Here it is! I'm still feverish, but I felt good enough to finish last Friday's UFO. Here are my little Lemoyne stars made into a doll quilt. Only a couple of nine patches and a diagonal setting, et voila! Thank you all for suggesting a doll quilt--I had forgotten all about that excuse not to have to make a hanging sleeve. I was dreading making another wall quilt because I am sick of making hanging sleeves. So a doll quilt was the perfect cop-out...uh...I mean answer. The black and white stripe is the binding--but after I set the quilt on this black background, I see I could've added a black border, too--perhaps a little bit wider than my picture. Ah well, too late. It's done.Here is a close up of the quilting. Again, flu sapped my motivation. I did something easy that I didn't have to plan too much:
Swirly things. Easy. I like my backing:
Fevers make me a little crazy. I know the back has nothing to do with the front, but I was feeling feisty. And I like surprises. The quilting looks neat on the back:
One UFO down! What UFO shall I show you next? Oh yeah, another easy one. All that needs to be done on this one is a binding:
Piece O'Cake fabrics in a Piece O' Cake pattern design. I'm not sure if the pattern is still available.
This poor little quilt has been un-bound for over a year. I'm not sure why I stopped right before the binding. Unfortunately, it's not really doll quilt shape, nor is it tablerunner shape. I thought about making it into a bag, but then again, I think about making everything into a bag. Perhaps I stopped on this quilt because it was shaping up to be yet another wall quilt...and that meant yet another hanging sleeve!
UFO Fridays are educational. I didn't know that I hated making hanging sleeves so much. Perhaps I should re-evaluate my construction method, which I'll admit, is pretty perfectionist. I don't feel the slightest bit guilty about patchwork points not meeting perfectly, or sloppy machine quilting, but I guess I'm pretty fuss-budgety about sleeves. They must be straight and perfect and hand-sewn so that the quilt doesn't even know it has a hanging sleeve! I've seen sleeves that distort the quilt so badly! The poor quilt is all curled up around its rod in frightened fetal position, being choked to death by a too-tight rod....gag!! Ack!!
Yeah. Time to let that go. I'll call my quilt psychiatrist and set up and appointment.
I'm also not crazy about the quilting I did on this quilt. I took the time to hand-applique the whole thing, I don't know why I machine quilted it. I like my vines in the green squares, but I don't know why I did that plain ol' meandering thing around the flowers. I think I got lazy. The quilt deserves better....sob...I let it down. Gee, lots to talk about at that appointment this week...
My husband and I were filming his new gizmo today and we decided to take a little film of me quilting my Lemoyne star. Only my hands are visible because I'm still in my jammies surrounded by a flu cloud, but you can see how fast I go. I have my Bernina floored as fast as it will go and I try to move my hands smoothly and evenly. You can hear how fast the machine is going, but the film quality distorts the visual speed of the needle because it's not taking digital frames fast enough. So it LOOKS like I'm going slower than I am, but you can hear that the machine is at max. Click on the arrow twice to play the video:
I go really fast because I have a lot more control that way. Again, it's like driving a car. You can round curves smoother when you're driving fast than when you're driving slowly. When you're driving slowly, you have to make too many jerky corrections. Imagine trying to round a curve at 10 mph. Driving fast, you just zoom and glide, zoom and glide.
Whew...too much zooming tonight for me. More tylenol and back to bed.
18 comments:
Lisa, I LOVE your doll quilt! It is simply beautiful, and you say you're not an artist. All evidence suggests you are a marvelous artist. Watching the video of the quilting process is very inspiring, too. Wow, to be so inspiring even when you're not feeling well - such a gift. You may as well just do it as far as the sleeve on the other quilt goes. It's too pretty to remain a ufo.
I love your quilts!!!!!! Awesome! I would love to have my machine flush with my table (hubby promises me a built-in table that he will make and I am still waiting!!!). How do you manage to go so fast in a flu fog? hope you are feeling better!!!
Awesome quilts! Just so cool looking! I really love the black, red and white one - what is it about those colors that just really pop!
I love both of the quilts, the are adorable. Love what you did with the black, white and red blocks. Great job. You really come up with very cute designs. Sorry you were feeling bad, hopefully that too has passed. Already had this icky stuff going around and I hope not to get anything else this year!!!
