Jane Is Quilted!

The quilting is completed and the final thread count is 730 yards. Here are the final quilted blocks from row H. Click on the photos to view the quilting details better.

Left side triangle 6 and Block H1. They’re both stitched in the ditch.

 

Blocks H2 and H3. Both are also stitched in the ditch. H2 I appliqued circles instead of the triangles.

Blocks H4, H5 and H6. H4 was stitched in the ditch then I quilted lines to emphasis the diamond shape. H5 was first stitched in the ditch, then I quilted overlapping half triangles inside the blue triangles. H6 was stitched int he ditch. Maybe I should have followed the circle around in the white corner squares. I can always add it later if I want, but I doubt I will.

Blocks H7, H8 and H9. H7 and 8 are both stitched in the ditch. H9 is also stitched in ditch, then I quilted straight lines in the blue corners.

Blocks H10, H11 and H12. All three of these blocks are stitched in the ditch. H10 I added a curve in the white rectangles and in H11 I echo quilted 1 line in the blue shape.

Blocks H13 and right side triangle 8. Both are stitched in the ditch. H13 I quilted overlapping lines in the blue triangles. RS triangle 8 I quilted a line to emphasis the curve in the bottom and stitched a quarter-inch inside the larger blue heart.

A view of Jane laying on the bed. She’s not completely finished though. A quilt is not completely finished until the binding is sewn and the label attached. For some reason, I don’t enjoy the binding part and normally let the quilt lay around for a while. Not this time, I’m going to get this quilt completed!

I didn’t want to have to worry about running out of blue fabric while piecing Jane, so I bought a whole bolt of the blue. There is plenty of fabric left so someday, there will be another blue and white quilt.

I’ve appliqued another block for the Pastor’s Attic quilt. This is the 2nd block I made from this design and is to replace the 2nd one that was supposed to have all the feather fingers sticking out. No way was I going to applique another one like that again!

By Christmas Day, the children who were able to come home had come and gone. It was a quiet, peaceful day here, a wonderful day for sewing. I decided to do some fun sewing, no quilting or appliquing.

I had made flannel pillowcases for the grands but we wanted some too. The table runner was pieced several years ago but never quilted, so I finished that project.

Have you ever bought a jellyroll just because it was on sale? Several years ago, a friend and I were at Lolly’s Fabrics and they had jellyrolls marked way down on the chopping block. Of course we both bought a roll, they were on sale after all. She sewed hers up and made a really cute quilt for a grandson a year ago. After I sewed the pillowcases and table runner, I got out my jelly roll and started sewing a Zippy-Strippy quilt. The center body of the quilt was sewn by bedtime.

She has an Accu Go-cutter and using her dies, I had cut out 12 snowflakes using shimmer fabric earlier this fall. They were ironed on Saturday morning and machine appliqued throughout the day. By 9:15 PM Saturday evening, the snowflakes were all attached. I looked through all of my dark blue batik fabrics but none of them were the correct fabric for an outside border. That is on my list for the Pumpkinvine Inspiration club, Monday January 4th.

Linking to My Quilt Infatuation, A Quilting Reader’s Garden, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Love Laugh Quilt and Podunk Pretties.

Quilting Jane, Row G

Row G has been quilted, this means just one more row to quilt! Row G is the center row of the quilt. Remember, click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Left side triangle 7 and block G1. Triangle 7 is stitched in the ditch. I added addition quilting in the center oval/circle and in the zigzag. G1 is stitched in the ditch.

Blocks G2 and G3. Both blocks are stitched in the ditch.

 

Blocks G4, G5 and G6. G4 is stitched in the ditch. G5 is stitched in the ditch and then I quilted a couple circles in the center but they don’t show. And yes, some of the blue shows through the white. It doesn’t look that bad in real life, but that’s the way it is. G6 is stitched in the ditch, even the tiny star in the center of the star. I also added quilting to the white background fabric.

Blocks G7, G8 and G9. Blocks G7 and G9 are stitched in the ditch. For G8, I added curves in the center which made a really neat star. Then I quilted a small circle in the center.

