I have been horrible about writing on the blog lately. To help me not feel so guilty, I am going to put pictures of my progress on quilts on Instagram and Facebook, if you would like to follow the updates my name on these sites is – IWquilt.

I have also decided to help myself in the naming of my linen quilts – basically I will name them as part of a series from now on. I am going to include the year, size code, and what number it is in the series – for example 2016.1.1 (year, size code”runner=1, Small table=2. Large linen=3, and how many of that type I have done. Hopefully that is not too confusing and everyone will catch on quickly. Here goes….............

Vintage Linen 2016.2.1

I feel in love with this small linen. The edges were beat up so I decided just to trim them off and just binding the edge of the linen. Often I add a colored piece of fabric and make a border around the quilt. This linen did have a few small stains but the embroidery work was in great shape and so pretty. I did some outline stitching to help the embroidery pop and then some micro-stippling and small pebbling. The bobbin in the picture is a class “M” longarm bobbin which is larger than a stand bobbin which gives some idea to the scale of the stitching. I was going to add this quilt to my Etsy shop – but it sold to a friend. =)

I finally finished piecing this quilt. I named it “Altered” because most of the fabrics used were altered in some way – dying, rusting, bleaching. My Mom did a few of the rusted pieces – she only gave them to me because I promised to use them in a quilt, of course that was SEVERAL years ago. I have it on the long-arm and am making slow progress. I had to un-quilt the first row because of some tension problems. I redid the row – carefully checking the tension – actually found a better design. The problem is the tension went bad again and I am trying to wrap my brain around pulling it out again. My fear is that the fabric will rip and not hold up to mare quilting. I guess I have to decide if it will be going to a show or just going to be used at home….. I am quilting differently in each block section and having a blast. This is a view from the back.

I have several projects in the works…but I saw a sketch in Mark’s notebook and spent 2 days playing in the studio.

I had just bought several yards of a tan homespun that I had been visiting every time I looked at fabric. When I saw the sketches, I knew this fabric would be the base fabric for hopefully a series of quilts. This quilt just puts a smile on my face and will so fun to quilt. I used fusible webbing, made my own bias tape for the body and stitched it all down with a blanket stitch on the machine.

I am hoping to be starting a new series – how I come up with quilting designs.

My Mom found some vintage quilt tops and asked me for some quilting ideas. The plan was for her to quilt the quilt. I tend to do much heavier fills, so it was a good exercise for me.

This is the picture she sent me. I decided to do a computer mock up – printed several copies and then grabbed a sharpie. This is what I came up with.

It is always so nice to put up a finished project. I have had a lot of fun working on this quilt. I hand appliqued the turtle using a technique called back-basting. It is the only way that I do appliqué. The large shapes made it a breeze. I also tried a new technique for piecing together the blocks. I did my best keeping a good 1/4 inch seam but the measurements were still off by a bit. It ended up cutting off some of my points. Oh well…..this was never going to be a contest piece. I had some fun with the quilting. I love the pink thread on the grey fabric. This is going to go in the store .....at least until I find a home for it.