Mustard Stain Goes to QuiltCon

When Mustard Stain was started on November 18th, I didn't know if I would have time to complete it by the November 30th deadline or if my idea would even work since I had very little batiking experience.

But here it is...I did finish it by the QuiltCon entry deadline AND it was juried in the the show AND it even won a 3rd place ribbon in the APQ Nine-Patch Challenge.  I was thrilled!

Our MQG's vice president, Faye, asked the board members over to her studio for a day of surface design and play.  Since we had batiked silk scarves with soy wax resist in her studio before, I was familiar with that process and thought I might could some how incorporate that technique into my nine patch challenge.  The scarf dyeing post is here.

Faye had some square cookie cutters in graduating sizes and I thought they would be perfect for my idea of stamping some nine-patches.  I started with 1 1/2 yards of Hoffman You + Me solid batik in zinc which was really white and I stamped away with the soy wax.

Faye sent me home with some Procion dyes in turquoise and chartreuse.  I got home and researched the basics on how to use the dye and started right away.  It was tricky because the soy wax melts at a much lower temperature than other wax.  I think that's the reason the turquoise stamps are not at clear.  This is what the fabric looked like once it was dyed and the wax was removed.  

Batiked fabric using soy wax resist and Procion dyes

I sketched out a design idea and realized I needed to add some turquoise lines between my 'nine' patches to define the bigger nine-patch.  This is my 4" x 4" sketch which was drawn on the back of the Procion dye instructions I had just printed out.  Don't you love my labeling...rather than large, I labeled the stamped nine patches small, medium and BIG.  I think C stands for chartreuse.  

Mustard Stain design sketch

I started cutting and piecing, without much planning, added an asymmetrical border and before too long I had a finished quilt top.  This picture was taken on November 20th around noon, so I didn't waste any time.  Maybe improv is easier when you don't have time to think about it. I guess this is planned improv when I had a sketch from which to work.  It was still all cut with a rotary ruler and cuter, no free hand for me.

Mustard Stain finished top 

Now, how was I to quilt this, my biggest dilemma with every quilt.  I guess I thought about for awhile because this picture was taken on November 21st at 10 am.  And for me, the safest bet is straight line quilting with the walking foot.  I had the idea of quilting it in the chartreuse color and forming one more nine-patch with turquoise thread.  Here I'm auditioning placement of the turquoise lines.

Auditioning quilting path

  

I thought about the binding before I quilted it and knew I would be cutting it close on fabric.  I had the idea of adding a bit of the turquoise in the binding along the right side where the large or BIG nine patch was.  Can you see I had to piece it?

Auditioning turquoise in the binding

Here's a picture taken after the quilting was completed on November 23rd late in the afternoon.  I quilted the four turquoise lines in each direction and then drew a line diagonally to give me a guide as to where to stop and pivot 90 degrees to echo quilt to the edge.  The lines are 1/2" apart and I used the edge of the walking foot as a guide.

Mustard Stain after quilting

I almost always block my quilts and needed to remove the blue marking lines so I dunked it in the washer spun it out.  I fluffed it in the dryer for just a bit and proceeded with blocking.  I did it the same afternoon so it could dry over night and be ready to bind soon after.

Here's were disaster almost struck.  I walked back in the room after 30 minutes or so and the turquoise had bled all into the chartreuse.  I was sick, especially after coming this far.  I had no choice but wash it and try to remove the dye.  I washed it a couple times in very hot water with synthrapol (designed to take our excess dye in the wash) and blocked it second time.  Thank goodness, no bleeding this time.

I was running very short on fabric. Improv is just seems wasteful to me, maybe that's another reason it's hard for me to do.  When I pieced the binding, it ended up with 15 joins with the grainline going crosswise and lengthwise.  This is detail shot that I inclued with the QuiltCon submission.  I decided on this shot because you can see the nine patch formed by the turquoise thread and the binding detail.

Mustard Stain detail

Here's the full shot.  You can barely see where I included the fabric which had been stamped along the bottom and left side of the quilt.

Mustard Stain by Paige Alexander

And you can see the Kaffe Fassett print for the backing and a partial shot of the label.

