Slow Progress....

I started this version of Melissa Corry's Playing the Scales quilt several weeks ago as an attempt to use the ancient blue stash.  Got it cut and then it sat.
These are the strips, finally sewn into the groups of two. I decided that this time around, I'd just sew all strips into two's and then rearrange for a better color/pattern distribution.  It's difficult to work with no floor space left and this quilt  is too large to lay out completely without moving furniture around.  My cat left this alone until I ironed the strips and then decided that she only wanted to sleep on ironed fabric!

Another view

I have 11 more strips to lay out and sew together. I'm looking to finish by the end of the week.  It really is a fast quilt to do unless  you are a fiddler like me.  I can sit and stare at it. move one strip, then another and so on.....

Linking up with Oh Scrap and Em's Scrapbag

Stash Busting and Featherweights

I love having a stash of fabrics.  I really love that I can see and be inspired by a quilt online and immediatly pull fabrics to at least start that that quilt.  I may have to order some backgrounds or a specific color but I can usually get a good start on a new project....and I like to have several projects going at once.  Recently, I've discovered that I have almost NO fabric left. I do have a stack of FQ's in blue with some blacks and some solids in odd colors and several yards of mint green (which I'm using for the background of the In My Neighborhood row quilt) and about 1.5 yards of a cream and the same in tan.  I also have several bins , boxes and totes stuffed full of scraps...in fact, I probably have more fabrics in those than in finished projects, hence the title of this blog.  I'm one of those that saves everything over one and a half inches!  And it's all unorganized, or organized by the date I put it in the box. So, I'm taking steps...starting this weekend I'm dumping a box a day and cutting it into strips or 5" squares.  Anything smaller will go into another bin for a scrap vortex quilt.  I'm still undecided whether to sort by colors of sizes..any pros and cons for either method?

This is my initial pull for a new version of Melissa Corry's Playing the Scales quilt.  I wasn't completely satisfied with my last version due to the fabric selection.  I feel that some of my lights were just too dark for the contrast to show completely.  Some of these have been in my stash for years and came from the local Goodwill in the first place.  I did discover that the navy and red geometric was 35" wide so I'm sure it was in someone's else's stash before it came to live with me.  Finally, it will get to be in a quilt!

I've sewing on my featherweight machine and discovering how much I've missed using my vintage machines.  Retraining my eye to see the quarter inch seam allowance is the main adjustment I've had to make.  I used to be very accurate without using a quarter inch foot. On my large vintage machines I can use modern feet if need be but I haven't tried it with the feather yet.  I've had it for several years and really have had a love/hate relationship with it.  I bought from a charity auction site (not eBay) for under a $100 at a time when every feather, even non working ones. were going for over $400. I'd logged in and found a machine listed a "old Singer...works" in an auction closing in 15 minutes.  I glanced and saw that it was a feather with case, foot pedal, manual and a bunch of other pieces.  I bid and got it.
  As soon as it arrived. the case fell apart and I eventually dumped it as I couldn't get the smell out.  It did work after some fiddling with tension and needles that had been inserted incorrectly. After about an hour I turned it off and went to pick it up, burned my hand and discovered that it had scorched the tabletop.  After some googling, I found that was a fairly common problem and bought it a new foot pedal and it has worked perfectly ever since.  As a bonus, I found that the new foot pedal worked perfectly with my 1928 Singer 99.
If you are sewing with a feather, I've found The Featherweight Shop to be very helpful for oiling points and other info.  It's much easier to see than the manual.


Linking with Busy Hands Quilts for Finished or Not Friday

Finished Top!

Here it is ...in my living room, complete with cat!  So  far, it's way too windy to photo outside.  I'll try later in the day to get a better one.  As you can see, it's in three parts for ease of quilting on my home machine.

This was made using Melissa Corry's tutorial.  The instructions were clear and where I had a question, the photos answered it.  The initial cutting and piecing went fairly fast.  I spent way too much time on the layout and moving strips around.  My cat loved that part...nothing like a long strip of fabric to chase!The final assembly was like a jellyroll race...just sewing all the strips together.

I might do this one again using a more neutral background.  This is a great pattern for a charity quilt or if you need a fast gift.

Linking with Em's Scrapbag Moving Forward Monday and LoveLaughQuilt MondayMaking andBusy Hands Quilts Finished or Not Friday

A New Start

Several years ago, I saw a quilt pattern that I loved.  It was a pillow but looked like something that would make a great full sized quilt.  Over the years, I've seen other examples but the only instructions I could find involved just cutting off the excess fabric.  I quilt on a budget and I really disliked the fabric waste for that method.   It's really difficult to find instruction for a pattern when everyone calls their quilt by a different name!

Last week, I was blog browsing and I found it... complete with excellent instructions!  Click here  for the tutorial  It's dated 2013 so I somehow missed it in my periodic efforts to find it.  Melissa used 10 light and 10 dark fat quarters but I really hate cutting so I decided to go with a jelly roll.  I needed a little over one jelly roll . I found a pattern at Connecting Threads that looked as if it had enough low volume and high volume and their strip sets have 22 strips per pack.  I got three and have enough left over for binding if I choose to do so.  The fabrics are a little darker than my screen showed but I was able to use the backside of some for the lights. The solids are a suede which will add a great texture to the finished top.

The instruction start with cutting 124 and 105 pieces....did I mention that I hate cutting??  At least I started with 2.5 strips.

77 sets out of 93!!  Almost there...........I cut a batch then chained them together........

Finally all the strips are cut and joined....now for the final pressing and layout.

The really hard part...deciding where they all should go...this isn't all of them, but this step will be done soon as I have NO walking room left on my floor!

Linking up with Busy Hands Quilts