Catching the Rug Making Bug

I finished making this rug last night and I think I can safely say I won't be making anymore rugs for the rest of the year.  I decided to make another rug after I found a bag of 2" strips that I had die-cut in anticipation of a rug along and got tired of the bag sitting on a chair in my studio, okay, my dogs wanted the bag off their sitting chair.  I thought this would be something I could do while watching the Cubs during the World Series and on Game 1, I set up the rug loom and after ten minutes I realized that there was no way I could weave while watching the game or any other game so I put this away until last week after the Championship was well secured.

Thanks to Mary Etherington, Country Threads, I caught the rug making bug at the start of this year when Mary started a rug along in January which I was anxious to do since my rug loom was made over 10 years ago by my hubby but never put to use because I was hung up on how the strips were connected.

Thankfully, I found my answer in Mary's book, DVD and YouTube videos.  (Mary's book & DVD is still available to purchase by sending a $20 check to Mary Etherington, 2345 Palm Ave., Garner, IA 50438.) Once my Quilt Goddaughter, Lauren help me put the twining on the loom I was ready to go.

I absolutely love making rugs,  It's a great way to use up the old stash of fabrics, especially the homespuns bought on clearance, which I once calculated uses at least ten yards of fabric.  Since I have a die cutter, 2" strips can be cut in no time. Weaving is very relaxing and something that can be done while watching TV and for me it's very portable, I can weave anywhere in the house but, unfortunately, Sophie is very put out by my rug weaving since she thinks my hands would be put to better use by holding and loving her.

Here's the first rug made from my yardage of pink and purple plaid homespun along with other bright homespuns.  It's such a great feeling to finally make something from fabric that's been sitting in the stash for a useful purpose.  A nice thing about rug making is that once the last strip is woven, you are finish once it's taken off the loom and the loose ends are tied up.  This rugs did sit in front of the patio door in my family room not quite matching the colors of maroon and navy and the dogs love laying on it; Sophie not as much.

Soon after, I made another one in Denver Bronco colors before they won the Super Bowl using my stash of blue, orange and red homespuns but regular cotton was used for the twining--a great way to use up that stash.

Rugmaking is not quick, especially the 24"x36" size.  It takes approx. 40 hours to make one and when I make a rug it takes over the dining room with all the supplies and equipment I use, i.e., rug loom, fabric strips laying on the table, stool, easel, etc.  So once I'm done, everything is put away, threads pick up off the floor and the dining room is once again ready for the once-a-year company.

I wanted to make rugs in other sizes so I found a store online, Our Old Country Store in Dell, AR, Our Old Country Store, where I purchased two frames, one mug rug size and one table runner size.  They're very reasonably priced and well made according to hubby who was thankful that he didn't have to make them, but delivery charges are somewhat expensive.  I'm really eyeing the bigger frames, especially the adjustable size one.

Here is the table runner which measures approx. 18"X26" and lays on the family room ottoman.

The mug rugs measure 6-1/2" x 8-1/2" and I made over a dozen of these in homespun, batiks and cotton.  For these, the strips were die-cut 1.5" and can be made pretty quick, less than 2 hours, and especially portable for making while on vacation. I've made these for around the kitchen and around the house and also gifted several of them.

So now, rug making days are over until next year and my latest rug is laying happily in the family room, fitting very nicely with the decor. The pink rug is now laying in the dog crate which almost is the right size, just a little bit too wide.  F.Y.I., Sophie never is in the dog crate.

This Is How I Cut

When I first started quilting twenty years ago, my biggest obstacle, fear, trepidation, etc. was having to use a rotary cutter.  Between that and lighting matches, which I don't do, I want to protect my beloved fingers.  I'll even admit that I'm not good at changing blades, I rather use a brand new one, I tend to buy them when they are a good price, or purchase individual blades and not bulk packages because I don't want to deal with separating them which really is hard to do.

