Feb OMG and UFO goals met :)

I'm weary at this almost-end of the month and can use the pick-me-up of reporting these goals met, although my OMG needs a photo op to do its formal finish post. Which will happen for TGIFF, by the way! (That's being hosted here this week, so come back and link up if you have a finish to share!)

First, my OMG for February was this mini quilt for Scott. I stitched the binding down today, and it's currently mostly dried during its blocking session. This is from the "Night Watch" kit by Marie Noah at Northern Threads.

Second, my UFO #1 draw for the Patchwork Times challenge was my Fancy Forest top. I've done a ton of work on this and succesfully finished the first two phases of the custom quilting on it! Each figure has detail quilting in an appropriate color. I think I've used 12 colors altogether. 

Yes, there are tails - I like to tie & tuck, and since this is my own quilt, I'll spend my time doing that at the sofa with a good movie going. Customer quilts get this task done on the frame as I go so that they're never in contact with my cats, and progress pics for the owners are nice and neat.  :)   I don't know if I'll get the background fill finished on this before I have to take it off for a customer quilt that is in transit right now. I want to put in woodsy motifs like bark and pine needles, pinecones, etc.


~*~*~ Linking at:
WOW - WIPs on Wed at Esther's
Let's Bee Social at Lorna's
WIP Link-Up at Brook's
Midweek Makers at Susan's
One Monthly Goal (OMG) at Elm Street Quilts
2018 UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times 
UFO Busting Party at Tish's

BOMs Away - "Forever My Valentine" & Blue Bear

Welcome to the link-up for BOMs Away Mondays!

Where we share what we're doing on a BOM-type project 

so they don't stall out in UFO-land!

(Linky at the bottom.)

Here's my block 1 of "Forever My Valentine", which arrived a couple of days ago - all stitched up, even. I am determined to keep this BOM quickly assembled. 

Apparently 2018 is the Year of the Pre-Fused Kits. I really wanted to do this BOM, but although I really don't prefer pre-fused kits (for several reasons), that is the route I chose so that I'd actually be able to do this. It cuts the time down tremendously. 

I'm using blanket stitching on this one, and doing that with 40wt threads. I know most people prefer the ease of invisible thread, but I didn't choose it for 3 reasons. 1) My machine is extremely fitful when I make it work with it. 2) I really don't like the way the holes look in fused pieces - colored threads fill the holes, but invisible thread lets them keep showing. 3) This is a flannel project, and the edges of most pieces are white. Colored thread greatly minimizes the white rims around them, so that only the tiniest bit still peeks out instead of remaining highly visible. The edge of white on the red was particularly noticeable against the underlying pink before I stitched it:

The blocks for this quilt will have 3D wool flowers and pearl beads added after the quilting has been done.

One of the reasons I don't like pre-fused projects is that the fusible spans the entire fabric piece, instead of being "gutted" on larger pieces. This not only adds the layers of fusible where you have many stacked pieces, but also prevents you from cutting the background away. There are 8 layers in some places, (which would actually be 16 with the fusible, thin as that is). 

So before I fused this block, I laid the largest pieces down and traced their outlines with chalk so I could cut away the underneath layers, using a 3/8 inch margin. That gave me these large pieces that I can do something with in the future:

That's 2 layers of flannel and 2 of plastic that are kept out of the block. HOWEVER, if you do this, you need to be aware that the fusible will be exposed on the back. Here you see the open space where the black and pale pink were cut away before assembling, and the shiny surface of fusible covering the entire back of the red spotted heart that I'm about to put in place:

You really have to ***make sure*** you lay that applique ironing sheet under the block at the ironing board so the exposed fusible sticks to the peelable sheet, not to your board!

Just let it cool a bit and peel off.

~*~*~*~

I also put together my February blue bear for Dione's 2018 Beary Colorful BOM. He's the bear of high hopes:

This project is being done applique-as-you-quilt style, so this is just fused, not stitched yet. I'm taking a breather for Feb and not doing as much as last month. I hope to do the stitching/quilting for this at the same time I do the March bear. 

~*~ Linking my blue bear up at Jen's February Color Linkup

How about you? Did you get any BOM work done recently?

~*~*~

Kate over at Katie Mae Quilts has joined me in hosting this meet-up,

and linking up from either end puts you on the party at both sides.

BOMs Away Monday - "Night Watch"

Welcome to the link-up for BOMs Away Mondays!

Where we share what we're doing on a BOM-type project 

so they don't stall out in UFO-land!

(Linky at the bottom.)

It has been a crazy busy week for me! Good work on my challenge UFO is happening at the longarm, I got some serious workouts in at the dojang, and while I've frequently helped out at the bi-monthly color belt tests, I put in my first sesson as a test judger Friday evening (normally I help in the belt-award room). That was intimidating, but actually very enjoyable. That was at a sister site. Working on test days takes many hours and is exhausting, though rewarding.

