Another Finish

My Kaleidoscope quilt has been finished for several weeks now and resides on my bed. I love it and my DH loves it. My Longarm quilting still needs to be perfected, but the only way that's going to happen is by doing. (This is the 3rd quilt I've done on my Longarm). It's hard to see the quilting from the front of the quilt because the Kaleidoscope (K) blocks are so busy. When I arrived at the part of quilting the K blocks I was in quite a dilemma because I didn't want to take away from the K design. So, I just went with it and followed a design pattern from the K block itself, resulting in each block being quilted differently based on the K design of that block. So...I quilted and quilted and quilted for what seemed like forever thinking I would never get to the end of this king sized quilt. 

Well....I didn't know what was happening on the reverse of the quilt...when I unrolled it from the frame this is what I discovered....

My quilt is now reversible. I wasn't even thinking about the back of the quilt! I was totally blown away. Now,  for you expert quilters, this may be nothing to you, but after seeing the reverse of my quilt I was totally impressed with myself!

Every single block is different...just like on the front!

Here is a partial view of the front...on my bed. I used my serger to create a wave stitch for the binding. I totally dislike doing traditional binding and call my methods "Binding without Boundaries" or maybe "No Boundaries for Bindings".

I don't want this post to get too long so I'll do another post later about my experimentation with bindings...especially my serger method. I would love to put together some serger tutorials...there is so much that can be done with the serger in general and combined with quilting. I've even done a mitered border using my serger! Maybe tutorials are in my future (More to come on that too).

Thanks for visiting! Have a blessed day!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Working in EQ7 and EQStitch

I've not done any quilting or sewing for the past week and a half but I have been intensely exploring my EQ7 and EQStitch programs.

I've had EQ7 for about a year now and have only just piddled with it here and there, only making it through about 4 of the many PDF lessons...then I wanted the new EQStitch program since I love to do embroidery. I couldn't justify buying EQStitch because of my piddling status with EQ7...but I bought it anyway...especially since it was 20% off from the The Electric Quilt Company web site.

Well I dived in...first doing ALL the PDF lessons in EQ7(which took me an entire week of studying the lessons and then exploring the program on my own). What I've found out is that it's a powerful and amazing program that I'm going to need to explore and play with quite often! For my first major project, I'm working on a stacked Flag wall hanging. I got the idea from a painting I saw last weekend when we were out to dinner. (Pics forthcoming in another blog post). But that's what it takes... exploring and practice, exploring and practice and time, time, time to do it.

So after living with EQ7 for a week I dived into the EQStitch program...a powerful and amazing embroidery digitizing program for the beginner or intermediate embroiderer. (EQStitch is a plug-in for EQ7 so you need to have EQ7 to use EQStitch). I completed ALL the PDF lessons plus the lessons from the workbook "Learning EQStitch".  

Here are some of my creations from the PDF lessons and the workbook.

This cat is from the EQ7 Block library that I converted into an embroidery design that can be stitched out.

Here is the same block design that can be used as a machine applique. The text can also be stitched out.

Ah...lovely hearts. These hearts were created using one of the awesome drawing tools...easy peasy! Pick your fill stitch and click in the center of the hearts... pick your outline stitch and click on the outline of the heart...Ta Da...that's it! Then just pick your colors and click, click, then save in your embroidery machine format.

These are some other projects I created. The potted flower and star are applique designs that I actually created from scratch using the drawing tools. The wreathmaker tool is really awesome. I freehand drew a flower, tweaked it with the awesome drawing tools, clicked the wreathmaker tool, set my parameters and wa-la...a design that can be made into a stencil, motif, or appliqued or machine embroidered.

The designs and uses are unlimited!

I also found Beaquilter who has posted several tutorials on EQ7 that have been quite helpful to me.

It has been fun playing around in the program, now I'm ready to create and sew...and experiment more with the program. Wish me luck!

Thanks for stopping by. I love to read your comments!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

What a Busy Month May Has Been!

 It has been such a busy month! 

Not with quilting, but life in general... sorta (I know something to do with quilting is in there somewhere). Our one and only child graduated with Honors from UGA (University of Georgia at Athens) on May 10th. She was one of 5,200 students.  Wow...and I thought her high school graduation was big.  We entertained relatives that weekend and we all had such great family time! I thought I was going to have a hard time with walking and stairs since I'm still recovering from total knee replacement surgery but thank goodness for our handicapped laws. There were ramps, elevators, and escalators throughout the entire stadium....not to mention the handicapped parking. (Thanks to all who came before me that fought for handicapped requirements. It would have been difficult for me to attend if not for these amenities. (Please respect handicapped parking!...okay I'm done with that)).

Before the procession.....

After the procession....

The ceremony was rather long though...2.5 hours with all the speakers, but we were rewarded with a fireworks show at the end. 

I've also been planting some flowers...well, my DH has...All I did was hand him the flowers and supervise.

We planted some Vinca and then my Sunflower seeds started growing also. These I will have to separate.

These little Sunflower plants were more properly placed. It should be pretty with the Vinca surrounding the Sunflowers.

My dwarf Hydrangea is also blooming. I love the blue color!

I'll post before and after pics once the flowers have grown some.

Now it just needs to rain!

Thanks for stopping by. What have you planted this Spring?

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Bloglovin or Feedly?

Whoever thought that blogging would have it's own evolution?

I love my Google Reader, but like all things, there is eventually an ending or changing of some sort. And the ending of Google Reader is part of the evolution of blogging...I guess.

Many blogs that's I follow, quilting and non-quilting, are having to make a choice on a different RSS feed if they are wanting to keep up with blogs they follow. Two choices seem to stand out...Bloglovin and Feedly. Currently I am testing both.

Some likes and dislikes I have found:

1. Bloglovin:  They have a button I can place on my blog. I can follow easily and others can follow me just as easily. In order to get your stats you need to claim your blog. Feedly: No follow button is used.

2.  Ease of transferring over the blogs I follow: Both transferred over quickly but Feedly was almost instant. Bloglovin took just a few minutes (I follow over 400 blogs). This has something to do with Feedly using a browser extension (See link to articles below for more information.)

3.  Accessing your reading list:  Bloglovin standard preference sends out a daily email with new blog postings. This can be set to receive emails with each new posting, one email a day, or not receive emails at all.  Feedly requires you to sign in to view any new postings. So far I like to receive the daily email from Bloglovin. It's a good reminder for me to browse blogs that have new postings.

4. Feedly offers more choices on viewing options. The viewing page can be set up to view as a listing, magazine or boards for quick glancing. (I do like this). Bloglovin offers just one style...a listing that can be marked as read. Both offer side menus that can be organized to your liking.

I found this article and this article that did a really good comparison of the two. Whichever your choice, Google Reader is going away July 1st so make your decision quickly so that you will be able to transfer over the blogs you follow. It would be really discouraging to me to know that I had to start my follow list from scratch again. Not to mention all the great quilting projects that I would miss seeing and reading about!

I hope this information has been helpful. Evolution is not an easy thing sometime...but this is pretty easy to do!

Thanks for visiting. I love to read your comments!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Determined Little Squirrel and Another Quilt Loaded on Longarm

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Happy Sunday to All

This morning I snapped a pic of this determined little squirrel. The bird feeder is suppose to be squirrel resistant and for the most part it is. S/he jumped on it and fell off at least three times before finally succeeding. I guess s/he deserves the seed reward. Poor thing was hanging on with it's back toes!

I definitely can't eat while hanging upside down.

Ah...a much better position to be in to eat! And a much earned reward. I'm glad I don't have to work this hard for my daily meal!

I think I'll buy some squirrel food the next time I'm out. I'm sure the birds will appreciate it!

My Kaleidoscope quilt (K quilt) is loaded on my longarm. I hope to have it finished so that I can show it at Strip Club next weekend (We show whatever project is finished, not just 2.5 inch strip quilts). The quilt patterns come from Cozy Quilt. They have some really nice patterns all made from Jelly Rolls. Click here to see some fantastic projects that were shown at last month's club.

This is a King size quilt even though the pic seems to be deceiving. It has 49 different kaleidoscopes blocks. 

I picked these two fabrics for my borders. The quilt measures 103 x 103.

Thanks for visiting. Hope you all have a very pleasant week ahead.

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

A Fun Time at Retreat and Mug Rug Hop Giveaway Winners

Don't you just love quilting retreats? The people you meet, the projects that get completed (or not completed), the food you eat, the door prizes that are won (not by me this time) and the new and old techniques that are shared. It's always such a fun gathering! (Tiring too)!

This past Friday and Saturday my LQS, A Scarlet Thread, which is, by the way the largest quilt shop in Georgia, had their quarterly retreat. Yes...they host a retreat every quarter (except in July when they host their Quilter's Camp (day camp) that last for an entire week!