Luckily, soon after I started quilting, June Tailor came out with the Shape Cut Rulers and I would not have made as many quilts as I have without this ruler.  I promptly referred to it as my best friend.  The first ruler cut up to 12" and had slots in 1/2" increments and now there are several other rulers, most notably the Shape Cut Plus which went up to 18" and had slots in increments of 1/2" but a guide to cut 1/4" which when this became available at first to Quilt Shops only, quickly became my new best friend.  I have at least six different versions of these rulers, even the grand mommy of them all, the Shape Cut Pro which cuts in increments of 2.5"which came out when jelly rolls, charm squares and layer cakes were becoming popular. (F.Y.I., Since my cutting mat is white, I put blue painter's tape on the bottom so I see the numbers better).

Other rulers and aids used to overcome my discomfort with the rotary cutter were these two speciality rulers, Guidelines for Cutting Ruler which are those cuts other than whole, 1/4" and 1/2" (believe me I am so annoyed when cuts are in 1/8", 3/8" and anything in 1/16", i.e., Gypsy Wife, and avoid making quilts using those measurements) and the Simple 7/8" Ruler for half square triangle which is useful when you only need to make a few of them, otherwise I am a big fan of triangle paper.  I do have other rulers, regular and specialty, too numerous to mention but I'm thinking as I write this post, I may now understand why men buy tools.

Almost three years ago, I started thinking about die-cutting machines even though at that time I thought I was the last holdout with my reasoning being they were too expensive, waste too much fabric, etc.  After purchasing and really reading Ebony Love's The Big Little Book of Fabric Die Cutting Tips and studying YouTube videos, hemming and hawing for a year,  I finally decided to buy one in November, 2014 because I was becoming very unhappy with my fabric cuts, the bow in the center of the strips, inaccurate cuts, etc. which I attribute to my shape cut rulers and myself getting up in age.  In less than two years, I now have three die cutters and almost one hundred dies and thought I give a little guide and thought to the machines I have.  Please remember these are only my opinions and I do not consider myself an expert but rather an enthusiast.  If you want to learn how to operate a die-cutter, be sure to check out the manufacturers home page online or YouTube.

The first die-cutter I purchased was the Sizzix Big Shop Pro and the big selling reason was because I could use both Sizzix and Accuquilt dies (you do need to purchase a special adapter plate). It is a big machine which has two different sizes of trays, regular and extra long which is need for the strip dies.  It weighs 45lbs and  the recommendation is to find a permanent spot for it since moving it around is cumbersome.  I have this machine, affectionately called, Princess Die-Cutter, on a metal cart and when I do use it I carry it over to my big basting table which is less than a yard away.  It's not too heavy when you remove the tray.  After I had Princess Die-Cutter for around a year, I was thinking that the Sizzix Fabi-Cutter would be nice to use for the smaller Sizzix dies and bought one when Amazon offered me an incredible deal.  Originally, they sold for $119 and Amazon's price was $89 and I kept putting it and taking it out of my cart for several months and they finally offered to sell it for $63 and I couldn't resist.  I think this unit was being eliminated so they were trying to get rid of their stock.  Even though both of my Sizzix die-cutters are less than two years old, they are the old models since the newer ones are now white.  And finally, I have the Accuquilt Baby Go which I received for Christmas last year, the reasoning being again, it nice for the smaller Accuquilt dies that I have.  I love it because of its portability.  Here's a photo of the three helpers and just another FYI, my studio is in the basement and it gets cold down there so that that's why there's plastic on the window.

My thoughts on the two manufacturers, Sizzix and Accuquilt, is if I could do it all over again, I would have purchased the Accuquilt Studio Cutter 2 which both Sizzix and Accuquilt dies can be used.  At that time, I didn't want to spend the extra $200 and I thought this die-cutter was made for high volume users like quilt shops.

Accuquilt die cutters are made specifically for quilters and I find their dies cut the fabric much cleaner than the Sizzix dies.  More often than not, after making a die cut with the Sizzix, there is always threads attached that need to be removed in order to separate the strips/pieces.  Sizzix has been making die cutters longer but they weren't specifically for quilters but also for scrap bookers.

