Busy busy.

Sorry for lack of posting, but we've been really busy with family and friends so I haven't had any time to blog, or do much of anything else. I've managed to work a little on my "Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin" that I cut out before I left Montana. I'm hoping (brother and sister in-law are leaving early tomorrow, which we are sad about, but life around the house will quiet down) that I'll be able to get the blocks done before I head home on Friday.
I also plan to put the latest class schedule up tomorrow and send out the newsletter, so if you haven't signed up yet, click here. Then you won't miss any updates about new wonderful toys, books, coupons, classes, etc...
Happy New Year, and as always, happy quilting!

Safe in New Jersey!

Well, we had a long day of traveling on Monday and Tuesday, as a suprise Montana style blizzard sent us up to Billings on Monday night so we wouldn't have to worry about getting down for our flight Tuesday morning. The roads were thankfully not icy, but visibility, particularly when a semi passed, was frighteningly bad. But we made it. Our flight out of Billings was delayed enough (while we were on the plane, unfortunately) that we missed our (also delayed) flight out of Minneapolis. Luckily, a very merciful gate agent overbooked us on a 4:30 flight to Philly instead of the 7:30 flight, so we finally made it to Clinton at about 10Pm, which was two hours earlier than the later flight would have gotten into Philly.
It's so warm here compared to Montana I wore shorts today to go to the gym (ha! when 35 is warm, you know you've gone back to being a Montanan, not a North Carolinian). It's raining though, and freezing in spots, so you have to be careful not to end up on your rear on the frozen slushy mess that covers the ground. Nonetheless, it feels awesome compared to -20, or even 5.
I brought my mom's little Janome Jem Platinum with me as a carry on and got quite a bit of attention for it ("A sewing machine? What are you going to do with that?"--"Um, sew?"--"Huh. Sewing machine.") However, when we sprinted from one end of the Minneapolis airport to the other, its lightweight 11 lbs seemed, well, heavy as all hell. So, I got my workout.
I'm excited to have some down time to sew, sew, sew. I got a "Not Your Grandmother's Log Cabin" all cut out before I left, so that's first on my list. Updates soon on that.
Well, I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas tomorrow, or happy Chanukah, or just happy quilting!

The great shake up!

Well, Karen has been busily giving the shop a makeover while I finish up all the last minute things before I head of to NJ for Xmas...It looks awesome in the shop with new quilts hanging and everything all tidy.


We also are lucky enough to have Big Fork Bay Cotton Company's Ty Livingston (search Ty Livingston in our online catalog at www.ltquilts.com to see all of his patterns that we have) trunk show right now, which are quite adorable.
My favorite is Peek-A-Boo (below)

Ty is a Montana artist, so I hope everyone will take a look at his other stuff. They're all very adorable. Here's our window displaying them (sorry for the glare):
Anyway, I'm off to NJ on Tuesday, so I'll try to post Wednesday since I'll be flying all day Tuesday.
Happy Holidays and Happy Quilting!

One block wonder...

Well, I finished the main body of my current One Block Wonder. I put in some extra pizzazz with a few tumbling blocks from One Block Wonder Encore (which I have, but apparently haven't put online).
The original fabric was huge blue poppies.
I also got the quilt for my mother-in-law all bound and shipped. So hopefully it will get there before we get there next Tuesday.
Happy quilting everyone!

Finito!!!

Well, at long last I am finished quilting the quilt for my mother-in-law, or more accurately, for dear husband and I, since she's buying it to redo his room at home. I'm quite happy with how it turned out. Very fancy!
I ended up using five different colors of Brytes, including #1104, Sunflower, #1114 Ballerina, #1121 Gecko, #1118 Mood, and #1140 Hot Pants. I used yellow So Fine! in the bobbin, which is good, because it is extremely fine and I probably still used 30 bobbins! All told, I think I used about 1500-2000 yds of thread on the top and bottom. So here are some pictures...
There is the entire top...Sorry, I didn't have a good way to photograph it, but you can see some of the texture...
Above is the center medallion with feathers filling the star points and some swirlymajigs (the technical term) in the purple filler...I used this quilt to practice feathers feathers and more feathers, but I didn't want to put feathers in the purple and take away from the center.I tried to mark the elaborate design on the star above but failed to find any good method, so I freehanded them all...So they're like little snowflakes...unique. ;)
I did big, floppy overlapping feathers in the striped sections...I like how they turned out, especially on the minkee.
That's right. Minkee....Ooooo, I wish it photographed well, but the back of this quilt is quite possibly more beautiful than the front.

