QUILT LABEL

 I forgot to show the label I made for the October 2020 Tablerunner.  And you can see the matchstick quilting I did with the walking foot on my Bernina.

FINISHED LEAF TABLERUNNER

I took the Leaf Tablerunner off the longarm the other day and put facing on it.  Instead of hand sewing the facing down on the back, I decided to sew it down by machine.  It looked really nice and I decided to continue with the echo lines quilting all over using the walking foot.

I put it on the table in the entryway.

55/100

Sunday - still a light drizzle this morning.  So, I went out and washed the deck, trying to get all of the dirt off in order to prepare it for sealing next week when the weather is better.

I went up to the studio to work on the quilting of Motley Quad.  Oh my, it's a lot of work going round and round.  Trying to make the circles (spiral) evenly spaced is not easy.  But, this is not a show quilt, so I guess it doesn't really matter.

I got three more triangle blocks made:

Victoria got a new kitten several weeks ago, she came up to investigate us today and spent some time playing with Jelly.

FIXED IT

I took my Modern Fans I quilt off the machine the other day, trimmed it up and then....

I turned it over and  noticed the horror on the back.

I hadn't checked the last bobbin's tension and I paid the price.

Actually, it was a partial bobbin I had put in.  I had wound two bobbins for this quilt, figuring that would be enough.  I had just one half row left in the pantograph when the last bobbin expired.  So, I figured I could use a partial bobbin of the same color left over from a previous project.  [Always nice to use use up the excess thread and free up a bobbin.]  I assumed [I know, never assume] that the tension would be fine since I had used it on some other project - so I didn't check the tension.  I just wanted to get it done.  And I did and I removed it from the machine and cut the excess off and squared it up before I noticed the tension problem.

So, I've been stewing about it for the last several days.  I was fretting about how to add fabric back to it so I could pin it back on the machine.  Then there was the worry about getting the pantograph lined up correctly.  It all sounded like too much.  Several times I had just decided to heck with it - I'd leave it as is.  Then I'd think, no!  You can't leave it like that!  

I made the binding and was about to put it on the other day when I decided that I had to fix it.  So, this morning, while on our morning walk, I came up with idea to re-quilt it on my new Bernina (with my new walking foot).

I picked out the bad stuff.  That went really fast - it was very loose on the back.  

Using the holes left from the previous quilting, I was able to easily re-quilt it.  They were all straight lines, so the walking foot worked perfectly.

With that done, I put the binding on, sewing it down with the Bernina on the back and then onto the front.

So, now it is done.  And I feel good about it.

HALLOWEEN DONE

Yesterday I went into Renton to Sewing  Machine Service.  They were having an open house and 25% off Bernina accessories.  I bought a walking foot and a rolled hem foot and some thread.  These people are much more informed than those at Quality Sewing.  I'm now wishing I had bought my machine through them.

Using my newly purchased walking foot, I put the bindings onto the two Halloween tablerunners.  It definitely worked better than just the dual feed.  But, I was really impressed - it is a much better design than my old walking foot.  The have improved it to make it easier to see where you are and where the quilting edge is, with markings for quarter inch.  I love it.

You gotta wonder why these are supposed to be the same size - yet, somehow, aren't.  

Mr. Bentley prefers staying inside where it's warm and dry on these rainy, drizzly days. Life is good.

BINDING FOR 'MARCH INTO MAY' QUILT

After I finished up the quilting on the border and trimming it I started in on the binding.  Making binding is one of the funnest things to do, even though it's sort of a pain.  For a better how-to go to this post.

First, I iron then cut about 3/4 of a yard of my hand dyed purple leftovers.  Then I cut a 45 degree angle across it and sew the square sides together, then iron the seam open and mark 2-1/4" lines all across it.

Then I pin every line together, offset by one.  You end up with a big skewed tube when you sew it together.

Then I press open that seam, which is difficult, because it's a tube.

Then I cut along the line...

And you end up with a very long strip of bias tape.

Iron in half right sides together...

Then I throw the binding into the center of the quilt, line up the raw edges with the edge of the quilt I sew it down using a walking foot.  

 Now the binding's all sewn on, it's ready to be hand sewn down on the back and it will be considered completely finished!

TURNING A TOP INTO A QUILT

I finally got around to finishing the back for my Connecticut Winter Quilt and last Saturday I pinned the three layers together.  As per my usual method, I clear out the tables and stuff from the studio, clean the floor and tape the back taunt to the floor, spread out the batting and smooth down the top then start putting safety pins all over 2-3" apart to hold all three layers together:

Bentley helped

sorta....

I've been putting off starting the quilting because I haven't made up my mind how to quilt it.  I always get stuck here.  The problem is the quilt is big, which makes it difficult  to get through the machine.  I was thinking about doing a 'fan' pattern.  I've done that before on another quilt that was all squares and it really turned out nice.  It's a lot of marking the quilt, stopping and tying off, and making sure the pattern stays square with the quilt.  I decided against it because the quilt is just so darn big.  Which leaves me limited to easy patterns using the walking foot.  So that's what I did - I took the easy way out...because it's just a quilt for using, it's not a show winner.

I just followed the outside line of the 'fiddlestick' in each block, making it up where it was going the other direction.  

This is pretty easy since you can go from side to side.  Once I got one direction done I turned it and started in the other direction.

close-up of the quilting on the back on my hand-dyed fabric

a bigger section of the back

I should have it all quilted by tomorrow, then I'll start on the binding.