From all the creative nine-patch quilts in the category, I was excited that Mustard Stain placed 3rd in the APQ Nine-Patch Challenge.  The ribbon matches quite well.  I didn't hear who made the ribbons, but thank you!

American Patchwork & Quilting Nine-Patch Challenge 3rd place ribbon 

American Patchwork & Quilting generously sent the finalists a bundle of their latest publications.  Thanks APQ!

QuitCon was a blast and I hope to share more soon!  You can see all the 2017 QuiltCon winners here.


Quilt Stats:

• Finished size: 33" x 33" 
• Pattern: Original design with one pieced and hand stamped nine-patches forming one large nine-patch with an asymmetrical border
• Fabrics: Hand batiked and dyed fabrics using fiber reactive Procion dyes
• Thread: Quilting - Aurifil 5022 Mustard and 2810 Turquoise
• Quilting design: Echoing straight line with walking foot
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: November 2016

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Finished or Not Friday and Show Off Saturday.

Better at Binding by Machine

I recently finished two charity projects and sewed the bindings down by machine two different ways.  I am definitely getting more confient at machine binding now.

Binding First Sewn onto the Back

The first project is a small wholecloth baby quilt I made while trying out longarm quilting and posted here.  I intended for the floral to be the front of the quilt and the gingham plaid to be on the back.

Bias Binding sewn by machine

This was the first time I sewed the binding onto back of the quilt and then brought it to front to finish the topstitching.  And it was the the first time I tried sewing down bias bindng by machine.

The binding strips were cut 2 1/4" wide. I didn't want too much to fold over nor did I want to be short either.

I pinned the binding every 1 to 2 inches or so.  At the corners, I folded them where I would be sewing straight over the fold at the corner rather than against the fold. (Does that make sense?)  See if you tell by the photo what I mean.  The bottom was folded over first and then the left side folded over.

Binding pinned in place for machine sewing

I used my Clover seam ripper to gently nudge the binding in place before topstitching.  It has a rounded point and worked perfectly with the bias since it had more give then crossgrain binding.

Clover seam ripper used to nudge the fabric in place before sewing

Please excuse my well-used maching quilting gloves, but I usually wear them while sewing on bindng as they really help to manuver the quilt.

Wearing machine quilting gloves help to guide the quilt while sewing on binding

In the corners, I did back stitch once in each direction just to reinforce the seam with all the bulk and it is really not noticable.

Machine sewn bias binding

With this method of sewing the binding to back of the quilt first and then topstitching on the front, the bobbin thread or stitching line will be visible on the back of the quilt.  I was pleased with the binding width of 2 1/4" because after I sewed on the binding using a 1/4" seam allowance, the stitching line was an 1/8" or less from the edge.

Four corners of quilt after sewing binding down by machine

I just love the quilt all rolled up.  It was taken to my December guild meeting where it will be taken to Marys House, an emergency shelter providing temporary housing for women and their children fleeing domestic violance.

Binding First Sewn onto the Front

In the second method of sewing on binding by machine I first sewed the binding onto the front of the quilt and folded the binding to backside pinning in place.  But, instead of sewing the binding down from the back, I stitched in the ditch from the front.

Placemat made for recipient of Meals on Wheels

Here you can better see the where I stiched in the ditch from the front on these placemats made from a Susan Winget botanical fat quarter bundle received as a door prize.  My guild made over 300 placemats which were delivered in December to recipients of Meals on Wheels in Pickens County.

Placemats made for recipients of Meals on Wheels

By stitching in the ditch from the front, you are blindly stitching the binding to the backside.  Precise pinning is the key to nice topstitching on the back.  Two quilts I bound using this method are Free Ride, an appliqued elephant baby quilt and Sundae Plus, another baby quilt.

Backside of placemats after sewing down the binding by machine

I am happy to report that sewing the binding on this baby quilt completes my One Montly Goal for December and am linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts for December's link up.

And completing these placemats counts toward a finish for 2016 Q4 Finish-A-Long and will be linking to Q4 Finish-A-Long link-up.

Excited to get these charity projects finished by year end, I'm also linking to Finish It Up Friday, Finished or Not Firday, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday and Show Off Saturday.

