FINISHED QUILTING CLARKSVILLE

 I guess I didn't mention it, but I've been quilting on the 4-patch quilt I made during the first session of Quiltfolk's Break the Rules.

I've named it Clarksville because the original was found in Clarksville and the quilt didn't have a name other than 4-Patch.  Now it does.

Anyway, I've been working on quilting it for several days now.  I finished  today.

It's all computerized.

REQUILTING SUNRISE

 I loaded the Sunrise quilt back onto the longarm this morning.  I'm using 100% cotton batting this time. And then I quilted the first couple of rows.  

I'm using free-hand 'straightish' horizontal lines across, about 3-4 per inch.  This time they are not overlapping.

ALL THE STRAIGHT LINES DONE

 I decided to do all of the straight line 1" spaced vertical lines on the Coordinates quilt.  Once I get those done then I will roll it back and fill in the colored squares with their own color of thread and different designs.

So, I finally got all of the straight line quilting done on the background.  Now begins the tying off and burying of all of those threads!

BACK AT IT

 Finally, I got back to work on the quilting of my Coordinates quilt.  It's been on the longarm for quite a while, languishing.  I had a lot of other things on my mind, was preoccupied and a bit stressed out.  So, it didn't get the attention it needed.  

But, I'm back at it and making progress.

BUSY MONDAY

I got a lot done this morning.  I was out in the studio before 5am painting the next batch of Little Houses, giving them a base coat on both sides.

Then after our morning walk, I got a couple of hours of quilting on NYC.

After lunch, it was Brave Patch Monday Sewcial.  We started out by making another Coordinates block.  Here's mine:

Then I made last week's Art East Quilting's Mini Block.  This is number 46, The Toque.

 

QUILTING STARTS ON NYC

 I finally got the NYC quilt loaded on Eric the Longarm.  

I did some horizontal straight lines in the 'background' today.

CITY NOISE QUILTED

 I finished the quilting on City Noise this morning.

VERTICAL QUILTING

Having loaded the City Noise on the machine yesterday going side to side so I could quilt vertical lines on it, I started on that this morning.  

Every vertical seam needs to stay perfectly straight or the quilting will show it off.  So there's a lot of checking, pulling and pushing to make sure it's all good before I start quilting.

I'm using a medium yellow 50wt Aurifil thread and spacing the lines randomly, plus or minus a quarter-inch.

After that, I wanted to go back and make that #32 Playcation 2022 block that I had skipped over.  And in the process of that I realized I'd skipped #31, too.  So, I did both.   They are so relaxing.

 

HALF WAY

 I'm working on the quilting of Solstice Star.  I'm not half way, but I've been quilting 1" space straight lines and I've made it to the star.  I have to decide how I'm going to quilt it and with what color thread(s).

But, a little break and fun sewing first. 

I made block number 26 of Cheryl Arkison's Playcation 2022.  That's half way through the year.

DEVOLVE OFF THE LONGARM

 I finally finished the last of the quilting on Devolve.  It's all straight-line horizontal quilting, randomly spaced about 1/4" or so apart.  Looks good.

DEVOLVE LOADED

 I loaded up the next quilt, Devolve, onto Erik the Bold.  He's been feeling neglected.

I'm going to quilt horizontal lines all over, spaced haphazardly using a light teal colored thread, which should blend nicely.

At the end of the day I realized I needed a backing for XXIII and stuck some fabrics up on the wall.

Let's hope it ends up looking better than this!

EDDY IS QUILTED

I finished up the quilting on Eddy this morning.

Then in the afternoon, while visiting with the Brave Patch group, I finished the binding on Cincinnati.

 

GOT IT DONE

 I got the straight line quilting done on the inside of the circle today.

But, first, I had to do them in the wrong direction.  And, then pick them out.  Luckily, I only did about four lines.  That was enough though.  I got frustrated with my picker-outer that I usually use, so I tried my favorite little awl.  I found it shreds the thread less and gets under the stitching better, too.  It has a smoother tip.  

In order to do a complete line inside the circle, I had to roll the quilt forward and then backward at each end.  Getting back to the straight lines across the rest should be easy.

FIRST FEW ROWS QUILTED

 I spent a little time quilting on Eddy today.  I'm doing straight lines vertically, which means walking back and forth in front of the machine.  My knee isn't up to a long time doing that, so I only got about two and a half rows done.  I'll do just a bit every day until it's finished.

BLISSFULLY DONE AND MORE

 I finished the quilting on Blissfully - it's done and off the machine.  It looks great.  I love this quilt.

Now I have to decide whether it wants binding or facing?  Hmmm.

After that, I went to work on the Dancing quilt.  I'm trying to work out how to sew everything together.  I should just be making pieces that fit in between and connect things.  But, I'm making more components, too.  It might be getting a little too busy.  Or not.

LOADED THURSDAY

 I finally loaded the Blissfully quilt onto the longarm.  It just barely fits - but, it fits.

I thought I wanted to quilt it with a reddish thread, but it turns out it wanted to be quilted with a gold colored thread.

I also thought I was going to put some circles in the lines, but that didn't work out.  With the quilt completely covering the frame, it would have been very difficult to stop and disconnect the channel locks to insert a circle.  So I think I'll add them after all of the straight lines are done.  Maybe, I'll quilt them with a 'big stitch'.

QUILTING DONE ON BLUES

 I worked and worked the last two days on the straight line quilting on the Rhythm in Blues quilt.  And I finished it up today.  I am happy with it.

Now I'm thinking about ways to finish it.  I thing regular binding would look too heavy and facing would look unfinished.  There's got to be the perfect solution, I just need to figure it out.

Today would have been Moe's 27th birthday.  I still miss her.  Best Dog Ever.

BLUE THREAD QUILTING

 I got the rest of the bad quilting removed from Rhythm in Blues.  I removed most of it from the back.  It seems to be easier and it doesn't cause any damage to the front.

Then I started on the new straight line quilting.

I'm using three shades of blue Aurifil 50wt thread and white.

The white will be on the white background, then the lightest shade of blue will be on both sides along the edges of the pattern.  Then the middle shade next to them, ending with the darkest shade in the middle.

I am only about a third of the way through with it though.