Accuquilt dies are more expensive than Sizzix and you can find Sizzix dies on sale at great prices from Sizzix. com, especially during Black Friday which from my experience is the time to stock up.  Amazon is another place where you can find great prices.  A word of caution, when Sizzix dies are on sale, especially really low prices, base on previous experiences; they could be reduced because something is wrong with the die, as with the 4"x 8" rectangle die which was not accurate, the die could be mislabeled, (which is another source of confusion, because you have to make sure the die measurement is for cut size and not finished size), or the die is being retooled.  During the past year, three of my dies were defective and happily I had no problems with getting replacements quickly.

I do think using a die-cutter is better for you ergonomically and for accurate cuts but whether it is a time saver is a toss up for me.  There may be a perception that you put the fabric on the die-cutter run it through and Voila' you have 100 pieces.  It doesn't work quite that way.  Without getting too technical, it's best that the fabric is pre-cut to match the size of the die space and for some that may seem redundant.  Pre-cutting your fabric and strategically placing it on the die also reduces fabric waste.  Also, there's the time I spent on the leftovers, little and not so little strips which I put in a box and later sorted out to see which strips/patches can be used for quilts, rugs, fabric twine, etc.  I'll save anything that is 1/2" or bigger.

Besides the expense of the dies, cutting pads needs to be purchased for both machines and are pricey, especially the ones for Sizzix.  I purchase them from either Amazon or directly from Sizzix or Accuquilt when there is a sale or free shipping is offered.

One of the nice things about having my die-cutters, I can cut my own jelly rolls, charm squares and layer cakes and not have to deal with those pinked edges since I have a 2.5" strip die, 5" square die and 10" square die amongst my many dies.  When I first bought dies, I based it on the size of blocks I mostly made which were 8" and 12" so I looked for dies in 2" and 4" increments.  Accuquilt has a nice system of selling their dies in size bundles but it is pricey.  Also, another source of patterns is the books and magazines for pre-cuts.  My most used die I would say is my 2.5" strip die which stays on Princess Die-Cutter and I have die-cut many strips for binding and strip quilts.  Another thing, once you sew a HST that was die-cut, you'll never go back to your old method, I love that they are die-cut without dog ears.  I keep a die inventory list so I can refer to it when I see a pattern or before I purchase a new die.  For reasons I can't explain, I purchased two of the same die, several times, and have learned my lesson not to buy until I check my list.  If you buy directly from Sizzix or Accuquilt, dies are not returnable unless they are defective.

Most of the quilts I make now are those that I can use my die-cutter.  Sometimes I will change a pattern so I can use my die-cutter.  Here are some of my quilts which the die cutter was used:

Dies used: 4"x8" rectangle & 2.5" strip die

Dies used" 3"x 6" trapezoid and 3" HST 

Accuquilt 3'x6" Half Rectangle Die

Accuquilt Hexagon and Equilateral Triangle Dies

I have more quilts that can be seen on my Pinterest Boards: RMM Quilts and Quilts To Die-Cut for.

I know that I've put my die cutters to good use and can justify the expense.  There are still some committed (notice I didn't say die-hard) rotary cutters like Mary and Connie who I demonstrated my Accuquilt Go this past weekend.  I wish I took a photo of them watching me with total skepticism and disbelief, based on previous experience with their die-cutter,  after seeing how nice the die-cuts came out.  I don't have to change my rotary blade as often and my triangle paper supply is just sitting there.  I once said that if I became Queen of the Quilting World, I would abolish any pattern using 1" HST but they are safe now because I have a 1" HST die.

Week Days with Ernie & Friends

I'm back from Garner, IA after just spending over a little over 24 hours with Mary & Connie and Gang for a little bit of sewing, a lot of talking, laughing, eating, fabric exchanging and getting over- stimulated with new ideas and projects.  You can see our activities on Mary's blog here:  Country Threads Chicken Scratch.

 I thought I do a quick post of the photos I took that aren't on Mary's blog.