Another minkee shot...
Anyway, I'm going to bind it as fast as I can and ship it to its new home in NJ!
Happy quilting everyone!

Dead camera...

Well, I'm rolling right along on the quilting of my Crazy Eights with minkee--but I can't take pictures because my battery died and the charger is at home...So I will post pictures tomorrow and then, hopefully, I will be able to post pictures of the finished quilting. My mother-in-law is buying it from me for Erik's bedroom at home in New Jersey which they are remodeling since it still had bunk beds and baseball wall-paper.
I'm glad to be selling this quilt, but I'm glad I'll get to visit it. It's one of those quilts that I have a love-hate relationship with. We had some hard times in the piecing (courtesy of HUGE inaccuracies in the book), but ultimately I love how it looks and with minkee on the back, ooh la la. Anyway, I'm rushing to get it done so I can mail it before we fly back to NJ for Christmas...That and two other quilts! Eeek. I have a few late nights ahead of me, but it's much better than last year.
I will post pictures tomorrow!!
Happy quilting!

One more off the list...almost.

I finished quilting the above quilt on the longarm today...The wind is blowing a million miles per hour, so it was fairly quiet. Anyway, I made this top over a year ago (from "Forty Fabulous Quick Cut Quilts," one of my favorite basic quilting books) and just haven't had time to quilt it...It has minkee on the back and my poor husband is desperately in need of a cuddly minkee couch blankee, so I'm giving it to him for Xmas, though he may get it sooner depending on my motivation to bind. Below is the overall shot of the minkee because it shows the quilting so well...unfortunately it doesn't photograph very well, or maybe I don't photograph it very well.
I did an all over meander with random feathers sprouting here and there...It was a good way to practice free-form feathers. Some of them are mutant feathers, but I still like them, mutant or not. Here's a minkee close-up.
Here's one on the front...I used Superior Brytes #1104 to quilt. Mmmmmm...I love Brytes. They are my favorite solid colored thread...possibly even my favorite overall, but I don't want to hurt my other threads' feelings.

Ooops

Hi all, apologies for forgetting to post twice in a row...Black Friday was too busy and yesterday was my birthday, so hopefully you'll all forgive me! Pretty please.
Aside from that, I just feel like I don't have anything interesting to report. I got to see my adorable nephew, Max, over Thanksgiving. He's just so stinking cute! He was too shy to give me hugs, but I did get a couple of high-fives. I wish he was closer so he wouldn't be shy around me!
I haven't had much of a chance to sew with all the family stuff going on, but I did manage to finish my "Buttonholes" batik quilt that I started a while back. It was really fun and fast...I also really tried to go outside my box with colors. I love batiks and I wanted to do something a little scrappier.
The picture kind of dulls out the greens that I used for the "buttonholes", but we have a really nice selection of minty green batiks right now, and I just couldn't resist them.
Things are busy busy with Christmas just around the bend, but I'll try not to be as forgetful as I was this past week!
Happy quilting!

Happy Thanksgiving!

First of all--I hope everyone has a happy Thanksgiving and eats lots of delicious food. Second, I'm getting close to finishing another One-Block Wonder, so look for pictures soon. Lastly, we're having an open house on Friday for people to come and start their hoffman challenge quilts--I intend to bake mini-muffins and have the coffee on all day, so I hope my local readers will stop by at least.
I intended to take some pictures for you this morning, but our hot water heater decided to be naughty--so I spent the morning tinkering with that instead. Nothing like a cold shower in November in Montana. Brisk.
That being said, I did get a picture this weekend that exemplifies happiness.
I mean, really, could any animal on the planet be more content? We came into the living (aka sewing) room on Sunday, and there was Elli, fully enjoying her rights to the "scratching post". She slept like that for hours, occasionally her tail would come to life, but she was obviously just in a state of pure bliss. She loves that couch, I don't know what she'd do if she wasn't allowed on it, probably kill us in our sleep. Elli is super thankful this holiday season, that her new owners have a piece of crap $30 couch they brought from North Carolina as a scratching post.
Happy Thanksgiving again! Wishing you all the Elli-esque happiness you see above :)

Minkee...

