Huge print fabric and 2 charity quilts - part One

I got a large amount of a huge print fabric from a member in our Clark County Quilters group.  It's kind of nice how other members think of me when they are donating fabric, or just looking at what is already on the free table.  I've made all kinds of things over the years and just love how kind other quilters are.  

I sketched up a couple of ideas and discovered that I could make 2 quilt tops for charity with the fabric that I had.  One of the quilts will be the large squares offset with blue and yellow strips.  The other will have red and light blue strips with the large colorful squares.   

And here they are all finished and ready to donate.  They're 50" W x 60" L.

 I hope you like them!

Batting by the bolt

I used to purchase batting on the bolt at JoAnn's Fabrics when they had it on discount, or when I had a 50% off coupon.  Well, as mot of you know, JoAnn's went out of business.  So, I asked around with my friends, and it seems we are all in that space of not having local retail to source supplies.  The days of getting batting locally are over, unless you want to buy it in pre-sized packages.  

One internet site is doing a ton of advertising and I decided to give them a try.  It's Linda's Electric Quilters.  They are in Texas and ship very quickly.  Of course, there are shipping charges and taxes to pay.  Anyway, I had previously ordered Thermore batting and was pleased with how quickly it was delivered.  The roll of Hobbs 80/20 batting shipped the day after I placed the order.  Here is how it showed up at my doorstep:

It came in a big cardboard box and was wrapped in a sturdy plastic bag.

I took it out of the box and dragged it upstairs to my quilting studio, leaving it in the plastic bag.  Yes, it was heavy with 30 yards of batting on it, but I was able to carry it myself (well, dragging the lower half).   Frankly, it was easier than carrying it to my car, loading and unloading it in the garage, and then dragging it upstairs.  Not that it is an option anymore.

I can't wait to start using it... it should last a long time.

Finishing Charity quilts of Jane's stash

I picked up a couple of unfinished quilts from Audrey Prothero, who is helping to get her sister Jane's charity quilts completed.  Jane passed away a few months back, and had nearly 100 quilts that needed to be finished.  Most of the blocks were done, and some were already sewn together.  It was quick to get them sewn together.  And it was just as quick to get them quilted on my sit-down longarm.  

Here they are:

44" x 56".  The blocks were all done.  I added the black sashing, border, backing and binding.  It was quilted with red thread.

38" x 44".  The blocks were all done and were sewn into rows.  I added the sashing, borders, backing and binding.

I hope whomever gets these quilts likes them!

Luau Torches - Part one

I recently downloaded a free pattern called "Luau Torches".  It looks like it was originally a mystery quilt pattern, but it was offered free as a complete download.  It looked like just the right pattern for a quilt retreat project.  I missed out on several quilt retreats in the last year due to hip issues, hip surgery, and personal travel.  But, this time, I was able to secure a spot and put it on my calendar.

I printed off a couple of sheets of the pattern in black and white and colored them in with colored pencils.  It was no surprise to me that I selected green, turquoise and navy for my colors.   I also decided not to add the borders so that the quilt was the smaller size that our charity group likes to donate.

To make things smoother at the retreat, I precut all of the pieces and placed them in a project box. 

Can't wait for the retreat to sew this up!

Kangaroo and Joey Sewing machine cabinet

It took a while to get the sewing machine cabinet delivered, but it finally arrived at the dealer in flat fold boxes.  We picked it up, removed all the pieces from the boxes and carried them all upstairs.  No need to go the gym that day!

The assembly instructions from Arrow were very complete, with tons of drawings and tips.  They also have a YouTube video on how to install the hydraulic lift mechanism and another one on how to assemble the cabinet.  I was very impressed that they had a woman doing the assembly in the video; that appealed to my sensibility that women can be engineers (like me) and can put things together (like many of you). I love getting out my tools and doing things like this.  Here is the link to the assembly video: assembling the Kangaroo cabinet.  

I did run into a few snags along the way and asked my husband to come up and help me figure things out and hold the heavier parts when two people were needed.  He graciously volunteered to keep helping me.  After 2 days and a few sore hands and bodies, we gave up and called the shop.  Turns out, there were some manufacturing issues that  needed to be fixed before we could complete the assembly.  Our local shop decided to come to the house and complete the assembly for us to make things right.  Gotta love that customer service from the local shop.

In the meantime, we assembled the Joey cabinet.  Again, the instructions were detailed and easy to follow. 

Here is the completed set-up.  It's huge and I love it.

Sheer Class with Kathie Kerler - part two and final - Beach

I wrote a post a little while ago about taking the class with Kathie Kerler on working with sheers.  I did decide to add more quilting after letting it sit for a few weeks.

A few years ago, I quilted a fish themed quilt for my husband.  One of the motifs that I quilted was a large circle with small circles inside of it.  That seemed to fit this quilt too, so I put a few of these on this quilt.  Then, I added horizontal stitches between all of the large circles.  I liked it!  It was faced, and ended up 24" W x 26" H.  I'm calling it "Beach".

I hope you like it!

New Machine and New Layout in the Studio

I couldn't resist the sales events from the local Bernina dealers during late February and March.  Knowing that one of my machines was nearing the end of its life, I jumped on the deals and bought a new Bernina 770 QE Pro along with the embroidery module.  

The machine was so big that it didn't fit into my sewing cabinet.  So, I also had to buy a new sewing cabinet.  I bought the Arrow Kangaroo and Joey combination.  

All of this meant big changes in my studio layout.  My sister came down for a visit and helped me lay out the space and shop for the cabinet.  I'm getting used to the new layout and think that I'm going to love being able to see my design wall and have the ironing board in front of a window.  

I sold my old cabinet, my featherweight machine, and my traveling table to help offset the cost of the new cabinet.  I also plan to sell my Bernina 440 and all of its components.  Now, I just need to learn how to use my new machine and the embroidery module.  I guess that its always good to learn new things, especially at my age.  And this should be my last new machine and cabinet; so why not!