Tote Bags, Trilliums, Another Quilt Basted and Baskets and Nine Patches Pattern

Yesterday I decided to sign up for my first swap. Lia is hosting a Secret Tote Bag Swap. It looks like it will be loads of fun. Go here to read the rules and maybe you’ll want to sign up too! The deadline for signing up is the end of May and then you'll have  month to make the bag and get it in the mail. And while you are there take a look at Lia's blog. She has done some really pretty paper piecing including a donkey travel pillow in memory of Tinkerbell!

It is a beautiful spring day here and the trilliums are now blooming. They are the provincial flower in Ontario and are protected. I came a cross a lovely little wall hanging of trilliums in bloom on the florest floor at Nellie's Needles. I've also made a wall hanging with trilliums and it is called Where the Fiddleheads Grow. I'll save that story for another day but until then, here is a little teaser of one the trilliums I appliqued!

Close-up of  Where The Fiddleheads Grow

 

This is a very pretty quilt that my friend Barbara made. The blocks were made of leftovers that were put on the scrap table at our guild. When Barbara went through the scraps and sorted them into piles she realized that there were many that were identical so she put four patches together to make each block. It is a little bit like a kaleidoscope. Each block was bordered with a 1” border and a 2” border and she alternated a cream fabric and a beige fabric. Another friend was having a fabric garage sale and she had a bolt of border print that worked with the blocks so Barbara bought the bolt and used it to border the quilt and make the backing.

 

 

Yesterday I spent the day preparing this quilt for quilting. It is now pinned and ready to go. I’ll anchor all the major seams with stitch in the ditch and a light weight thread that blends. Then I’ll have to do some thinking and some doodling!

A little more about stitch in the ditch. I wrote about this last month. Against my better judgement I decided to skip this step when I started quilting Alex’s quilt. I had quilted about three-quarters of it when I realized I should NOT have skipped the stitch in the ditch. The reason I skipped it is because I am quilting concentric circles and I didn’t want the stitch in the ditch to show on the back (it would not have shown on the front since the stitches would be buried in the seams). I am spending my evening removing all of the quilting (also known as reverse sewing). Lesson learned – don’t skip stitch in the ditch! Once all of the quilting is removed I will press, pin baste and quilt it starting with stitch in the ditch.

 

YLI makes water soluble basting thread called Wash-A-Way™. This thread is

used for basting; it dissolves in water so I might try it out on the top and in the bobbin for the stitch in the ditch. I’ve never used it before and am reluctant to try it on a large quilt in case I run into problems. Maybe I’ll leave it for now. If you have used this product please leave a comment and let me know how it worked for you!

I am working away on a pattern for Baskets and Nine Patches. I had hoped to have it ready today but that isn't going to happen because I have too much to do today. But it will be ready soon!

 

Finally to all of you who voted for myquilt Flora and Fauna, Parts of the Garden at Quilting Gallery's Show and Tell a great big thank you! Voting is open until Monday at 6:00pm EDT. There are some really beautiful applique quilts.

 

Close-up Flora and Fauna

Until I post again, happy sewing!