Zippling on Section 6 of "50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars" Quilt

I couldn't wait until Wednesday for another Quilt Buster, so I am using some of the previous designs from the Quilt Along to finish my 50 Fab Stars Quilt.

Zippling was easy to doodle, and a delight to quilt on the muslin test square.  But on these very busy blocks I got lost and trapped a few times.

I do love this design and look forward to trying it again on a project where I can see where I am going.  This was like driving in a snowstorm!

Test square

Quilting Board 2011 BOM: Star Sampler

I have tried to post all my quilting projects, but this one slipped through the cracks!  

I followed along month to month last  year on the Quilting Board, then  assembled it and did the FMQ this summer.  These are 12" blocks and the quilt was small enough to be pretty easy to quilt on my Janome Horizon 7700.  

 I like this photo of it because the sun is shining on it just so it really show the quilting.

I made the label with a Carol Doak paper pieced block and my Brother embroidery machine.

Quilt Along #40 : Flower Power on Section 2 of "50 Fab Stars" Quilt

Here is Section 2 of my stars quilt using this week's homework assignment, Flower Power. This stitch was somewhat challenging because of all of the intersections on these paper pieced blocks.

On this particular section I used basting spray, which makes it look pretty flat with this cotton batting.  Once it is assembled and washed, it will be poofier.  I can really notice the difference between this section and the one I did using Matrix, which I pinned.

Flowing Lines on Section 1 of "50 Fabulous Stars" Quilt

These overall designs are going really fast!

Quilt-Along # 39: Quilting in Sections with Matrix - Section 4 of "50 Fabulous Stars" Quilt

Leah's article last week about Quilt Busting was so timely for me.  These blocks are from Carol Doak's book and CD, 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars. I have been working on them with a group on the Quilting Board, since January of this year. 

This is a 90" x 90" paper pieced quilt comprised of forty nine 12" blocks, which I have broken down into 7 sections.   The photo below shows the center section and it measures 36" x 36."  I think the all-over Matrix on this was a good choice for the very center of the quilt.

I had used Matrix before on a single 15" block and had even marked every line.  On this larger scale it was very scary and, as I quilted, I had doubts about having attempted it. Now that it is done, however, I am quite pleased with it.   There are many thick seamed intersections in this quilt and Matrix made it fairly easy to skirt around these.

At first I was turning the piece at the end of each line of stitching, then remembered seeing Leah quilt into the batting, break thread and start again at the top.  This allowed me to keep the bulk of the piece to the left of the needle, was much easier, and went faster.

Stitched on this larger scale, the quilt feels much softer than the others I have FMQ'd.  I have a tendency to "quilt them to death."  I am trying hard to let go of that on this quilt.

Leah, bring it on, I am ready for the next Quilt Buster, as I have six more sections to go.

Men's tee shirt transformed!

 I finally put a little thought into this (and research) and got a great result on my third shirt!! I can't wait to wear it!

I took in the sides, and also modified the neckline and the sleeves.

I had cut off the bottom when I bought it, since at the time I tucked it in, without making any other modifications, and so it stayed in the drawer and was never worn.  

After the modifications I decided it was too short to wear outside of my jeans, so I added the fringe. I like the way it looks on this Paris Harley tee shirt! Ooh la la!!

Tee shirt neckline

To modify the neckline, I cut off 1/2 of the knitted band, starched the neckline, and then turned it under 1/2", right on the line where the band attaches to the body of the shirt.  Then I pinned it in place and sewed it down using a decorative stitch on my machine, from the outside.  The stitch is stretchy and also keeps the turned-under raw edge from unraveling!    

I used the same decorative stitch on the sleeves after shortening them.

I will post photos of another, of a lighter color, so it will be more visible.

Tee shirt back

Quilt-Along # 36: Trapped Paisley

Here is a test piece I did for my one block wonder. I ended up using Goldilocks because the border is only 3" wide and the paisley was too dense. I do love this design however.

Back of OBW

OBW is finished !

