Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Starting them early.... part 2

I mentioned that I was helping two youngin's learn to quilt. Friday was fall break so the kiddos spent the afternoon with me. I wasn't quite sure how to go about teaching them. I didn't know which tools to allow them to use and what could be dangerous. I opted out of having them use a rotary cutter. I think second and third grade is just too young, especially since I didn't want to end up calling their dad to meet us in the ER. So after retrieving the fabric they picked out, I gave them a template to use to outline rectangles to cut out. They did a few while I used the rotary cutter to do several more. Once they had their pieces all cut , they placed them into groups of four so we could start sewing. Anna wasn't comfortable guiding her fabric through the machine so she worked the peddle while I did took care of the fabric. After about three blocks, she decided to take a permanent break to play outside. I finished her four-patches and moved on to help Julia.



Julia was much more interested in the process. She was able sew together all of her four-patches before getting picked up for the afternoon. I promised to add the background fabric and finish her blocks. Here is the progress:




We have 12 blocks for Julia that are ready to be laid out and sewn together. I'll probably let her lay them out and I'll sew them together. Then we'll layer everything and I think I'll teach her tie it. I've never tied a quilt so we'll be learning together. It's great to see her so excited about this project. Hopefully I've creating the next generation quilter!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Straight Lines

I rarely do any quilting that calls for my walking foot. But I loved the design of my Purdue quilt so much, I wanted to accentuate the zigs and zags. Normally I free motion quilt and can finish a lap size quilt in a few hours.



But this quilt? It's taking FOR-EV-ER. I spend about an hour doing each zig zag. There are 10 total. Doh! But I'm in love with how it's turning it out so it's totally worth it. Here's a sneak peak. I hope to have the binding attached by Monday.


Thursday, October 15, 2009

A pinning we will go...

The the back is pieced, the top is layered and the pins are in. I'm actually looking forward to quilting this baby. (Quilting is usually my least favorite part of the process...)




Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Zigging right along

The Purdue quilt is coming along quite nicely. I've been itching to do a zig zag quilt for some time, using Amanda Jean's technique. No triangles - music to my ears!




I've since added the borders and started piecing the backing. I hope to get the backing put together this week and then move on to layering and quilting. I'm undecided on the quilting pattern but that's often the case. I don't usually decide how to quilt something until its layered.
I completed some other projects this weekend however they weren't quilt related. I made some corn hole bags for the brother-in-law who sells corn hole sets. I also started Seeger's Halloween costume. For someone who is NOT a sewer and doesn't know the first thing about making an article of clothing - seriously, I can barely hem a pair of pants - it's going pretty well. Not perfect, definitely home-made, but at least you can tell what he's supposed to be.