Quilt ADD in therapy

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Colorado, United States
Other than my family, the passion of my life is quilting. An eclectic, I love a wide variety of styles and techniques encompassing both machine and hand work. I am a longarm quilter who can work for you. I enjoy any style, from pantographs to all-over to full custom, ranging from traditional to modern. I love bringing vintage tops to life and am willing to work with a challenging quilt top. Instagram: lyncc_quilts

Friday, January 31, 2014

January Reports & TIPS for quilting a king on a domestic

Here is my end-of-month wrap-up for January:


Something Old/Something New -
http://2hot2knit.blogspot.com.au/search/label/Something%20Old%20Something%20New

For my something old, See my comments below in my NewFO report about my long-time owned "Faceted Jewels" kit.

My something new: "25th, Baby!" Just yesterday I put in the last of the ditch work on my double wedding ring king-size anniversary quilt!! It took 22 hours and 5 minutes.  I'm keeping track of all that stuff on this one. 7 bobbins so far.




It was very new to me to work with such a gigantic quilt, as I only have a table-top domestic machine.  

Tips I've picked up from Leah Day and others about FMQ'ing about support for the entire quilt and puddling were ESSENTIAL.  You cannot work with any fine control at all if a quilt of this size is pulling down on the front, side, or back of the work surface, or sitting stretched out making dead weight along the table. I'm adding in the tip from two commenters to use your ironing board set to your table's height, set along your left side for temporary added tablespace - brilliant!

Do what you have to do to keep the quilt from flowing over the desk edges. I do have to let a wee bit hang just to my left, but I always shift things so that's only the furthest part from my working portion and it makes zero drag on my puddle. Also, at this size you really do want that large Supreme Glider underneath, or as I've seen others do, use a yard of slick clear vinyl.





That puddle will make or break your FMQ success!!  See how much I have it bunched forward in front of me so that you reach down in and frame a little portion of working space at the bottom of that lake bed?  This keeps your work space unimpeded by the weight and bulk of the quilt so you can get smooth stitches. It's a bit awkward, yes, so don't expect to do this for 3 hours at a stretch without good breaks!






Tips of my own that I will pass on:

1)  There is no way on earth that spray basting will be sufficient at this size or for the amount of squishy manipulation you have to do! Thread- or pin-baste.  I placed my pins just under 2" apart along each arc, one in the center of each connecting diamond, and then 4 inside each ring center "square" to support the curvy corners. That was perfect. Didn't get any slipping of the layers, so everything is perfectly flat without ripples. So embrace the process of this kind of basting and watch a movie (or two - it took three of us 2.5 hours to pin baste this sucker!~).  And use the curved quilter's safety pins along with the pin tool.

 
I had to use every pin I own on this quilt, and then move some center pins from outer rings to inner rings for about 11 sets as I worked. That bin weighs maybe 5 or 6 pounds!


2)  Don't be afraid of using a decent loft for a king size. I'm using Tuscany washable wool batt, and find it very malleable in this situation - it doesn't impede the squishing or moving at all. I don't know if I would want to work with a doubled batt at this size, such as wool on top of 80/20, but a cotton, 80/20, bamboo, or silk batt would be fine. I wouldn't want to work with a thicker poly batt, either - too little drape to squish and manipulate easily enough for the center work - but a super thin poly would likely work just fine.



3)  Order of work will help you!  To put the ditch work or stabilizing lines in, work from the outside moving inward in a spiral fashion. Start on one edge. Turn and do the second side, turn and do the third, turn and do the fourth - turn and start a second pass along the first, etc. (On a DWR, it worked perfectly to work in ring sets. On a "regular" quilt, I'd probably work in passes about a foot wide.)   This is so you can remove the pins as you get stretches finished and then all that extra bulk/weight will be out of your way as you squish more and more width into that little harp area.




(When you do the "real" quilting, work in the opposite direction, spiraling from the inside toward the outer edges - this is so you can avoid having to squish the less-drapable heavier-quilted parts into the harp.)


4). Specific to quilting a double wedding ring:

     *If you are using different thread colors, it works better to stabilize all the connecting diamonds first, and then do the stabilizing of the melons and centers.