I finished the binding this evening. I just have to make the label for it. The name of this quilt is Lucy in the Sky.

Quilt Along #35 - Goldilocks

I have finished doing the FMQ on the center of my OBW  (One Block Wonder quilt), as well as the 1" inner border.  As I was watching this week's Goldilocks video, I was thinking this might be an excellent choice for my 3" border. The photo below shows a sample of Goldilocks stitched on the actual border fabric of the quilt, with turquoise Isacord thread, as there is a lot of turquoise in the body of the quilt.

You can see the pieced top here and some of the quilting here.

Wednesday night I got brave and started stitching this design on the real border.  I finished binding it last night, and it just needs a label.  It was not easy to do in a 3" border, as the stippling is very small; it's harder to wiggle smoothly!

First Attempts at FMQ

Just to put things into perspective, here are a few photos of my first attempts, in September of 2010.  I started watching Leah's videos, drawing the designs in my notebook, and making practice squares.  

I remember being pretty discouraged at the beginning, but with practice it got easier and easier.

I wish I had made my practice squares larger with nicer fabric, so I could have made a quilt from them.  Many of the later ones are very pretty, but plain, on muslin.

Quilt Along # 34 - Flowing Lines

I have been learning and using Leah's designs for several years, but this is the first time I've participated in the QuiltAlong.  I am happy to be here!


These are photos from Peter's Tee Shirt Quilt, where I used Flowing Lines.  The block became Pebbles in a Stream.  At the time I did not know about adding the Pebbles as I went.  This quilt was my first FMQ project and a wonderful learning experience.

First use of stencil

I printed out a quilting stencil from Quilt Pro onto some foundation paper, and taped it over my quilt.  I followed the lines and then removed the paper.  

Quilting is progressing nicely on OBW

I cut out these triangles in May of 2011 while I was in France taking care of my mom who was very ill.  I came back and put the triangle sets in a drawer.

I pulled them out last month, designed and pieced the quilt, and now I am quilting it.

Most of the center is done and it is going quickly. It's so busy that I'm not afraid to make a mistake. I've also experimented with a stencil which I've never done before.

Quilting of One Block Wonder

I started quilting the purple OBW last night.  My first idea was to do SITD (stitch in the ditch) around each hexagon and leave it at that.  I didn't want to put on the SITD foot, as I would have to turn the quilt six times for each hexagon.  So I started doing it with my FMQ foot.  It was not easy going in a straight line.  After about six blocks I said to heck with it and started to FMQ. 

I am pretty much doing a different FMQ design in each hexagon.  I hope it won't all get lost in this busy quilt but, for me, FMQ is much easier and more fun than SITD.   Here are a few examples.

Virtual Offset Pineapple in Earth Tones

Here is the Offset Pineapples in Earth Tones.  This is more subdued, and I think these colors would be better suited for a gift I have in mind.  My friend is very much into everything "South West."  I may modify it, as I intended the whites to be more tans and the golds more intense.  Of course the colors depicted are from the fabric library in the software.  I can control the actual results from the fabrics I use.  And I am sure I have enough scraps to pull this off!

Virtual Offset Pineapple Wallhanging

I saw a photo of a gorgeous Offset Pineapple quilt made by Dee on Quilting.about.com and fell in love with the pattern and brilliant colors.   With a little help from a friend, I was able to recreate the quilt in Quilt Pro for Mac.  The original .pdf  is from Mary Ann Beattie.

I may also experiment with some more neutral colors...  but I love this one.

Carol Doak's 2012 Mystery BOM

This BOM started in May of this year.  It is a mystery, so I am just following along, not knowing what the final outcome will be...

Carol Doak's 50 Fabulous Paper Pieced Stars

I have been working on this with a group on the Quilting Board, and we are  doing one block per week. Here are 49 of my 50 completed blocks, shown as a virtual quilt designed in  Quilt Pro 5 for Mac. The virtual quilt shows photos of the actual blocks.  I will QAYG in large sections using 3/4" sashing, with FMQ in each section.  Below is the 50th and final star, Wyoming.