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09-30-2013

Quilts, quilts, quilts…

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This weekend was just jam packed with fall quilt fun!

I went to a Quilt Harvest(doesn’t that just sound fun!), had a sew day with friends, went to the state fair to check out my entries and finished up my Chevron quilt top! Whew, I am tired just thinking about it all.

Let’s start with the Quilt Harvest! It was held at Millstone Quilts, a local quilt shop in Mechanicsville, VA. They had a great display of antique quilts outside in the perfect fall weather, free brunswick stew and apple cider, a huge storewide discount inside the shop, free goodies when you checked out and an entry for a doorprize….which I won!!!! I have to go back to pick it up and will definitely share some pics. I don’t even know what all is in it yet! Here are some of the antique quilts:

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These quilts were from the 1800’s-early 1900’s. Notice how “modern” some of these look:)

Next we made it to the State Fair to check out the winners(night pics so not the greatest). I got an Honorable Mention on my Star Surround:) and a 3rd place on my Christmas table topper. Nothing on the Prism, but there were some pretty amazing quilts there. I won’t ramble on and on about how I feel about some of the quilts chosen, but this one had no ribbon and it was mind blowing.

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Can you imagine all these tiny blocks and this is still square?

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These house blocks are about 3″square and each one is pieced and the window is fussy cut!!! The quilt was huge! They were definitely wronged! No ribbon at all! I don’t care if you like this style of quilt or not, the workmanship was amazing. There, I’m done, lol. Here are some others and Best of Show.

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Best of Show, hand quilted. You can never out do amazing hand quilters at a show. That’s another thing…long arm doesn’t have a category, I hate when I see a computerized design(or someone who uses panels) beat someone who did their own, sorry doing it again. Everyone has their own opinion I guess, just my two cents.

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Here is my Chevron quilt top, Tangerine Tango! I followed Kelly@MyQuiltInfatuation’s tutorial here and whipped it up pretty quick. Instead of using a different fabric for each row I just alternated teal and oranges for a scrappy look. Not only do I love the look, I also used up a bundle of Fandango fabrics that were getting pretty dusty on the shelf!

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Whoa! Now that was a lot of pics! Thanks for hanging in there, if you made it this far:)

Oh and before I forget! I would love any votes I can get for my Prism quilt here:

http://www.13spools.com/2013/09/prism-along-linky.html

To vote just click on the heart in the corner of my quilt pic, thanks guys!!!

Keep it Sassy

Links:

stitch by stitch Better Off Thread  Fresh Poppy Design

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09-19-2013

Prism Reveal

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~Prism Revealed~

Tada! Prism is all finished up and photographed. I titled this one Poseidon’s Prism…okay I am not that original, I used a Poseidon FQ Bundle by Robert Kaufman and the pattern name is Prism:) I did this quilt as part of a quilt along over at 13 Spools. The pattern is by Faith@FreshLemonQuilts. It is paper pieced and was super fun and easy to do.

I went with the twin size, so it is 70 x 85. I haven’t made one this big in a while so I had to get my quilt arms back in shape. It’s amazing how much heavier the big ones are when you are pushing and pulling them through your machine. I quilted this one on my domestic machine. All straight lines so I used an even-feed foot(walking foot). I quilted it SITD(stitch-in-the-ditch) style. I think it would look fabulous with a lot of fancy quilting in these prisms, but I was a little crunched for time and to be honest I like that it feels nice and soft.

I had some fun playing around with the photos so here they are:

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Since this quilt is for an entry in my State Fair I had to make a hanging sleeve so they can display it. Here is a little tutorial to show you how I did it:)

~How to make a Hanging Sleeve~

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Measure across the top of your quilt, minus two inches. Now cut a strip of fabric that width by 14″ long. This is for a sleeve that will finish 6″(required length for this Fair). You can adjust the length to accommodate your own needs. For example, a smaller wall hanging may only have a thin rod to hang on so a 3″ sleeve would be fine. Take your finished size and double it, then add 2″ and you got it.

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On the short ends of the strip (14″ends), Press approximately a 1/4″ fold toward the wrong side of fabric.

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Do it one more time to get a finished edge on the inside. This also makes sewing a straight line easier.

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Sew along the inner edge.

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With the wrong side up, fold the strip in half and press.

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See the crease running along the center here.

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With the crease as your guide, fold the lower and upper halves to meet in the middle along the crease. Now, press/steam these outer edges firmly to leave another set of creases.

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Fold the sleeve right sides together and sew your 1/4″ seam along the raw edges. With your sleeve still inside out at this point, finger press open the seam. Finger press here so that you do not disturb the creases we already made. They are our guides for mounting the sleeve to the quilt.

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Turn the sleeve right sides out and you should have a D-shaped sleeve. The two strong creases are the top and bottom edge of the sleeve. One side of the sleeve is shorter and will lie flat against the back of the quilt. The other side forms the rounded D-shape and is a little longer to allow room for the rod that the quilt will hang on. You need this extra space so the quilt is not distorted when it hangs.

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Now center and pin the top edge of the sleeve across the top of your quilt, about 1/2″ below the binding.

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Next, pin the bottom edge of the sleeve along the crease, keeping the bottom of the sleeve flat. There should be a tent/teepee area in the center. Do not stretch it out flat, remember we need this extra space.**After pinning, I like to do a test hang on a broom handle or rod to make sure everything hangs straight, so nothing has to be ripped later.**

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Last, but not least….whip stitch along the creases and the sides to attach the sleeve to the quilt.  The stitches should be about 1/4″ apart, making sure to take a bite into the batting, but not through to the other side of your quilt!  The above pic is a demo with white thread just so you can see it, using a matching thread is always best.

That’s it! Pretty simple actually. P.S. If you don’t plan on hanging the quilt permanently…don’t stitch as tightly and you can remove/save it and use it on another quilt later.

Here is my other fair entry…in case you haven’t heard me talk about it 100 times!

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Wish me luck

Links:

     

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09-10-2013

I quilt for fun…

(pic from www.psiquilt.com)

Well, it’s freak out time as I am trying desperately to finish up two quilts at the same time here! The State Fair is in two weeks and our quilts need to be dropped off this Friday so they can be delivered and judged in time. I had such grand plans for my Fair entries this year, but man does time slip away!!! I needed to finish up my Star Surround quilt this week anyway so I can enter it in the parade over at Happy Quilting. So I figured this was perfect for an entry and I just love the design of this quilt. Then a bug bit me to finish up my Prism quilt that I am doing with Amy@13Spools. Our entry registrations were due last week and I was like… oh yeah, I can definitely finish that one too:) Just a few snips and stitches, right?

So here I am with just a few days left quilting my brains out. Don’t get me wrong, it is fun and I am loving these quilts, but I am having to pry my shoulders out of my ears after these marathon quilting sessions. My SS quilt is all quilted, just your basic stitch-in-the-ditch(or near it anyway).

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And how did I not realize what a beastly size this Prism quilt is…

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Okay, it’s only a twin…but it’s like an official twin 70 x 85!

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Stitch-near-the-ditch on this one too. Face it, I wouldn’t be able to finish it otherwise, but I actually think all the straight lines work well with the design. Tonight I am off to finish up all the little blue prisms in the centers…all one million of them. Just kidding, but not really:)

I quilt for fun, I quilt for fun… As luck would have it I am off tomorrow so I can spend the whole day finishing these up.  I am thanking God for giving me a break on this one so I didn’t have to bind these quilts in my sleep! Does anybody else do this to themselves???  Hope to be showing you some finished up quilts on Friday.

Keep it Sassy

Links:

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced    

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