Elephant Baby Quilt Inspired by Fabric

When the Mom-to-be opens your present at the baby shower and cries, you know you did ok!  I didn't ask too many questions about the nursery ahead of time.  But she mentioned she was decorating in gray and white with elephants.  I remembered a fabric I had which was leftover from making this baby quilt and thought it might work.  After all, this fabric from the Zoology collection by Michael Miller included gray, white and elephants.

Zoology in Sea by Michael Miller

I had the idea of enlarging the elephant and including the bird (which I knew she also liked) and adding some rain clouds for a minimalist design.  I was already thinking about the quilting at this point.

I used a circle template and drew two clouds with a flat bottoms.  Are those cumulus clouds?  I'm not sure.

Clouds with angled straight line quilting to represent rain

Planning to applique the quilt top at a Sew-In day with my local modern quilt guild, I prepared the elephant, bird and two clouds ahead of time.  I chose an almost white background, Modern Background Paper XOXO.

Guild members suggested I add a third cloud and have it going off the edge of the quilt.  You wouldn't believe, the fabric for the third cloud, V & Co Ombre Dots in aquatic blue,  was on the free-for-all table at the sew-in.

I managed to finish all of the satin stitch machine applique at the sew-in and here's the top on my design wall back at home.

Free Ride quilt top

Here's a closer look at the elephant and bird.

Elephant and bird appliqued to background fabric

Now that the quilt top was done,  it was on to the quilting.  And guess what...more walking foot quilting!

I'll show you the finished quilt and then explain how I went about quilting it which is very similar to how I quilted Witco's Daisies.

Free Ride baby quilt with an elephant, bird and clouds

I first quilted the horizontal lines below the elephant to establish the ground. The lines are about 3/4" apart and were marked with the Creative Grids Yardstick ruler and my favorite Clover hera marker.  I decided that 3/4" spacing might be too dense and quilted the 'sky' with lines about an inch apart.

I quilted the lines of the sky at an angle to represent rain. I started quilting from the top.  When I reached the horizontal line, I stitched right on top of my previous quilting line, made a U-turn and ended at the top again.  I didn't mark every single line with the hera marker, just every other one.  I just eyeballed it and quilted between the two lines on the return pass.

Every other quilting line marked with the hera marker

The only time I used a making pen was to mark the distance where I needed to stop and pivot for the return quilting line.  Can you see the blue dots on the horizontal line?  And yes, I quilted right over the applique which I also did on Witco's Daisies.

Straight line quilting with a walking foot on Free Ride

The label was handwritten with a permanent marker.  The process is explained in this blog post.  Just ignore the Great Aunt part, I'm feeling a little ancient!  Part of the label was stitched in with the machine binding. The only part which was hand stitched was the right side.

Handwritten quilt label and stitched mainly by machine

I didn't think it would be that noticeable and stitched over the previous quilting lines to attach the label.   Can you see the lines?  The 2nd and 6th horizontal lines are where I machine stitched on the label.

From the front where I machine stitched the label

And since this was for a boy and fairly light and would probably go through many washings, I attached the binding by machine.

Detail of  Free Ride with backing and machine binding

Free Ride was folded and wrapped the evening before the shower.  That was close, but it was finished on time!

Free Ride baby quilt folded and ready to be wrapped

Quilt Stats:

• Finished size:  Approx. 40" x 40" (Limited backing fabric determined the size)
• Pattern:  Elephant enlarged from Zoology fabric in an original setting
• Fabrics: Background - XOXO in Silver and White from Modern Background Paper by Zen Chic for Moda; Backing - Zoology in Sea from Michael Miller; Binding - Dot and Square from Mini Mikes from Michael Miller
• Thread: Applique - Mettler and Aurifil; Quilting - Aurifil 2600 Dove Gray
• Quilting design:  Straight line with walking foot
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Completed: August 2016

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Fabric Frenzy Friday and Show Off Saturday.

Kitty Cats for The Butterfly Ministry for Girls

This evening I'm hand sewing down the binding on a doll quilt that will accompany an American Girl doll to be given to a girl aged 6 or older living in foster care, a shelter or group home in South Carolina.