I'm the farthest left.

I also helped at our own site Saturday, working in the awarding room, and boy did this one little girl melt my heart! Her session was particularly large, and her entire family of 8 trains together, so her parents were both busy tying their own belts. I was helping the young sibling on her mother's other side, and when her mother turned to help her, she blurted out sweetly, "Oh, but I want the Blackbelt Hero to help me, please!"  Awwwwww   :)   I remember that feeling of awe, and it's kind of funny in relation to how you feel when you actually *are* a Blackbelt.  

Before I share my BOM work, I have to share the amazing package Selina of Selina Quilts sent me! She really went all out with her giveaway of a rice heating bag (which turned into two!), and it's already providing comfort on some muscles I used differently while pushing equipment around!

But you can see that she also sent this adorable zip-bag made from a laminated M&M bag (fabric lined, very nice), with some of my most very favorite chocolates inside since M&Ms would get smushed during shipping. She also made a cute card with a printing of the Valentine's rice bag fabric. I was so very tickled!!

This is the coolest zip bag!

Thank you, Thank you, THANK YOU, Selina!!!!

And now, here's my BOM sharing for the week:

This is more of a "Quilt of the Month" than a BOM. It's the first of the six that Scott asked me to make for his offices. I told him I'd do one up each month. 

I got the block and base pieced over the past couple of weeks during morning time that couldn't be spent at the longarm, and this weekend I hit it in earnest. I've finished all but the quilting in the outer border.

I decided to try a layering approach, so I could quilt the block and background pieces without a gazillion start and stop points. It worked well! I was focused, and didn't think to take many shots during that process. First I put some trapunto pieces behing the moon and the center of the block. Then I quilted the block, stitched down the moon, and put in the "air" lines. THEN I fused the trees on, and here I was stitching those down:

After that, I just worked one more layer at a time, fusing and stitching, fusing and stitching.

You can see that I cut the backing/batting large enough
to accomodate future border work.

Until I finally had everything added in and put in some snow details at the bases of all the trees. Then I checked how the squaring may have been affected before I sewed on the borders, and adjusted the seam allowance the wee bit it needed to keep everything from skewing. It worked well, so I'll use the same approach on the companion quilts.

I had hoped to completely finish the quilting and get the binding attached, but that'll be ready for a TGIFFriday share.  :)   Assuming I can get it away from Navarre. . . 

~*~ Have you done any BOM work recently? ~*~

Kate over at Katie Mae Quilts has joined me in hosting this meet-up,

and linking up from either end puts you on the party at both sides.

BOMs Away Monday - Kittens :)

Welcome to the link-up for BOMs Away Mondays!

Where we share what we're doing on a BOM-type project 

so they don't stall out in UFO-land!

(Linky at the bottom.)

I got my February work done on "Wind in the Whiskers" - 5 fun little kittens for the bottom left panel. They make me smile.  :)  

I'm not sure why only one of them has pupils. I'll put all the others in when it gets pre-quilting stitchery work. The next batch of work includes making the 3D butterflies these cuties are all playing with.

~*~ Have you done any BOM work recently? ~*~

Kate over at Katie Mae Quilts has joined me in hosting this meet-up,

and linking up from either end puts you on the party at both sides.

Finish Report! :) "Bohemia" is off my 18 in 2018 List

I do really love this folksy quilt, which was also on my Q1 list!  [Post two of two finishes to share today!]
   

It is made from the "Bohemia" collection of fabric by Julie Paschkis. I got the kit and whipped up the top in January 2014. Then it waited patiently-patiently in my Flimsy Closet while I finished saving up for the longarm. Other flimsies meant as special gifts and commissions monopolized my quilting time at the domestic during these years.

I had intended to hang this on the shorter rod in the family room, but the colors are just so gorgeous by the piano. And the camera has an incredibly difficult time showing these fabrics properly.

This quilt was done with a single layer of Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton/poly, and I challenged myself to work in free-hand organic motifs with minimal SID on this quilt, to go with the whole feel of the fabric. It finished up at 48.75 x 68.75 inches after binding.

First I did the tiny bit of SID around the stop border, the panel edges, and the biggest triangular shapes (not the individual triangles). Then I put in the fill work for the four corner pieces (a simple flowery meander) and the smaller black-print triangles of the main peaks (even simpler loops). With that same black SoFine thread and SuperBob bobbins, I put in long leafy fingers in the black portions of the pinwheel blocks.

This was a perfect quilt to practice free-hand work on. As you can see, the prints hide most of the work, so it seriously doesn't matter how uneven your loops get or if you have wobbles in your echoing!

Next I changed over to black Glide thread with a MagnaGlide bobin and did the borders. I just followed around the elements in pretty open detailing, throwing in some leaves and curls in the upper open area.

