Machine Quilting Nine Patch Friends

Here is what the quilting looks like on the Nine Patch Friends quilt.  I finished the quilting so now am getting the binding ready to put on.  Will I make my Thursday night deadline?  I am working hard to get it done so check back and find out.

I quilted a spiral in the center of the light squares and petal like shapes around it to make it look somewhat like a flower. 

With the black fabrics, using black thread and the other dark fabrics in the quilt you really can't see the leaf and vine quilting between the flower shapes.  I know it is there though and if you get your nose really, really close you can see it too!

I told you I changed the design I planned for the small border...well here is what I used instead.  The design I had thought I would quilt in this area just didn't work so ripped out what I had started to quilt and then stitched this design instead.

For the outside border I again quilted a flower shape with a spiral in the center of the 9 patch blocks and a leafy vine in the black area.  I think I am quilting pretty good then Whoops, I get a zig or a zag or a jiggle.  I am such a perfectionist that most of the time I would rip those spots out but this time I am trying to ignore them.  In the overall picture of the quilt you don't really see those little oops so maybe I am making progress on my perfectionism (don't even know if that is a word.)

Until Later,
Lynn

Just looked for more black fabric to bind this and wouldn't you know, not enough solid black in the house.  Good thing I have to go to Hastings for physical therapy this morning and can buy some.  I keep telling myself, "I will get this finished," " I will get this finished."

Lynn

Prepping for Quilting

I prepared my quilt sandwich for quilting by basting the layers together and this time I decided to use my safety pins and get it done more quickly.  I did roll the backing and top on boards like I do when I baste quilts with thread.  Almost ran out of pins before I got it done though - not sure where all my pins have gone as I used to have lots more.  Oh, well it is pinned and being quilting as I post this.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Quilting Designs For Nine Patch Friends

I wanted to share how I figured out what to quilting designs to use on my Nine Patch Friends quilt.  It was not an original idea but something I learned by reading  Carla's Feathered Fibers blog and picked up the idea from her.   Here is a page on her blog where you can see and read how she plans her quilting designs plus she has a Yahoo Group called quiltwisperer that is about quilt design and machine quilting.  She has taught this as an online class and it sounds like a good class to take as we all can use help planning what and where to quilt.

The main gist of it is to use Photoshop Elements to draw the design possibilities on the top of a photo of the quilt.  Of course I didn't spend much time drawing since I am under the gun to get it finished but did like using this idea.  I am sure Carla has lots of other tips and tricks she teaches in her classes but my crude attempt helped me in this case.

I did change the design in the small border and revised the flower like shape I quilted in the light squares, but I am quilting a vine with leaves and tendrils in the other area though.  Like I said I was in a hurry to get started quilting on this piece.

Happy Quilting
Lynn

Nine Patch Friends

A few years ago, 3 friends and I went to visit another friend in Denver.  While there we went to see an exhibit of Amish quilts from the collection of Faith and Stephen Brown at the Denver Art Museum.  We were all fascinated by the "Nine Patch Crib Quilt" so decided to do an exchange of 9 patch blocks and see what we all could come up with.  Our only rules, if I remember them right were to make 5 blocks of 6 different solids for each person in the group.  There were 5 of us so that was a lot of blocks.  We were to use solid black in the same position and the finished blocks were to be 3".  A couple of the gals threw in a zinger or two which was fun.  I made extra blocks and remember I didn't use all the blocks I had - have no idea how many 9 patch blocks ended up in the quilt.

I finally got my top pieced together a couple years ago then ended up putting it my stack of UFOs as I didn't know how I was going to quilt it.  I did have fun arranging the blocks and love the light squares floating in the middle of the quilt. Three of the gals got their's pieced and quilted right away, don't know about the last gal but here I am getting mine finished now.

I pulled it out this last week and am working on machine quilting it now.  Have to get it finished by Thursday so it can count towards my 25 yards used for our guild challenge this year.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn