Doll Quilt, and more...

Well, I've been working on my doll quilt. I have most of the top completed. It's a green sunshine & shadow(same design as my aunt's sort of quillow) with 1 inch squares. I just have a couple more rows to put on, and then I'm going to quilt it.
It's supposed to represent my State(Oregon)
Do you think I should put a few trees on, or leave it like it is?
I'm debating it, as the 1 inch squares are actually pieced together, not strip pieced or paper pieced. That was a lot of work, and the trees will be more work. I don't know what kind of a quilt I'm going to get, I just don't know that I want to put a lot of time and effort into something, send it, and then get something that isn't as nice.
I am not sure yet, I'm going to try to get a few opinions, so please comment! :)
Emily

Getting Caught Up(at last)

Well, I have been thinking about my deadlines. I have most out of the way by now. My dad's quilt is done, my Aunt's quilt is done, I don't have any immediate swaps to fulfill, which is nice. I just have the Treadle On Block Exchange to do, and that's the end of the year. I have a few of those done as well, so it isn't like I am really putting it off. I have a bag of scraps to send somebody, as well, but that's about it.

I had joined a few secret pal swaps, and I've sent all of mine out, and I've gotten most of mine(I think there is still one to get)

So, what to do now?

I joined a year round Secret Angel swap, that sounds fun. My main concern is that there is not a limit for the amount to send somebody. I don't want to send a small envelope and get a box, or vice versa!!

It still sounds fun though, so I am hopeful it'll work out.

I also joined a Doll Quilt Swap. I am supposed to do a quilt to represent my state(Oregon)

I'm thinking about a 1inch sunshine&shadow in greens, with some trees appliquéd on.

I seem to be addicted to swaps!!!

Emily

Finished...

Well, I saw my Aunt yesterday, and it was great! We visited for a few hours, I showed her one of my machines(the western electric) and we worked on finishing the case.

I gave her the quilt. Here are two pictures of it. It is not a proper Quill ow, as I quilted it before I put the pillow thing on. I quilted it on my Riccar treadle(in the straight leg base) with the presser foot all the way done. It was 3 layers of batting - I wanted to give her a warm quilt.

My Davis VF complained about it, so thats why I used the Riccar. An EBay seller once said about the same machine "It's built like a tank."

One amusing comment on Craigslist was that this old machine was bullet proof!!! I was laughing hard about that! I love them because they are some heavy and dependable. I'd take one over a new one any day(unless it was a Bernina 830)

My dream though is still to get a Computerized embroidery sewing machine, I just don't have a 1000 dollars to spend on one yet...

Emily

Thanksgiving

Well, this week is thanksgiving, and black Friday too!

I'm not planning to get anything, but my family's bookstore is having a black friday, will be interesting to see how it does. Everybody is supposedly in Salem...

Emily

Progress

Well, I'm making progress on the quilt for my aunt. I have the fabric all cut out and ready to sew.

I'm looking forward to thanksgiving too!

It is just going to be a small meal with my parents. We will be skipping the Turkey, and just doing Stuffing, and a Spinach Soffle!

It'll be nice, because then neither me or my mom have to cook, much!!!

Emily

Sunshine & Shadow

In my Quilting group, the leader of it had me make Sunshine & Shadow as a baby quilt in reds.

I made it, and I really liked it, so I am going to use that pattern for my Aunt's quillow. I am going to do it in shades of blues, starting with light and going to dark. I have a panel with cats and birds on it that I'm going to use for the pillow part.

More next week

Emily

Finally Done

Well, I am finally done with my dad's quilt. I don't know why I took so long on the binding, but I procrastinated a bit, I'm afraid. I participated in a sew along swap a while ago, and I got 3 of the 4 rows of blocks from it. I made the other row. Not my best work, but I felt like it was good enough. I used high loft batting, which made it really warm! I had to use a big needle on my machine, and it clunked a bit, but it sewed it well.

Now onto a quilt for my aunt's birthday. She wants a mono chromic blue quillow.

Well, there is not much going on here. I've been working on the binding, but it is taking a while. I hope I'll be done soon.

Emily

Quilt for my Dad's Birthday.

Well, I almost have my dad's quilt done. I sewed my finger while quilting it, and luckily, I did not get the quilt bloody! It is quilted, but needs the binding. I was not able to do the binding, due to the fact that my family had a huge book pick up, it was 5 1/2 tons worth! I am going to work on the binding some, and hopefully get it done soon, as today is his birthday.. He doesn't mind he said, but I still want to get it done soon!

I quilted it on the Davis VF I got from the TOGA...

