Free Motion Mavericks - Week 369 - Planning Pays Off

Now that the marmalade season has just about finished, I am getting back to work on the wedding quilt.  These are the three colours that I am using for the backing, with the gold fabric I have set aside for the binding on the left.  Yesterday I cut out the last of the pieces ready for the sandwiches.  It was quite an adjustment, picking up again from where I left off, after abandoning the project for a while.  Fortunately, I have planned this quilt with uncharacteristic efficiency.

This is how I started, with these little squares representing the nine main blocks.  I coloured them in, with a different colour for each of the fabrics I was going to use, making each block different.  Then I spent an hour and a half at least arranging them like puzzle pieces to make sure the colours were evenly distributed across the whole quilt.  The writing on the back corresponds with which way up the block is placed, and notes all the fabrics to be used and the colour of the backing.

Once I had pieced the nine central blocks I planned the border and corner blocks.

The amazing thing is not just that I have drawn up plans for this quilt, but also that they weren't on scrappy backs of envelopes and that I haven't lost them.  I have even kept the sheets of paper where I was working out the cutting plan for the backing fabrics, which I had miscalculated when buying them because two of the fabrics were narrower than the first one I chose.  That piece of paper also has marmalade calculations on it, how much sugar for the weight of fruit, and just about sums up my creative life over the past few months.

Is it still realistic to hope for a finish by Easter?  Let's see...

 Here goes for Week 369:-

Many thanks to Gretchen for linking up with her Circle of Squares quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 367 - A Break From Quilting

It has been a busy fortnight of zero quilting.  The kitchen has turned into a marmalade factory because it is that time of year again, the month and a half when Seville oranges are on sale, and when I haven't been busy cooking I have been cleaning up a machine.

This smart Singer 99K belongs to my neighbour Jenny.  It has been up in her loft for years, and her son fetched it down a couple of weeks ago.  It belonged to her mother, and hasn't been used for decades.

I checked the serial number and found that it was manufactured in 1935.

When I lifted the machine to look underneath it I found the original manual hidden in the base.  Luckily the machine hadn't been oiled before it was put away, otherwise oil would have dripped down on the manual and ruined it.

With the manual was an interesting looking gadget called the Singercraft Guide.  I have never come across one of these before.  

It has a blade at the end, the thickness of a razor blade.

The only instructions with the attachment were for fitting in a blade, which must be well nigh impossible to replace these days.  There were no clues as to what it was used for, but checking online I found that it is an ingenious little device used for making rugs.

Perhaps that explains why the machine was so incredibly dusty.

The bobbin winder was absolutely caked with fibres...

... but once I had finished cleaning I was delighted to see that the dust hadn't been hiding any rust.

It was the same story under the needle plate...

... but once I got into all the nooks and crannies I could see everything was going to move perfectly.

The only repair I had to do was a bit of shammy leather tied around the finger on the handcrank, because the original covering, which was probably leather, had worn away so that when the wheel was being turned metal was knocking against metal. 

Once all the cleaning and the repair was done, I gave the machine a generous oiling, and also cleaned the body of the machine with a little dab of oil on cotton wool.

The it was time to test the stitch.  As I expected, perfect!  These old 99Ks make a lovely stitch.

 

Here goes for Week 367:-

Many thanks to Gail for linking up last time with her Fall Mystery Quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The 

first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 365 - The First Sandwiches

 

Only five sandwiches for the wedding quilt are made so far, and I started with the four corners because they are only about 17 inches square.  I thought I would make the smallest pieces first to get myself going.

There is a straight line of quilting along the edges of the scrappy strips, which I have sewn with my 1927 Singer 99K.  I haven't used this machine since early 2016, which is when I started using my 1916 machine to celebrate its centenary.  The old machine has had a good run of six years, and I fancied using the 1927 machine again to add to the enjoyment of making this wedding quilt.  Much as I love the 1916 machine, I had forgotten how much smarter the newer machine looks, and how smoothly it runs.

Just these few lines of straight quilting help keep the sandwich together, so that means fewer quilting pins, and it will be easier to handle when it comes to the free motion quilting.  

Just another twenty sandwiches to go!

Here goes for Week 365:-

Many thanks to Frédérique for linking up last time with her baby owl quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The 

first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 363 - Happy New Year

The New Year is here, so I wish everyone a Happy New Year for 2022... and it's not over yet, today is the Epiphany, so a very belated Happy Christmas too!

We have had a very quiet Christmas, which included three trips to the dentist's for my husband and a nice soft slow cooked gammon joint for Christmas dinner.  You get the general idea.  Plans for a jolly New Year at my brother's place to celebrate his birthday, which is New Year's Eve, were scotched by illness in his family, so we are planning a get together for February instead.  The weather has been monumentally dreary, so it has been a great time for staying in and getting on with a bit of sewing.

