Tough on myself...

OK so today I am sharing what really happened to me! I was quilting the block for this week, and I was really, really , really unhappy with how it was turning out. I have free motion quilted for a long time, and I am really a perfectionist to a point, so the further I was moving along the madder I was getting! I am pinpointing my trouble area: TRAVEL STITCHING in the same spot repeatedly as I am moving about the quilting space. If I deviate from that line even just a little bit it shows up big time with this chocolate thread on white and tan. So, after completing the block I stepped back, took a look at it, and decide that I was going to go in there and just make the travel stitching lines bolder to cover up the discrepancies....No, No, No....this was worse so I took the block off, cut it up, and threw it! HA! I was so mad! I was not going to pull out the seam ripper (this may have taken all night) so I took a deep breath, grabbed the third block I have prepared for next week, and requilted the block with much more success this time! Is it perfect...no! Do I like it better...yes! Am I learning a new skill....yes! Ok so here are my two blocks (one in the trash now, and the other to use in my quilt). Learning something new can be tough, especially when you feel like you already know what you are doing and things are not going as planned. :0)

Sylvia, as for your quilt I made good progress on it Monday of this week, now having 30 block sewn together! I do not usually quilt my quilts like I was talking about in the paragraph above, so don't worry I will stick to my usual method of quilting each block (free handed without following lines, or restitching on lines once I have stitched them :0) It will be beautiful! I am just trying to learn new methods and increase my skills!

More Progress..

Ok this week I didn't do a whole lot more on the t-shirt quilt, but I did get the yellow batik strips sewn onto 6 blocks...so slow progress is better than no progress! I can now make six block sandwiches, or continue to cut and sew strips onto blocks...not sure which way I will go yet but it is my goal to do at least a small part each week on this quilt, if nothing but to "ponder and plan" the next step...  at this point we have six yellow blocks and six green blocks..


I am not so proud of my free motion quilting block this week, and almost just threw it away and did another one....I learned a few things from this block: Do NOT try to free motion quilt when you are in a hurry, have only partial lines marked, or have a small child crawling on your lap and wanting lunch. These are not the opportune times for this type of project which requires concentration. I have quilted a ton in my life, but very rarely do I do so following a marked line, and in many ways this has been more of a challenge for me! I usually pick a design from Leah Day's plethora of choices, and then just look at it and come up with my version of it free hand...not tracing any type of lines. This has always seemed to work for me in the past, but now trying to trace lines on a fabric and then follow them exactly is a skill I am trying to build. What can I say, I'm a free spirit! So, in reflection, I did not throw away the wobbly quilted lines block. The fact that I obviously did not correctly follow her directions in marking lines around the outside of the block so that I would have a space to travel stitch on, or the fact that I started in the center of the block instead of the outside are going to serve as a reminder to me next time that I need to pay closer attention to the process, and try new things. Maybe by the end of this thing I will have a new method of quilting, being able to follow marked lines, as well as quilting impromptu.

That really, really wobbly looking line to left center are tail threads that I need to hide...I don't know I may need to redo this one!!!! But, this is a learning process and that chocolate thread color really, really shows up any imperfections on that white and tan!

Working on New Quilts!

OK so I have three four patch blocks together for the quilt along with Leah Day and the Free Motion Quilting Project. I chose to do light colors so that they would look fresh and clean, and go in any room in the house. I was a bit challenged when I sat down to mark the block quilting lines. I had bought the Fons and Porter ceramic marking pencil from Leah's web site a few months back, and was excited to use it, but guess what! The "lead" is white! So no, I won't be using that...I started marking with a water soluble purple marking pen, but the blocks were still slightly damp from the starch (or maybe the humidity in the South Carolina air) so that dissolved rather quickly! I should have bought the "Mark Your Quilts Kit" so that I got an option for light and dark... I am going to have to make sure the quilt block is completely dry to mark a block, then quilt it directly after I do it. I am still happy with the fabric choice, just having a bit of a challenge marking it.  I was proud of how the blocks met up in the center, was able to reduce the stitch length to 1.3 as she had stated, and ironed all seams open as instructed.


My second project that I am also working on is a t-shirt quilt that has been on the back burner for some time. I have all blocks cut to size (14 x 14) and I am cutting up strips that are 2.5 each to sew around all sides. I am going to try the quilt as you go method since this will be a big and bulky quilt to maneuver under the sewing arm....also it is going to be double sided (t-shirts on both sides) so by quilting it this way I can make sure that they will match up as closely as possible on both sides. This will be the first time I have attempted to make a quilt this way (quilt as you go) AND double sided, but I am hoping it will be easier than pulling all the bulk around the table and quilting space. Sylvia, do any of these shirts look familiar? I am planning on using 40 of the larger shirts on this quilt (20 per side), and then I have some pocket pieces that I will scatter throughout once I get all strips sewn to blocks and figure out where everything will go. Looking good already! There will still be some smaller blocks left even after the 40 are on this quilt. There will be enough to do another small one sided throw or wall hanging. We will get to that after one is done ok :0)

And last but not least let me tell you how wonderful the girls were this afternoon as I sewed! They sat beside me on the floor and played so well. Lucie drew and had so much fun with the scraps I was not able to use on the t-shirt quilt, while Sara June enjoyed putting things in and out of containers that were all around her. We really enjoy our craft space!