Finished Or Not Friday: The Mini Quilt Retreat Finish Recap

We're finally back from two back-to-back trips!  The first was my DH and I making our annual Fall trip to visit his mother in North Carolina.  For my husband these trips are a vacation/family visit but for my MIL and I it's also a mini quilt retreat!  

When we left NY in mid-September it was still warm but pleasant with temps mostly in the 70' and low 80's.  Arriving in NC (actually as early as when we made a rest stop in Virginia) it was muggy with temps in the 80's to mid 90's and stayed that way through the first half of our two week stay.  However once the calendar changed over to Fall on the 21st, it seemed like Mother Nature flipped a swtich and suddenly the temps dropped and it stayed cooler and in the 60s until we left!  

Part of the quilt retreat for me was to get another chance to learn to use my MIL's longarm.  I'm pleased to report that her machine and I had a good 'ole time and a lot was accomplished!   So I'm joining in with everyone over at Quilty Girl Alycia's for this week's "Finished Or Not Friday" to report on what got done.  

I will just show the finishes here and then will do a detail post on each in the coming weeks.  Be forewarned,  it's still a long travel post ahead!!

We arrived on the second Friday of September so that I would be there for the monthly Saturday meeting of the Tar River Piecemakers Quilting Guild of which I am now a long distance member.  

As we prepped for the trip down, I had been working on finishing up my "Sparkle and Shine" log cabin quilt made up of giant (22") courthouse steps blocks.  I got 2/3rds of it quilted on my domestic machine by the time we left.  

Fortunately (and despite it having been pin basted for the DSM), I was still able to load the quilt on my MIL's longarm and finish the last column of stitching to present it for Show & Tell the next day at the guild meeting!  This also meant I got some more free-motion practice on my MIL's machine.

The railing on my MIL's back porch was a convenient photo spot this trip.

Here's a sneak peek of the equally bold back!  The sides were courtesy of stash but this time came from what I had put aside for another project. 

This is my version of the quilt designed by Natalie Barnes to showcase her "Norma Rose" line which was a tribute to her mother designed for Windham Fabrics.  The pattern was published in American Patchwork & Quilting magazine in December 2020.

Mine used fabrics from my stash of what I call "Mod" fabrics that I had originally collected for the next project I got to finish on the longarm:  my "Modern Bohemia" BOM project!

The fun backing for this one is "Unstoppable" by Windham Fabrics!

Ever since my MIL purchased her longarm, each visit has been an opportunity for new "longarm lessons".  On the last trip, we had planned to try ruler quilting and had purchased the table and foot for her Handiquilter Moxie machine for that.  However, we never had time to actually try them so that was the plan for this trip.  Fortunately, this was the perfect project for that!  

I had planned out the quilting for this all the way back in June of last year but as usual "more projects than time" meant I hadn't gotten around to it yet.  I'd like to believe that the Quilt Muses had noted that I could do ruler quilting on my MIL's longarm before I did and made sure I kept busy enough to hold this project until now, LOL!

I stitched four different patterns on the quilt with three different rulers:  a straight ruler, a curved ruler and one that does a "squared spiral" design.

When I embarked on this project as a self-styled Block-of-the-Month (BOM) back in 2020,  I changed the sizes of the originally patterned blocks so I could die cut them all with Accuquilt dies.   However, when I later saw the same patterned blocks used in a runner pattern,  I decided to make the blocks for that in their original size since they came together to create a finished runner perfectly sized for our dining room sideboard. 

This shot of it on the longarm shows the Pro-Stitcher computer quilting design used.

This one was also made from that "Mod" stash and whereas in the lap quilt I put the prints in the Churn Dash blocks and the tone-on-tones in the backgrounds, for the runner I flipped that and put the TOTs in the blocks and the prints in the backgrounds.  

There was also one other project made from this stash that was finished back in 2022.  I also have one QAYG UFO that utilized this stash and still have more of this stash in general so I'll have to see what other "Mod" projects may develop in the future! 

The next trip finish was this one, a gift for my High School BFF :

Pattern:  Patchwork PDQ by Swirly Girl Designs

The back with a special label.

She had asked me about a quilt at the end of last year and with this being a milestone birthday year for both of us,  I put a plan in place to do that.  She likes purple and fortunately I was able to add to what little stash I had in that color by picking up some things from two fortuitous year-end and New Year's Keepsake Quilting sales.  

I had planned out and tested the quilting before we left which again called for ruler quilting and also added stitch-in-the-ditch:  

The backing fabric choice used in the sample was changed after this test.

I did the stitching test on my domestic machine.  However, it took me a lot longer than I expected to complete the simple stitch scheme I had planned when I did it on the longarm.  The good news was that I was able to not only finish it but mail it off to her before we left NC!

The last two projects that I finished quilting on the longarm were UFOs that I had a simple straight-line stitching quilting plan for both.  I thought doing that would be easier to execute on a longarm with a "channel lock" feature.

Needless to say this is NOT straight-line stitched!

This is my interpretation of Pat Sloan's "Sting Beans!" pattern that she did as a "Block-A-Day" project back in 2022.  Pat's original design used jellyroll strips and at the time I didn't have a stash of those.  However I did have a huge stash of pre-cut 1-1/2" log cabin block strips and worked up a variation block that utilized them which resulted in this quilt.  

It also has a fun "two-sided quilt" back that I made up in 2023 using Mary Johnson's (of MaryQuilts.com) "Quick Strippie" charity quilt design.

As noted, the original stitching plan was to quilt this just doing straight line stitching across the width of the quilt.  However that was also dependant on determining that the lines would be equally as straight along the pieced "strippie" sections on the back.  The reason this has sat for so long waiting to be quilted is that I wasn't confident about doing that on my domestic machine.  

I thought using a "channel lock" feature on the longarm would allay those concerns.  However with the quilt loaded on the longarm frame, I still couldn't really confirm that the position of the piecing lines would line up with the channel stitching.  So I abandoned doing the straight lines in favor of just stitching it up with an all-over pattern instead.  

The Pro-Stitcher pattern I used.

I am pleased both with the chosen pattern and finally getting this one very close to a finish!

The last big finish was finally quilting my "Letters To Santa" quilt!

I am particularly happy to get this done as a start to the holiday sewing for this year.  Or more accurately, it's a finish of the "Christmas in July" piecing work done on it in 2024 and 2025, LOL!!  I loved being able to just quilt it with straight lines since I thought the words should visually take precedence over the quilting.  

Both of these almost didn't get finished when I decided late that I really wanted to use a fine weight thread to stitch these up.  I put in an order for Wonderfil Invisifil 100 wt  (Red #605 for String Beans and White #104 for LTS) and they almost didn't get to me in time, arriving on our last Friday there!

Our return to NY was delayed by half a day since we were tracking the big nor'easter storm that hit the Northeast on the day before we were scheduled to leave early in the morning on the last Sunday of the month.  However, for me the delay was fortunate because as of that morning I was still trying to finish quilting "LTS".  The leave time delay was just enough to allow me to finish it up!  Whew!!  

The same week we returned from NC we were headed out again at the end of that week for a Fall camping trip in Maine at Acadia National Park --- this time staying on the Schoodic Pennisula.  So I didn't have a chance to trim and bind those last two yet.  Needless to say it was a very productive two week visit and although my MIL is always sad to see us go,  I think her longarm machine was very glad for me to leave so it could get some rest, LOL!!

So that's it for me (for now) so let's all go back over to Alycia's and check out all the other finishes and works in progress for this week's "Finished Or Not Friday" link up!

Design Wall Monday: Happy Labor Day!

Here's hoping everyone has an enjoyable -- or just restful -- day planned!

A quick check-in today with updates to the last few DWMs.  There's been no addtional work done on the "Alaska BOM" or my HSBFF's gift quilt.  I also still need to satin stitch down the appliques for the "Whoo Is It?" Halloween banner (and for anyone new here, pictures of all of those can be seen in the last post).

What I did get done is work on these two:  first up the "Sparkle & Shine" top is finished!

 You can see the original pattern here - scroll down to #18

While doing so I also got some more of the border strings leader/endered for my "Magic Cube" project:  

DH and I don't have any formal holiday plans so I'm hoping today to maybe get the backing made up for "Sparkle" as I already have the fabric pulled and a plan for that.  