And here it is, block number 25!  The scrappy strips really work, keeping the eye busy between the large areas of plain colour, and I am delighted not to have to fiddle around with scraps again on this project.  As I hoped, I had all the blocks pieced by early January, and on Monday I had a trip out to stock up on wadding and backing fabric.  I already had a short length of dark yellow, about a quarter of the amount I need, and hoped to be able to find a matching yellow to go with it.  All the yellows I found were bad matches, so I decided to buy some dark red and dark purple so I can back the blocks in different colours and put together a bold design on the back.  That should make the prospect of making 25 sandwiches a little less daunting.

Here goes for Week 363:-

Many thanks to Vivian for linking up with her Civil War Strippie Quilt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The 

first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 361 - Piecing Blocks

 

Unsurprisingly, today has not been a good day for taking photos, so the best I can do is an ironing board shot, looking all the world like the view from a model aeroplane coming in for a crash landing.  I have a definite love-hate relationship with the scrappy strips.  They take ages to make, fiddling around with dog-eared scraps, but without them the blocks would be dull and uninspiring. The narrow blue strip in the middle of the photo was made with a strip a little less than an inch wide, a bit of irregular selvedge trimmed from a piece years ago.  I keep things for years, wondering why I bother, and then end up glad I didn't bin them.

I am now well on the way with piecing the blocks for the wedding quilt, having finished eight blocks and reached the stage where I have a system going.  Just when most people are finishing off projects in time for Christmas, I am just starting and have no deadline to worry about.  We have a quiet Christmas ahead of us, so I am glad to have a project to keep me busy.  I only wish I had more photos to show, but with weather so dull and overcast that I need the light on in the house for me to be able to sew, the camera can't capture the colours and do them justice.  

Here goes for Week 361:-

Many thanks to Gail for linking up last time with her latest finishes.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more. 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The 

first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.

Scrappy Strips

One of the most time consuming, fiddly jobs ever, but totally worth the effort.  I have been using up scraps to make 2 inch strips to incorporate into the blocks for the wedding quilt.  When I started, I sorted out a pile of scraps and set them aside in a shoe box.  The jumble of pieces in the box is now rapidly dwindling, so much so that I am wondering whether there will be much left once it comes to making a strip for the border of the quilt.

At the moment I am making great progress with piecing the blocks.  I have already finished six, all measuring 21 inches square, and have three more to make in the same size.  After that I will be making the blocks for the border, twelve measuring approximately 15 x 21 inches, and four 15 inch square corner blocks.  I am hoping to get most of the piecing done before the New Year, and then go shopping for the wadding and backing fabric in January.

It is years since I made a large quilt.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy it. The weather has been dull and dreary, ideal for staying in, but useless for photos.  If the sun shines soon, I shall have to take some photos ready for my progress report later this week.

Andrée is hosting Free Motion Mavericks at the moment, so I am linking up to her blog just in the nick of time before the linky closes!

Free Motion Mavericks - Week 359 - Designing the Wedding Quilt

You might recognise this quilt, one of my all-time favourites.  It has been across the back of the settee for over a week so I can work out how I am going to make the wedding quilt.  The strips between the large blocks of colour work well in giving the quilt a modern look, and I have decided to use this technique again.  Fortunately I have plenty of scraps that are suitable, and I have started work already.  To increase the range of colours, I am also using up a bundle of colour samples, which are approximately four and a half inches square, ideal for two inch wide strips.

Of course, I had forgotten how fiddly and time consuming the whole process is.  I am hoping to make plenty of strips before I cut the larger pieces.  I am trying to plan the layout of the blocks in advance rather than make the blocks first, as I usually do.  Initially I shall be making nine eighteen inch square blocks, and then I shall work out the size and design of the border blocks afterwards.  At the rate I am going I shall be lucky to have it finished by Easter.

Here goes for Week 359:-

Many thanks to Gail for linking up last time with her tree skirt.  If you haven't seen her blog post yet, nip over now and see more.

 

If you have no free motion quilting to show, feel free to link up and show any project you like.  Here are the usual rules, but feel free to ignore them.  To keep the original emphasis, however, preference will be given to free motion quilting when featuring projects from the previous week.

If you love free motion quilting, whether you are a beginner just taking the plunge, or you have reached the stage where you can do ostrich feathers with your eyes shut and still achieve perfect symmetry, then please link up.

Remember, FMQ is FMQ, whether your machine was made last week, or it is older than your granny.

Here are the very easy and slightly elastic rules:-

1.  Link up with any recent post, ideally from the last week but within the last month, which features a free motion quilting project, whether it is a work in progress or a finish.

2.  Link back to this post in your own post.

3.  Visit as many of the other participants as possible and say hello in the comments box.

4.  The link up will remain open for five days, from midnight to midnight GMT for the long weekend, Friday to Tuesday.

So far quilters from the USA, England, Wales, Australia, Canada, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, France, Macau, Russia, Ireland, Brazil and Sweden have taken part.  The first participant from each new country will get a special mention the following week.