I had a little bit of time in the quilting room this week.
I had this quilt top on my brain.
I have plans to but 1/2 rows around the outside to complete the hourglass blocks.
I was a busy little bee one afternoon…
…and then I stalled out a little bit. I had originally thought I would add another triangle to these and call it good…but then I got the idea in my head to piece the triangles.
That meant stopping and cutting the pieces so that stalled out. I did eventually get them cut and sewn, but the two larger triangle pieces aren’t sewn together yet. I’ll work on that this week.
What got me sidetracked was this…I had a stack of quilt tops here that I wanted to get quilted while I was off from childcare to deal with my cancer. The thing I have the hardest time squeezing in is the time at the longarm so I decided to load this quilt and get it done.
This top was sent to me by a blog reader. I’ve been holding on to it for a long time. The top is so pretty…colorful and lots of fun, but the inner part wouldn’t lay flat. I decided to give it a go and see what I could do with it.
Over time I’ve learned when working with a quilt that won’t lay flat is to stipple them. The back and forth meandering of a stipple design is very forgiving. It can ease in a lot of bulk. I learned the hard way to never straight line quilt something that doesn’t lie flat.
This one turned out MUCH better than I expected. I don’t believe there is a single tuck in the whole thing. YAHOO!! No one seeing it now will ever know.
Having quilts that don’t lie flat happens. On a quilt with this design, I can see how easily it could have happened…nothing to ever feel embarrassed about…but something to learn from. We’ve all done it.
The next day I was pooped…but I didn’t want to sit around and do nothing so I decided I’d go up and bind the quilt. It was something that was easy, not taxing, restful and something I could do that made me feel like I accomplished something.
I’ll show you all of the charity tops I finished up in a future blog post.
Speaking of future blog posts. I had an email from a blog reader reminding me that I had said I would do a tutorial for the block in my Inspired by the past that was featured in the issue of American Patchwork and quilting. I had hoped to get the tutorial done in January but that didn’t happen. I was feeling so crappy.
On Friday I got the block made and all of the pictures taken. Now I have to write the blog post and edit all of the pictures. I took 40 pictures so that there will be lots of editing and loading.
Look for that to be live on Wednesday morning.
I didn’t get a lot done…but I got some things done that I’ve really been wanting to get done. YAHOO!!
Oooh tease, I was scrolling down waiting to see what you accomplished with the blog readers top that wouldn’t sit flat and now we have to wait,…… Its an lovely design , do you think it was a pattern or one she had thought up? Your first quilt is AMAZING, cannot wait for the tutorial, though very happy too. I cannot believe how much you accomplish when feeling yuck, Stay well and rest up . Love and God Bless.xx
As always your work is beautiful and I am also looking forward to the tutorial. I am curious how you bind your quilts. Some day when you are all caught up on your projects and edits I would love to know your binding thoughts. Stay well.
Jo has a video on you tube on how she does her machine binding. Look under Jo’s Country Junction.
Jo has written a post on how she binds, it was several years ago. “How to machine bind quilts” is there on her side bar, in the TUTORIALS list. Just scroll down her blog and look at the listing of the quilts she talks about and it is there in the H section. It is very easy to follow. Good Luck!
Here I did a youtube videa to show you how I bind quilts by machine. https://youtu.be/rUyWsr8PNOA
I know you’re excited to be getting back into the swing of things. Getting some things done little by little is a big boost for you. Just remember to take it easy, ok? :-)
Love and prayers
Thank you for that point in the right direction!
I have made a few quilts that don’t quite lay flat and my long armer uses the stipple on them, it’s very forgiving. It usually happens if there are lots of bias edges. Someone once told me to use more spray starch on those pieces and it can help. I look forward to seeing the video since I have the magazine and love the pattern. NO hurry, lots of other projects in my sewing space right now. The block is amazing. I hope you are starting to feel better, and food starts to taste better.
I am amazed at what you did when you weren’t feeling well! I hope you were encouraged :) I can’t wait to see the tutorial – thanks so much for doing that! Remember to rest and let your body rejuvenate!
What you get done when your “feeling yuck” is really amazing! The quilt you are working on is lovely and I can’t wait to see what you do with the borders. The long arm quilted piece looks beautiful and I can’t wait to see it all. Thanks for the quilt tutorial. I’m really looking forward to that!
The quilts look great. Please take care of yourself. I understand it is hard for a “doer” to sit and rest. Don’t worry about what readers ask for. I can not believe someone would ask for a tutorial for the block.
Have a good selfish day.
Looking forward to seeing both of the quilts in this post and the tutorial. Take care of yourself!
Kudos for using your time in such a way that made you feel successful, Jo!! We’ll be looking forward to see that completed quilt in a post with the others finished for charity.
You are always an inspiration, Jo. Love seeing your work.
Oh I’m going to have a great day now by starting my day seeing your beautiful quilting! You are amazing at what you accomplish while not feeling your best! Do take care!
It’s good to hear you are feeling enough better to get the quilt quilted. Lovely quilts on this post.
Again, I think you are getting a LOT done. Your body has been through a LOT and I would expect you to be recuperating and getting very little (if anything) done but you’ve got pictures showing what you’ve accomplished.
Hi Jo, The last square you share in this post is absolutely beautiful! I look forward for your tutorial. Hoping your week finds you feeling improvement in the side effects of your treatment.
Hi, Jo. Your block is very pretty. I would really like to see a picture of the quilt that you had on the long arm. It looked like she did some interesting things in her borders. Thanks!