Tuesday, January 12, 2010

I've Been Stripping



Don't you just love those really bad quilt-y puns? Stripping. I slay myself. Ahem.

So, as I was saying … I added sashing and stripping to the quilt blocks. No, I don't know which is which. Anyone?

Things I learned:

1. I'm pretty sure these blocks were the result of a swap or other bee-type exchange because even though they tricked me into believing they were all the same exact size, um … they weren't. Other clues were that the muslin pieces are many different kinds of muslin (or plain white, I don't know), and none of the fabrics are repeated in other blocks.

I had to make the decision to keep the integrity of the blocks (points, etc.) and say to heck with the sashing (stripping?) lining up 100% exactly. It's a practice quilt, after all, and I fully expect and want it to be used as a snuggle quilt while watching TV. Don't ask me why (I don't know!) but my 17-year old son always watches TV under a blanket, even if it's 98 degrees outside. Which, by the way, it is NOT. It is FREEZING. Although less freezing today than yesterday. I think we might have reached 50 today. But it was still officially freezing temps when I took the dogs out this morning so I'm counting it.

2. It's really, REALLY hard to pick fabrics to coordinate with "old lady" colors but which themselves will help the quilt to not look so old lady. Apologies to any old ladies who may be offended. ;-) I went with a dark green, gold, and not-bright red although the red looks brighter in these photos than it is. Maybe because the whole room where it's hanging for this photo is red? I don't know. I'm now thinking it looks Christmas-y instead of old lady, but that's really only in the photos. The red is really not that red. My camera just loves to enhance any speck of red in a shot.

3. Duct tape is handy when you're hanging a quilt top off french doors for a quick photo. Especially when you're home alone.

4. I have NO IDEA where I'm going to lay this out to make my "quilt sandwich" in preparation for actually quilting the thing. The driveway comes to mind, but my grease monkey son has left, well, GREASE in the driveway so I need to figure out a way to not transfer grease onto the quilt. Then again, I may temporarily rearrange some stuff in my bedroom instead so I can lay it out in the "sitting area." Said sitting area is actually dog bed area, which means heavy-duty vacuuming before any quilt is laid down there and probably shooing dogs off the quilt while I'm working on it. It will also be warmer to do it there vs. the driveway, although "they" are telling us it may hit 70 by Friday. Woot!

5. I love LOVE my Featherweight! I won't be able to quilt on it because the harp is way too small, but that little beauty sews 1/4" seams like magic. I love the sound it makes too. It's very hypnotic.

6. I like strip quilting because it's more of a no-brainer. Intricate blocks, though I love them on finished quilts, kill me. My Stars & Stripes may never get done, although I hope I do muster up the motivation because it's going to ROCK whenever it's done. Strip quilting is relaxing. Nothing to fit onto my body. No pattern tissue to wrestle with. Pretty much just cut some straight lines and sew.

Here's a straight-on shot of the quilt top. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you should be able to see where some of the blocks don't quite line up they way they should. But once it's in use, no one will ever know.



D1 Update: Still in the hospital. The $140 quote does include the Reverse, the Fix, my bobbin winder, and the needle threader. I think that's pretty much a bargin. Or bargain, if I could catch typos. Now that they have my OK to fix those things, they will also open it up and test the problem with the lights burning out. If that's an expensive fix like I'm afraid it will be, I'll continue to live without lights. There was a communication gap that seems to have been fixed now and I received at least 4 calls between yesterday and this morning. But I probably won't have it back until next week. We'll see. The repair guy doesn't make a trip to that store every day. I'm in quilt-y mode and I really need the D1 for that since it has a pretty good harp space. But I may just go ahead and start reacquainting myself with free-motion quilting on the Kenmore.

22 comments:

  1. That's turning out nice! Meanwhile, I, too, want Real Florida Weather ... waaaah ... almost can't wait for the weekend.

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  2. Debbie I recently dug out a quilt I started about 22 years ago. I sewed all the squares by machine and began quilting them by hand. That was not me so it lay in the attic for quite a few years. About four years ago I got it out and finished all the quilting by machine. I love it now. Some of the names of your blocks are dresden plate, basket of flowers, eight point star, pinwheel, spinning wheel and some more I can't quite think of the names right now. BTW I did take my machine in for repair. The presser foot spring is sprung. It may be gone for up to two weeks and is estimated to cost $140!

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  3. The top looks really great and, lucky you, you didn't have to make all those blocks! Now you just need to hurry and finish before it warms up. I'll tell you, 30 years in Florida and I have never been as cold as I've been this past week. I have literally worn fewer clothes skiing!