The other thing finished is the quilting on the Halloween 9 Fat Quarter Disappearing Nine Patch quilt!

Okay, hard to see it here as I can't seem to catch it in good enough light to really get a good look at the stitching.  But know that it is fun and in two shades of orange!  

Another attempt but still can't see it all that much better.

Connecting Threads Essentials threads on the front and Aurifil on the back. 

The binding fabric is already picked out but still needs to be cut and sewn into strips.  Ooh and if there's any leftover after I'm done, I've got a new place to park it!

Recently I ordered some of these Binding Spools.  I've always wanted to try some and knowing that someone (or ones, plural) are binding the two QOV tops I sent down a couple of months ago to the guild I belong to with my MIL, I wanted to bring gifts for those intrepid volunteers.  I found these on Etsy and thought they were reasonably enough priced to get a tester set and a couple of extras for the gifts.  Then after setting them up, I loved them so much I bought another set to organize the rest of leftovers I had.  

Before getting these I stored my binding leftovers like this:

The new Spools are so much neater and easier to thumb through to see what I have.  As I wrapped them onto the Spools, I also pulled a couple of the binding scraps out to add to the string work I'm doing and now have some ideas for using some of the rest to bind some future mini quilts.  Now I can pass all the empty toilet paper rolls I was using over to my DH to make campfire kindling starters! 

It's our last week before we'll be heading down to see my MIL in North Carolina so I don't know if I'll get to post while we're away.  I do hope to be able to make up one last post with these last two completely finished before we go!  Enjoy your holiday off!!  

Design Wall Monday: Another Project Re-Joins the Design Wall!

Last week's "Design Wall Monday" post was chock-a-block with projects and the wall hasn't had a chance to cool off since!  

More On Continuing Long-Term Projects

In follow-up to the reporting in the last post,  I have completed sewing the rows together for the center of  the "Alaska BOM" top!

Once again, this work got done courtesy of some more leader/ender work!  This time it was when I began sewing the blocks for the "back-to-the-wall project" to be discussed later.  

I should note that this process didn't go perfectly smoothly.  You see the last three blocks on the end of the second row?  When I laid this out to view the finished piecing, those three blocks -- which had been sewn together as a section when assembling the row -- had wound up being sewn in flipped around when I added them to the rest of the row.   

So I had to go back and "un-sew" that section, turn it around and sew it back in.  Despite that one snafu, I was really pleased with how easily and quickly this center got sewn together, all while also working on another project.  This is why I love, love, love "leader/ender" sewing!

As noted in a prior post, I still need to piece even more blocks to make a pieced border that will enlarge the design.  Because we will be going away twice in the coming weeks, progress on this project will be interrupted while we are away.  So I will continue working on this but not until October!

New Backing Fabric for the Gift Quilt

I had also discussed in the last post that I was making a quilt to gift to my HSBFF:

My original plan was to back it with this wide back fabric I had purchased during a Keepsake Quilting clearance sale and had already cut the piece from it that I planned to use.

I had even used that fabric when doing a stitching and thread sample for the project.

However, I admit I liked the fabric more because it was purple, pretty and already in house than I did as something that went with the look of the top of the quilt.  I figured "it's just the back" so could settle for using it.  

However, when I went to look up links for the last post, I saw another fabric in (famous longarmer) Angela Walter's "Quilting Is My Therapy" online store that I really thought would look sooo much better with the quilt top!  It has since arrived and yes, I do like it better.   

At 118" x 49",  the remnant piece as sent isn't totally wide enough to span the top (and allow extra on the sides for quilting take up) so would need to be pieced a bit to make a suitable backing.  

However that presents a new opportunity:  I had planned to make up a special label for this and print it on fabric.  With the original wide-back print I had planned to use already cut to size, I expected to hand stitch the label on after quilting this.  Since the new backing fabric will need to be pieced together,  now once I've made the label I can piece it into the backing which will save me from having to do the hand work and will be securely stitched in when the quilting is done.  Score!    

Halloween in August Continues

I'm pleased to say that the layout of the top for the fun Halloween banner is now completed:

Finished banner layout and pieced backing on the left.