Don't be afraid of quilting a very large quilt yourself! If I can do it, you can, too!  Just remember to puddle that baby and provide support for *all* the quilt's weight, and you won't be crying like little Navarre.  ;D   (Who actually was complaining that I wouldn't leave the quilt still for him to play with.)


 
 
For February, my something old will be a fat-quarter set of pinks that I've never touched in the 4 or so years that I've owned them. I want to work up a plan on how to use them and maybe get it cut out and kitted for later sewing. Something new - figuring out how to execute the intricate "real" quilting I want to do on this DWR!!
 
 

NewFO Report for January
http://catpatches.blogspot.com/search/label/NewFO%20Challenge 
 

Holy smokes! What a great month this was, and super unexpectedly - my thesis work leaves me one hour each morning for the DWR and maybe an hour in the later evening, a couple hours on Sat/Sun depending on family activities.   But I got THREE NewFO's on board!

First I put together my String of Pearls. I intend to use the quilting on this as a learning tool for a motif I want to use on my Dear Jane.





Then, a couple of Saturdays ago I whipped up this super-easy kit - my Bohemia quilt.  It's just a flimsy, pinned on another finished quilt so I could see it up there for a while. I wish I had more of the green and blue batiks on that back-quilt's outer border, because don't they look great as last borders on this flimsy?  ;D This won't be quilted for ages.


 
 
Love the animal panels
 

 





And, as a time-filler while I had to babysit cat meals so the senior gal and the kitten each ate their own food, I washed, ironed, and cut out the batik "Faceted Jewels" kit that's been in my storage for 4 or 5 years. The cutting is way less complicated than you'd think.  It'll look like this when it grows up, but for now it's in an Amazon box on my ready-to-sew shelf in deep storage.




We'll see what February brings - it's amazing what you can accomplish when you consistently put in wee bits of time (and when you can have work areas where you can leave things waiting for your return).




http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/lets-book-it-link-up.html
 
Let's Book It!  Report -

I am working my way slowly through my "Affairs of the Heart" book. I got three blocks finished up during our dinner-hour TV time!   







I don't think much will happen here next month, as that time has been shunted to tying and tucking ends on my DWR quilting work.  We'll see!



So, there are my January reports - go check the link-ups out for some great eye-candy, tips from other quilters, and very good support groups to help you get your work finished.

Sunday, January 26, 2014

BOMs Away - Holiday TIdings & a Drive

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6FEw-InTZOIaLrsh7raXFspj2e1T12kCO8l-1fE90gdy6n4l1MW2uvunLaRnasRzTevZmJGQUxFSneppP1tAy6D3038PFUnZoe3kZkA6pv4O9beBUFKk-l_8VIx2zK7QOjm3Pv7Ki7I/s1600/BOM+Button.jpg


Welcome to the Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!


We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.
This week's link-up is at the bottom of this post.

 
Today I worked up the September and October sets from Holiday Tidings:
 

 
 
And then we went for a training drive - Marissa just got her learner's permit this week, and it's such a nice day. Perfect time to take advantage of the rural roads around us!
 









She's quite a natural at it!
 
~*~*~*~

Have you done any BOM work recently?

Friday, January 24, 2014

Flimsy Alert! ~ Bohemia

This fun kit was such a fast sew, I was able to put it together last Saturday!



It is the "Bohemia" quilt by Jason Yenter for the fabrics of the same name by Julie Paschkis. I just love the whimsical nature of it all and the six animal panels.

It actually doesn't have those outer blue and green borders - the flimsy is pinned onto a finished quilt so I could hang it for the month even though it won't get quilted for a very, very long time. . . (But the borders look terrific with it, don't they?)




It's a very fun finish point since thesis work gives me incredibly little sewing time compared to last year, and my "real" quilt work is a never-ending epic quilting journey with my 25th anniversary double wedding ring monster.

Can I get a Whoop, Whoop!?   ;D   (Love Sarah's link-up - it's the perfect place to share flimsies!)

And now back to my search string about Disney artists visiting the Japanese American internment camps of WWII. . .

Sunday, January 19, 2014

BOMs Away - Sleeves & pulling out Strolling the Block

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6FEw-InTZOIaLrsh7raXFspj2e1T12kCO8l-1fE90gdy6n4l1MW2uvunLaRnasRzTevZmJGQUxFSneppP1tAy6D3038PFUnZoe3kZkA6pv4O9beBUFKk-l_8VIx2zK7QOjm3Pv7Ki7I/s1600/BOM+Button.jpg



Welcome to the Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!


