Okay, maybe I need to admit to myself that I am terrible at remembering to blog–or, rather, at remembering to blog at a time when I can actually sit down and get it done. Only time can tell, I guess.
Hopefully this week I’m going to post about my early experiences with machine quilting and some of the disasters I encountered on my first few tries, but for now I’d just like to share the two quilt tops I finished this week.
I finally finished the top to my granny squares quilt. When I set off to do this one, I wasn’t really prepared for how tedious making 42 9 1/2 inch blocks out of 2 1/2 inch unfinished (2 inches finished) squares would be. The previous tops and blocks I’ve worked with have used bigger pieces and have been faster to turn out. In the end, however, this was very rewarding. As of now the top measures 64″ x 75 ” ish:
The edges are curled over in this picture because a) there’s not enough room on my living room floor for it and b) I was so anxious to snap a picture that I hadn’t pressed all of the sashing seams yet.
Also, I have really got to learn how to take better photos of my work. Or maybe make the boyfriend help me take pictures outside since our apartment is pretty poorly lit.
The tradition around quilting-blog/flickr land has been scrappy granny squares, but since I just started quilting 5 months ago, I obviously do not have the fabric scraps yet to be able to make this size of a project, so I used a Kona jelly roll for the squares. I also decided that I liked the look that was created when the center square matched the outer ones. Finally, I used a light grey solid for the background because I plan to put this on my bed and my kitten will not hesitate to destroy a white quilt with her dirty little paws if she’s given the chance.
I also finished my You Zig I’ll Zag quilt top last week. I used a layer cake of Circa 1934 by Cosmo Cricket for Moda for this one and I love love love it. I went a little out of my comfort zone with this fabric line, and I’m very satisfied with the results:
This was super fast and super easy and I highly recommend checking out the recipe over at Moda Bake Shop (link above).
I have backing fabric coming in the mail to me sometime this week for both of these quilts, so I’ll have to spend the next few days trying to decide how I’m going to quilt them. I haven’t actually done any straight line machine quilting yet except for my very first quilt which I just stitched in the ditch, and last week my very first and very own walking foot finally came in the mail!! So I’m excited to try some straight lines. After my plus quilt (which is done! pictures to come as soon as I get a chance to get outside and take them!), I’m pretty worn out on free motion quilting for a while. Any suggestions?
In other news for W.I.P. Wednesday–no progress on my Sassy quilt for my sister, waiting for backing fabric so I can start quilting that one.
I’ve been working on tiny log cabin blocks using pezzy print–pictures to come soon.
Hexagons are sitting in a corner forgotten.
And I started sewing together my quilt top for my pinwheels. Hopefully I will finish that up tonight!
Thanks!
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