Here I am with my quilt muse, Ernie Joe Mauer, the inspiration for the Ernie Quilts.  Boy, is he one big, heavy dude!  And yes, he blessed the Ernie II quilt, although I had to bribe him. The visit would not have been complete without feeding Emma and Charlene.

We took a quick visit/tour of Connie's studio.  Both Connie and Mary have studios to die for, a separate space from their house.  Connie lives in the city proper and her studio is above the garage. (BTW, I am not the best photographer when I'm excited, so I apologize for the lighting, shadows, etc., plus I really need a new iPhone.)

This is the stairway leading up to Connie's studio and photos of some of her creations she has in her wonderful space.  I wish I took more photos since her walls were filled like a gallery.

I'm sorry that I didn't take photos of her actual studio because by that time I was over-stimulated with all of the visual yummies and projects she had going.  You have to believe me when I say her space was wonderful; there was even a full bathroom!

Here's the group project which Connie has put together for us: Red Pepper Quilts Pickle Dish Variation Quilt.  On a side note, Mary and I decided that Connie couldn't propose one until she completes one of the projects we did as a group, i.e., Gypsy Wife, rug, etc. but somehow she managed to slip a few in like the Wildflowers.  I was open to doing this because I know I can die-cut the pieces and it is a great pattern for the modern fabrics.

And look at the portfolio/envelope she is making with Kraft-tex, something I never knew about and have to check this out because next to fabric, I like paper and boxes.  I have some little orphan blocks that would work with this idea.  And Kraft-tex comes in different colors too.

In between all of this, we ate out at Matt's and the Pizza Ranch, stayed at the Garner Inn which was very nice, did a quick visit at Farm Chicks Quilts,  I really needed to stay longer. But when you have dogs and a son who could only dog sit for only a day,  Bill and I had to go home.  BTW, while I was sewing, Bill did a bike ride on the Trolley Trail in Clear Lake, drove by the Surf Ballroom which unfortunately was closed, had a guitar sing along with Becky and visited with Rick.

I have to admit I almost changed my mind about coming to visit with what happened this week but decided to Sew Forth.  Even though I have my differences with Connie and Mary, most notably, I like to die-cut and they don't, Connie likes appliqué, paper-piecing and small pieces while I like the big patches and Mary and I do crazy while Connie is the sane one, I am glad for this time we had together.  Sometimes you have to disconnect from the big world and connect with your small circle where differences aren't as bad as they seem. WE bring good things to life.  I know when I resume working on the Marcia Derse Alphabet panel and fabrics, my original thought of just using her fabrics have changed to Mary's & Connie's rule of never using just one designer's fabric but using others to make it your own.

 If I ever run away from home, you know where I will be.  Here's to good sewing friends to make life happy and bright!

Quilt Joy--My Problem with my Juki 2010Q May Be Resolved

For over a year since I purchased my new Juki 2010Q, I have been very unhappy and frustrated when I did straight-line quilting with it.  The reason why I purchased the Juki was all the reviews I read about what a great machine it was and the quality of the stitching which I figured it would be wonderful for straight line quilting which is basically the only quilting I like to do, anything more elaborate I would send my quilt to my long arm quilter, Jan.  I love the look of straight-line quilting, it's clean and works well for both modern and traditional quilts which I make.  The problem I had was the even feed foot which came with the machine.  The answers I got from talking to the dealer and searching online;  from the dealer where I purchased my Juki was that I needed to make sure my thread up mechanism, needle and presser foot was all the way up when I threaded it in order to set the stitch tension, a comment from a Juki dealer on a FB group as to why was I using the even feed foot for quilting to a Pinterest post saying to take the even feed foot apart and oil all the black parts.  I also found on Pinterest someone saying that the Janome Convertible Even Foot, Open Toe, Part No. 214-516-003 works on a Juki 2010Q and when I questioned the dealer who I bought the machine from, they said no.  So, for the past year, my quilts did not turn out as nice as I would have liked, puckers and pinches and re-basting because the even feed foot just pushed against the quilt.  I thought the problem was basting and I even purchased three cans of basting spray and still had to re-baste.