The animal mini panels were super fun. I just outlined the elements and did some of the details in larger animals with that same thread.

Next I used a gold and a green Glide to put in poppies on the small colored triangles and some sculpting in the gold portions of the pinwheels. Other than the edge of the stop border and the big triangle peaks, those pinwheel teal-to-gold edges have the only straight lines on this quilt, followed by what I called wind-stream echoing. They were essential in defining the pinwheels - those blocks really melted into themselves before quilting and didn't look much like pinwheels. 

Didn't have a teal Glide, so I pulled out an Aurifil 50wt spool for those poppies and the remaining pinwheel sections (which got elongated flower petals).

Last of all, I put in some cream Glide with a cream MagnaGlide bobbin to draw folksy flowers-and-leaves in the cream borders around the animal panels.

The back is a green fabric from the collection, but I'd originally purchased enough for a domestic-quilting back, not for a longarm frame. So I augmented it with the black print from the collection that I'd also bought in a good bit of yardage. Two of my daughters love that print, so I'll be dividing the rest and sewing it to some cool minky backings (no batting) for them to have throws made from it.

Add a hanging sleeve. . .

. . .and lay it out to finish block-drying, and soon it's good to go for display. My family loves it as much as I do.

"Bohemia" is on my Q1 Finish-Along list, and is the first full finish pulled off my 18 in 2018 list.

~*~*~ Linking up at

UFO Busting Linkup at Tish's 18 in 2018 February Progress link at Lynette's 
TGIFF   Thank Goodness It's Finished Fridays is at Kate's this week
Whoop! Whoop! at Sarah's 
2018 Finish-A-Long Q1 Reports at Sandra's

Finish Report :) - "Nicole's Mountains" & a tip for longarming with cotton thread

Post one of two finishes to share today! (This was on my Q1 FinishAlong list)

This first one is a birthday gift for my sister that turned into a longarm study quilt, because the quilting developed into a far more intricate design than I'd first intended and involves numerous longarming firsts for me.  

I wanted to make Nicole a mini with a medallion inside  a Delectable Mountains border, as she is big on mountains. I mean that literally and figuratively. She greatly enjoys hiking on them and climbing to peaks, and she loves their analogy when she's faced with personal challenges.

(I had fused the centerpiece on and played with a decorative stitch on my Viking Sapphire with a variegated gray King Tut thread to stitch it down, then trimmed the background center away from behind.)

And boy, is she working on a challenge right now, as she's getting ready for one of the hardest exams she's ever taken to obtain a certification she wants in her profession. Nevermind that she's having to cover at least two people's worth of full-time work at this time, as well as single-parenting teens!

There were a lot of firsts on this quilt: First doubled batting, first channeled arcs (the double lines), first 1/8" spacing, first mini meander and micro pebbles, first time forcing myself to move at a normal speed instead of a crawl (except for those arcs), first time doing a reduced-size binding - which ended up about 3/32" or 3.1 mm. This turned into a serious study piece!

I got a good workout with my Quilted Pineapple curved ruler set. I used the #8 on the arcs, and th3 #10 and #12 on the corner diamonds. 

I'm looking forward to improving on that 1/8-inch spacing! I made myself leave in almost all my work with that, allowing picking-out of only the very worst most horrendous errors and those that I used the wrong points to line up on. You can see that sometimes I really struggled to catch that 1/8". While I do pretty well with the 1/4 line-ups, it's much harder to eyeball ruler placement for that smaller increment. The micro meander will get better pretty easily with more practice.

The binding was done in a very light ice gray with little white leaves printed on it. I cut it at 2 inches. Next time for a binding this small, I will cut it at 1.75 inches, as it turned out fat on the back. But hey, those miters all look fantastic!  ;D

This is rather difficult for me to give away - I'm super detail-oriented, and can do far better than that at the domestic machine. But I also feel fondly about this, knowing years from now I'll be where I want to be on details like this at the longarm, and will get a big smile at these early trainings. :) 

I made myself do all the feathers freehand, with the arcs for the inside white border all drawn in with a blue quilter's marker first. The outer design work was my own devising, I'm sure inspired by everything I've been drooling over the past few years, but that inner white border was channeled straight from Margaret Solomon Gunn. I really enjoy her books. [I need to do another study quilt using things from some of my other books by master quilters!]

The flowers popped into my head as I stared at the empty mountains, doubting my ability to pull off the smaller lots-of-leaves fill I'd intended to try. I realized I needed a larger-scale motif to play well in the overall scheme, and when I decided my first solution of 5 elongated leaves extending into the points would end up looking like a Marijuana leaf, I thought of the flowers. I just threw a piece of 1/4" tape across my little Kelly Cline notched ruler to give me a uniform point for all my flower centers (using seamlines to center it horizontally), and freehanded everything else from there with zero marking for any of the redwork.