Oooh la la, for those of you who have never heard, or more importantly felt, minkee blankee, you must do this sometime soon. It's necessary for your well-being.
Minkee is 100% polyester and is super super soft furry stuff, it's 60" wide so it's great for backs since its so cuddly. Anyway below is the quilt I'm quilting on the long-arm and since its mine, I feel free to actually experiment with some intricate, complex patterns...unfortunately I couldn't find a good way to mark this quilt so I'm doing it all free form so it's pretty special in some places, but I feel the overall effect of this block pattern is pleasing.
I'm using Brytes thread to quilt it in several different colors including Sunflower and Hot Pants. Anyway, another of Minkee's fantastic features is the way quilting textures show up on it. For example, the back of this Minkee-fied quilt looks awesome compared to the front, and just awesome in general if I do say so myself. Pardon the picture, I was squatting around under my longarm to take it.

I love it! Anyway, just it was worth seeing how awesome quilting can look on minkee because I know a lot of quilters are wary of how it will quilt: and now you know--beautifully!
Happy quilting!

Machine quilting...

I had a machine quilting class last night that was quite fun. To prepare for class, I made a "Waffle Time" table runner because the center is nice and open for quilting.
Instead of just quilting it, I did some "faux" bobbin quilting, using Ricky Tims' Razzle Dazzle. I used the color "Gold Crown" though I kind of wish I'd done Ruby Slippers now, oh well, what can you do? And don't say the dirty R-word, because I don't do that unless my life or livelihood depends on it.
You can see the gold stitching above. I only did this on the top because then I could draw the design on a stabilizer, I prefer Rinsaway (which I have in the shop), also known as Ricky Tims' Stable Stuff. It's mostly water soluble, so you don't have to tear it away. It turns into a spider web of polyester inside your quilt once it gets washed. It's super easy to trace on and works great for bobbinwork (since you're upside down anyway) and also for marking. Ricky Tims' (Ricky is my go-to source for all things quilting) Grand Finale DVD is the best resource on the market for bobbinwork, machine quilting, binding entirely by machine, marking, machine trapunto, etc...I love Ricky, he's my quilting hero. He also teaches you how to mark your quilt using water soluble thread, which is also, incidentally, an excellent way to practice your design. I also did this on my table topper...below is a picture of some of the water soluble stitching, and the back of the top, where I had my Rinsaway with the design drawn on it (you can also print on rinsaway).
Watersoluble stitching on the front of the quilt, that I can now follow with my actual quilting thread, now that I'm all practiced up. And then, what the back of the top, not the back of the quilt, looks like:
There you can see more of the overall design. A note about watersoluble thread: if it's on the top, it better be on the bottom. You never want to mix it with other thread because when you get it wet, half your stitch dissolves, and voila, your stitching is no longer stitching, it's just a piece of thread floating and being sad :(
So, that was fun and I'll definitely post pictures once I finish it up.
Happy quilting (and now happy marking!)!

No time to sew :(

Well dear quilters, I wish I had something to report, but I don't. I've been working late all week, so there hasn't been any time to quilt. Hopefully on Tuesday I'll have something to report. I've got one of my quilts on ol' Millie and I've planned some pretty ornate quilting which I have yet to do on the longarm (I've done some on my home machine and George), so that will be an interesting experience.
I can use some feedback though...I've been reading extensively on marking quilts, and I haven't really found a good answer for marking busy prints that have a lot of color...any of you out there have a fantastic idea? Ricky Tims' watersoluble thread method is pretty good, but requires more planning than I put into this one. Huurruumph. I'm stumped. Please post any quilt marking tips you have!
Happy weekend quilting!