The last of the appliques I needed to add to the layout were the Stars.  They have been applied and everything is fused down.  What was good about having waited all this time to get back to this project is that working on this now, I could use my Accuquilt die cutter to cut out those appliques.  I have their Star die and the sizes on it were exactly the size of the patterned stars.  

Ironically, I had already traced out the stars onto the fusible when I worked on this originally but when I pulled them out, I realized that I had done the tracing on the fusible web side not on the paper side.  Okay, why?!?  I don't remember but now that I could die cut them, it didn't matter, LOL!!  At this point I still have to satin stitch down all the appliques to fully complete the top. 

Oh and I learned my lesson: I'm storing this until I get to the satin stitching rolled up around a cardboard tube not folded!

In the picture of the top you can also see the backing that I've made for this.  I love that Moon fabric and had purchased it thinking I would make the whole back out of it.  However it is a directional print and I only purchased a half yard which would have been fine if the print ran vertically and not horizontally.  As such I could only cover about half the banner with it so added the Stars (for the label area) and the Candy fabrics from my stash to fill out the rest.  In fact, you'll see that Candy fabric again in the next project!     

In more Halloween project news:  the Halloween "9 FQ Disappearing Nine Patch" top is also done courtesy of the new fabrics coming in that I ordered to add to the five piece FQ bundle that started this off and the two fabrics from my stash that I added to them.     

From a simple Nine Patch.....

...to a more fun top!

I already have backing fabrics from my Halloween stash picked out and will make it up this week.  As noted on my last post about this project, I already have a fun stitching method that I want to try on this quilt courtesy of something learned at the recent Free-Motion Quilting Summit so am looking forward to getting to sit down and work on quilting this.

"Back To the Wall" For Upcoming Trip Preparation

So the project that has come back to the wall for me to revisit/continue is this one:  

These are two new blocks I've pieced up for my "Sparkle & Shine" Log Cabin project and was the primary project for the "Alaska BOM" leader/ender work.  

I went back to this in the hopes of completing this one (both top and quilting) before we head to my MIL's in two weeks.  The last time I worked on this I had made these blocks:

So as of today, I have six of the nine blocks I need for this project.  The plan for the rest of the week is to sew up the last three.  The next step after that will be to lay out the blocks to decide their final placement in the top, add sashing between the blocks and then vertical sashing between the columns to finish the top.  

I am hoping to then get it layered and quickly quilted so I can take it with me on the September trip to North Carolina.  My MIL's guild which I belong to as a long distance member had run a "Log Cabin Quilt Challenge" with finished projects presented at their June meeting.  I had finished mine in what I thought was enough time to make it there for that but mail delays meant it didn't get presented until the July meeting and my MIL had to do that for me.  

Since I will "be in town" for the next meeting, I'd love to have this ready to personally present it for "Show & Tell" this time around.  I am also considering taking and presenting my "Lidia" mini quilt that I made during the pandemic as yet another example of the versatility of the Log Cabin block.  

I had wanted to start many other desired LC projects for the challenge but this was the only one that I was actually able to get underway.  Who knows, maybe I can get another one started and completed by the end of the year?  We'll be back to visit my MIL early next year so I'd love to be able to present another one on that future trip too.

The design wall should cool off a bit in the coming days as I focus on making up backings and setting up things for quilting.  At this point, I think it'll need the break!

Finished Or Not Friday: Did You Ever Quilt a Rainbow....

Okay, the post title happened because when I started writing this post, this popped in my head:

Joining in once again over at Quilty Girl (and new Grandma) Alycia's for this week's "Finished or Not Friday" linkup!  

I present my finally finished "Rainbow Scrappy Log Cabin":

Front

Back

I say finally because this was one of the six (!) projects I started back in 2021 when I decided to finally dive into Angela's (of the So Scrappy blog) Rainbow Scrap Quilt Challenge.  This pattern is the one that comes with Accuquilt's Log Cabin die although they call it the "Scrappy Star Log Cabin". 

I wonder if that's because Pam Heller,  Accuquilt's Cutting Expert always cites this die as a good one to use to cut up your scraps. 

