Belated Finish

I actually finished this quilt quite a while ago... like just after Thanksgiving.

But then the Christmas rush started.

And then I became obsessed with knitting.

And then finals.

Excuses, excuses. I'm a bad blogger.

SO. Here she is, California Dreamin, in all her FMQ'ed glory.

This is the first time I've edge-to-edge free-motioned a quilt this big. I have to say it turned out better than I expected!

The back is an amalgam of Denyse prints from Joanns (that middle yellow flower is such a fave of mine!), and some pearl bracelets. It took me ages to decide what to bind it with (a really long time... remember this?), I really wanted to do something colorful, but everything I tried competed with the top too much. So I just threw in some scraps from the leaves and used the dark gray pearl bracelets. I love how it turned out!

I know it's not a Christmas quilt by any stretch of the imagination, but it's currently on the couch, along with Good Morning Starshine. They're friends. :-)


Stats:
California Dreamin
60"x72"
Fabrics from stash - Denyse Schmidt, Juliana Horner, V & Co, Lizzy House among others
Pieced and quilted on my Bernina with Aurifil 2600

I'm on a roll

After I finished Good Morning Starshine, I got right on some other things. I did my Schnitzel and Boo mini, which I'll share later this week after it's had time to get to the recipient. And I also got started on quilting California Dreamin.

Do you ever get an idea, and then you have to execute it, like right NOW? That's how the quilting for this one came about. I had been looking at some ideas online, and sketching some out to see if I could get the shapes down so they were pretty uniform. Then after I finished the binding on my S&B mini, I decided what I wanted to do and started it immediately. In that first session, I got almost half of this quilt done!

I decided to do little branching leaves to go with the fall-ish theme of the quilt. I'm digging it so far!

This is also the largest project that I've ever free-motioned. I've done a couple wall hangings, a couple lap quilts, and a sewing machine cover. This is also the first time I've done a branching design, whereas before I've done more regulated, symmetrical patterns. Remember Georgia on my Mind and Tears?

 It's been easier than I thought, and makes me fell kind of silly for having three more tops set aside that have been waiting to be quilted. I just thought quilts this big would be harder! I guess it helps a LOT that I have a large-harp machine, but my set up could use some help. I've been thinking about ikea-hacking a drop-in table for some time now, and I might give it a shot sometime soon.

Have you had any experience jerry-rigging a quilting set-up?

California Dreamin'

I told you I'd have a finish this week :-)

This is my modern maples quilt, California Dreamin'. That song was stuck in my head the whole time I was making it, with the gray "sky" background.

I've already pieced the back, and I'll baste it soon, but I'm still waiting on my dear Bridget to be able to quilt it. I'm getting quite a stack waiting for her!


Stats:

60x72
Stash fabrics - lots of Denyse and Juliana Horner, some Lizzy, and Vanessa.
Pieced with Aurifil 2024

An almost finish

So I suppose it was a little ambitious to think this would be finished by today... but i finished the blocks at least!

I spent the evening the other day cutting... I always forget how long this takes.

But i suppose it WILL take a long time when I end up cutting twice as much background fabric than I needed (#talesofineptitude!). But I suppose it's just like getting a head start on another project, right? ;-)

I got all the blocks organized and plated-up...

and finished all of them in about two days. I'm still working on the layout, so this isn't final, but hopefully I'll start putting the rows together this weekend!

Spending time with an old friend

The other day I was getting all set up to quilt, and my dear lovely wonderful Bridget started acting up a little. She is due for a tune up (I can't believe I've had her for almost a year already!!) so I went ahead and took her in. The peeps at the Bernina shop here said it would be about 2 weeks.

Sadface.

So I pulled out my old girl out of retirement. 

Marsha Sue and I have been hanging out the last few days, and I can't say it enough how much I love this old girl.

At first I was like "how did I ever sew on this!" after being ridiculously spoiled by Bridget. (And I do have to say, there are some bells and whistles I've decided I can't live without - hello knee lift! and thread cutter!)

BUT. Marsha Sue makes some awfully pretty stitches. And she is a beast. Seriously - cast iron.

I also got taken back to that place where I first learned to sew, and I remember sitting in my apartment in California on the phone with my mom in Virginia piecing my first quilt on this machine - a queen sized block of the month kit I got from Joann's. I hated some of the fabrics, so I ended up replacing some of them, and trying to figure out how to use a rotary cutter, and how to get that 1/4 inch seam, and laying the blocks out on the floor, because I didn't know there were such things as design walls.

I'm rambling now.

Anyway, I pulled some pretties and chopped them up, and I *might* even have a finish for Friday, if I'm ambitious. And ignore schoolwork... I'll let you know how that goes. ;-)