Well, here is the polar bear that I've been working on...I've got his face done, I just need to do the stitching, but I won't do that until I've finished the entire top. Pardon the weird triangle on his neck...I'm changing that fabric but I didn't have the fabric with me when I was finishing this. So, tonight I'll fix his neck fur.
Anyway, I like how he's going. I plan to have him standing in water (as the real bear this bear is based on was) with my photos blended into the landscape.
Anyway, this has been all consuming, and very very time consuming! But I really like how he's turning out.
Happy Quilting!!

Web site stuff...

Hello dear readers, I just wanted to let you all know that if you haven't signed up for my e-newsletter, I hope you will soon. Just go to www.ltquilts.com and click on Register to Win and enter your name and email address. It's the best way to keep abreast of fun happenings in the store and online.
AND
I also thought I'd give my readers a heads up about our pre-holiday sale: Nov. 10th-14th, we're giving 15% off ALL fabric (except the stuff already on sale) as our way of thanking you for being such great customers so I hope you'll take advantage of that. It's online and in the shop. It's a great way to get going on Christmas presents, finish projects, or get fabric for quilts you've been thinking about doing!
Happy quilting!

Quilting...

Well, I had time to quilt another of my quilts which is so much more fun than quilting someone else's quilt. I've had lots of people renting and learning to do their own, and for those of you who haven't done so, I hope you will. I'm trying to work toward everyone quilting their own rather than quilting any myself. I'll have a heart attack at 30 at the stress rate I'm going.
Anyway enough complaining, here's the pictures:
I did loopdeloos and spider webs all over this quilt with a heavy variegated yellow thread. It was quite fun to do the spider webs. I did them really fast, so they're a little sloppy, but to be honest, I like them that way...maybe they look more natural that way. Anyway, here's one that shows up less because it's not on the brown border:

I've also been busily cutting out lots of tiny pieces for my polar bear quilt, but the good news is that while it won't be done on Tuesday, I'll definitely have pictures.
Happy quilting!

Hope you all voted...

Because, as a wise woman I know said, "If you don't vote, you don't have bitching rights." Anyway, regardless of how the chips fall, I think we'll all be glad when the thing is over. So until Friday, I'm going back to Decision '08.
Happy quilting without all the election babble from here on out!

Happy Halloween!

Well quilters, in case you were wondering what 300 little bags of gummi goodness looks like, here is what it looks like:
We make these up for the little kids who do a main street parade of trick-or-treating so they don't have to do it in the dark and cold. It's fun to see their costumes.

And as promised, here is my done over studio...All that's left to be done is get me (Erik has one, but sometimes we're both in the room working) a short swivel chair (I have a tall one that I use when I paint at my easel or draw on my cutting table) and cut a hole in my desk for my sewing machine to sit in. I've been perusing different sewing cabinets but I love love love my giant executive's desk and I can't bear to part with it. So. I'm trying to find some generous soul with a jig-saw to cut me a whole. My dad might have one, so I've got to check on that.
My favorite new addition right now is my design wall.
And for those of you who haven't met her yet, that's Elli. She was my mom's black lab, but my mom was trying to find a new home for her unsuccessfully when Siri died. We were planning on getting another dog at some point, maybe not so soon, but we thought what the heck, and adopted Elli. She's a good shop dog and loves all the different people coming in.

Spooky quilting!

The internet is driving me crazy...

My connection at the shop today has been so slow it's maddening, so I will try to load pictures of my latest endeavors, but I make no promises.
This is something I worked on a little this weekend. Still pondering the blocks. Going to change a block or two...It's Cheryl Whittmeyer's "Buttonholes". My new design wall has made life so much easier for quilts like this. My cats can't even knock the blocks off! Thwarted, cats!
This is my (finally) finished (aka--finished top) lime green batik quilt from the book French Braid Quilts...They are so much fun to make. This bad boy is 98"x110, if I remember correctly.

My last picture won't upload so you'll have to wait on the edge of your seat for that on Friday. Nothing like the suspense of a quilt, eh? I'm also busily making a polar bear quilt that will incorporate some of my photos from my trip to Churchill. So look for pictures of that soon.
Happy quilting all!

