More moving -

 

 

And it's the third row - 

 

On my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

 

Nothing exciting - 

 

Just some more back and forth lines - 

 

And a stencil "flower" in the center of this one -

With some echo lines around it - 

 

One more pass to finish off the bottom third of this row - 

 

Then it's on to fourth and the last row - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Moving right along -

 

 

On my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

I finished quilting the first two rows of blocks - 

 

So I'm half-way done - 

 

And moving right along - 

 

 

I loaded it sideways - 

 

So the row on the right - in the photo above -

Is at the top of the frame - and already rolled up on the back rail -

 

And the "top" of the quilt is on my left - at the bottom in the photo below - 

When I sit in the BLUE chair - 

 

 

I'm still learning how to move/control the machine -

 

Sometimes it glides right along - 

 

And sometimes it feels heavy and "clunky" -  

And doesn't go where I want it to go -

 

 

So it's a good thing that most of the quilting doesn't show - 
 

Hopefully no one will look at it too closely - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

The first pass -

 

 

On my Karma Churn Dash yesterday - 

 

Was fun - 

 

I decided to stitch diagonal back and forth lines - 

In the top half of the HST -

 

And straight ones -

In the top half of the "bars" along the outside edge -

 

 

The first block on the left has Lazy 8s in the Churn Dash part - 

 

And the stencil that I showed you yesterday in the center - 

 

 

But you can hardly see it -

 

 

The second one has straight-ish lines - 

 

With a free-form diagonal grid in the center - 

 

The third one has pebbles -

 

And a stencil "flower" in the center - 

With some echo lines - 

 

 

 

The fourth one has loops - 

And another "flower" stencil in the center - 

With more echo lines - 

 

 

The last one has swirls - 

And a free-form grid in the center -  

 

 

Switching up the designs was fun - 

 

I used one of the rulers to help keep the diagonal lines "straight" - 

Because those are hard to do for some reason - 

So this piece should be good practice for a little ruler work -

 

The stencils gave me "guidelines" for the flowers -

And the chalk powder and a foam brush work nicely -  

But I need more practice "hitting the lines" - 

 

Very little of the quilting actually "shows" - 

 

So some of the "pressure" is off - 

 

And I can relax a little while I quilt the rest of it - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Almost forgot -

 

 

That the center squares - 

 

On my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

 

Would be the perfect place to play with some of my stencils - 

 

So yesterday - after my "chores" - 

 

I pulled out the ones that I think will work nicely - 

 

I have a "pounce pad' and some chalk powder - 

 

And can mark them as I come to them - 

 

Then practice following the "lines" -

 

 

And I have some rulers that came with my machine/frame order - 

 

So I can play with them, too - 

 

I wouldn't want to use rulers on a whole quilt - 

 

It would take f.o.r.e.v.e.r. - 

 

But using them on a couple of blocks here and there might be fun - 

I also have a list of designs that I could use - 

 

Swirls - Lazy 8's - Pebbles - Grids - Spirals (square and round) -

Wavy Lines - Loops - Bear Claws - Ribbon Candy - Feathers - Stars -  

And have decided that this will be a nice "practice" piece - 

 

Since I have HST in the corners of the blocks - for "diagonal" designs - 

 

And "bars" for up/down and sideways practice - like Lazy 8s -

 

And the center squares for "flowers" and stencil designs - 

Most of the quilting won't show on such busy fabrics -

So I can play - 

And not worry so much about how it will look -

 

I do want the "design" on the outer row to be consistent - 

 

All the way around the quilt - 

 

But I haven't decided yet if I want long wavy lines (easy) - 

 

Or diagonal back and forth lines in the HST - 

 

And vertical/horizontal back and forth lines in the "bars" -

 

Which would take a little more time - 

 

I think the long wavy lines will keep the edges "straighter" - 

 

But it's also the "easy" way out - LOL - 

 

What do you think? - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -

Piecing -

 

 

Took center stage yesterday - 

 

And I was having a good time -

 

Doing some semi-mindless sewing - 

 

 

Then - before I knew it -

 

I had a pile of strip sets made - 

 

For my Interweave - Nostalgia - 

 

And I had done zero quilting - 

 

Today I want to switch back to "quilting" -

 

And I think I'll wait until all of the strip sets are sewn - 

 

Before I put them up on the design wall -

 

