TaDone

Done... my Shadow Box quilt. I love it. I only wish I made it bigger to fit my bed!

No pattern... I drafted it myself.

Quilting... Interlicking Square at Urban Elementz

Thread... Perma Core on top with Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Batting... Warm Plush

I enjoy using my scraps on the back... I think it makes it more interesting!

I'm really loving this texture!

Corona...

I know many have been dealing with the emotional roller-coaster the coronavirus stay at home orders. It's been difficult, and I know I'm not alone.

All the major quilt shows I was scheduled to go to were canceled. A few teaching trips were canceled. I know I'm not alone...

I've lost my quilting mojo... I just haven't been able to bring my self to stand at my machine and be creative. After making enough mask to protect myself and family I said enough...

I've been loosing myself in mindless sewing. I have to ask myself... With so many UFO's... why did I start a new project?

 

Scrappy Trips form Bonnie Hunter's free patterns... this has been on my to do list for several years. I really hope to finish this and not let it become another UFO!

My leader ender project has been growing also... 

 

I need a lot more blocks!!!  LOL My only problem is I'm running out of 2" neutral strip...

 

Drunkard's Path

How old is your oldest UFO? I may have one or two older than this one... LOL!!!

I made this quilt top in 1993! LOL! I thought it was my master piece! This is when I didn't know curves were suppose to be hard.

I got my first long arm in 1999... I was waiting to get good enough before I quilted it! Hahahaha!!! I had grand plans of trapunto and fancy quilting that I now know would never show.... I decided to put it on the frame and let my Quilt Gallery/Butler do the work. I love it!!! Scrap quilts are my 1st love and why I started making quilts!

 

 Look at all those little calicos... 

 

 Quilted it with one of my favorite designs... can't think of the name off the top of my head. 

 

 I love it! Since it's been ageing for so long there had to of been dust in the fibers. I had a horrible allergy reaction while putting on the binding so I washed it. Now I all I have to do is the hand stitch the binding to the back. The batting is Warm & Plush, which is quite thicker than W&N. This is my favorite batting for lap quilts that I'm going to snuggle with while watching tv. 

 The back... trying to use up fabric that I've been "saving"! LOL!!! 

 My goal is to get all these tops quilted that have been waiting for me to get good enough!

TaDone... One Of My Own

I took a break and quilted on of my own quilts. This is a quilt I started several years ago.... I get everything done except the border and stop. I have no idea why I do this. Crazy!

The pattern is called Lightening Strikes Twice .It uses 5" charm squares to make the chevron design....

I decided it was time to get it out and finish it!

Second Guessing

So I'm second guessing everything I'm doing on this project....  I have come to believe that is what keeps me humble.

Now... do I really like those teeny tiny feathers?  Mmmmmmm (the bobbin is for size reference)

On the Machine

Finally getting back to this quilt....  do you ever think you should of stuck with something simple?

On the Machine

No...  I have not fallen off the face of the earth.   I'm still here!  LOL  Just super busy.  During April I went MQX East, then to Paducah Quilt Week...  home for a week then off to HMQS in Salt Lake City. The last two weeks I've been traveling to Oregon, Eastern Washington, and back to Oregon doing upgrades and training for customers and their A1 Quilting Machines!  Have I told you I love my job?

This week between travels I've been working on a quilt of mine that I pieced about 4 years ago... 

I may have gotten carried away with some of my quilt designs!

More Bubbles

I promised to try to get some better pictures on my Bubbles Three quilt....   I should of pressed it first!  There are fold lines.  Sorry about that!


I really need to find a better place to take pictures of my quilts....

A few close ups...

And this one for scale...  This little quilt is 18"x18"

And one more just because...

This is a class that I offer... If you would like to book a class in your studio or mine, let me know.  I also have hand outs available that I can sell.  If you are interested you can email me at kstotse@yahoo.com  

Bubbles Three

I have been doing some quilting during my absence...  I call this Bubbles Three.  It's the third quilt in this series.   I haven't worked in series before, but have always like the idea. (Bubble One is the quilt in my banner up above...)

This is just a little quilt....   I used Magnifico thread by Superior in all the bubbles, and a dark grey InvisiFil thread for the background.  I like InvisiFil for background work.  It's 100wt poly thread. If you use a matching thread it basically melts into the fabric so you see the texture, and design of the quilting but  not the thread.

