Quilts ‘N Kilts

A report of recent events and accomplishments at SIL quilt retreat and other places…

Debbie’s “Lake House Quilt”.  Also notice the cute fish wall hanging. 

Debbie’s “Hanky Panky” quilt in 30s fabrics.

 

Mary Anne’s “Convergence” quilt.

Jenn’s latest finished quilt, a gift for some friends and their newborn daughter.

The quilting pattern is “Butterfly Beauty”.

 

  

He kilted up, went golfing  (for the first time in his life), and had fun.  The St. Paddy’s Day Golf Scramble organized by one of his friends was a great day for him.  I would have loved to have hidden in the bushes and spied on this hilarity!  I see another kilt (a “sport” kilt) in my future, perhaps one of camouflaged fabric?

Those are just some of the latest events here at the farm.  Never a dull moment around here!

KAT

Warning: Engage Brain Before Sewing!

As if you needed more proof that I can do ridiculous things, I offer you the following…

1.  At SIL quilt retreat I spent 6 hours working on ONE 6” block.  I decided to use “quick” techniques I have learned rather than using weirdly shaped templates for this block.  It took me FIVE tries to figure out that a).  I was sewing the quick corners to the WRONG SIDE of the diamond and, b) the template given was NOT the wrong size.  Because we have found several errors in the size of a few templates I quickly assumed they had made a mistake in printing this one.  How humbling to realize they were RIGHT, and my LOGIC was WRONG…  and it just took me 6 hours to figure that out!

2.  Several days ago I was quilting on a customer quilt.  The rows were offset, which means I had to be very careful when realigning for the next stitching row.  I did the first 3 rows.  I rolled the quilt.  I realigned.  I continued until I finished the quilt.  It looked great from the front.  Turned to the back to check for loose thread or any other problem and found… I had aligned to the WRONG ROW on that first realignment, which caused the spacing to be twice as large as it should be between those 2 rows. 

I can now say with certainty that what it takes the longarm 11.7 minutes to stitch out will take about 10 hours to remove.  I had to rip out those first three rows, then re-mount the quilt in the machine and complete it.  Thankfully the re-stitching was uneventful and the quilt looks very nice.

3. (And my final piece of evidence…) Today I was constructing a backing for this small quilt. 

I had a piece of fabric 43” x 108”.  I was going to split the fabric in half and re-sew going the other way so it would measure about 84” x 53”.   This would be plenty large enough for the 43” x 52” baby quilt.  I cut the fabric.  I sewed the fabric.  I was mounting it into the quilting machine when I realized that… I sewed it back together the same way I took it apart!  It is now 43” x 107”.  Let’s try this again….  the quilt is now done, but I am still shaking my head that I would make such a silly mistake.

So, for all of you out there who sometimes do silly things, don’t feel bad.  Even PROFESSIONAL quilters make goofy mistakes.  I hope this is the end of my goofy streak.  Engage brain, engage brain, engage…

That will be my mantra the next time I sit to sew or step up to the longarm!!

Be blessed today!  Retreat pictures will be included in the next post!

KAT

I’m Back!

It was loads of fun (the SIL Quilt Retreat)!  You will NOT see any pictures right now because…

What happens at SIL Retreat STAYS at retreat!  Not really… the reason you will not see pictures is because the rechargeable batteries I charged up and placed in my camera did not hold the charge, so my camera was DOA when I needed it.  So sorry!

BUT, one SIL is going to email me pics she took.  In addition, sometime (in the next day or 2) I will lay out all TWENTY of the new Farmer’s Wife blocks I completed and take a picture of them.  Yes!  20 more!!  That means I now have 40 six-inch blocks, which sounds impressive until you remember that this quilt requires 112 blocks.  Almost 1/3 of the way done… in 2 months.  I’m way ahead of my old schedule which would get this done in one year.  My new goal is to have all blocks made and ready to put together by the time my guild goes to our Texas quilt retreat in mid-July.

My two SILs also got lots done, so I’ll share that, also, when I get a chance.

Now, I am off to Scrap Therapy group.  Gee, I wish I had some “quilty” things to do in my daily life.  HAHA!

Have a wonderful day, and be BLESSED!

KAT