Doll quilt made for the Butterfly Ministry

The doll quilt is made up of prints by M'Liss Ray Hawley surrounded by an an inner border and binding of Kona solids.

I hope Angela Walters would approve of my quilting the word "Meow" in cursive all the way around the inner border. The Mighty Lucky Quilting Club's challenge for June issued by Angela, encouraged us to "Say Something with Free-Motion Quilting."

"Meow" quilted in cursive around the inner border

The Butterfly Ministry, an Easley, SC based 501(c)(3) charitable organization, was founded by Frank and Sandra Hubbard after a foster child whom Sandra had met in 2011 at an educational event was tragically killed in an automobile accident.  Their mission is for every age appropriate girl in such care to have an American Girl doll of her very own.

Hand sewn binding on a doll quilt for the Butterfly Ministry

Contributions to the Butterfly Ministry are welcome, whether it be monetary, new or used American Girl dolls, doll clothing or quilts.  It is suggested to make the quilts between 22 to 26 inches wide and 29 to 33 inches long.

I better finish sewing down the binding this kitty cat quilt.  I'm linking to Slow Stitching Sunday for the first time and Main Crush Monday.

Free Wheeling Single Girl Quilt

I'm excited to show you my Free Wheeling Single Girl quilt made for the Sewtopia Virtual Fabric Challenge.  Thank goodness for a two week extension or I would have had to rely solely on the mini Outlined Plus quilt as my entry.

Free Wheeling Single Girl by Paige Alexander

I mentioned my fondness of challenges in my introductory post as part of the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop hosted by Yvonne at Quilting Jetgirl, Cheryl at Meadow Mist Designs and Stephanie at Late Night Quilter.

We could add any other Hoffman fabrics to the 5 fat quarters received. I decided to use three different chartreuse fabrics, 2 prints and a solid as the background.  And I added in 2 purples to go with the black and white prints for a pop of color.

Piecing the rings went very well, similar to the first Free Wheeling Single block made in Denyse's class at Sewtopia Atlanta.  Planning the fabric placement for the so-called improv rings was probably the most time consuming part.  I say that only because, I really struggle with improv.

Free Wheeling Single Girl quilt top on the green beans

I had a hard time deciding on what size to cut the borders.  I thought about asymmetrical which several had suggested when i posted a picture on instagram, but decided on 10" borders all the way around because that's what the fabric would allow.

For the quilting, I thought about using the quilting design included in the original Single Girl pattern, but decided to try Denyse's Figure Eight quilting template.  My fellow guild member digitized the design to be able to use with Quilt Path, the computerized quilting software for her APQS Millennium. This the 2nd quilt I've quilted on her longarm and with each quilt I'm learning the ins and outs of loading the quilt on the machine and using Quilt Path.

Free Wheeling Single Girl 'improv' pieced ring and quilting detail

My friend suggested that I round the corners to match the rings and so I did. It was a great idea!  I simply used the inner background template to round the corners.  You also get a peek of the backing fabric, more of the stitches print used in the top.

Rounded corners of the Free Wheeling Single Girl

For the binding, I didn't have enough of the original fat quarters to make the entire binding improv or scrappy. I pieced 5 separate sections of improv and for the rest of the fabric, I used the stitches print in the black colorway which I found at my local quit shop.  In my 12+ years of quilting, I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've rounded the corners on a quilt.  I cut the binding on the bias, even for the scrappy parts, and it went on beautifully.

Improv scrappy binding for Free Wheeling Single Girl

You've got to love a husband who will help photograph your quilts.  A storm was brewing and the wind was gusting so I was glad to have some help.

Photographer's assistant taming the quilt top

Quilt Stats:

• Finished size:  63" x 63"
• Pattern:  Free Wheeling Single Girl by Denyse Schmidt
• Binding: 3/8" double fold bias binding (partially improv) from 2 1/4" strips and sewn down by hand
• Fabrics: Me + You batiks from Hoffman Fabrics
• Thread: Aurifil black for piceing the rings and 5010 beige for assembling blocks; 5022 mustard for quilting
• Quilting design:  Denyse Schmidt Quilts Figure Eight template digitized for computerized quilting
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & Natural by the Warm Company
• Completed: June 15, 2016

Usually a name for a quilt comes to me while working on it, but this time nothing!

