Quilt issue - a friendly border

I thought I'd show you an update on the quilt with too much fullness. This is a view from the angle that showed the fullness at its best. There are a few small tucks in the fabric between the inside and outside borders.

I try my best to avoid tucks but sometimes they happen anyway. I was trying to ease in about 2 or 3 inches of extra fullness in this one area.




Moving to another angle to show you I've now drawn a chalk guideline for me to follow. Hmm... doesn't look so full from this angle.

As I quilt the design, I use the fingers of my freehand to ease the fabric in between the stitching lines as I move the machine. I use only designs that don't cross over themselves. Meeting at the center line is not crossing over itself.

As you can see, the fullness is worked in and not as noticeable. It's still there, just "eased in" between the design lines. I work one side, then the other side, moving from side to side of the design as I move around the border.

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The reason I do the border first is because when the quilting is done on the center it draws up which creates more fullness on the border. I don't want to compound the fullness already in the border. Clear as mud? I'm not sure how to explain it better. Quilting the borders first makes them tight while the center will become saggy. When the center is then quilted it tightens up to be even with the border. Even the small tucks will be far less noticeable once the whole quilt is finished.

Do it yourself or pay someone to do it for you?

During Ladybug's nap time yesterday I sorta fixed my Gammill quilting chair. As you can see it's seen better days.





I used some scraps leftover from the window quilts I made for her room a couple of months ago. Sewed two pieces together to get a large enough piece. Lay it on the chair and cut around it making sure I left enough fabric that it would go underneath. Then sewed elastic around the edge, pulling it taught as I sewed. The elastic pulls the fabric underneath so it stays put.

If a person really wants to live a more frugal life then making repairs should be a part of that life. I sometimes let repairs go undone until they bug me mentally to the point I "have" to get it done. It's not that I don't want to make repairs. It's that I don't believe I have the time. I must keep reminding myself that any projects worthy of doing deserve time to get done.

If a person has more time than money.... repairs are worth the effort and should be a part of the simple life.

When I was younger, repairs were a normal part of my routine. It might be as simple as sewing on a button or patching a tear on jeans. Sometimes it was replacing a door knob or tightening a chair leg or painting a dresser. Back then, I thought nothing of taking the time to make repairs. After all I grew up in a time when we were taught.... if it's usable then repair it. If it's not usable.... make something else out of it. It was just natural to make repairs.

As my quilting career took off, more and more repairs got shoved aside in my quest to stay ahead of the long waiting list of tops to quilt. I worked more so I could pay someone to do my repairs so I could work more and pay more people to do still other repairs. At heart I'm a do-it-yourselfer. I like getting my hands dirty so to speak. There's just something very satisfying about knowing I did it myself.

Now that I'm moving back toward a simpler life, repairs are once again becoming a part of my routine. The seat cover for the chair is a temporary fix. Yes, I do know how to do upholstery work too. I've been a do-it-yourselfer for my whole life. Of course, I can't do everything; but, what I don't know, I'm sure there is a website or a book that will tell me how.

About the memory quilt

I realized I forgot to say that the Mommie is out of town this weekend. She won't be back until very late Monday night. That's why Ladybug and I are together for the whole time this weekend.

I was asked about the hat in the memory quilt. Yes, I'm using it like this. The mother who lost her son requested it be included if it could be. I took it apart and removed the hard insert and the back of the bib. I'll remove the threads when I applique it down by hand. Of course I can't quilt over the hat. It's way too thick. What I will do is quilt around it. I rarely ever do any hand work on quilts. The exception is for memory quilts. Memory quilts are precious to me. They give me a sense of great satisfaction to create. When I create memory quilts, it's like I hear an angel whisper in my ear telling me how the quilt should be made.






Included in this memory quilt are a few shirts that I'm leaving the collars on too. I cut out the back and layered it (right side up) so the block will come out with 4 corners. When the hand work is finished I'll cut out the excess on the back. I use a very strong thread, (used for coat buttons) so the pieces will remain if the quilt is ever washed.

This will also be included in the quilt. It's a part of his blankie that his mother saved all these years.

When I create memory quilts it's like I hear an angel whisper in my ear telling me how the quilt should be made. I do sometimes have trouble thinking of "how" something should be added but it never bothers me for very long. Somehow the angel whispers the answer. I've used sport coats, ball gowns, graduation tassels, underwear, socks, pajamas, sweaters, and lots of different things in memory quilts. If it can be sewn.... I can put it in a memory quilt.

Oh oh, Ladybug is awake and wanting her breakfast.....

A new day... a new project?

Yesterday was a fairly productive day. We got one of my SIL's baby quilts pieced while she was here. I ended up piecing another one of them for her. She was getting frustrated. She couldn't get the pieces to line up correctly.




Ladybug and I will be together for a whole weekend. Can't do any sewing this weekend. I'm going to do as much work as I can today while she's still at daycare. I don't know if I'll complete a project or if I'll just work on the quilting machine.

A stay at home retreat day

I worked on the memory quilt for quite a while yesterday. It may not look like it but there are quite a few rough cut blocks in this stack. I have them prepared for the hand stitching of some parts. I'll show those as I get them finished.



When I'm working on something like that quilt my mind can't keep quiet. The ideas seem to flood through so I keep a pad and pencil handy for making sketches or writing notes. It also happens when I'm searching through quilt books for a quilt that I remember seeing.... just not which book. Yesterday I was looking for a quilt pattern my SIL wanted to make for her first great-grand. The shower is in a couple of weeks. Needless to say my SIL once again waited until the last minute to work on them. Sigh.....

Oh well, I can't trade her in for another, might as well work with her as she is. (wink) Today we will work on her quilts and see how far along we get. Might as well treat it as a stay at home retreat. My daughter is going out of town on business this weekend so I won't get much work done. Ladybug won't let me.

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The thought of an out of town business trip isn't so bad anymore. I'm just grateful my daughter isn't one of the people being let go at Humana. Soooo many people loosing their jobs. It's very sad. No way can anyone convince me the economy is getting better when there are still hundreds of people loosing jobs and homes. Ok, before I get myself in a bad mood, I'm heading for the studio to prepare for a long day of quilt piecing.