Hi Lisa, Wish you are better now! I like both these quilts!I also want to thank you for the lovely surprise I found today in our mailbox!!! Thank you, thank you ever so much! Kiitos as we say in Finnish! Just starting our one week sport holiday. Tomorrow to Helsinki to Handcraft Fair.
Go Speed Racer!! LOL -- I agree with you - it only works if you're doing Mach 4 with your hair on fire......
Gee -- I must be a dork 'cos I think the meander amoungst the vines is fine - it keeps the emphasis on the beautiful applique and nice piecing. IMHO.......
Awesome doll quilt, can't the other one be a table topper? aren't they square? Maybe we can come up with something new, if Moda can come up with Jelly Rolls and Layer Cakes, why not! Heal thyself! I pictured you cuddled up with your book!
Wow, you are more productive with the flu than most of us are without it. sheesh, talk about setting the bar higher - I would've been curled up watching old chick flix. . meanwhile, you are playing NASCAR on your quilt top! If having the flu makes for productivity, can you send me some of those germs?
The black and white doll quilt is gorgeous, love everything about it, and the quilting looks fabulous, especially on the background fabric.
I have that same piece o'cake pattern and all the fabrics - have not made it yet, but yours is an inspiration to get it out and get going on it. I really like the quilting that you have done and I agree that the emphasis stays on the flowers that way. In fact, I think it's kinda funny, on the quilt I finished and posted on my blog yesterday, I did the same thing - meander in the white areas around the flowers, and vines with leaves in the sashing -- I think it's lovely.
I was laughing at the hanging sleeve - isn't it funny how there can be parts of this process we don't want to finish??
Good to hear you're getting better. LOVE both those quilts expecially the backing with the curliques. Thanks for the videos - you DO go fast! The gizmo is very clever, and happy, and DID make me smile.
oh we can easily swap talents: I make your hanging sleeves and you machine quilt my table runners, you are awkwardly fast, I fear for your thumbs , okay I m not familiar with machine quilting perhaps I should give it a go............and get a kick of MACH 4,too.
Btw your f os are pretty and I simply adore this tropical hibiscus backing, so lush,yummy!
Aloha.
I just came over, by way of Happy Zombie, and I wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying your blog. I am enjoying your blog and your website... your quilts are so fresh and beautiful. I laughed out loud at the keiki hula one that your friend calls "The Button Babes," because we recently had a button incident, in Hawaii, with our keiki girl. I look forward to visiting your blog again soon. Thank you.
Great little quilt, well done! Checking off the UFO's is such a great feeling. I wouldn't worry so much about letting the quilt down, I subscribe to the "Finished is better than perfect" philisophy.... if I didn't I'd drive myself and everyone around me crazy! Galileo's Bicycle is awesome, it DID make me smile!
What a fun video! I love to drive my machine to quilt too! Congratulations on getting your UFO done! I absolutely Love the Piece of Cake quilt! What fun and pretty fabric. I have to admit I have 4 quilts that just need the binding hand stitched to the back. One of the quilts is queen size and the others are medium/twin in size. I guess I just want to knit right now and not hand stitch bindings! Ugh! Is there anyway someone could come up with a time delayer? LOL!
Both your quilts are gorgeous. Congrats on two big finishes!
Hey, have you thought about alternate methods besides a hanging sleeve? I don't know how to use hanging sleeves, except with curtain rods. Other methods include using those plastic round circles, just attach one or two, and use a nail.
Or you could put triangles in the corners when you put on the binding, and secure your dowel with those. See Ami Simms website for that info.
I've even attached fabric loops on my quilts, on the back where it wouldn't show, although technically you could attach it into the binding, and let it show above the quilt.
I adore the black, white, and red. So striking!
I adore the purple and green piece'o'cake quilt! If you don't want/need another wallquilt, then turn it into the most fantabolous laptop-bag ever!!!
That would be soooo pretty. Unless of course you have one of those itty-bitty laptops that almost fit in your pocket....?
I love the quilt... and love the back too! I loved your machine quilting video too. I want to learn, I want to learn... and through you I think I'm going to finally learn how!
I watched your yarnballer video too - WAY cool. So when is your amazing husband going to invent/build something that folds and puts fabric neatly away?
Woah Nice free-motion there!
I've broken MANY a needle trying to go that fast, but as they say: "How do you get to carnagie hall?"
practice, practice, practice...
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