When I was making my Blue Ernie Quilt and knowing if I wanted to do horizontal straight line quilting I would have to find an alternative way which was QAYG on my Elna 7200 Quilters Dream and it turned out so great which made me open to the idea of doing more machine quilting on it even though the stitching came be inconsistent and didn't look as nice and clean as the Juki.  So last week while Game 7 of the World Series was being played and my wanting to send some positive energy to the Cubs, I quilted my Easy Addition Plus Quilt on the Elna and it turned out great, just one little pinch, and no fabric pushing, re-basting or too much distortion.

I thought the Elna 7200 was going to be my answer to my quilting woes but before I committed I talked again to the Juki dealer and someone from their service department called me back and basically reconfirm that the even feed foot is not meant for quilting and that any other manufacturer's high shank even feed foot would work on the Juki, including the one from Janome which I was told from their floor staff that it would not.  So I decided to make a $60 gamble and ordered one from Amazon (who also mentioned on their site that this foot will work on a Juki 2010Q), I was not going to give any more business to this dealer and it arrived this past Saturday.  I wasn't expecting much but ordered it just to give the Juki one last chance, because I just love the stitch line, by quilting my Unruly Quilt, pattern by My Quilt Infatuation.

Was I pleasantly surprised and amazed at how absolutely wonderful it was to do straight line quilting with the Janome foot. (I should mention that this foot comes with a quilting guide which the Juki foot does not have).  It was heaven, the quilt sandwich fed through so nice and fast, I was done quilting within six hours, no re-basting, no distortion on the edges, it was the way straight line quilting should be.  I just love the nice and even stitching which is why I wanted the Juki 2010.

I want to share my thoughts on my Juki 2010Q, which are entirely my opinion, in hopes of anyone who have been frustrated with their machine can find some answers in this post.  First of all, I will never again purchase a sewing machine online; for me there is some disconnect.  One example, I had found via the Facebook group, that the needle clamp screw was being replaced with a shorter one because of users finding when the even feed foot was used, it was too noisy.  I personally felt that the dealer should have notified me that this was being offered, they had my email address.  I feel Juki relies on social media to help and assist with their sewing machines which is not a bad thing, but the dealers should give out correct information.  Think how much happier my quilting life would have been if I ordered a Janome foot sooner after seeing it on Pinterest but chose to listen to the dealer.

Here is the photo of the Janome foot with the Juki foot on the bottom.  The Juki foot is twice as heavy as the Janome and has black parts which feeds the fabric while the Janome has white parts.  The Elna foot also has white parts which lead me to believe that the problem with the Juki foot is the black parts which don't feed the fabric but pushes it.  Also, I used the Janome open-toe foot which I think helps to feed the fabric better while the Juki is a closed toe. When I look at the description for Juki's even feed foot it does not mention it being used for quilting, which I've always was taught that an even feed foot is a must for quilting.  Juki does have other quilting feet but are used for free motion quilting which I don't do.

So I can finally say that I have Juki Joy, it just needs help from Janome--I should also mention that I do piece with a Janome quilting foot since the one that came with the Juki is a full 1/4" and not a scant 1/4" like the Janome.  And if I ever buy another sewing machine, I'm going to a dealer and buying a Janome.

Happy Quilting for me and for you!

Update:  It’s been almost five years since I wrote this post and is still being read.  I wanted to provide a link to Laura Piland, Slice of Pi Quilts, who purchased the Janome Walking Foot after reading this post who then wrote a post about her Juki 2010 experience and more technical info on the walking foot: https://www.sliceofpiquilts.com/2017/06/theres-new-workhorse-in-town.html#more

Blue Ernie Stash Dash Quilt

Well, this is a nice October surprise, my Blue Ernie Stash Dash Quilt is finished and it took less than two weeks which is a pretty good record for a quilt this size.  What was even more surprising was how the quilt was made and quilted; a good example of happenstance.