Blocks G10, G11 and G12. G10 is stitched in the ditch. G11 is also stitched in the ditch but I added a curvy square in the center square. G12 is also stitched in the ditch with a curvy square in the center but it has loopy corners.

Block G13 and right side triangle 7. G13 was stitched in the ditch then I quilted over it with a Baptiste Fan design. RS triangle 7 is stitched in the ditch. The hearts look a little puffed. Very cute.

I have also been working on appliquing another Baltimore Album block for the Pastor’s Attic quilt. Let me tell you, this block was a sleepy one to work on before going to bed. There are 38 of those feathers and they appliqued very slowly for me, I had to fight sleep to be able to work on them!

There are supposed to be two blocks with this applique in the quilt. That is NOT going to happen. I’m going to substitute another design.

All of the blocks I’ve appliqued so far for this quilt have been back-basted applique. It has been easier for me to trace the design on the backside of the background fabric then baste the fabric on the top. I just haven’t had the time to make bias for the other blocks. When Jane is finished, I’ll have a life again and be able to work on some other projects.

Linking to –

Esther’s Wednesday Wow

Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday

Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Love Laugh Quilt

Cooking up Quilts

Quilting Jane, Row F

Quilting row F has boosted the yards of thread count up to 655 yards. This row was mostly stitched in the ditch, but a few blocks have some different stitching designs.

Left side triangle 8 and block F1. LS triangle 8 is stitched in the ditch. I also stitched crossing straight lines in the bottom triangle. The triangle was supposed to have had ovals appliqued onto the pointy end and those nasty teeny, tiny triangles on the seamline beside the inverted M. Perfect circles to the rescue! F1 was completely stitched in the ditch.

Blocks F2 and F3. F2 completely stitched in the ditch. F3 has a nice quilting center so I quilted the 4 little hearts. The rest is stitched in the ditch.

Blocks F4, F5 and F6. F4 and F5 are both stitched in the ditch. I added straight V’s in the blue triangles for F4 and added a curvy square to the inside of F5. F6 is stitched in the ditch but quilted curvy V’s in the white squares.

Blocks F7, F8 and F9. I did not want to ditch stitch F7. I used a flower stencil and quilted that design over the top of the star. A second petal extended into the blue border. It is hard to see but I like it! F8 and F9 are both stitched in the ditch.

Blocks F10, F11 and F12. F10 is stitched in the ditch with an added curvy square in the center. F11 and F12 are both stitched in the ditch.

Block F13 and right side triangle 6. I quilted around the appliqued melons and circles in F13. You can’t tell from the picture, but they puff slightly and look very nice. RS triangle 6 is stitched in the ditch. Triangle 6 was a very interesting one to piece but is really an attractive block.

I also did some secret Christmas present sewing this week but, sorry, can’t show you anything.

Linking to –

Esther’s Wednesday Wow

Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday

Quilting is More Fun than Housework

Cooking Up Quilts

Love Laugh Quilt

 

Quilting Jane, Row E

Can you feel my anticipation? I see the end nearing, just 3 more rows to quilt! The thread yardage count is up to 618 yards and here are the completed blocks from row E.

Left side triangle 9 and block E1. LS triangle 9 is just stitched in the ditch. I added some curves in the blue bottom. E1 is also stitched in the ditch and then I outlined the curves on the inside of the melons and a little background quilting.

Blocks E2 and E3. E2 is stitched in the ditch with background quilting. E3 is completely stitched in the ditch. I like that pinwheel in the center.

Blocks E4, E5 and E6. E4 is stitched in the ditch with background outline quilting. I also used my perfect circle templates and made an elongated curvy  square in the diamond. I like the loops that were formed on the 2 pointy ends of the diamond. E5 is stitched in the ditch and is very aptly name, Rising Sun. E6 is stitched in the ditch with lines radiating out from the corners in the background fabric. My appliqued squares actually look like squares too!