After learning about and following the RSC, I immediately envisioned using the pattern for the challenge since that would absolve me from having to choose a colorway for the quilt.  Use all the colors in the rainbow and you don't have to pick a specific color direction!

Funny thing was that of all the projects I started that year, I wound up only picking and die cutting the fabrics for this during the challenge since I realized that I wanted to have all of the fabrics gathered and complementary before starting to piece the blocks.   

I eventually changed to using a different green fabric than the one cut here.

As a result the actual block sewing didn't start until 2022.  However as usual with a lot of projects on my plate, I only made maybe three blocks that year and then this got lost in the project shuffle.

It got revived again in 2023 when the American Quilters Society teamed up with Accuquilt and held a quilt along for this pattern. 

I got the top done but then the next usual question/issue was how to quilt it and so it sat again.  In 2024 Angela Walters held another of her free motion quilting challenges called "How Do I Quilt It?"  that covered stitch patterns for Snowball, Chevron, Log Cabin and Curved blocks and Applique borders.  That year I also had a Snowball block quilt that I was looking for inspiration for the quilting.  I did get that one done but unlike another time when I got two quilts finished because of one of Angela's challenges, this time I wasn't sure any of her approaches for quilting Log Cabin blocks worked for this one.   So once again it sat! 

Then this year the guild I belong to long distance with my mother-in-law announced that their challenge project for this year would be making a log cabin quilt!  Perfect!  Ever since owning the die I've longed to make a lot of Log Cabin quilts so pulled out all the ideas that I had for them.  However, in the end since this one was already pieced and ready to go and only needed to be quilted, it became the one to get done!  Another push was having a deadline since finished quilts were to be presented at the guild's June meeting. 

My expectation was to get it quilted by the end of May so I could mail it down to North Carolina in plenty of time.  Well you know what they say about the best laid plans:  it still took me until last week to decide on what wound up being a very simple quilting plan:  evenly spaced straight lines across some of the major directions that the piecing followed.  

Even then such simple quilting, done free-motion with a ruler, took me a little longer than I expected.  Then I decided after the quilting was done to add a flange accent to the binding I had planned to do using the outer border fabric. I was able to once again use up some of the leftover Log Cabin strips that I had and sewed them together to form the accent strip to create the effect.

It's a subtle touch next to the busy border fabric but I like it!  Even better, a flange binding is my favorite kind of binding: completely applied by machine!  

I finished it up on Sunday and mailed it out on Monday.  Unfortunately I'm still on pins and needles as it was estimated to arrive to her by yesterday.  It was in NC by that time but as of today is still listed as having been transferred to the postal distribution center in the next big town.  I really hope it gets to her by tonight otherwise after all of this effort, it might still not be part of the guild presentation tomorrow!

Well at least I can say I've checked off another UFO on my master to-do list --- even if it's not the one I was supposed to be working on this month LOL!  This month the number that was pulled on this year's UFO Challenge List (I'm following The Quilted Forest's picks on YouTube) was #1 which on my list is my "Scrap Vortex" quilt. 

That's another one that's only waiting to be quilted but has stumped me up until now.  Mostly because I have some vague yet also specific ideas on what I'd like to do on it but haven't quite worked out how to make that happen.  Hopefully this finish will inspire me to get that one done too.  Not to mention I still have to finish the quilting on March's UFO pick, still layer and quilt April's and cut out the "Newfo" picked from the list for May.  Never a dull moment in my quilt world!

And it's also never a dull moment in the worlds of the quilters that gather at Alycia's each week for "Finished Or Not Friday"!  So head on over there to see what everyone has worked on this past week whether it was finished or not!

To Do Tuesday: Trying To Get Back on Track for June

Ooh, it's been a while since I connected with everyone for Carol's weekly "To Do Tuesday" over at Quilt Schmilt!  The end of April and all of May were busy and only got busier as each week progressed!  It was hard to make time to get to my stitching spots --- whether the couch for some hand work or at my sewing machine.  As a result I feel like I've neglected some of my favorite family members --- my craft projects!!

Some of the life events that got in the way of crafting during this time:  There's been a slate of community association meetings and a related conference to attend.  The community garden season started so there was spring planting,  hosting the 5th grade of the local middle school for their annual Spring visit and attending a virtual eco-gardening course I signed up for.  