    Okay, off to cut out a wool jacket in case we have another cold snap!

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  4. When I click on the photo, it actually gets smaller. You did a great job picking colors to match. BTW, sashing is what goes between the blocks. Stripping is what you are doing when you sew strips together.

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  5. Great quilt, BUT....don't you dare turn into a quilter! I won't allow it, hear me! LOL. I need my garment sewing buddy, one day to become fit buddy if we ever meet. Darn it, why don't you live closer? Even the same country would be nice. :)

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  6. My local public library has a big meeting room that you can reserve. That might be a solution to getting a large flat space to lay out the quilt. As an added bonus, your family wouldn't be able to find you for a couple of hours, or walk on the quilt while you have it laid out, or expect a meal or something.

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  7. Debbie, your sashing and borders have really pulled the blocks together! I do the quilt sandwiching and basting on my cutting table, using bulldog clips to hold the backing flat. This is way easier than doing it on the floor, which always used to give me backache. I follow the method given by Harriet Hargrave in her book Heirloom Machine Quilting. And it works for quilts that are bigger than the table - you just move the whole sandwich once you've safety-pinned the centre, and then clip the backing to the table again.

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  8. Wow! Your quilt top looks fantastic! The sashing/stripping add just the right finishing touch.

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  9. The red sashing does bring the blocks together, enhances them. I used to do a LOT of quilting. I was a quilt-show judge. A teacher.

    I love my Featherweight too, for quarter-inch seaming it can't be beat. I would be interesting to make a complete garment on it.

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  10. Beautiful! I find quiltig very zen. As you say, all straight lines, no fitting issues. I love the colors :)

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  11. The quilt top is very nice looking but ditto the remark please don't go into quilting mode. Lol! I am very happy your machine repair seems to be lots less dollars than you were thinking. Here's hoping the repairs are done really fast.mssewcrazy

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  12. I made a quilt once, for my mother in law's 80th birthday, and lining up the blocks was a MISERY! I vowed to pull my toenails out with pliers if I should ever be so stupid as to try making a quilt again. And since I like my toenails, I've not been that stupid! This one looks good for TV watching

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  13. Very pretty! I'm not much of a quilter, but I love them! Your family will enjoy the final product.

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  14. I do love your humor! About laying out the quilt- how about getting a painting dropcloth? Those plastic sheets. Those are cheap! You can lay that on the floor and the quilt on that. Then you don't have to clean the floor! :)

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  15. The quilt looks awesome and the blocks look great. I've laid out quilts in the classroom space at a quilt shop before.

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  16. The quilt looks great! I agree that the sashing fabric you chose pulls the blocks together.
    I have a problem with the light on my Bernina also. They told me there was a wiring problem -- evidently a somewhat common occurence on my model. Like you, I've been making do, but sewing at night is not that easy. I doubt the "touching with bare hands/fingers" has much to do with it either. Reminds me of the car repair guys . . . . .
    And yikes! It really has been cold there hasn't it?

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  17. :) Gorgeous results. They look like beautiful winter poinsettias to me. But I was pretty shocked to see that as the title and notice a picture below. (LOL)

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  18. I think your quilt is totally lovely. I'm not sure about quilting, and almost went to a free class at a local quilt shop called "do you want to quilt" that was supposed to give the down and dirty. After reading the toenails comment, I'm really wondering...

    Hopefully you won't need it too much more. We had the cold and then sent it on to you guys. Everyone of my outside plants is dead.

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  19. Debbie, your quilt is turning out nice...and will be a great snuggle quilt for TV watching! Hey, even quilts have 'stitches and seams' so the blog can be versatile, right? ;)

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  20. LOL! No "stripping" in that quilt. You have "sashing" and "borders".

    Stripping is an entirely different process involving sewing strips of fabric together and cutting them into patchwork, like a rail fence block, for example.

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  21. Debbie!! All of your sewing and quilting projects are wonderful. I love reading your blogs and it gives me hope that maybe one day my clothes will not look homemade but like rtw. Thank you again for sharing.

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  22. Debbie"
    I wrote a comment but I probably goofed it up. I love your quilts. I love all of the beautiful clothing that you make and you give me hope that one day my clothing will not look home made. Thank you and all of the other wonderful blogs that I read that give everyone the inspiration to try to make their clothes better each time. Thank you.

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Thank you for each and every comment. I appreciate them all, but I have to be honest and let you know that I'm usually bad about answering questions. I hope you understand that there just isn't enough time in the day to do everything I want to do.

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