Studio rearranging

Hello dear quilters, sorry I didn't post on Tuesday. I went up to Billings to present at a high school career fair that they told me was Tuesday, but alas, it was Wednesday. So I did my errands in Billings and drove down again on Wednesday only to have to rush back to Livingston that afternoon. Anyway, I'm sick of driving.
In my evenings, I was busily completely rearranging my studio. I've been having terrible back and neck troubles and sewing has become agony for me, so I'm trying to improve the ergonomics and work-flow of my studio. I spend a lot of hours there, and I'd rather if they were a little less painful. Needless to say, I haven't done any sewing since I've been dragging furniture to and fro, trying to find a reasonable way to store my stash that doesn't involve 60 lb tubs of fabric. I find often that the task of pulling out that tub and digging into its depths instantly kills my motivation for a project. I practically need scuba gear to get to the bottom of my stash.
So I've been relocating all my fabric to smaller compartments and moving my notions, stabilizers, and other random crap to shelves and what not to open up my smaller spaces for fabric.
Tuesday I should have pictures of the new improved, now with work triangle, studio.
Happy weekend quilting!

Too busy to quilt :(

Well dear quilters, the last few days have run me ragged and by the time I get home in the evening I can barely figure out how to take my shoes off (and they're slip ons!), let alone do anything productive in the studio.
Hopefully this weekend I'll do something fun that I can report on Tuesday.
Happy quilting!

Bobbin quilting

Well, when I was up at retreat, I was pondering how to quilt a table runner that I used some of Valeri Wells large funky prints in and on the back when it occurred to me that using the large flower motifs as a quilting pattern was an excellent idea. Then it occurred to me that it would also make using fun, sparkly bobbin thread super easy as I would be working from the back anyway.
So the image above is the back of the table runner but what I was looking at while I quilted. I used silvery gray Brytes, #1149 Silver Dollar. I used a #100/16 Schmetz topstitch needle and Dream Green batting (100% recycled plastic bottles and its awesome to quilt with). The only adjustment I made was my top tension which I cranked up to 8.8 on my machine (tension strengths vary by machine), a Janome 10,000. I did it all free motion with my Quilt halo and Supreme Slider. In my bobbin I used Superior Threads Halo--a sparkly decorative thread made for bobbin work, couching, and serging. I used #755 Bluebell. If you haven't done bobbin work before, Halo is great way to start because you don't have to tinker with your bobbin tension, you just tighten up your top.
I really like how it turned out. Unfortunately the sparkliness doesn't show in the photograph.
Here's another flower:
Happy quilting!

Magic!

Well, dear quilters, blogger isn't behaving, so forgive the formatting. I'm demonstrating how to glue for a perfect miter. Start out like you would any miter, mark a quarter inch from the corners of your tops and sew to that point exactly (I like to shrink my stitch length). Make sure you backstitch or lockstitch so it's secure. Once you've done that, lay the corner to be mitered on your ironing board like shown below.



Make sure the side piece is really going straight up. Then fold the top piece back at a 45 degree angle, matching your points if you've got multiple borders. Give it a healthy shot of Best Press and iron by setting: do not rub your iron back and forth, you'll distort the corner.
Peel your nice crisp fold back and run a very thin line of Elmer's School Glue (I prefer the gel, but any ol' elmer's SCHOOL glue will work--not Glue-All, be careful, they look similar).
Next lay it back where it was, careful to realign your fold, but also make sure that the top strip lines up perfectly with the bottom strip (this ensures a nice 45 degree angle). Iron. Yes, heat set the glue. Again, don't rub it around, just set. Once the glue is dry, it will hold really well. Take it to your iron fold your quilt so the outside is going up in a 45 degree angle and sew from your border attaching stitching right off the edge. Use that great crease as your line.
You should end up with stitching that looks like the stitching above (I've already trimmed to a quarter inch above.) Trim to a quarter inch past your stitching and then press your miter to either side.
Voila! A beautiful foolproof miter. Happy quilting!

Too tired to think...