Any suggestions for a name for my Free Wheeling Single Girl quilt?

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Ali at Arabesque Sicssors hosting Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday this week, Fabric Frenzy Friday and Show Off Saturday.

Peak of Perfection - Sewtopia Atlanta Fabric Challenge

When I heard Sewtopia would be coming to Atlanta, just a couple of hours down the road, and the teachers would be Elizabeth Hartman and Denyse Schmidt, I knew I would love to attend.  But when registration opened, I hesitated a bit on signing up and found myself on the the waiting list. Fortunately, I was able to land a spot through a cancellation, one of only 80 attendees.

In completing the registration form, I was asked if I wanted to participate in the fabric challenge.  I did not hesitate marking that box with a YES!

I am happy to show you my Michael Miller Fabric Challenge for Sewtopia Atlanta, Peak of Perfection.  I am guessing that Sewtopia was named after Utopia and according to Webster, it a place of perfection. The pattern I used is called Pike's Peak by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs. So I combined the two and decided on the name, Peak of Perfection.  And I know my piecing and quilting are anything but perfect.

Peak of Perfection by Paige Alexander
(Pattern: Pike's Peak by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Midst Designs)

The Michael Miller challenge fabric arrived in late February and here is a picture I posted on Instagram.

I received 6 fat quarters and the main print was Color Play in blue by Laura Gunn.  Here it is photographed with 3 Cotton Couture solids, Opal, Lemon and Turquoise.

Michael Miller Color Play with Cotton Couture in Opal, Lemon and Turquoise

Also included were 2 fat quarters of Michael Miller's basics, Painter's Canvas, again by Laura Gunn in Coral and Blue.

Michael Miller's Painter's Canvas n Coral and Blue

According to the challenge guidelines, we could make anything for the challenge and use as least one of the challenge fabrics.  We could add in any other Michael Miller fabrics from solids to prints. The two Painter's Canvas prints spoke to me and I decided to pair them with Cotton Couture in Bright White.

Pike's Peak made its debut in Issue #2 of Make Modern, an Australian digital magazine, and included 2 colors, a lime green and hot pink, both paired with black along with a background of white.  The pattern includes 2 sizes, 50" x 50", Cheryl's version pictured here, and a smaller wall version measuring 25" x 25" which is what I made.

Pike's Peak by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs
(photograph used with permission)

The piecing went fairly quick but when it came to the quilting, I ended up ripping out several seams. One time I started ripping out a line of quilting where I was not satisfied with the spacing and started ripping out the wrong quilting line.  So I then removed two entire lines because it was right in the center and did not want the repaired stitching line to show.  I quilted mine similar to how Cheryl quilted Pike's Peak.  In this blog post you can see the detail of her beautiful quilting and her quilt hanging at QuiltCon 2015.

Here you can see more of the piecing and quilting detail along with the two color binding.  I chose to change the binding color in each quadrant. With just 2 fat quarters, I managed to make 32 half square triangles and piece the binding which included several extra seams due to the color changes.

Peak of Perfection by Paige Alexander, detail

A close up of the binding color change is below.

Peak of Perfection binding detail

I am glad to have my challenge piece done with time to spare and excited to be going to Sewtopia! You can see the fabrics I picked out for the Free-Wheeling Single Girl class with Denyse Schmidt in this blog post.  I am working on gathering the fabrics for Elizabeth Hartman's class now.

Quilt Stats:

• Finished size:  25" x 25" 
• Pattern:  Pike's Peak by Cheryl Brickey of Meadow Mist Designs
• Binding: 1/4" straight binding from 2" strips sewn down by hand    
• Fabrics: Painter's Canvas in Blue and Coral by Laura Gunn for Michael Miller Fabrics and Cotton Couture in Bright White
• Batting: 100% Cotton Warm & White by the Warm Company
• Thread: Aurifil 2024 White for piecing and quilting

Linking up to Finish Up Friday, Whoop Whoop Friday, Anja at Anja Quilts hosting Thank Goodness Its Finished Friday this week, Fabric Frenzy Friday, Whoop, There It Is! and Show Off Saturday.