Big Red Tractor quilt top is done!  It was a really easy and fast one to make.  This is the second time I've used a panel and found that it is not straight to the grain of the fabric.  Is that common with panels?  I had a heck of a time with the large pieces as they were really wonky just trying to cut them out.

 

Don't know how I'm going to quilt it other than outlining the pictures in the large blocks, just need a simple fill in the red areas.

 

 

One big post....

What's in the works and what's finished?  Well, a couple of tops finished on the Completed Quilts and Tops tab and a whole lot in the works!  Three quilts for my great-nieces and nephew and a wall hanging for their mother and father, who is in the Army, and my niece asked for a Patriotic quilt to hang on the wall.

I have the Judy Niemeyer "Agave Garden" pattern but doing it in patriotic colors with some added stars. I took the blank outline from the pattern and scanned it, then used MS Paint to fill in the colors.

 

 

For the 3 kids I sent their mother a link to a fat quarter fabric site and asked that they each pick out a fabric they like.  One girl chose April's Garden so I designed this for it.

The next girl chose D'Amore Sunkissed and I saw there was a quilt kit with that fabric at Hancock's (so I cheated).  I ordered more of the fabric so I could make it a good bed-sized quilt and added in the stripe for a border.

The little boy chose Big Red Tractor!  I found that there are some panels in that fabric line and another line that has 15" panel blocks so.... I designed this to use them.

All of the fabrics have been delivered so there is a lot of work to be done!  Of course, I can't just work on three or our things at once so..... Traveling Turtles!  These are just so cute and fun to work on.  It's a pattern by Amy Bradley.

 

About ready to sew together

I've been working on this simple little quilt off and on and all done with the flowers and vines.  I realized that I didn't cut enough of the flowered strips, need one more on the outside left.

This was very simple to do with Liquid Stitch and using a bias tape maker in 3/4" for the vines.  A bit of glue to hold it in place and sew with a blanket stitch.

I got a small lightbox to use on my sewing table and it's come in handy several times already.  For this I printed the layout of the flowers from EQ7, layed it on the lightbox, and over that I used an Applique Pressing Sheet so that the glued pieces wouldn't stick to the layout paper.  After they were all glued together I moved the pressing sheet and the flower to the ironing board and heat set it all.  

Getting Serious

If I'm going to get serious about doing some quality work then I need quality tools.  I'm not thrilled about working on things on the floor so the solution is to get a work surface.  I got these tables at Walmart for only $38 and no shipping charges for Site-To-Store.  They fold up, fold in half, and have a handle to carry.  It's 6' x 7.5' in this setup.  That's big enough for many things but still not big enough to block a queen sized quilt.

In order to make this serve several needs:
For blocking quilts, cover the foam boards with a sheet, taped to the back.

For marking designs and applique, a large light box.  A few 2x4's, some plexiglass, about 2'x3', and a couple of under cabinet lights will work. 

For a large pressing surface a 4'x8' sheet of OSB, some batting and some canvas.
 
Another tool I need is yardage of clear vinyl/plastic for drawing quilting designs and with the light box I can transfer them to the quilt.

Been doing some testing with the longarm and different threads.  Some were a disaster of snarls and loops, some where very inconsistant, and some were just right.  It seems that my machine gets along so much better with 50wt threads.  I order some Magna-Glide pre-wounds and Glide thread this morning to try that.

Sometimes I feel like my efforts and attention is all over the place, different quilt patterns, types, etc. and been feeling that I need to concentrate on one thing for awhile.  Don't get me wrong, doing lots of different designs has taught me a lot about piecing and applique, different fabrics and colors.  I feel that if I am ever to become really good at something then it needs my full attention.  Kind of a "jack of all trades, master of none" thing.  Working on the lace quilt is something that VERY much appeals to me.  I'm a traditional quilter and I like feminine designs and this just seems to resonate with me.  A long time ago an older gentleman at work told me, "do what you love, the money will come."  That's been true in my working career and I've come a long way in terms of professional accomplishments and salary by working in this field for 20 years.

Something else that appeals to me is vintage elements and embroidery.  I got this table cloth on eBay and imagine the four motifs in a quilt, set on-point, pieced with beautiful orange, purples, and blues.

Lasers are coming in handy

I just got two of these laser levels to help with squaring up and blocking and really glad I did!  I'm lining up the center and the furthest leaf in the design to keep it all straight.  I also measured out both sides from the middle to keep them the same since it's very easy to stretch out the lace.  It measures 21 3/4" on both sides so that gives me a place to start thinking of quilting designs too.  Just plan on 44" square as a starting point for around the center and my first idea is to make an on-point square frame around it.

After struggling with the entire tablecloth I decided to cut out the center.  It's much easier to lift up each "arm" of the design and tac it down with glue as I work out to the end.  After this is done I can use the lasers to attach the border of the tablecloth.

I found some folding tables at Walmart that are 30" x 6' so I ordered three of them.  They fold up into a square with a handle so they can be stored under the bed.  Much better than working on the floor!

Whole cloth and pearls

I've sewn most of the first section on and cut away a little of the netting to see what it looks like.  I'm fairly pleased with it. :)

I have 1000 Swarovski pearls to sew on all the little swirls in the design and the flower centers. 

Been thinking about "Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue."  Not sure if I want it all in white and cream or maybe add a touch of the lighest blue and there are some pearls that are very pale blue that might go nicely in certain areas.

This is one of the corners and the ribbons have little swirls along one edge that I colored in blue in the picture.

Beginning the whole cloth

I started out with laying out the top and starched it.  I then layed the tablecloth over it.  Using a laser level I lined up the center and the first "point".  First thing to do was to use Liquid Stitch to repair areas where fabric had come loose on the applique.  This tacked it down to the tablecloth and to the fabric underneath.

I then peeled back sections at a time and applied tiny dots of Liquid Stitch on the applique, layed it on the fabric and heat set it.

I moved everything to my sewing machine and started in the middle and a tiny zig-zag stitch, following the lines of the applique to sew it down.

I don't think this is going to work very well for a few reasons.  I think that the center motif needs to be cut away from the rest of the tablecloth.  I'm concerned that things are going to get out of alignment because of trying to deal with the entire thing at once.  If I am just glueing down the center it will be much easier to handle and more accurate. 

Secondly, it is very intense work to do this on the sewing machine!!  I'm going to cut out the center, starch and glue it down all at once and then load it on the longarm machine.  I'll use that and the smallest stitch to sew it all down.  Sounds like a much better plan to me.