One Year To The Day

It's been quite some time since I've updated this blog.  One year to the day, in fact.  I've been over on Facebook, but lately, Facebook is making me sad.  Too many political and religious "shock value" posts for my liking.  Too many hateful memes being posted.  It's about all I see, so I decided to come back here and post.  Hopefully I'll pick up some readers.  If not, no biggie.  I enjoyed writing here in the past, and I'll enjoy it again.

I have a problem with quilts that started 20 years ago.  I love them.  I love choosing patterns.  I love choosing fabrics.  I love piecing them.  And then comes the quilting and all progress stops.  I started hand quilting one of the tops I made, but it was taking forever, so I made another top.  And another one, and another one, and another one.  I must have completed 10 tops in the time it took me to hand quilt that first quilt.  I tried machine quilting, but it didn't go so well.  I was able to finish a few small wall and lap quilts, but all the other tops I finished wound up folded up in a box and languished.

Every 5 years or so I would get the quilting bug again, buy a pattern and fabric, or a kit, and sew yet another top or two before remembering that I never got the quilting done.  I even found blocks completed for quilts that had not been put together into a top.  Now, I have discovered tons of information on the internet and I am finishing those tops left and right.  No more pin basting for me!  I tried spray basting and I'm a convert.  I got myself a walking foot, and took a Craftsy class on machine quilting.  Love the ideas shown in that class.  Why I thought that I had to do free motion quilting is beyond me.

This week I am working on three quilts.  The first one is a kit I bought 10 years ago.  Before I moved to Wisconsin, 2 years ago, I had all of the blocks done with the exception of the center one.  I got that one put together yesterday.

Today, I completed the center medallion.  Love the colors in this, and am excited to get it completed and quilted.

These are the other blocks that will border that center medallion.  I am rather pleased with the way these turned out.  I'm getting much better with my piecing.  The points are actually points!

I spent the better part of yesterday in my sewing room working on quilts.  The one below was actually just 9 patch squares.  I decided to turn them into disappearing 9 patch.  Now I just need to pick up some fabric to use as a border and get it quilted.

All that's left to do on this turtle wall hanging is sew down the binding on the back.  I bought this as a kit shortly after moving here, and finally got it put together.

Turtles were appliqued with fusible webbing, then I satin stitched around them.  The quilting is a simple wavy line using variegated thread.