Tuesday, January 21, 2014

It is time to get back to quilting

I've been so busy blogging, Soupcon QALing an whatnot that I've fallen way behind in my quilting. My Mom has made another African quilt and it to be a gift for her friend. She has asked me to quilt it for her so that is the job I have set for myself over the next two days. If it looks familiar it is because she made a quilt like it in the summer. Once I've quilted it she will embellish with beads and whatnot!


Have you ever had it happen that you are quilting with a light colour thread and you stray onto a darker fabric. If not, lucky you but I seem to have that problem from time to time and today was one of those times! You can see some of the stitches strayed into the black fabric. Not a catastrophe but it bothered me so what's a quilter to do?


HELPFUL TIP ALERT: I pull out a dark Sharpie or Sakura Pigma pen and I touch the offending stitches with the tip of the pen and voila - offending stitches "appear" to disappear!


Here are a some more pictures of the quilt. These figures will look great once they have beaded necklaces and gold hoop earrings!



Once the quilting is done the quilt will be finished with a facing so that it will have a nice clean edge with no binding showing.

I've got loads of quilts to quilt but I've narrowed my choice down to three the first of which is 81 The Giant Monstrosity! It is a big job and I'm not sure if I want to tackle that one first. My Guild is having a quilt show in September 2014 so I'm going to have to tackle it sooner or later because I would like to show it.


Maybe I'll quilt Piccadilly to the Nines. I like that quilt, it isn't too large and I've got some great backing fabric for this one - it is a lovely sunny yellow with cherries! This one is tempting considering the temperature is -30C with the windchill!


My third option is my Lazy Girl quilt top! It has lots of wide open spaces where I can experiment with some quilting designs!


Decisions, decisions, decisions!

I am so impressed with the Soupcon quilts that are being made. Each is so unique and my hope is that at the end that while we all started at the same point, each quilt will be different. Judging but what I've seen so far that is exactly what is going to happen. Posting pictures on the Soupcon FLICKR Group is so important because it inspires others. Clare has posted her block. She combined applique and embroidery to embellish her block. I love how the embroidered star and hexagon are intertwined!


Another quilter has just finished Step 1. She doesn't have a FLICKR account so Happy Appliquer posted the block for her. This one will be fun to embellish. I can visualize so many treatments and don't know how I would decide on just one! Wouldn't some metallic embroidery thread be pretty?


Nellie is certainly on a role and has embellished yet another block. The before is on the left and the after on the right!

Skootchover's block was posted late yesterday. To quote Nellie, WOW! To quote me, WOW and WOW again!

Time for me to get back to quilting my Mom's lovely African quilt. Until I post again, happy sewing!

Karen H

14 comments:

  1. Hi Karen
    Wow, your quilts for quilting are just stunning. I love your Mom's quilt too. I am from South Africa so it does sing to my heart. Soupçon is so much fun and I am working on the embroidery. Thank you for such a lovely gift to so many bloggers. I am off to go and look at the flickr group.

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    1. Hi Chantal! Thanks for dropping by and taking the time to comment! I love to share with others. For me it is a huge part of what quilting is all about!

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  2. Gorgeous quilts, Karen! I would quilt them in the reverse order you showed them. That way you can take all the time you need to quilt 81. That is delightful quilt your mom has made. The Soupcon blocks are all so extraordinary - off to see the flickr group. Your post are always so inspiring.

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    1. Thanks for the input re quilting. That's pretty much what I was thinking! The blocks in the FLICKR group are so inspiring!

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  3. I love your Mom's African quilt, and your stunning quilts as well you all are soooo talented and creative

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    1. My Mom really does a great job of her quilts. Right now she is making a Lazy Punk quilt top!

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  4. I have done the same thing with a sharpie.
    Bunny

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    1. Sharpies are great and they come in all sorts of colours!

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  5. awesome quilts! and awesome blocks made by participants. I hope to get my embroidery started tomorrow.
    I am going to have to remember that tip for the times I go in the wrong place.

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    1. Making mistakes is a pain but if you use them as an opportunity to get creative and problem solve I think it makes you a better quilter and designer!

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  6. I adore the figures on your moms quilt and the back quilting looks just fabulous, making them pop out even more beautifully. Nice idea too to decorate with necklaces etc. What a smashing gift that will be.
    Love the montsrosity quilt lol and its anything but a monstrosity, its delicious!
    Did you applique the stars around the edges onto a white background or is it all pieced together?
    It's really striking, would love to see it first hand!

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    1. Thanks Liniecat! The hexagon stars were make using English paper piecing. Once they were pieced I gave them a spritz of starch and pressed with a hot dry iron. The basting threads and papers were removed and I appliqued them to the background fabric.

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  7. I just popped over from viewing the Flicker group. What fabulous blocks people are making. I just put my photo up and asked for suggestions and ideas about how to add embroidery to my block.
    Thankyou once again for starting this fabulous QAL and for being so generous with all your ideas and tutorials.

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    1. It is so much fun to create something new and different. We all have it in us we just sometimes need a little nudge to get moving. My goal is to nudge you guys and judging by what I'm seeing on FLICKR that nudge has got folks moving! Such wonderful, amazing and creative blocks - a real treat for the eyes!

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