This quilt is 23" square, with a scrap of fairly thin poly batting (don't know the brand) over Hobbs 80/20. It's also the first time I've put in hanging corners instead of a sleeve, and I'll be popping over to Home Depot to pick up some yardsticks and Command strips for this quilt and the minis Scott has requested for his office. 

Quilting notes for future reference, and a tip:

I like to use several kinds of thread, depending on the effect I want on different parts of a quilt. This quilt was a little complex for thread passes, each one of which required a tension adjustment. I'm starting to get the feel for those without fourteen tons of scribbling on the side first!

• First pass was with red to SID at the base of the mountains and echo their angle outlines, so basic stability would go in first of all. This thread was Aurifil 50 wt, because that was the only cardinal red thread I had on hand. I had a ton of thread snaps to deal with on that little bit of quilting. I dreaded the fill work for the mountains. I used red SuperBob bobbin thread (So Fine pre-wound bobbins) in the bobbin case that I keep a spring in. I take off the cardboard disc that would sit against the spring. 
• Second pass - salmon thread, again Aurifil 50 wt. Breaks were not quite so numerous, but still a problem. White Superbob. This thread was for SID around inner square and applique, and the echo fill for the square (next time I'll do something like McTavishing instead.)
• Third pass - White Madiera embroidery thread. Holler at me if you must, but it's the same weight and sheen as Glide 40wt thread, and I had it on hand, and I wasn't worried about it being weaker than longarm thread since this is a small wall quilt. MagnaGlide bobbin, in the case I keep dedicated for these (took the spring out). This pass did the basting around the outer edge and then all the primary quilting on the white areas, starting with the channeled arcs and pebbles, the corner diamonds, and all the feather work.
• Fourth pass - White MicroQuilter for the mini meanders inside the arcs. Boy, do I love that thread! Bobbin was a white SuperBob.
• Fifth pass - back to the red Aurifil with the red SuperBob to put in the sunflowers with their micropebble centers. I was seriously dreading all the breakage.

That order of work did a great job of stabilizing and filling in a way that worked well with the loft of the double batting. I didn't need to adjust the height of my ruler foot. 

Longarm Tip for Cotton Thread:

You see, cotton thread doesn't have nearly the flexible give that poly threads have (this is why longarmers love threads like Glide so much), so it's really tough to find a good tension that keeps it making beautiful stitches without wobbles or ocassional up-loops, but if you pull the tension tight enough to get all of that stuff out of your stitches, there's more tension than its limited flexibility can handle, so it snaps pretty often. All of this is beside the fact that you have to clear the lint frequently, particularly from the bobbin area. 

I found a solution, though!  It's so very simple and absolutely free. When you're quilting with cotton thread on a longarm, just spritz the quilt top in your working area very lightly with plain old water! (Another quilter says you can alternately spritz the cone of thread.) It's as easy as that. You can use the tension that gets gorgeous stitches, and you magically have no thread snaps! I did all of the flower and micro-pebble work around the whole quilt in a single line of Aurifil 50wt thread. It was wonderful after expecting up to 20 breaks!

"Nicole's Mountains" is on my Q1 Finish-Along list.

~*~*~ Linking up at

TGIFF   Thank Goodness It's Finished Fridays is at Kate's this week
Whoop! Whoop! at Sarah's 
2018 Finish-A-Long Q1 Reports at Sandra's

WIP - Learning small-scale ruler spacing

When you don't let technical inexperience keep you from trying out a fun quilting design that popped into your head.  :)

So many firsts on this quilt! The main focus, though, is getting more acquainted with my rulers. Working on the main thread right now, filler work with MicroQuilter to come later.

Plenty of imperfections, but I'm making myself unpick only the very worst slip-ups on this study piece. Definitely going to take a lot of practice to get an eye for 1/8 inch spacing with curved rulers, but I'll get there!

And in the meantime, I'll have a really pretty learning piece. 

[By the way, this was Flimsy #3 for my secondary 18 in 2018 list.]

Edited later:  Now that all the primary quilting is in, and I only need to do the white and red microfills on this mini, I'm thinking two things.

1. This is pretty, even with the technical wobbles!

2. It would have been even prettier with McTavishing in the center background instead of echo work. It had occured to me to try that there, but I shied away from it since there were so many firsts about this birthday-gift-turned-study-quilt already.  I hereby vow to stop shying away from that fill. The next time my eye thinks it would be fitting for a space, I will DO IT.  Yes!   :)


~*~*~
Linking up at: 

18 in 2018 February Progress link at Lynette's  WOW - WIPs on Wed at Esther's
Let's Bee Social at Lorna's
WIP Link-Up at Brook's
Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE at Julie's