Don't stop Friday finishes!

Don't Stop

72 inches square

pieced by my mom and  machine quilted by me

I finished this quilt a week ago and it is now in the hands of its new owner.

The name comes from the Fleetwood Mac song

and some of the lyrics are machine quilted into the darker triangles.

I did a simple motif on the dark triangles

and more intense quilting on the neutral ones.

I varied the background motifs to avoid boredom

and to give the quilt some energy and motion.

Here's a view of the quilting from the back.

it has quilt shop quality flannel on the back, 

and sale wall quilt shop fabrics on the front.

Close ups of the background quilting motifs

This quilt started as a birthday kit for my mom.

I cut four coordinating prints and background fabric into 6.5 inch HST

with the Accuquilt Go cutter.

Now my mom is an award-winning quilter who makes beautiful applique quilts,

but I wanted her to have a mindless sewing project

where she could just piece, and then put the top together.

Since all of her kids and grandkids are well supplied with quilts,

she was happy to give this to another family member dealing with a serious illness.

I bound the quilt with a zig zag print cut on the length of grain to get diagonal stripes.

I'm linking up with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Some near finishes here this Friday

I've had a productive few weeks over here,

mostly motivated by two babies who need their quilts

and a weekend retreat.

I spent last weekend with three UFOs and made good progress with them,

but I had the most fun with playing with these bright scraps from another retreater.

I'm not embarrassed to tell you I dug around in the common scrap bag

and found these beauties which will turn into some sort of mini quilt.

I used the shapes as I found them, having fun improvising.

Last week I also finished this I Spy quilt using 6.5 inch cut squares.

I added the piano key border from the bits too small for squares,

getting the quilt to about 42.5 by 57 inches.

That short last the newborn for a couple of years.

Here's a view of the back -- a fishbowl print I'd been saving for the right moment.

This stuff is 54 inches wide and I have enough for another toddler quilt.

After worrying about the quilting designs for too long,

I decided to go for wide matchstick quilting, 

or just plain straight line walking foot quilting.

I eyeballed the lines and kept them to a minimum because I want the quilt to be soft and cuddly.

I used about eight thread colours in 28 weight Aurifil

to both contrast and match with all the flying geese.

It measures 42 inches square and is bound with a dark grey Kona solid.

I just need to pull in a few threads and its ready for the baby across the street.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers today at

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

and Crazy Mom Quilts.

Bright finish for Friday

Sunny stars

40 inches square

machine pieced and quilted on my Juki with Aurifil thread

One big finish to share here today:

this baby quilt made from all 42 squares in a charm pack.

I added the white and the orange yardage.

Here's the quilt after washing.

Since I didn't prewash the charm pack,

I washed the quilt to make sure the reds didn't bleed.

My colour catchers were only slightly discoloured.

This quilt is going to a new baby who was due in April

but made an early appearance in January.

She's still in hospital but the quilt is ready for her when she finally goes home.

Oops! I ran a blogiversary giveaway here nearly two months ago

and never announced the winner.

I've mailed Patty the quilt lady this zipper bag with a sewing comic.

I'm thankful for all my readers over the past nine years!

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

TGIFF

Progress on star quilt

I've finally finished machine quilting this star quilt.

It's been a WIP for too long.

I deliberated a long time before I started quilting

and although some of you suggested it called out for hand quilting

I didn't go that way.

Instead I used a dark beige 50 weight Aurifil thread on top and bottom

and played around with lots of free motion designs.

This is a scrappy quilt celebrating the marriage of friends.

It also celebrates the many patterns and surprises 

in a long term relationship.

I think of this quilt as an "I Spy" quilt for adults.

I've quilted in their names, their wedding anniverary

and lots of loops, swirls and even a few bad stitches.

I'm putting the binding on soon and sending it to a local quilt show.

And wondering about the SSOB banner on the right?

Come back on Monday for my stop on the blog hop celebrating Julie Sefton's new book:
Build -A-Barn: No Pattern Construction.

I'm linking up with other Friday finishers over at
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
and Crazy Mom Quilts
and TGIFF

Table talk

After three years with this Juki,

I finally bought a table just for it.

It's a birch table, locally made, and with an acrylic cut out for this machine.

It has handles (top and side), folding legs,

 and a set of wheels

sort of visible on the right.

I got it for $230 Canadian
at Oma's Quilt Shop
near Grunthal, Manitoba.

 

I put some non-slip stuff under the legs of the  machine

to avoid table shake.

 

so far I'm liking it

but I think the real test

will be when I free motion quilt.

 

Now there's a bit more table surface behind me to support the quilt.

 

I bought this on my continual quest

to improve my sewing and quilting ergonomics

so that making quilts doesn't hurt my body.

If you see it as an engineering problem...

...then Mom's sewing machine is a lot more interesting.

When I set up my Juki on the dining room table the other day, my 15-year-old engineer had to take a look. I've had the machine for six months and couldn't get the hang of the automatic needle-threader, but he studied the manual and figured it out. He wasn't interested in the machine as a way to sew, but he thought it was fun to understand it.

A new arrival

First there was this

Then I graduated to this (beginning with my mother's new 1969 Elna Supermatic. I got this used SP in 1985.)

Then a few months ago, my mother gave me one of her Singer Featherweights, a free-arm 222K. Note the fun quilted mat with storage pockets underneath that I made from fabrics in an aqua theme.

Then today it happened. I bought my first new machine ever. (Technically, it's also the first machine I ever bought, which is curious since I've been sewing for 40 years. Thanks mom, for all the sewing machine love.)

A Juki TL-98 Q with needle threader and thread cutter. It took me maybe 15 minutes from carting the box upstairs to getting ready to sew. I love the separate bobbin winder, the thread cutter, the speed (1500 stitches per minute) and I think I'm getting the hang of the needle threader. The directions on that aren't easy to follow, but Sue at the store took time to show me those features.

Three hours after I brought it home, I had finished sewing these strips together to make a 60 by 80 donation quilt.

And just so you know, I'm not planning on abandoning any of the above machines. All of them, except the little red one, have their place in my sewing life. The FW is my take-along machine, since it is only 12 lbs., the Elna will continue to be the workhorse it's always been, hemming jeans and zigzagging and garment sewing, and the Juki will be my quilting and free-motion machine.

And if any of you have a Juki like this and have some advice for me, I'd love to hear it.