Quilt Suspension System

I made another change to my Quilting Setup for my APQS George machine.  I added a Quilt Suspension System behind him.

I have seen several variations of this on the internet, and since George's table is only 24" deep, there's not alot of space for a big quilt behind the machine.  That's fine on a smaller quilt, but this one is 86" square, so I thought this would be a good time to try it out.  It's amazing how much of a difference this makes!  I leave enough slack in the quilt so that it moves freely, and adjust it as I move from one area to the next.

I followed these instructions from Caryl Bryer Fallert-Gentry at Bryerpatch Studio.  I did not use the upright posts, since I have exposed ceiling joists above me in my basement studio, I just screwed the eye screws directly into the joists.

When this quilt is done, the next one on my list is 104" square, and now I'm confident that this system will reallly help make these big quilts more manageable.

If you are interested in trying a suspension system, but would rather purchase something ready-to-install, Patsy Thompson has two different versions available for purchase in her on-line shop.  Click here for more information.

Christmas Quilts Continued

Wow, I'm really behind on posting pictures of the Christmas Quilts I'm working on this year.

I have finished Quilt #2...  (click here for more information about this quilt)  I quilted this one on my APQS George, using an all-over spiral swirl freehand design...

...and I just finished the quilting on Christmas Quilt #3 today - on my George too, of course!  The red binding is made and ready to attach next.

I used a light aqua SoFine #50 thread and quilted it with closely spaced wavy lines going horizontally across the quilt.  I love the texture it creates.  And the snowflake fabric for the back is a great match for the quilt.

I also finished piecing the top of Christmas Quilt #4.  At 104" x 104", this quilt is a king size, so I am curious to see how it goes on my George machine.  I'm sure the machine is up to the challenge - not sure about the operator...

Wander Through The Woods

I have another Christmas Quilt on my work table this week.  I'm using this Wander Through The Woods pattern.  The pattern uses 2 1/2" strips, but I cut my strips at 4" wide to make the quilt king-sized, at my daughter's request.  She is aware of the quilt, and provided most of the fabrics in it, so it's not a huge secret, but I still don't want to reveal too much of the quilt just yet.  She needs a little surprise when Christmas gets here, assuming I get it done that is...

I have all my strips made...

...and have this huge pile of trimmed off triangles left over.

I bet there's enough there to make another small quilt!  Part of me says "throw them in the trash" because after all - what are the odds that I'll actually get around to doing something with them...  But then I look at all these pretty little triangles and the wheels start turning...

Art Quilt Exhibit

There is a Juried Art Quilt Exhibit at the Gmeiner Art and Cultural Center here in Wellsboro.  One of my quilts has been accepted, along with quilts from several of my quilting friends in the area.  The opening reception is this Friday October 6th from 5pm-7pm and the exhibit runs through October 29th.  Please come and see all the quilts!

Here is a sneak peek at my quilt, called "Interleave Vase".

I have wanted to make an Interleave quilt for quite a while now, so this was the perfect opportunity to try something new.  The fall colors in this quilt are so much more brilliant in person - hope to see you at the show!

One-Block Wonder Update

I put the pedal to the metal this week and got all my rows sewn together on my One-Block Wonder quilt.  I have to admit, I'm in love with this quilt.

It was tedious sewing, with pressing all the seams open and lining up all those intersections, but worth every minute (hour).

I still plan on adding borders, but will mull the options over while I'm busy getting my Christmas quilts finished.  Priorities... 

A close-up shot.  My favorite hexagon in the entire quilt is the aqua one just to the right of center with the skinny orange spikes.

I think the back looks almost as pretty as the front, with all those seams pressed open.

And in case you missed an earlier post, this is the fabric I used.  Skyline by Hoffman Fabrics.  I cut my 60 degree triangles simultaneously from 6 identical stacked panels, cut from the 7+ yards I bought.  One quilt from just one fabric.  It still amazes me how the finished quilt looks compared to the original fabric.  Mind blowing...

Retreat Projects

I just got back from a wonderful Quilt Retreat.  It's so nice to have a few uninterrupted days of sewing with friends.  The time flies by and we get so much accomplished, in between our laughter and conversation, of course...

I made two quilt tops while I was there.  First is an improvisational tree quilt (Christmas Quilt #3), using this tutorial I found from the Diary of a Quilter blog.  (colors look better in person - aqua, red, gray and white)

Second is a Batik Square-in-a-Square quilt that I threw in as a last minute project.  I've been in the mood to do a simple quilt with batiks for a few weeks now, and this seemed perfect.  And it uses every bit of a 40 strip jelly roll.  No waste!  Not sure if I will add a border...  Should I?

Once those were finished, I started sewing my half-hexagons together into strips for my One Block Wonder quilt and got 12 out of 20 made.  I'm really liking how this is going and can't wait to see it finished!

The weather was gorgeous while we were there and I enjoyed going out for walks every day.  I was so excited to stumble across this perfect bobcat print!!!  That's a first for me!

This week I plan to finish the binding on Christmas Quilt #2 that I finished quilting before retreat.  Hope to post pictures next week if I get it done, so stay tuned!

Christmas Quilt Finish and OBW Started

I found some spare time this holiday weekend to put my One Block Wonder blocks up on my design wall.  After many hours of rearranging them, I finally forced myself to stop and say DONE!

Every time I thought I was finished, I would find just one more block to change.  Then that move would lead to another, and another, and I realized this could go on forever.

So now I'm really finished, because I took them down in organized piles and I'm ready to sew them together.  No turning back now.  

  

There will probably be some borders added at some point, but for now I'm going to focus on sewing this section, hopefully at the quilt retreat I'm going to later this month.

While I was laying out the design, I asked myself what I'm going to do with this quilt.  I have to honestly say, I don't know.

Do I need it?  No...

Do I have a place for it?  No...

I make quilts because they make me happy.

I also finished the Christmas Star quilt this weekend.  I really love how this one turned out.  I quilted fairly tight swirls on my George sit-down machine, using pink SoFine #50 thread, which gave just the right amount of contrast against the red fabric.