It started with my current quilting phase revolving around Ernie quilts and 2.5" strips.  I saw the Indigo Stripe quilt by Karin Jordan in Love Patchwork & Quilting, Issue #38; it's the blue quilt on the left side of the cover which made me think of the black, blue and light Cotton + Steel prints in my stash.

The Indigo Stripe quilt uses 12 fat quarters and yardage of a solid white fabric.  Each of the fat quarter are cut in 2.5" strips and in varying lengths and then sewn together.   The quilt is constructed in individual rows with the solid white fabric added intermittently.  I loved the blues and using strips, however, not a big fan of using solid white fabric on my quilts, I rather use low volume prints plus I wanted a more improvised look.  Also, I wanted to use the octopus, tiger, swallow and flower prints but without cutting them in strips.  I came up with the idea of sewing a series of strips like a jelly roll race but not as long which is why I call this quilt a Dash.  (Tidbits on how the blocks were made are at the end of this post).

As I mentioned earlier, Blue Ernie was a happenstance quilt, wasn't sure how I was going to make it, changing and improvising as I sewed the blocks and laid them out and just loving how it turned out.  Even more surprising was how I quilted it which came to me while I was making the quilt.  As mentioned in my previous posts, I have not been happy with my Juki 2010Q when it comes to straight line quilting and I really wanted to quilt Blue Ernie the same way the Indigo Stripe was quilted.  Divine inspiration came to me and I decided to do QAYG (Quilting As You Go) for each panel row on my Elna 7200 Quilters Dream which had been idling because of the new Juki and it turned out beautiful.  I'm glad I thought of this before the top was sewn together.  (Tidbits on my QAYG process are at the end of this post.)  So another surprise was that I may have solved my quilting woes by doing more QAYG, which I haven't in the past because of my impatience in wanting to see the completed top, and now piecing with the Juki and quilting with the Elna, my dream team.  

This is my third quilt in the Ernie Series and it measures 64"x 80"--another surprise, it wasn't suppose to be this big, I miscalculated.  All of the fabrics were from my stash, no new fabrics were purchased, batting scraps were used (yay!) and I had yardage of a gray print in my stash for the backing which, for once,  I didn't deliberate or had qualms on using.

And just a shout out for my furry friend Ernie, the American Farm Tiger and Quilt Czar, who belongs to Mary Etherington and the inspiration for our quilts, you're going to need to bless this quilt too, after all the blue tiger print has your essence.

And Now the Tidbits

I'm using the word "tidbits" to describe the information that I share and first of all want to disclaim myself from any mistakes or injuries you may suffer from making this quilt and what I'm providing is not a how to tutorial but just information to give you an idea of how I made this quilt.

• The color range of the fabrics were blacks, navy blues, royal blues, periwinkle blue, light and dark grays and modern low volume lights.
• Thankful for my Sizzix Big Shot Pro Die-Cutter, affectionately referred to as Princess Die-Cutter, I cut 120 2-1/2" x 20"-22" strips (depending on the size of your fat quarters or the full length of your strips cut in half); there were at least two of the same prints and sometimes four in this count. Thirteen of the strips were cut in half, measuring around 10", again not an exact measurement.   I  also used one half yard of the octopus print and three fat quarters of the blue tiger, swallow and floral prints. 
• The strips were divided into 26 piles of  four strips plus one half strips.  Like a jelly roll race, I sewed the four strips together (short ends) and the half strip was sewn either at the beginning or at the end to ensure the strips are offset and then folded the long strip in half and sew together either from the top or bottom.  One the end is cut, I had strip sets measuring approximately 4-1/2" x 22"which I did not trim.
  