We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.
This week's link-up is at the bottom of this post.

 

I just really didn't feel like doing what I'm supposed to today - so I made 3 hanging sleeves for already-finished BOMS instead of sewing on a BOM UFO.
 
 
 
 
I really like how these sleeves hang - the extra bit you leave on the front side when you stitch it to the quilt keeps the pole from pulling the quilt around it in a weird way. I do mine almost exactly the way LuAnn shows on her blog "Loose Threads" at This Link.


I *did* pull the next Kelly BOM out of storage. It's a twin/double bed size.




After much surfing online, I found that this is the 2002 HGTV "Strolling the Block" program. It was a popular BOM again in 2006, which is more likely to be the time that Kelly had been working on this.

This quilt top has some serious border issues. See all those waves?



I'm going to have to take off both borders all around, separate them, measure and cut them down, and reattach them. That right there, folks, is why you should never just cut a strip of fabric and sew it on with the intention of trimming its length to the quilt size afterward. And she even cut the borders on the length of the fabric instead of across it (which avoids the natural stretch of fabric).  I think I'll wait until I finish the blocks, though, so all the edges will stay protected.


This BOM is an applique with embellishments. Kelly had finished Jan, Feb, and Mar:

 

 

So I'll be starting with the April block. I'm thinking "April Showers. . . " so maybe I'll add an umbrella and stitch in some clouds and rain drops. Put some garden tools, handles, and a wheel on that wheelbarrow. Tulips in the window boxes sounds nice, too, eh? oo - and a little bun-bun down in that empty front right area, maybe. I'll have to dig around in my button bins for a good door knob to go along with her first three button knobs. hmmm. . . maybe some easter egg buttons in the yard. . .

The windows make me want to put curtains on them for each month, but then I'd have to rip out and redo all the blanket stitching on them, so I'm thinking I won't go there. I can quilt in some window panes later on. . .




I think it will be fun. Just don't want to do it today.   ;D


~*~*~*~

Have you done any BOM work recently?

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

WIP - Ditchwork Underway

 
 


Starting to get more comfortable doing ditchwork via free-motion quilting (used to doing it with my walking foot, but these curves aren't the easiest for that). By the time I finish doing all 90 rings, I'll be a pro at it!!  ;D
 
Three hours in, I'm eleven down. . .
 

~*~*~*~

Linking up at

Sunday, January 12, 2014

BOMs Away - Kitties, Moons, and Hearts

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6FEw-InTZOIaLrsh7raXFspj2e1T12kCO8l-1fE90gdy6n4l1MW2uvunLaRnasRzTevZmJGQUxFSneppP1tAy6D3038PFUnZoe3kZkA6pv4O9beBUFKk-l_8VIx2zK7QOjm3Pv7Ki7I/s1600/BOM+Button.jpg


Welcome to the Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!


We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.
This week's link-up is at the bottom of this post.


First of all, we've had some more family changes. Some of you remember that we lost our Siamese, Koko, a week before Thanksgiving. Well, we also lost our gorgeous calico at the end of December. We miss you, Selma! You were a truly fabulous kitty and beloved member of our family for 13 years.
 
 
 
 
So, with heavy hearts and empty spots in the family, we recently stopped at a shelter and adopted this gorgeous little guy. His name is Navarre, and he's an amazing DYNAMO! Soooo friendly, instantly loving every person he meets with all his little heart. He's incredibly smart, and a perfect gentleman who's never once had a litter mishap.  :)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Now, about BOMs. . .  This week I made my last two "Hello, Moon" blocks. 
 
 
 
 
 
I ended up going with the cow that Heidi came up with instead of the fox in the original BOM group. I love that fox! I wanted both blocks, and had decided I'd figure out a 13-block setting, until I couldn't find a single fabric I liked for the fox. So I stuck with the cow replacing the 12th slot.
 
So here's my full set, which means next month I get to mess with a setting!
 
 
 
 
And, of course, little Navarre had to "help"!
 
