Tag Archives: Quilting

I am so excited! Today I finished sewing together my quilt top. Tonight we’re headed out after dinner to purchase the fabric needed for the backing. I also need to buy a roll of batting. Tomorrow, I start assembling the quilt “sandwich.” Hurray!

I couldn’t hold the quilt high enough to get it off the ground. It’s 75″ long! I’m only 66″ tall. 😉 I finally decided to stand on a chair so I could get the entire quilt in the photo without having to lay it out on the floor.

So happy that the top is complete!

I am trying to get this quilt finished and in the mail before Christmas! I’m not holding out too much hope but I’m trying the best I can. This should serve as a lesson to stop procrastinating. I’ve been working on this quilt for months but am trying to finish it in less than a week. I’ll finish the next quilt in a more timely manner!

When I started working this morning, I had three rows sewn together. Then I realized that I had sewn them in the wrong order and had to take it apart to avoid messing up my pattern. Thankfully, that was the first major mistake I’ve made. It took quite awhile to undo the stitches and put everything back together the way it was supposed to be.

Then I sewed on another two rows (correctly!) and thus have five rows complete. My goal is to have the other five rows added tomorrow. Hubby and I will be visiting Joann Fabrics after work to pick out the material for the backing and also pick up a roll of batting. I’ll be busy for the rest of the week!

Here’s a photo of what is completed thus far. Even though I’m way behind schedule, I really like the way this is turning out!

I’m still plugging away on Grandpa’s quilt. If all goes well, I’m hoping to have it complete by Thanksgiving. It will be a stretch to finish that quickly, but I need to get it done!

Here is a picture of today’s progress. I completed all the blocks and laid out my final design. Yes, I am missing one block of the red fabric on the bottom. Hubby and I are going to Joann’s tomorrow to buy another quarter yard of it. I hope they have some in stock or I will be redoing my design!

Once I pick up the last bit of fabric, I can sew the entire top together. Then I have to figure out how to sew on the border! I bought a really nice chocolate brown colored fabric for the border.

Bruno loves it when I spread fabric on the floor. He always tries to find a way to lay on it. Good thing my grandparents are not allergic to cats!

Today I finished cutting out my red paw prints fabric. I had fun laying out all the squares on the floor and envisioning what the entire quilt top will look like. For some reason, Bruno always decides to come help! Today our other cat laid down on the blocks as well but she didn’t stay long enough for me to get her in the picture.

When I laid all the squares out, I realized that I needed to sew together some more of the four part blocks. Since I’ve been working on this quilt since April (off and on), I couldn’t remember if I knew I needed to make more blocks or if I thought I had made enough. Either way, I’m short.

I have a ton of the 8″ squares. If I use all of those, I only need to make a few more of the four block squares. The blank spots in each photo are where the four block squares will go. What do you think? Which design do you think looks better?

Option 1 – as viewed from the bottom of the quilt

Option 1 – as viewed from the top of the quilt

Option 2 – as viewed from the bottom of the quilt

Option 2 – as viewed from the top of the quilt

Option 2 will be the easiest to complete as I would be using all of the solid 8″ blocks I already have cut, plus make a few more of the 4 square blocks. I don’t mind doing extra work and going with option 1 if that will look the best. I’m just afraid option 1 will look too busy with all of the smaller squares (think top 2 rows repeated all the way down) as opposed to the larger solid pieces in option 2.

I just can’t decide! Which one do you think is the better design?

My days are starting to get into a pretty good routine. Now that the apartment is basically clean, daily chores don’t take nearly so long. I’m finding I have extra time for reading, quilting, and snatches of quality time with my hubby between his client calls.

I wish I could work on my quilting more, but the injury from my car accident keeps flaring up. Several years ago, I was hit while sitting at a stop light. The other driver didn’t realize the light was red and slammed into the back of another car, which then slammed into me. The police estimated the driver at fault was going 45 mph when she hit us. My car was totaled and I have permanent damage to my shoulder. Leaning over a rotary board or sitting perfectly still at a sewing machine for awhile causes my shoulder muscles to start feeling like they are on fire.

At least when the accident occurred, I had just made the payment on my car that flipped it right side up so I wasn’t left with financing and no car!

Today I was able to cut out all of the squares on my tan fabric. All that’s left is to cut out squares from the red doggy paws fabric and then I can start sewing it all together! Hopefully I’ll get to start on that tomorrow, provided I’m ready for the Sabbath on time.

Yesterday I laid out some of my blocks on the floor to get an idea of what the finished quilt will look like. My kitty decided he wanted to help!

These are about half the blocks I have complete so far. I still have to cut blocks out of the tan fabric and the red with doggy prints. As a matter of fact, I think I’m going to set up my ironing board and get the rest of the fabric ready to cut! Hubby is working tonight so it’s just me and a classical CD.

By 11 this morning, I found myself sitting at my computer wondering what to do. My basic housework was complete. I was finished with my one hour of Japanese studies. I have a pile of projects to work on but I’m not used to having time to actually start some of it!

So what did I do? Eat lunch. Yes, I ate lunch. Very productive!

But this afternoon I did pull out my quilting supplies and iron a big piece of fabric. I decided it was time to get back to work on the quilt for my grandpa. I cut 8″ strips and then cut it down in 8″ squares. So far I only have the first 5 squares complete, but I do have four more strips to cut into squares. Tomorrow.

It felt good to be productive again!

I’m not sure I like this fabric, but it will work. I have a hard time picking out fabric when it’s a gift to someone else. Who knows if they will like it?

I’m so excited! I finished cutting my last color of fabric this afternoon.

Here are all my lovely strips:

I’m not sure I like all of the colors together, but we’ll see how it turns out. I need to take a color theory class or read a good color theory book. Maybe then I will feel more confident picking out fabric. Oh well! Live and learn. 🙂

Now I have to figure out how I’m going to arrange the strips so that I can start sewing. Ooh, I’m so excited!