LTQ's fall quilt retreat was this past weekend.  It was very eventful to say the least, and while we had a good time ultimately, it really wore me out.  So I'll try to have an interesting blog on Friday.

Happy Quilting!

Elmer's! Who knew!

Besides Sharon Schamber that is! Dearest quilters, my life is forever changed as a quilter. Why, you ask? Because I don't have to pin ever again and I can still be deliciously accurate and play with Elmer's School Glue, just like my youth.
In my class with Sharon Schamber we used Elmer's School Glue Gel (regular works, but gel is better and also notoriously hard to find) to put our whole Piecelique project together before sewing even a stitch. She mentioned that she used ESG (Elmer's School Glue) to glue together everything before she sewed. I didn't think much of it at the time, but this past couple weeks, in my streak of finishing, I've been putting on a large amount of pieced borders and I'll be damned if ESG isn't the best notion I've ever used in my life!
You just run a thin line of glue along the edge of your fabric, lay the other fabric on it, heat set it with your iron and voila it holds better and more accurately than pins and you can ease and stretch with more 'ease' (haha, listen to my wit) than you would believe! I eased 6 inches into a pieced border and it lays flat! Glue is my hero! Don't forget to heat set though or it won't work. The best part is that it all washes out so if you get it all over your quilt, it doesn't matter! Washable glue! Oh joy! The other awesome discovery I made is that if you get it all over your iron, it doesn't matter, not even a little! I ironed WHITE fabric right after smearing gobs of steaming, oozing hot elmer's all over my iron. A few white flakes was the only repercussion! Amazing. After many glued borders I now have some sort of fossilized brown crud on my iron, but no matter how I try, it doesn't transfer to my fabric.
Anyway, had to share. I'm experimenting with glue for mitering tonight and will report on results before retreat this weekend.
Happy gluing!

Slow connection...

Hi quilters, my internet connection at work was miserably slow all day, so I was unable to post with pictures, so look for some pictures of my favorite new notion and its myriad wonderful uses on Tuesday. Happy weekend quilting!

Glitter, glitter

So here is a brief tutorial of glitter usage--it is washable but you have to heat set it and they recommend pre-heating your oven to 250 and turning it off and then putting it in there until it cools down. I haven't quite managed fabric in the oven, so I've used a mid heat iron and a press cloth, but it does flatten it a little, so the oven is next for me.
First: gather supplies. Ultrafine ArtGlitter Institute glitter (bought from www.ltquilts.com or LTQ in the flesh of course!) in the colors of your choice, project to glitter, dries clear fabric glue, and micro tip if you desire fine lines.
Next, if you are still a little scared, draw your design out first, but I prefer to just go for it and let the glue fall where it may.
Then you pour a liberal amount of glitter over the glue. Feel free to dump the whole jar or vial, we'll recover 98% of it (and the rest you can just roll in a little or "douse yourself with a pinch" as they say at the company). Go ahead, dump away....I'll wait....Ooooo, doesn't all that glitter just make you feel better!? I do. If you've had a really bad day, do this before going to the grocery store so you will sparkle publicly.
And finally, shake the excess off your piece onto a piece of paper (the bigger the better, or at least have a couple sheets handy. Shiny paper, magazine style, seems to work a little better. Then fold your paper and return the unused sparkles to their vial or jar to await the next project. And voila! Glittered! unfortunately the sparkliness is hard to capture in a photo and this is a pearlescent glitter so it's not quite as sparkly.
Happy glittering!

More finishing...

Wahoo! I finished a large quilt...I've graduated from just finishing my small projects. I finished my blue French braid. Although technically speaking, it's a team LTQ project, but I did quilt it and hand-stitch the binding down. It is currently in the window at the shop, and therefore not ideal for pictures, but I will post some shots of the quilting once it comes out. I used metallic silver and even did some border feathers.
I also finished my smalll one block wonder; well, I have three sides to hand-stitch down, but that is manageable.
Sorry for no pics...I'm going to do glitter demo on Tuesdays blog.
Happy quilting!

Oh the shame!