TOGA

Well, yesterday I went to a TOGA. For those of you who are not members of treadle on, it is a Treadle On Gathering Association. Toga for short. It was a mini Toga in Portland OR, and it was really fun. Jerry from Salem gave me a Davis VF, and a New Home(for a treadle base that I have) at the Toga, which was really nice of him. I can't wait to use the Davis, and the new home for that matter. I bought a treadle base for the Davis VF at the Toga, I hope to get it in soon.

There was a scrap catcher tutorial, by Sally W, that I did. Mine didn't turn out the best, but I'm using it anyway!

The raffle was wonderful. I noticed that Jerry L. had the Carter Bays Book for the raffle. I'd been wanting that book for a while, and for some reason, perhaps a system quirk, I'd never been able to get it from the library. I put two tickets in, and I won it!!! I am really happy about it, and I hope to read it soon.

I got a few other things from the raffle as well. Debra B. let me help with the raffle, it was really fun!

I came home with 5 machines, and 2 handcranks. It brings my total of machines up to 11.

I got a Wheeler & Wilson, which I've wanted for a while, a Western Electric(that I have no idea what I'm going to do with) and a 1895 Singer Handcrank. The singer handcrank I bought from Mary R, who put the Toga together. It runs really really nice, and I love it! I like how old it is too, since I've wanted to get a 100 yr old one for a while..

I got a Singer straight leg base, and I have put my Class 15 clone in there, it seems like it'll work very nice. I already told you about the Davis base, it is painted white, and a drawer is furry, but it still seems like it'll work!

In all, it was a wonderful day, and I really hope they do another one next year.

Thank you to all who helped make it possible. It was wonderful!!

Emily

Quilt for my Dad...

Hi Everyone!

I have been working on a quilt for my dad, and I have it pieced right now. I will post pictures when it is quilted. I am planning to quilt it on one of my treadles...

More next week.

Emily

White Elephant

Wow, I am doing pretty good today, this is my second post!

One of the main reasons I'm posting again, is I am hosting a white elephant swap, and I'm really excited about it, I just created a group!

      
Click to join White-elephant-swap
 

More about it later,

Emily

organizing the stash and other events

Hi!

Well, it's been a week and one day, since I last posted, and I still haven't taken a picture of my family quilts.

For most of the week(up until Wednesday) I was organizing my stash. I gave away 3 kitchen sack bags of blend fabric, or stuff I knew I was never going to use.

The first picture was taken about 6 months ago, when I changed my sewing room to my bedroom, and vice versa. It looked that good for a week and then my mom had to put her desk in there, thus it became a lot more crowded.

Now, 4 treadles reside in there, along with 2 machine heads and my fabric stash. The second picture is a little messy, sorry! I'm in the middle of making a quilt for my dad, whose birthday is on the 18th of Oct, so I really have to get it done quick! I'm using 8 blocks from a swap, and some flying geese I was given, I'm just piecing the top, didn't make any of the blocks.

Then, the bottom picture is the king size quilt I'm making for my mom out of blue fabric. I'm still collecting blues!

Have a great sunday,

Emily

Update

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. I've decided to start posting again, maybe updating once a week, or whenever I have something to say.

I now have 4 treadles.

I'm working on a paper pieced pineapple, that is taking a long time, I made a jacobs ladder quilt, am almost done with a twin + pinwheel quilt(I have about 3 blocks left to quilt)

and a few other things.

One of these days, I plan to take pictures of, and post them of my family quilts, as I need to do that! Here is a little taste, probaly the best quilt we have, maybe pre civil war, in perfect condition, and the stitches are really tiny!

It is covering my parents king size bed, that is how big it is.

I am also making potholders, and starting to make mini quilts, to sell. I have one potholder almost bound, 2 others I have quilted, and I am going to try to make more today. How many potholders should I make, do you think?

My family is doing a farmer's market, on the 26th, because since we are part of the local FOL, we help them a lot, and one of those was sitting at a farmers market table for a day. I asked the president and she said it was fine for me to have some of my things for sale.

I'm saving money for the TOGA(Treadle On Gathering Academy) and a fabric sale that is the exact same day!