Blocks E7, E8 and E9. E7 is stitched in the ditch. E8 is just a weird block. The center was large enough I could quilt a flower in there. The rest of the block is stitched in the ditch. E9 is all stitch in the ditch.

Blocks E10, E11 and E12. Click on this photo to see the quilting details. In the squares of E10 I quilted curvy squares and added a circle in the inside. Stitched in the ditch around the melons. I thought about outlining the inside of the melons like I did in E1 but decided not to. Curves were quilted in the center of E11 and made this pretty design. E12  was stitched in the ditch.

Block E13 and right side triangle 5. E13 does look like a moth or butterfly in the center so Moth in a Web was a good choice for the block name. She was stitched in the ditch and outline quilted in the background. RS triangle 5 was also stitched in the ditch with some addition quilting in some of the larger pieces.

It is a good thing I don’t mind stitching in the ditch!

These are the last of the charity projects I have been working on. Kits for crib quilts were brought to guild in September. They just needed to be put together and quilted and this is what I came up with. The left quilt and the center quilt are both quilted with straight line quilting on my home sewing machine.

I decided to do something different on the right quilt for variety. This fall, on another blog, I saw a quilt that was quilted in a spiral. Of course, I didn’t remember which blog it was anymore and I do remember the quilter saying she had taken a class somewhere, but not me! I just jumped in and learned by trial and error. The spiral takes a lot of thread, make sure you have a LOT of bobbins wound and ready to go. The quilt doesn’t lay/hang flat and the inside isn’t the same width/length as the outside. But still, I think it does look interesting.

Linking to Esther’s Wednesday Wow, Freshly Pieced, Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching and Quilting is More Fun than Housework.

Quilting Jane, Row D

I’m starting to get pretty excited, with just 4 more rows to be quilted, the end is in sight! Row D has been completed and I’ve used a total of 575 yards of thread to date.

Left Side Triangle 9 and block D1. I stitched in the ditch on these blocks.

 

Blocks D2 and D3. Block D2 I did an outline in the white background then stitched around the blue flower. I made a mistake when I pieced this block. The outside corners of the blue flower were supposed to also have had a white triangles sewn on them. I missed that and came up with this design. I think it is cute and just adds originality to my quilt. D3 is stitched in the ditch in the white center and straight line quilted in the blue background.

Blocks D4 and D5. I outlined the star in the white background fabric and stitched in the ditch around the melons. Then using my perfect circle templates, I drew the center design. I really like it. Block D5 has a similar star in the center but I added a circle instead of a curvy square. The rest of this block is stitched in the ditch.

Blocks D6 and D7. I used one of my quilting stencil designed for the center of D6 and extended the quilting into the corner triangles. I also stitched in the ditch on the white strips. For block D7 I used a spiderweb stencil but it doesn’t show very well. I also stitched in the ditch around the white center and the outside of the blue.

Blocks D8 and D9. Block D8 was a simple stitch in the ditch around the applique pieced and D9 was stitched in the ditch around the outside of the album and on the inside around the white center. I did an outline stitch in the white background.

Blocks D10 and D11. Both blocks were completely stitched in the ditch. I thought about adding more background quilting in D11 but decided not too.

Blocks D12 and D13. D 12 is completely stitched in the ditch. The center of D13 was big enough I could quilt this flower. I added some quilting in the blue background.

Right side triangle 4. This triangle was stitched in the ditch. I quilted a curvy square in the center square.

I think this row had the most blocks with center spaces that needed quilting. This was a fun row to quilt.

I also worked on another charity project. Our guild is making the Sweet Surrender quilt designed by Sue Cody of Dragonfly Studio. I appliqued several triangles several months ago. The applique blocks are alternated by pieced triangles. I had pieced some triangles in October but didn’t post about them. The committee still had triangles to be pieced so I took 4 more. The directions tell you to EPP the pieced triangles but that takes awhile. One of the women showed the pattern to a draftsman at the factory where they work. He drafted a foundation paper pieced pattern which is a LOT faster than EPP. The triangles aren’t squared up and I don’t have to remove the paper, the committee will do that.

