Summer of the UFO continues

The double irish chain quilt has been lying around for a while mostly quilted, just lacking the bindings. Somewhere along the way it became a dog quilt, or an inbetween-the-layers sort of quilt. It has more issues than I care to list, but it still works perfectly well to keep you warm :)

I have been practicing freemotion quilting in the open squares when the mood strikes me, but I decided I can do that with the binding on. So, I sewed together all the bits of binding I had leftover from previous projects - everything from bold checkerboards to subdued dark solids - put the binding on and washed it. It's a nice size quilt and I like the colors; it's so nice to finally have it done!

The plume top is layered and in the process of quilting so with any luck I'll have another one finished soon!

Another cat, and a new toy!

This is Turtle, the third cat I'm profiling. There were four kittens in Turtle's litter, all black and white. They were born the summer of 07 under a friend's trailer. After their mother was killed in the road the kittens started meowing pitifully from inside the ducting under the trailer. Our friend told us to come get them if we wanted them to live, so we did. One kitten died mysteriously after a day but the other three thrived. I bottle fed them (every four hours, throughout the night...) for about a week or two and then they started eating real food. One of his brothers was given away to an older lady and the other was incompletely neutered and subsequently ran away.

Turtle was briefly bonded to a fuzzy house shoe during his kitten-hood. He got his name because there are white gaps at the tops of his legs, base of his tail, and back of his neck, as if the "shell" of black on his back stops there. He is the largest of our cats. I've always said he's dense, because he's just so much heavier than he looks. He is a lazy, happy go lucky kinda boy. He purrs constantly, everywhere he goes, and when he purrs he squeaks, as if his motor has a squeaky wheel. He also drools when he purrs, which can be a little gross; our house is full of "special" cats.




Check out this cool new cutting mat I got! It's small to fit on top of my desk and it has two parts so it spins. You don't have to turn your fabric, just spin the mat to get the perfect angle. It's pretty nice.

I other news, I've started quilting on the Irish chain quilt. I decided to go with the simple grid design, but there isn't much to see yet. Today I'm going into the city! I hope your day is great :-)

Wanted: Advice on Quilting (and another cat)

This is Calley, the next cat I'm profiling. Yes, I know that's the most un-original name for a calico cat ever. I named her E.T., but my parents overruled - so what can you do? She is the other kitten we kept out of Elvis' litter. She is the only girl out of our cats and she is absolutely the Princess (and she knows it!) Everything has to be her way all the time. She can be sweet when she's in the mood, but she's definitely more fickle than our boys.










When she was a baby she really looked odd, even alien, with her washed out fur, tiny, flat head, and strange eyes. She's a genuine knot head, figuratively and literally, having a little bump on the back to her skull. She was my dad's favorite of that litter, which is why she got to stay. I keep hearing him call her all the pet names he called me growing up, so I think I may've been replaced by a cat.






On the quilting front, today I basted the double Irish chain, or at least I was until I ran out of pins. It will have to remain taped to the floor for a couple of hours until I can run to the store. I am still undecided about the quilting for this one. I know I want to do some kind of straight line quilting. I am debating between quadruple diagonal lines running through the chains, possibly with something more elaborate in the blank squares, or horizontal and vertical lines a quarter inch on either side of the seams. I feel like the grid quilting would give it a more modern feel, which I like, but I'm worried it will overwhelm the piecing pattern. I also find the diagonal lines kind of boring, but I know it will accentuate the pattern and I could try something fun and new in the blank spaces. I'll probably start quilting tomorrow, so, any advice, guys?

And we're back!

As you can see Wilson has found his new spot on top of fabric storage. That's the rolled up bargello quilt he's sleeping on top of. I'm excited to have more room here and actually be able to unpack my fabric so I can see it all - not that I've finished getting it all put up.




I have finished sewing together the double irish chain top. It was supposed to be a leaders-enders project but I enjoyed piecing it so much I "cheated" and just finished it. All the colored patches are from a $10 scrap bag from my LQS. This top is 80" square and I've barely made a dint in that scrap bag! For this top the squares used were completely random, but for the next one (and there will be more!) I'm going to select a color scheme and stick to it. I'm thinking red and brown... or maybe blue and yellow.

Now that I've dug my camera out of my luggage I promise to start blogging again. Tomorrow I need to roll back the rug in the living room and baste quilts. I now have 3 tops in the "To be basted" pile. Hope your week is looking good!

It's been a productive day

Thank to Joanne for helping me out with the squares I needed to finish off the rainbow strings quilt. It is now basted and ready to begin quilting. I didn't intentionally fussy-cut this quilt in the border, but isn't that just adorable? I've had a quilting pattern in mind for this practically since I first started it so I can't wait to get it done.

The other thing I spent time on today was developing a pattern for the Whirligig Quilt and revamping my etsy shop to sell quilty stuff. Hopefully within the next few days I'll have the Whirligig pattern stocked in there.

I got tired of looking at the box of scraps I brought home from my LQS a few months ago so I decided to reduce them all the 2.5" squares and start a leaders-enders project to make use of them. They're all nice quality fabrics but mostly odd shapes, some up to a quarter yard or so. I couldn't believe how many 2.5" squares came out of that scrap box! I don't know how much fabric was there, but it must have been a few yards. Anyway, a scrappy Double Irish Chain is now in the works, one leader-ender at a time. I hope you had a good day and you're heading for a good week!