 

 I'll try to get some better pics tomorrow....

Home

I've been home from MQX West for almost a week now...  what a great show.  My classes were full and my students were wonderful!!!

I did not get a ribbon from the judges on either of my quiltS, but then I did not expect to!  What I did get is...  A TEACHER'S RIBBON!!!  (picture is not the best... taken with my phone)

 Lisa Sipes gifted me her ribbon...  A ribbon from one of my peers means almost more to me than one from the judges :-)

After the show I took a side trip to Goldendale in Eastern Washington to take my Mom home.  She came down to Portland to help me in my classes...  I don't know how I do it without her.  Love you Mom!!

While in Goldendale I go to enjoy my most favorite view ever...

 

Not the best pic once again...  the sun was just coming up and it was a little hazy from some fires, but I never get tired of that view.  This is Mt Adams and the view I had every morning while growing up!

Modern or just plain crazy?

Do you remember this quilt that I started back in April?  Well it's quilted and ready for binding....

It wasn't bad enough that I entered my Bubbles quilt in MQX before it was finished but I entered this one too!  I entered it in the Modern category...   now I'm the first one to admit that I really don't understand "Modern" 

I like a lot of what I see, but that doesn't mean I understand it.  To me a lot of it looks retro and I really, really like retro.  Then some of it looks to me to be minimalist....  So I really don't know where my quilt may fall into this category

 

Is it the use of solid colors?  Or the improv piecing?

 

I just don't know...

With this quilt I decided to use two layers of Hobbs 80/20, which made it really, really puffy.  I hated it!  I have this theory...  if you don't like it, add more quilting!

I started out quilting a random edge to edge design... and with it being so puffy, I really wasn't happy with it.  I didn't want to take all the quilting out so I decided to add some pebbles, pearls, and swirls in between the lines to help lay down the batting.

 I may have gotten carried away!  

 

But I really, really like it!!!

The other thing about "Modern" quilting is the use of pieced backs.  That I've always done....  started doing that in the early 90's.  Then it was called "Back Art".  For me it was just away to use up some of my scraps from the front.

 

 I love the bowling pin fabric!  No, I don't bowl...  it just reminded me of a retro bowling shirt.

 

 

So again I have plenty of areas that the judges can comment "Room for improvement" on...  and that's OK.

 

Bubbles

Or: Will it Fly High? 

I'm don't feel that I'm very good at naming my quilts... This quilt started out as Going in Circles 2, or Will it Go Round in Circles 2?.  Will it Go Round in Circles 1 being the quilt in my banner pic... I came up with this name because the song Will it Go Round in Circles would play in my head while I was quilting these quilts.  Then I decided that the applique circle quilt could be called Will it Fly High since it's the second quilt in this series of  quilts and that is the second line in the song...  make since?

Then one day I posted pix of some very little tiny pebbles I was quilting on Facebook.  It became a joke about tiny bubbles...  So when I was filling out the registration form to enter this quilt in MQX West I decided to name it Bubbles.

Now that it's done...  I'm not sure which to call it.

 

This quilt started out to be a wall hanging for my 1958 retro pink bathroom...   As I got further along with the quilting I thought I just might enter it in a show... and then I did!  No pressure there!!!!  lol

I've been longarm quilting for almost 14 years now...  I'm mostly self taught and I still feel like I'm learning something new all the time.  With this little quilt I learned a lot!!!  

I learned that I should have a quilt at least 80% finished before I decide to enter it into a show.  It may be true that I work best under pressure with a deadline, but it's really nerve racking!

I learned as much as I like Kona Cottons...  they do not make a good back.  Every time I had to take something out it left holes in the fabric.  Not just little holes that will mend, but real holes that are not going away.

I learned that I don't really know anything about blocking a quilt....   and that I should of layered my wool batting over another batt.

I found myself saying "Oh well, that will give the judges something to tell me that I have room for improvement on"  I found myself  saying that a lot!

 

 

 

 

 Anyway...  this quilt is done and ready to be shipped.  I don't really have any expectations for this quilt.  It's just fun to share with others...  and I'm glad that I learn so much in the process.

Off the Machine

Ready for binding....

Still on the Machine...

Hope to get this done today....

 

And more itty bitty feathers...