 
 
 
During the week, I got the embroidery added onto the two other blocks that I appliqued on the cruise. Block 4 and Block 5:
 
 
 
 
 
How have your BOMs been doing? Make any progress lately? We'd love to see.  :D
 
~*~*~*~*~
 
 

Sunday, January 5, 2014

BOMs Away - 6 Jan - Ruffled Roses, Affairs of the Heart

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib6FEw-InTZOIaLrsh7raXFspj2e1T12kCO8l-1fE90gdy6n4l1MW2uvunLaRnasRzTevZmJGQUxFSneppP1tAy6D3038PFUnZoe3kZkA6pv4O9beBUFKk-l_8VIx2zK7QOjm3Pv7Ki7I/s1600/BOM+Button.jpg



Welcome to the Link-Up for BOMs Away Mondays!


We'd love to see the BOM you're working on lately.
This week's link-up is at the bottom of this post.


Sorry this is going up late. I started getting a migraine while I was working, so I had to take a nap for while.
 
So here's what I managed to finish on my Ruffled Roses BOM: I got all the 4-patches sewn for the next round and one side fully assembled. The others will have to wait until next month.
 
 
 
 
This month's set of instructions also has you work up 4 of the 28 swag sections that will be needed on the last round. Those slats are only 3/4" finished width. I think it'll be stunning when it's all assembled.
 
 
 
 
 
On another note, this applique block is from my Affairs of the Heart project. I did purchase it as a BOM program something like 3 years ago, but I don't have scheduled times that I work on it. It lives in my hand stitching tote that I take to appointments and such.
 
 
 
 
It's block #3 (of 36), and I finished it on the cruise trip. I prepped quite a number to take with me since I had no clue how much alone time I would need. Didn't have anywhere near as much time as the blocks I brought, but two are all appliqued (forgot my milk pen to mark for the bits of embroidery), and 5 others are partly appliqued (I do the back-basting method, so I work with batches to allow for "marinating" time). I really enjoyed sitting on our stateroom's balcony, stitching with just the wide-open ocean for my company.  And a breaching whale one day. And a large school of flying fish another. . .  Cool!!  No pictures of those, unfortunately.

Friday, January 3, 2014

January Goals - Something Old, Something New

Never too hot to Stitch!
Lynne's hosting "Something Old, Something New" this year, and I think this approach to moving UFOs along while getting a taste of something fresh can work around my thesis focus for the next two terms.

My goal posts may be boring for the next few months! Nothing like the fun assortments of projects last year.

So, here are my January goals:



THESIS!~  

Yay for the prospectus being accepted. Now finish reviewing recent publishings that touch my topic and get Chapter 1 submitted to Dr. Biggs before month's end.
 
(still have to read pretty much half of that right-hand pile)




SOMETHING OLD~

On mornings that I wake up in time, I can work for one hour on my Double Wedding Ring that I started in August. I need to piece its backing, get it pin-basted, and this month get the outer edge secured and try to get half the arcs ditched to stabilize the overall piece.  (I quilt on a table-top domestic machine.) I really, REALLY want to have this quilt completed by our 25th anniversary on August 20th.




On Sunday mornings I will still let myself have a few minutes to a few hours (depending on family activities) to work on the BOMs I use for each week of the month.  Right now that's Ruffled Roses; Hello, Moon; Holiday Tidings; and Kelly's Strolling the Block. All but Hello, Moon are long-term UFOs.



SOMETHING NEW~

Well, I'll have to fit rather loosely into Lynne's intentions on this category, as I don't have the luxury of any time to learn new techniques. But on the few days when I may be able to sneak in some additional sewing time later in the day after thesis work, I'll use this for my NewFO ventures. This month that will be piecework on my String of Pearls kit.





HAND STATION~

I anticipate getting to work in 20 minutes or so a few evenings each week for hand-work. We enjoy eating our dinner at the TV catching whatever series we're watching on DVD, so whatever's left of the 45 minutes after I eat my food, I'll work on labels for the 2 Kelly quilts I need to mail out and then work on blocks for my Affairs of the Heart. I got this "kit" 3 years ago as a BOM, and have only made 2 blocks to this point!





And that's it for January's projects-to-choose-from list! Not one of these projects will be finished this month, or even next, but the forward movement is all I'm looking for until the thesis is finished.