I’m linking up with –

Esther’s Wednesday WOW

Freshly Pieced

Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday

Quilting is More Fun than Housework! (This is so true!)

Love, Laugh, Quilt

Cooking Up Quilts

Quilting Jane, Row C

With the quilting completed on row C on my Jane, I’ve used 527 yards of thread and just have 5 more rows to quilt. My goal is to have the quilting finished by the first of January, 2016.

Left side triangle 11.

 

 

Row C, blocks 1, 2 and 3.

 

Row C, blocks 4, 5 and 6.

 

Row C, blocks 7, 8 and 9.

 

Row C, blocks 10, 11 and 12.

 

Row C, block 13 and right side triangle 3.

I’m not giving a lot of explanation about quilting these blocks, they are mostly stitched in the ditch.

Earlier this month I hosted out-of-area friends overnight on their way to the Just Takes Two retreat in Shipshewana. As a thank-you gift, Chris gifted me a copy of the Dutch Treat applique book written by Judy Garden. I’ve been paging through this book entranced by the beautiful reverse applique. My applique skill isn’t up to the standards necessary for this quilt, but then I thought, “What about embroidery?” Wouldn’t these blocks look lovely in blue embroidery? I’m trying to remember if I’ve ever seen this quilt embroidered. I’ll have to think about this some more.

My last post was about the Jane Stickle quilt retreat I attended last week. I had one more photo I wanted to add. We had received 7 inches of snow on Saturday and yes, this was the same snow storm I drove through to get to Caroline’s Cotton Cottage. This picture was taken Sunday morning outside the eating room looking west toward the conference room where we sewed.

Linking up to Esther’s Wednesday Wow, Freshly Pieced, Quilting is more Fun Than Housework, Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching, Love/Laugh/Quilt, Cooking Up Quilts and Quilt Story.

Quilting Jane, Row B

I’m leaving today for the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat held at the Farmstead Inn in Shipshewana, Indiana. I’ve been looking forward to this retreat all fall. Next week I’ll show you what I accomplished this week-end.

I haven’t had time for any sewing or applique this week, just quilting on Jane. The quilting on row B is finished and here she is!

Left side triangle 12 and row B block 1.

 

Row B blocks 2, 3 and 4.

 

Row B blocks 5, 6 and 7.

 

Row B blocks 8, 9 and 10.

 

Row B blocks 11, 12 and 13.

 

Right side triangle 2.

Yards of thread used to date – 495.

Linking with Esther’s Wednesday Wow, Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday and Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday.

Quilting Jane and Other Projects

Aren’t children wonderful? I don’t understand children who won’t help their parents with technology they don’t understand. As parents, we’ve helped our children, now they’re able to return the assistance. And I’m posting again. Thanks Son #2!

The center applique block for the Wilfred and Cloves quilt is completed and I’m very pleased with how she turned out! I’ve never appliqued a layered flower before. She’ll hang on my display wall until I get around to piecing the rest of the quilt, perhaps next spring sometime?

Approximately 5 years ago, I bought this book, A Baltimore Album by Marsha D. Radtke (The Pastor’s Attic Quilt) with the intentions of making this quilt someday. Most Baltimore Albums are made with poison green and red fabrics with a little yellow thrown in. I like those colors when I see them in other people’s quilts, but I just couldn’t bring myself to use those colors for my quilt. At the October Inspiration Club at the Pumpkinvine Quilt Shop, they had a display of Mayfield fabrics in red, black and beige. I really liked they way they blended and so my Baltimore Album quilt is going to be made with reds, black and beige/cream. The background fabric is the cream with white dots. It feels good to have finally made the decision as to the fabrics I want to use and it feels even better to have started the applique and have a finished block to show you.

I’ve been keeping up with quilting Jane and I’ve completed several rows since the last post.

First is the top triangle border and the corner kite blocks.

 

Top left corner kite.

 

 

 

 

Top row triangles 1, 2 and 3.