More later,

Emily

Right now I am listening to "the master quilter" and hand quilting. Very good fiction book, in the elm creek quilts series.
Not that much else new, I am working also on my jacobs ladder blocks and am not sure if I am going to have alternating blocks like a snowball or something that adds to the blocks make them look better. they are huge, 12 inches and I love them. When I get to it I will post pictures. Having fun with my "new" treadle I almost like it better then my other one. It is different in good ways. I don't know if I've typed about it much, but it is a White FR(family rotary) patented 1913. Typical look, with attachments(most of them are there. There are only about 3 that I don't believe I have in my knowledge which isn't a lot)
It has a lot of decal damage, and you can see the metal underneath the black paint on a few spots. Otherwise it looks very nice and it is prettier then my other one. I sort of care, sort of don't. It works and thats good enough for me. I would love a old old one though sometime because I am and am not a collecter.
It runs very smoothly and producing a fair stitch. I put the belt on myself, which was not easy, I've never done that! Well, now I know, for the next time I bring home another treadle.......
E

Well, I keep forgetting to write.. I got another sewing machine, for 30$ and it is a treadle with a lot of the attachments. Not quite sure what all of the feet are, but still. It was in fairly good condition, I just cleaned and oiled everything, and put a new belt on and wow! Almost better then my other treadle(yes this is number two)

Grandmothers flower garden

Well, I am having "Issues" with the grandmothers flower garden. I was given 30 quilt blocks of grandmothers flower garden, with a print for a center. It is actual 30s fabric and I am getting really annoyed with it. Aside from my hand quilting, which you can see progress almost immediately, I do not like handwork. Because of how much I dislike it, during a power outage, I turned the hand wheel of my machine to get it to sew. I now have a treadle, so I don't have to do that. And man, did my hands hurt. . .
I can do it, but you see, I was afraid of the machine about 7 years, didn't want my finger to be sewed. I just did handwork. And now, well I'm sort of sick of it.
Anyway. Back to GMFG. I was then because I brought it to my group, given a quilt top by Lois, a really nice person in my group. And, it was GMFG... I decided I was going to, have my blocks be a border to that quilt, and I am now appliquéing them onto white squares... So, hopefully this saga will come to an end soon, in about a year. Then I have to go all around the hexagons with hand quilted. Oh well, it'll be great progress!
Emily

Busy

Right now I am really busy with sewing. I have two charity blankets in progress, I need to put the binding on those tonight. Then, I have to make my two dolls for the doll swap. I am also going to offer to make a baby blanket for another friend. So, if she agrees, that will be 4 baby blankets I've made THIS year!!!
Somehow, I'm sort of getting tired of baby blankets.....
I've been hand quilting my quilt for a while now, and while there is progress and it looks good, I have time to reflect on the flaws. I am not the most accurate quilter, and my quilts show that. Okay, the baby blankets/quilts don't. But those were just simple pieced tops. I mean, 12 10 inch squares? 1 top and 1 bottom piece, with a quilt block in the middle? Yes, easy. I had fun quilting the one quilt, that had double knit inside. I figured, why not use it up? Really fun to quilt. Now, the not so fun part. Binding!!
At least I know how to bind, thanks to my quilting group. A lady told me that they were going to work me hard on thursday. Well, I hope they do, because I love doing that kind of stuff!
Emily

charity blankets

Well, I asked a friend who, believe it or not, is going to Peru to do service! I am not jealous because I would not want to go there to do that, maybe as a vacation but not as service.
So, I am going to try to make two, and see how they turn out.
So, anyway, not much going on besides that.
Will post pictures when I am done
Emily

Next project

The quilt I'm currently doing, well, I didn't get to at all yesterday. I sewed one seam. I was gone the entire day, and I hand quilted, so I got something done, but I need to get to work on that. I don't really like my latest block, so I may give the quilt away, because right now, I do not like it at all. I don't even know why I liked that pattern. So, I am going to keep going, but I am sort of annoyed that it isn't shaping up. I guess I'm sort of picky!
I'm getting better at hand quilting, my stitchs are fairly even, with only a couple of big ones every block I do, and now I'm working on smaller stitchs and going faster. I was given this awesome leather thimble which I totally recomend that was made by clover. It is really thick and really really nice. I love it! The one thimble I got fell apart, so I wasn't that pleased, and I was trying thimbles out at my quilting group, and one of the ladies gave me one that I had liked, and was asking where to get one.
Emily

First post

This is sort of new for me, starting a blog. I do think it is neat, but I would rather be in my sewing room ;) So anyway, I have so far, 1 project I am hand quilting, that is a full, one that I am starting that is also going to be hand quilted that is going to be a twin. So far I have 2 12 inch blocks and am working on a third. I also have a quilt that I am going to be starting that will put the twin on the back burner, for my friend who just had a stroke and I would like to do something for her. No idea yet what it is going to be, but I'm going to take some patterns and see what her colors are etc.

I also recently finished a baby quilt for a friend of my parents. Pictures are above. I will post more pictures of the quilt blocks I'm working on, and the quilt I am quilting in my next post

Thanks for reading my blog!

Emily