• Once these strip sets were sewn, I then sewed two strip sets together, making sure I did not sew the strips made from the same strip set together which created a strip set of four rows measuring 8-1/2" x 22", approximately, again I did not trim them.  The strips were ironed the same way, going up.  Once this was done, I had 26 strip sets of four rows.
• Cutting was as follows:  6 strip sets were trimmed 8-1/2" x 16-1/2" and the remaining 20 strip sets were trimmed 1 piece 8-1/2" x 12-1/2" and the other one 8-1/2" square.  Because my strip sets were around 22"-24" long, I made interesting trims which gave the blocks the improvised look but did not trim it where the fabric would have been less than 1" at the end.  FYI, I saved the trimmings for another quilt.
• I cut the focus yardage as follows:  (4) 8-1/2" x 16-1/2" pieces were cut from the octopus print and (4) 8-1/2" squares were cut from the fat quarter prints.
• There are 10 rows in this quilt and each row has (1) 8-1/2" x 16-1/2" block, (2) 8-1/2" x 12-1/2" blocks and (3) 8-1/2" squares, making the width of the quilt 64-1/2" wide.
• When I laid out the blocks, I looked for matching blocks that had at least one of the strips with the same print in the same location to create a wonder as to how this quilt was made.  And when I could not find a match, I inserted one of the plain blocks.  Sometimes the match was from the top or bottom, not always on the side. Ideally, the strips nested together but when they didn't, I just re-ironed one of the blocks in the other direction.  After each row was sewn, I ironed the blocks in alternating directions so the seams would nest together.

• Once the strip set rows were sewn, I sewed two rows together creating a panel measuring 16-1/2 x 64-1/2" which gave me five panels rows in this quilt. I was ready for QAYG.  The method I like is quilting the top and batting together first.  I cut my batting strips at least 1" wider than the panel rows on all sides.
  
  
  
• After all the panel rows were all quilted and trimmed, I then sewed the rows together, the seams are pressed open. FYI: pressing the seams open exposes the top fabric and if your backing is light, you will see the open seams through the backing.

• The idea behind this QAYG method is because the top and batting are already quilted together, the backing when added only needs to be quilted minimally which I did where the panels rows were joined; the photo below was taken before I quilted between the octopus and kitty strips.

• Additional quilting lines was done on the diagonal in eight places, like the Indigo Stripe quilt to ensure the backing was attached to the top/batting.

I really enjoyed making this quilt and amazed at how everything turned out, especially the quilting.  I hope the tidbits were enough to give you an idea of how this quilt was made.  It's a great way to use the stash and already thinking of making another one with my Tula Pink stash.  Hope you make a Stash Dash quilt too, believe me it's fun.

Four Good Things Which Happened in Cleveland in 2016 So Far

1. The Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA Finals beating the heavily favored Golden State Warriors
2. Cleveland hosted the Republican Convention and did a great job.
3. The Cleveland Indians won the AL/MLB title and will be playing in the World Series.  Next to the Chicago Cubs, they have the second longest drought.
4. Bill and I visited Cleveland for the very first time so I can finally meet in person my FB quilt sister Dee Akins who lives in Painesville.  We were really impressed with Cleveland and find it so much friendlier to travel to the downtown area versus downtown Chicago.  When we were at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame one of the staff asked if we were in town for the baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and Indians and I being a lifelong Cubs fan responded with a not so pleasant face.  The Indians could have clinched a playoff berth that night if they beat the Sox and this didn't upset me at all.

Well, it didn't dawn on me until the MLB playoffs and after visiting Cleveland that there was a possibility that the Cubs and Indians would be playing in the World Series. I mentioned it to Bill who just responded that I could visit Dee again which wasn't the point.  I just thought our friendship took an interesting timely turn because we needed to make a wager, which as quilters, would involve fabric although I would have liked to win Dee's quilt which we are holding.  The original thought was to put up fabric from our stash but both Dee and I have the same fabric tastes and our stash look pretty much the same.  Since we became friends from being part of Pat Sloan's Facebook group, we decided to wager a layer cake of Pat's new fabric Sunday Drive which will be available in February, 2017, time enough for one to recover from their loss and the other one to come up with ideas for the new stash.  I am hoping to be the one who comes up with the new ideas.  