Then I can switch back and forth - 

 

Between playing with the layout - 

 

And "quilting" - ;))

 

 

 

 Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

 

Basted -

 

 

Yesterday I loaded the batting and the top - 

 

For my Karma Churn Dash -

 

Basted them both to the backing - 

 

And tested the tension - which is OK as is - YAY!! - 

 

 

Then I played with the Interweave strips - 

 

Sewed one and put it and the other two up on the design wall - 

 

The jelly roll and charm pack are aptly named - Nostalgia - 

By April Cornell for Moda - 

 

And I think playing with these "old-fashioned" floral prints will be fun -

 

The strips aren't pressed yet - 

 

I'll wait until I have the final layout - 

 

Then I can press one strip up and the next strip down -

 

To alternate them and nest the seams - 

 

It was fun to switch between "quilting" and "piecing" for a bit -

 

I've been doing a lot more "quilting" lately - since I got the longarm -

 

And binding - and Scrap Cards - and Hearts - 

 

So I forgot how much I enjoy "piecing" -

 

Simply sewing one patch to another -

 

Then to another -

 

Creating something "piece" by "piece" - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Batting -

 

 

Was cut to size yesterday - 

 

For my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

But not "loaded" yet - 

 

I spent most of yesterday doing "chores" - 

So I'll load it later today - 

After I adjust the "slack" in the backing - 

That a certain feline - 

 

Has been using as a hammock - LOL - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

More clearing -

 

 

And trying to get somewhat organized - 

 

Before I start quilting my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

 

I ran across this cookie sheet again - 

 

For another Interweave - 

 

And decided to cut all of the strips - 

 

After I re-sorted some of them - 

I still have to cut the charm squares to match - 

Since I tweaked the pattern a little to make a bigger version - 

But I can do that when I sort the patches to sew for the strips - 

And it will give me a bit of "sewing" - 

To go along with the "quilting" - 

If I need to stop to "ponder" which design to quilt next -

 

I've made a list of some possible "maybes" - 

 

That I can spread out over the entire quilt top - 

 

A little variety - 

 

And a little repetition - 

 

Should work out nicely - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Bound -

 

 

Yesterday I finished the binding on these two - 

Star Big Block - 24" x 24" - 2018 - 

 

Crumb - Blue Floral - 52" x 64" - 2018 - 

 

I STILL love that "flange" binding -

Jordan Fabrics - YouTube Video - HERE - 

 

It adds just a "pop" of color on that outside edge - 

 

And makes it look "fancy" - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

A little binding -

 

 

Was on the agenda yesterday - 

 

In an effort to "clear the decks" -

 

Before I start quilting my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

 

I decided to stitch the binding to the back -

 

Of my Star Big Block - 

 

 

 The binding is GOLD - the flange is GREEN - 

 

And my Crumb - Blue Floral - 

 

 

The binding is GREEN - the flange is the BLUE FLORAL - 

 

Then I tore the "wide back" down for my Karma Churn Dash - 

 

I like to lay out the quilt top on the table insert - 

 

Then spread out the backing - with a bit "extra" - 

 

Somehow it seems easier than "measuring" them both -

 

And helps to eliminate those dreaded "math" errors - 

 

Because I can SEE how much "extra" I have -

 

To split between the two sides - for "margins" - ;))

 

 

 

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew - 

Decisions -

 

 

Yesterday was a day for decisions - 

 

The first was which quilt top to quilt next - 

 

And I decided on Karma Churn Dash - 52" x 65" - 2020 - 

 

Only because it's the largest of the next batch - 

 

And after it's done - 

 

The rest are smaller and should not take that long to finish - 

 

The next decision was which color of thread to use - 

So I pulled three choices - 

 

The one on the left is KHAKI - 

But my camera thinks it's GRAY/BLUE - 

 

The one in the middle is THICKET BROWN - 

 

And the one on the right is JEAN GOLD - 

 

I like the JEAN GOLD - 

 

And think it will blend in nicely with the darker colors - 

 

 

Then I cleared these scraps and made the Heart - 

For my Upstairs/Downstairs - Meredith -

 

 

I still need to prepare the backing to load on the frame -

 

And decide which designs I want to use - 

 

And I have a couple of other quilts to bind - 

So I have lots of things to keep me busy - ;))

Talk to you later - gotta go - gotta sew -