Well dear quilters, I said that I would report the numbers, and true to my word, I will. I keep three lists--tops to finish piecing; tops that are finished, but need to be quilted; and quilts that need binding...And yes, I move them from list to list when I cross them off. It makes me feel better. I have 37 tops that are incomplete (some I haven't even started sewing, but I bought fabric specifically for them). I finished three this weekend--so I was at 40. I have 26 tops to quilt...I've started three of them and almost done with two. And I think I had seven quilts to bind.
Shameful, I know, but I can't help myself, I like hopping from project to project. It takes a fairly large supply of projects to keep me happy, but I'm going to try to whittle down to 5 or 6 in the works at any given time.
A few of my tops I also intend to give to charity because my tastes have changed or it's not a technique I'm interested in anymore, etc...In any case, there are too many fun projects in the world to waste my time on stuff I absolutely hate.
This is one I finished this weekend, quilting it as we speak and about half done. It's for my little nephew whose dad is in the army and a hunter, so I thought this was fitting. It's got tiger skin minkee on the back. It's his xmas present.
This is the first one-block wonder I ever started. After I understood the concept, I realized that I didn't like this fabric for it, so I've let it fester in a baggy for a long time, but I sucked it up and finished it this weekend and it looks okay. I'm using it as quilting practice (on my home machine) and quilting it very densely, so it's taking forever, but it is about half done.
And my grand finale: the double wedding ring...For those of you who don't know, every bit of this quilt has been nothing but a pain in the ass, from running short of fabric to most recently having my cat soak it with urine and poop on it. So, when it was just in rows, I had to wash it, which frayed all those delicate curved edges. Lovely to sew on, let me tell you. Anyway, the piecing is done, and I've got the back all put together and ready to go, so I'm going to quilt this monster, bargain with a friend for binding, and wash my hands of it...I'm so glad my sister will have it so I don't have to constantly refrain from setting it on fire.
Happy quilting!

New quilting toys!

Well, I finished another table runner...I was gearing up to quilt my rhapsody quilt because I got a new toy to quilt with called the quilt halo (not online yet, but will be soon--but I have them in the shop)...It's basically a weighted grippy ring that you lay on your quilt and use instead of gloves to grip. I liked the idea, but was curious to see if it actually works. Well: I love it! I love my machingers too, but not like this. I think quilting is a whole pile of personal preferences, but just let me say that I did the "pebbles" pattern below with my halo, and, unbeknownst to me, my feeddogs up, and look at them! I was using holoshimmer thread, which can be a royal pain in the arse, and yet it turned out great!


Here's the entire thing below: a Twisting Star that I made for my mom for halloween.

I did ricky doodles in the border with holoshimmer...A great use of machingers since I had no spare backing so the halo was not ideal for a small border.

And last, but not least, a Sharon Schamber variation of the baptist fan. Also using the Halo, but also using Superior's new thread that changes color in the sun: Sunbursts or something. They're only available in cones at the moment, but it's pretty fun to quilt white on white and then be able to have it change in the sun. It's subtle, but cool...I used the green and the orange in this.Below is my other finished project...Also a runner for my mom because she remodeled her kitchen. It's Moda's Dandelion girl. I did machine applique with Rainbows and quilted with Brytes. I also did piped binding (meaning, joyously, that I didn't sew a stitch by hand).




I haven't yet had a chance to try out my second new toy: the Super Slider...Yeah, you can laugh, it does sound like a sex toy. But it's not: it's just a teflon sheet that has a hole cut for your needle and you slap it on your machine and it helps your quilt scoot around. Well, I tried it at my class in Billings and fell in love, so I got some for the shop and am looking forward to more testing this weekend.
In case all of you are wondering why I'm on this finishing tear (for me, three table runners is a tear, okay)...I foolishly made a list of all my unfinished projects (uncompleted tops), all my unquilted tops, and all my unbound quilt...Let's just say it wasn't pretty. I don't have the numbers, because I couldn't bear to count, but I'm going to. I did this to have something to cross off so I could be proud of myself when I finished something. So look for those depressing stats onTuesday. I'm getting there though. I vow to finish more this weekend. Not saying I won't start anything new...But I'm trying to finish one for every five or six I start :)
Happy Finishing everyone.