Getting ready to quilt..............

The thread basting was finished yesterday and now the colorwash is on the sewing table for thread selection.

I think I will use a 60 wt. thread in the bobbin in a light gray or light blue.

If you are interested in the Colorwash 360 class and want to be on the waitlist for early notification  go to this link.

This is why night sewing is a challenge.  The brown on the right is the right side of the fabric, the one on the left is wrong side.  This is one of the few fabrics that looks almost as good on the back as on the right side.  I just had a 9" seam to pick out so it was ready for assembly quickly.

I cut and sewed 6 more sets of 9 patches.  There are 4 of each in 5 piles and 3 of the remaining pile.  One fabric was narrower than the rest.

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When I went out to fill the bird feeders I noticed how big and healthy my Lenten Rose plants are.  The one in the center only had 3 leaves in the spring and the one on the left was pretty small too.  The only one that bloomed this year was the one on the right.  I hope all three will bloom next year.

 

Just a little sewing

I worked on a non-sewing project for many hours yesterday so I just had a little time to sew at night.  I have 17 combinations of stratas sewn and got them all pressed.  Six of them were sub-cut into the 9 patch pieces and four blocks of each combination were sewn.  I won't be designing with these any time soon and will get the other 11 sets cut and made into blocks whenever I don't have another project to work on.

I know I need to start baking Christmas cookies the middle of this week.  I only have 2 boxes to mail this year because my grandson moved back from Colorado.  I usually start with the cookies that never seem to get stale and work my way up to the ones that look best when fresh.

Photographer was tired............

I was so tired by the time I got to the photography so this Sunday only project is a little tilted.  I have sewn on side borders.  I had 3 leftover strips of triangle squares so I incorporated them in where they matched the orientation in the center blocks.

Then I thought maybe I need to add another border after the first one.  I think the strips need to brighter colors than these that were conveniently laying on my table Since I need to lengthen it more to get it to be a better rectangular shape, it means at least a 6" border on top and bottom.  That could be a combination of 1", 2" and 3" or two 3" or maybe two 3" and a 1" strip for a 7" border.  I was clearly too tired to make a decision so this will stay on the design wall for another day.  (After studying the photos on the computer screen I'm not sure it needs that second border.)

Meantime I'll trim the Gridlock quilt and get binding sewn on and get the striped X blocks pressed.

 

Gridlock quilted...............

I got brave and turned on the longarm.  I got up to the third section of approximately 15" before the problem started.  I was actually thinking about what I would load next because it was going so well.  About 5" in, the thread shredded.  It's not unusual to have that happen once or twice in a big quilt so I rethreaded and checked my bobbin.  It was pretty low and there was a little piece of lint under the arm on the bobbin case.  I took care of that and started up again.  The thread shredded again, I checked the needle, adjusted it slightly and started quilting again.  In the rest of this section and most of the rest of the way down the quilt, I can only estimate the thread shredded at least 20 times.  I changed the needle thinking it might be a bad one, changed to a different spool of thread.  I finally got it to stitch almost all of the last 6" with it only shredding twice in the last 2 passes.  Anyone who thinks a longarm is carefree and fast, well it is part of the time, not all of the time.

I chose organic straight line quilting because the Marcia Derse fabrics seemed to call for it.

Sometimes the lines were fairly straight.

Some lines had some bends in them, mainly because I'm walking along with the machine as I move it and that causes a little jerk now and then.

I'm pretty happy with the quilting but it took me over 4 hours to do what would have been 2.5 hours if everything had gone well.

Background project..............

I didn't feel like turning on the iron yesterday so no more progress on the striped quilt.  This is just a mindless sewing project, always ready to sew.

This is the photo when I put the first group of blocks up on the design wall.  I'm sure this project will go into January because I have other things to work on.

I have a backing and batting on the longarm and I changed the needle....the one with the round top so I never know if I have it in exactly the right position so I didn't want to turn on the longarm either.  I will have to get brave today and do it.

I basted a few rows in my colorwash that is a kit sample for my upcoming Colorwash 360 class.  If you want to be on the waitlist for notification for the class go to this link.

 

12 blocks............

I know this doesn't look much different than the last time but I have moved the duplicate block that was too close to its match and I have sewn 4 small blocks to make one larger block times 12 to make it easier to press the seams.

The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and basting my colorwash.

  

Inside garden news:

Here is an update on my Amaryllis.  There is a second bud which is just starting to grow.  I thought it was only a leaf when it first appeared.  

Most of my cacti are done blooming except the red one.  I sure hope one of them is going to get ready to bloom for Christmas.  I have never had as many early blooms as I had this year.
 

Unique batiks............

I bought some unique batiks in the 1990s that make very interesting backings. You can see the look of the large scale stripe backing and the quilt top I'll pair with it. 

It's time to start basting again. I'm excited to finish this one because its a sample for my class. 

It's been almost two years since I've offered my Colorwash class (which is how to master color and value). A lot of you have been asking when it would be offered again...and I'm happy to say, very soon. 

I created a die cut kit...quite a few kits...for students with limited fabric supply. This quilt top is made from one of those kits. I always test the kit to be sure it's sufficient to complete the project. No two Colorwash are alike because it's not a formula quilt, it's a process of intuitive design that I teach. 

The next top I will baste after this one is bigger. It has 31 more pieces, also a class sample and kit. 

We have a waitlist you can get on if you are interested in taking Colorwash 360.