 

 

Top row triangles 4, 5 and 6.

 

 

Top row triangles 7, 8 and 9.

 

 

Top row triangles 10, 11 and 12.

 

Top row triangle 13 and the top right corner kite. Just for fun, I added another white with blue fabric to the triangle and I appliqued a circle instead of the oval that Jane had.

Row A has also been quilted. Now remember, when I sewed the left side triangles together, I reversed the placement so the top triangle 1 is on the bottom of the row and the bottom triangle 13 is on the top.

 

Left side triangle 13. I appliqued circles instead of ovals.

 

Row A blocks 1, 2 and 3.

 

Row A blocks 4, 5 and 6.

 

Row A blocks 7, 8 and 9.

 

Row A blocks 10, 11 and 12.

 

Row A block 13 and the right side triangle 1.

I think you all are caught up now with what I’ve been doing for the past several weeks. Linking to Esther’s Wednesday Wow, Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching, Quilting is More Fun than Housework, Love, Laugh, Quilt, Patchwork Times, Cooking Up Quilts and Quilt Story.

Photograph Problems

Since I have completed the top feather border of my Jane quilt, the quilt is more than half quilted! I would love to show you a picture of my progress. Unfortunately, I am having a problem with the card in my camera, pictures won’t download onto my computer! My computer technician (son 2) is coming for a visit the middle of November. He said he thought he could solve the problem. Until then, my blog will be photoless (is that a word?).

So I guess I won’t be posting until the picture situation is resolved. I’ll keep on quilting Jane and working on other projects. You will get an update sometime in November, I hope!

Blessings to you all. Gretchen

Quilting Jane, Row I

I hope my posts about quilting my Jane Stickle quilt aren’t getting too boring; quilting Jane is my main focus project. Row I is now completed and the yards of thread used is 313. As always, click on each picture to enlarge.

LST5 and block I1. I paperpieced the little triangle in the point of LST5. The 9-patches of I1 are stitched in the ditch and curvy square in the blue squares.

Blocks I2, I3 and I4. All 3 of these blocks are stitched in the ditch.

 

Blocks I5 and I6. Stitch in the ditch for I5, stitch in the ditch and a little outline ditch for I6. I did a different background design for a change.

Blocks I7, I8 and I9. Stitched in the ditch for all 3 of the blocks. Now block I7 is supposed to have 4 teeny-tiny triangles in the blue sashing but I left them off. This was before I had decided to start appliquing circles. I’ve made a note to remind myself, when the quilt is finished and out of the frame, to applique 4 teeny-tiny circles on this block. I’m not talented enough to applique them while the quilt is in the frame. I could try it, but I don’t think they’d look very nice.

Blocks I10, I11 and I12. Just added some quilted triangles to I10 along with stitch in the ditch. I11 is all stitched in the ditch while I added circles in the center of I12 along with stitching in the ditch.

Blocks I13 and RST9. More stitch in the ditch.

 

I’ve rolled enough times that I am able to move the bottom quilt stick and put the rest of the quilt in the frame. Now I’m quilting feathers again. When I started quilting Jane, it was fun and exciting to finally start and I enjoyed quilting the feathers on the outside border. Now the feathers are rather boring to quilt but they need to be finished before I can quilt anymore of the inside.

Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep? This happened to me the other night so I got up and finished pressing the 4-patch blocks I had sewn. There are more blocks than what show in the picture.

After they were pressed, I started laying them on my design wall. I want this to be a simple and quick quilt. I normally like quilts that are set on point the best, but I’m liking the straight set. What do you think? The blocks will finish at 8″ finished and there will be more colors than pink and green.

Linking up to Esther’s Wednesday Wow, Freshly Pieced WIP’s, My Quilt Infatuation NIT, A Quilting Reader’s Garden, Richard and Tanya’s Quilts, Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday, Oh Scrap, Love Laugh Quilt, Patchwork Times, Cooking Up Quilts and Quilt Story.

Whoops, I hit the wrong button. I didn’t intend to send this post until Wednesday. Oh well.