To commemorate our the friendly wager, I made this 20" block last night using Pat Sloan's Hometown Girl fabrics, very appropriate since we follow Pat and it is all about our hometowns.  Both of our teams' colors are red and blue, the blue in this block is more like Cleveland's while the red is more like the Cubs.  I plan on embroidering UBS next to the C once I decide what I will make with this block.

Life is ironic isn't it, full of surprises and twists, from never having a friend who lives in Cleveland, to the Chicago Cubs finally in the World Series against Cleveland and knowing that friendship is more important than who wins (my legs are crossed as I type this).  And even if Dee wins the fabric, I know where she lives.

The Kaffe Fassett Champaign Orange Yo-Yo Quilt--The Official End

I finished this yo-yo quilt back in July after committing to finally completing it this Summer after working on it on and off for almost four years.  And during this time, the making of this quilt with the squares of Kaffe Fassett fabrics turned into another quilt plus a little extra done well before the yo-yo quilt was done.

I do most of my sewing in my studio which is located in the basement but I still have some supplies and projects that I keep upstairs in a cabinet in the dining room for when I want to watch TV.  Today while rummaging through the upstairs cabinet, I found an orange spool of thread, used for the yo-yo quilt, which finally could go back downstairs, thus signaling the official end of a project which I started in 2012.

Four years ago, I bought the Jumbo Clover Yo-Yo maker thinking these big yo-yos would look great in Kaffe fabrics and also a way for me to reduce the big stash.  And, since we travel by car, it was an excellent project for the road.  To prepare for this project, I first needed 9-1/2" squares which were trimmed after it was placed in the yo-yo maker leading to having a lot of triangle scraps that I needed to find a way to use them.  (Back to this later)  By 2013, I made hundreds of these Jumbo Yo-Yos and haven't  really decided what I was going to do with them.  I didn't want to sew them together like a traditional yo-yo quilt since I thought it would be too heavy and fragile, plus the only way to display it would be over the couch and in a house with four dogs, that would be a big no-no.

After searching Pinterest to find a way to use these yo-yos, I found a quilt in which small yo-yos made in 30's reproduction fabrics were sewn on a store bought plain white comforter.  This was a perfect solution, I just had to find the right comforter which turned out to be an orange, University of Illinois at Champaign orange, double-knit twin size comforter bought at Target.  All I needed to do was to tack down the yo-yo's where the comforter was gathered and in between the gathers.  After tacking down the first three rows of yo-yos, I realized they needed to be secured better so I ended sewing all around the yo-yos which resulted in making this quilt a forever project, during which I changed my hair style at least three times my hair color two times and gained a few pounds.  In order to sew down the yo-yos, the comforter needed to be laid across the dining room table, thank goodness it was long enough, and kind of cumbersome so I only sewed a few at a time and I had over two hundred yo-yos.  When I wasn't working on it, the quilt lived folded up on one of the dining room chairs and sometimes sat there for months at a time.  And the orange spool of thread lived upstairs during this time.

I finally decided to finish the yo-yo quilt this year after committing  in May to completing it in a UFO Challenge by July.  I had to sew 136 yo-yos in ten weeks, one row a week and I pretty much kept on schedule, even taking it on vacation.  I was so happy to finally finish it after almost four years when I made the first yo-yo.  I vowed never to come up with another crazy project like this one.  And I'm sure the orange spool of thread is glad to be back in the drawer with the others.

Now back to the triangle scraps leftover from the Kaffe squares.  While working on the yo-yo quilt, I found a snowball quilt on Pinterest in which triangles were sewn on the corners of various gray squares and when sewn together it created wonky diamonds, perfect for the scraps and some 6-1/2" gray squares.

This quilt was completed in 2014 and since I had a lot of squares and triangles left, they were given to Mary Etherington who has since made a table topper with the leftovers.

There were still leftover scraps too small for sewing but too large and pretty to throw them away so I made some fabric beads for necklaces and stilettos, again while the yo-yo quilt was waiting to be finished.

I still have a lot of little scraps from this project and others so I do have a scrap problem which is another post for another day.

Always on the lookout for projects to reduce the fabric and scrap stash........