiltinfatuation.com. Also over at TGIFF.

Also linking up with Amanda Jean at CrazyMomQuilts.com.