The retreat is a day time retreat from 9am to 9pm Friday and Saturday. You can pay for one day or both days.  And talk about reasonably priced...$35 for one day and $60 for both days and that comes with breakfast, lunch and snacks throughout the day. Supper is ordered and paid for separately and advance orders are generally through the local Chick-fil-a or BBQ place...anyway, you get it, lots to eat! The classroom holds about 30 participants and that makes for lots and lots of sewing, laughing, and all around good fun.

I generally bring my Featherweight to classes and retreats because it's so portable. This is how I started my day.

As the day progressed with all the machines humming and the participants chatting there were several demonstrations. This one was on Hexies...I didn't realize you could do so much with them!

My favorite new tool is this magnet pin "cushion" for the wrist. I thought I might stick myself but I didn't. It works really well and was so convenient to use! Ummm...I wonder if it has arthritis magnet therapy properties too..ummm.

Here is the package it came in if anyone is interested...The Gypsy Pin Pal. They have lots of cool gadgets on their site.

Yay! Someone is almost done with their Amish with a Twist. This is a BOM that is offered through the quilt store.  The colors are fabulous.  The border has a beautiful applique design.  (How do you like that thread catcher and pin cushion hanging on the table. Several retreaters had them. I guess I will need to make me one too)

I worked on my Kaleidoscope quilt at retreat and got them all sashed together. Today I'm going in search of border fabric. This quilt came together nicely. I'm glad I looked through my UFOs and found all the blocks. I plan to make pillow shams with the 6 kaleidoscope blocks that are left.

These are some of the blocks up close. I have 49 blocks in the king size quilt and none of them are the same. All the block designs came from about a yard of fabric....8 yards of course with the same repeat pattern. (8 pieces to the pie).

To see the original fabric design uncut... click here.

Once I finished putting the sashing on the Kaleidoscope quilt I started on another UFO from this strip set. These are not really my colors but I guess when I started these blocks I was coming out of the safety range of my box...which is good to do every now and then.

I made these blocks...it's the only piece that you use.....

...to make this block. 

I think I can live with it and the colors are growing on me. How many will I make? Who knows...I may just make place mats. It's kind of a "no thinking" block which is good when coming off a bigger project. Kind of a relaxing the brain sorta thing.

As a bonus, I do have these little HST now that I can do something with. This is definitely a no waste block.

The block pattern came from this really neat book.  Actually it's the clover quilt on the front. This is a very versatile book and should be a part of your collection of quilting books.  It offers a lot of border suggestions also which I find very helpful when I'm in rut. 

Thanks for sticking with me during this post. I hope you will soon treat yourself to a retreat and have as much fun as I did. We all deserve a little time away with our sewing machines and other folks who like doing the same thing together.

And...

My Mug Rug Blog Hop winners are:

MoeWest who won the first set of fat quarters 

and

Joyce Carter who won the second set.

Congratulations to both. They've been contacted and all is set for their prizes to arrive at their doors soon. Thanks to all who follow me!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!

Mom Back Home With Her Quilt

Happy Spring Days to all. 

Hope that everyone is having a great week. 

Mom finished her quilt! Hooray. She pieced and quilted the whole thing...a King size thing at that in about a week!  Way to go Mom!  She jumped right to it using all my machines and not intimidated by any of them!

Quilt loaded on the Longarm. I gave her instructions on using the machine and....

 away she went...jumping right in.

We decided on a meandering design since it was faster and we were working against time.

She did a fantastic job and it was her first time on the Longarm!

I generally use my serger to stitch the edges together before I put on my binding. Here is Mom using my serger (any serger) for the first time.

I find that serging the edges makes it easier to handle the fabric for binding and helps to make the binding a little stiffer.

Mom working on that binding. (I really dislike doing the binding part but Mom went right to work on it)

Now to bind the quilt. We used a wide dec0 stitch to make sure all was caught in the stitching on the front and the back. 

Ta Da.....

...the finished quilt!

She picked out this pretty green fabric for the back and the mauve for the quilt label. (She named the quilt "Wounded Knee"...umm)

Whew!...we were both glad the quilt was finished. We were at that "tired of this quilt" stage!...and she was flying out the next day. We folded and stuffed the quilt into a small carry-on size piece of luggage!

The pattern is Take 5 from The Teacher's Pet and is a very easy and well written pattern. 

Thanks Mom for helping us during my first month of knee surgery recovery! We could not have done it without you. Looking forward to you being here in July when it will all happen again with my other knee. (We already have fabric waiting for another quilt to be made!)

Thanks for visiting. I love to read your comments!

Happy Living! Happy Quilting!