Part of our plot in mid-May

Since my last post we've also been on two camping trips with my DH's co-workers: one early season one to test out some new equipment we had purchased and the other our 3rd (for us) annual Memorial Day Weekend trip.  That weekend was also my birthday weekend when I hit a milestone one: the big 6-5!

Just part of our group and a rainy weekend saved by canopies and tarps! 

  

On the crafting front, in late April after finishing the second of two Quilt of Valor tops for the guild that I belong to long distance, it was my plan to then work on quilting a Log Cabin project to submit for their June challenge or to try to work on or finish two LC projects-in-process for the same purpose.  

However that got pushed aside mostly because there have been an over abundance of new quilt project idea "squirrels" that completely overtook my attention and wallet!  I also signed up for both the Quilted Life Summit and the Machine Quilting Summit again this year.  Good thing I opted for the VIP extended access membership for both since I have yet to be able to sit down to watch the sessions!   All of these beautiful distractions and "what ifs" knocked my focus totally off.  While enjoyable and exciting they were all horrible for my productivity!!

All of the same has also been true for my cross stitch productivity as well!  Back in April I couldn't resist embarking on a new Spring themed CS freebie by Jardin Prive.  My hope was to stitch it up quick, finish it using Helen D's "floss wrapped hoop" technique and then also "fully finish" the Lizzie Kate Spring-themed design I stitched up two years ago.  The plan was to put both out on display for Spring before April ended.  

Nope, didn't happen!  This was where the "Peace 'N Love" stitch was as the life events and squirrels got in the way of stitching on it reguarly enough to get it done.  However I'm glad to say that I got in enough time during the Memorial Day camping trip and while doing laundry when we returned to finish it up!  

So now I still need to "fully finish" it as planned.  Unfortunately,  I'll need to get a bigger hoop than the one I originally planned to use to do that since I'd like more space surrounding the stitching in the finish.  

However with June now underway,  I want to focus on "patriotic season stitching and decorating".  In past years I followed the Fat Quarter Shop when they did their "Red, White & June" stitch alongs but I don't see any mention of that on their site this year.  That's probably because they are doing the Celebrating 250 Years of America Quilt Along that started back in February and runs until the same month next year. 

I already had my projects lined up for "RWJ" stitching for both cross stitch and quilting.   For the former there were soooo many great cross stitch patterns being offered to honor the country's big occasion when I looked them up at the start of the year:   

Click the picture to enlarge and excuse the few non-cross stitch images here....

I did finally settle on purchasing just one pattern to try to make:  

I liked this one because it is done in the tiered cake stand format.  It will be similar to the London themed one I made last year from Erin Elizabeth's series of patterns.

I had picked out this Susan Ache design three years ago when she released her "Summer Memories" book:

I had hoped to start both in May for "Cross Stitch Maynia" but I've already shared how May went off the rails for me.  In addtion to those two cross stitch projects,  I can also continue in the patriotic colors theme by getting back to work on my Laundry Basket Quilts "Alaska" BOM project that stalled due to all the other things that came up last month:  

I only got to three and a half of the next eight blocks I needed to get done. 

Additionally there's the possibility of (finally) FFO-ing my Primrose Cottage "United We Stand" WIP and to finish up my "Seeds of Glory" quilted pillowcover since I want to try the same edge finishing technique on both.

The good news is that despite all of those plans, goals and dreams, my actual "To Do" list this week will be super short:   

1. I need to finish quilting my "Rainbow Log Cabin" project to be presented at the June guild meeting in NC the Saturday after next!  

This is my one and only priority right now even though I hope to also still do some cross stitching in the evenings as well.  

Needless to say there's never a dull moment even if it's not always doing the crafty things I love.  So I am glad to jump back in by linking up with everyone for  "To Do Tuesday" at Carol's Quilt Schmilt blog and look forward to seeing what everyone else will be working on this week! 

P.S.  If you are a Tula Pink fan, you've got to check out reports (article here and video here) of her career retrospective that was displayed at the recent H + H industry show.  Very fun, colorful and inspiring!!