Sunday, May 30, 2010

Quilt for a friend...

Hi!
I got the bargello even further finished( I added more onto it) and I am going to put borders around to make it a king sized quilt. I am think I need a 50 inch border, not sure what I am going to do with that yet!

I am making a signature quilt, and I'm starting to work on that right now. I have a charm pack, and thus am laying out the sqaures. It's going to be very simple, just squares solids and white alternating. I have until the 12th to get it finished, so I need to hurry!

Today I talked to a women I have known for quite a few years. She used to quilt, but has not done so for a while. I'm going to make her a lap quilt in blues. I am thinking maybe a Jacobs Ladder pattern but I am not sure.

Yesterday we picked up from a booksale - Manzinita. It was fairly nice, and we got about a truck load and a half(maybe around 2 tons) from them. They are the nicest sale we pick up from, so it's well worth the 4 hour driving time! We took two trucks, and one broke down sadly, so we were able to call AAA, and get it towed back to salem. Luckily it was under 100 miles!

I had a eventful day, at any rate, and I am hoping to make tons of progress on the signature quilt.
Emily

Monday, May 24, 2010

Bargello




Hi!
I got the top done, sort of for my Bargello. I am debating whether or not to add the strips to make it bigger. What do you think, add it or use it for something else?
I had a lot of fun with it. What I'd like to do, is make it into a king size quilt, maybe add borders or something. My mom wants a blue quilt for her bed, and she sort of likes this..
It was sewn on my riccar treadle, and will be quilted on my davis VF.

On another note, I am hosting a swap on another board. I think I talked about it a bit a while ago. I am having fun with it, and have opened the swap for the next month :) I got my package(it was great) and it seems like other people are having fun with it too!
Emily

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Getting the blues - bargello wise





Hi!
The above pictures are what I have done so far. I'm having some problems with it - I have to resew what is on the machine, but other then that, it is coming nicely. Currently I have over half of my strips cut, and I hope to start arranging and sewing fairly soon.

Will post a longer post later, when I have it done!!
Emily

Saturday, May 15, 2010

More Bargello...

Hi!
I've made some good progress on my Bargello. I have 20 different strips of fabric, 3 1/2 inches wide. They are light to dark blues, and are very pretty in my opinion ;)

I've been sewing them on my faithful Riccar. It's a circa 1962 Green Class 15 clone, in a Singer Straight leg base. It is a awesome machine!

Currently I have all the stirips sewn together, now.... I just need to cut. This project has really consumed me, I am not like this on a project - usually. I don't think I have ever been. My constant thought process is: Bargello Bargello etc etc etc....

I am looking for a Davis Vertical Feed - as I posted, I recently got a base for one, now I have an excuse to get another one ;)
I was watching one on Ebay, but I asked the seller how many watchers, and she said 18. Yikes!!

I'm off to sew, and obsess over The Bargello... Will be posting pictures pretty soon, maybe later today.
Emily

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

New - sort of Treadle!


Hi!
I need to start the Bargello soon - I'm thinking about it more.. In the meanwhile, yesterday I got a treadle! It worked out very nicely for me and getting it, the seller was very nice. It was funny. I thought it was a White FR head, with a base that the machine(White FR) would fit. I got the White FR of which I now have 2 - though the one I got yesterday looks a lot nicer then my other one.

So, we were driving home, and I looked back at it. The irons didn't look particularly white like...
It looked like my Davis NVF base, only nicer. Sure enough, I compared it, and they are for the same machine. While I was hoping to get a base for my White FR, this is even better! I love my Davis NVF - and now I have a excuse, I call it "bait" to get another one :) I put my Davis NVF in it, and it works so nicely.

It was really neat, the cabinet's sliding chain had come apart(all parts aside from a few screws were there) and I was able to get it to work again! I've never done anything like that!

Now, for this to be quilt -ish, and not just me going on and on about a new treadle ;)
I signed up for a Round Robin yesterday. It sounds like it'll be fun - I already have a center for it, and I think I'll learn a lot. I've been postponing joining one, because I felt like I wasn't good enough. I hope I've learned enough to be good enough, but the rules didn't appear to say "you work has to be perfect" it was more do the best you can...

Wow, this got long! Shows you how long I can go on and on and on about treadles...

Emily

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Bargello Challenge

Hi!
I currently don't have any sewing swaps(that I can think of) but I do have 3 secret pals I need to send this month! I am going to be doing it early, so I can focus on other things the rest of the month!

One of the swaps I am hosting, and it's a lot of work. I had to match everyone up(I wrote names twice on slips of paper and put in a box and pull randomly) but that was fun - especially seeing who I'll get ;)

It'll be interesting to see how it works out, as this is really my first time doing a swap - aside from the white elephants.

In my quilting group, that meets every week, I've been doing a baby quilt for the past month or so. I was really hoping to get it done last week, but I had to leave too early :(

There was a box of fabric where the print was the same, but the colors different. I got an idea - a bargello! I've not been the best piecer, and I'd just brought in a quilt I made about a year ago, it was a really bad quilt. I asked the top quilter if I could do a Bargello, but I can tell she isn't too happy about me doing it - considering my previous history with piecing. However, something she doesn't take into account, is I have just done flannel, I am a lot better with cottons, then I am with flannels, as that is what I work with mostly.

So, I need to make a little sample to prove I can do Bargello. Any cool Bargello patterns you know about?

Hope all of you have a great day!
Emily