Quilting – Page 19 – No Idle hands here

The Chuppah part 2

It is finished!!! All sewn and ready to be attached to the poles. The quilting and binding is finished. If this were just a quilt then all that would remain would be the label.The backing used up all the leftover fabric and then some. I had to go buy more fabric for the binding.

I have some very clear ideas about how to affix the ties, but first, it was show off time!Yoch and I are both member of the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild and our monthly meeting is held the first Monday of the month. This month was special, a photographer from the LA Times was there to document our quilts. Since we are the first modern quilt guild – we will are part of an article on the whole movement. We were asked to bring our most modern quilt. What better than this joint project. Yoch is describing his color choices and design.Even the back is impressive and the guy blocking me? That is the photographer. He later asked for my name, so I am really hoping that this quilt will be in the article. One can hope right?

Next stage, putting ties in the corners so it can be attached to the poles. I knew it had to be strong, this is one heavy chuppah. Most are not this large or quilted.I cut eight strips, 45″ x 2″, found the middle and ironed in a strong piece of interfacing, then folded it in half and ironed. Next I positioned the reinforced portion on both front and back of quilt in the corner, sewed in place with an x through the middle for extra strength.As you can see here, I sewed the strips across the corner, at this point it looks like there are 4 strips.View from the back, at this point I sewed the two strips of fabric together, so it is stronger and easier to tie.

Now for the test, will they hold the weight of the chuppah?Yes!! It works beautifully. I hung it from my pergola and it’s holding strong. Which means for the duration of the ceremony, it should be fine. Yes, I have some pity on the brothers (my two other sons and Yoch’s two brothers) who will be holding this up. They are strong young men, they should be fine.

Next time I show images will most probably be after the wedding, when I can share this as part of a wonderful celebration.

Leah

The Chuppah, Part 1

The wedding fast approaches, less than two months away. A very important element in a Jewish wedding is the Chuppah – the wedding canopy. It symbolizes the home the couple will build together. It is supposed to be a temporary structure under the open sky.This is from my son and daughter in laws’ wedding last year. When you get married on the beach in the Dominican Republic, it is light and airy with an unbelievable backdrop of blue ocean and paraglider thrown in for free.

Yoch knew he was going to quilt his own chuppah long before Yish popped the question. There was going to be green, green, green! His favorite color balanced with black white and grey. So a year ago, when the candy ring was offered (that is a different story, a real ring was produced eventually, but the proposal happened with a candy ring), Yoch set to work on piecing the chuppah.

This design is completely his own, although it is one that should be copied.I am so impressed with this design, simple use of the triangle, the offsetting of the center motif and how it grows. The use of light and dark – perfection.

Yoch welcomed my contribution to the corners. I’ve been paper piecing lately and yes, these corner pieces are a little busier than the overall quilt. But hey, let’s spice things up a bit.

I was also given the task of quilting this. Yay for new sewing machine! This is the first large project I have quilted on the Juki and I am so pleased with the results.Luckily I have a large living room and have the space to lay this all out. Talk about large! 78″ x 85″. Yoch pieced the back out of all the leftover fabric. This one is pin basted. I’m thinking I should have used more pins.

The quilting has to be simple. First of all the design speaks for itself, second, fancy quilting would get lost. So The green got Horizontal lines and the black got vertical. Yes, I did this free hand, no walking foot here, since I was changing directions – going back and forth within the long strips of color. I used Aurifil thread, grey for the black/grey areas and green for the green.The one area where a quilting design would shine was the border. I took my time and followed the good advice of FMQ, practice first on paper, get the hand used to the motion.I marked the circles, I’m not looking for perfection, but some guildlines are a good help. At the recent quilt show I bought a wonderful new tool, the Bohin Chalk Pencil. What a difference it makes! And here they are, on the quilt. Not perfect but a good start. I would like to get better and that will happen with time and practice.

That’s it for part one, more work to do and I will share more of this Chuppah.

Leah

Cars and Stars

For some reasons the pregnant women I know these days are all having boys. They need quilts but must have a boy theme. Once again, in that wonderful stash from Barbara I find many wonderful car and transportation fabric.
I wanted to try some paper piecing, a method using paper template pieces while putting a block together. The central blocks really needed this treatment, the others, no so much, but I was on a roll.To get the sharp points and accuracy, paper worked like a charm.One of the things I love about quilting is putting the puzzle together. I had no plan, just making the blocks and then trying to see the best way for them to make a cohesive, eye pleasing design.I’m very pleased with how this worked out. Symmetry and a center motif that is similar but not.Quilting on a dark background is wonderful, hides many mistakes, unfortunately, unless the light is shinning directly on it – you don’t see the details. Of course this is a baby quilt, not an art piece. I enjoyed the process, baby should simply enjoy the softness and the bright colors.Back must be as bright as the front, also here is a chance to showcase some of the fabrics that were cut into small patches on the front.A quilt must have a label. I used the old Babylock Quest for the machine embroidery. Yes that machine still has very important used. I also left enough space for mom to add the name and birth date of the baby. Notice the dark print on the back? I used the reverse side of this fabric as the background on the front of the quilt. Yes that caused a lot of problems and ripping out. Since my brain kept going back to – pattern is the front of fabric. I’d piece two patches together and duh! I wanted the solid side on the front. So rip and start over. Luckily I had a lot of this fabric and still do.Sorry about the quality of this picture. Lauren is a member of my knitting guild and boy did we ever throw her a baby shower. Here she is admiring the quilt. Since then her son was born (missing my birthday by 16 minutes!) I have no idea if his name is on the back yet, babies take up much more time than anyone expects.

Leah

Handmade handbag

I tend to use one handbag for a season, changing only between winter and summer. Once I started making bags, that changed somewhat. I am particular, I don’t want the loving hands at home look, or even just another quilted bag.. The finishing details matter. At a quilt show last year I found this patternSince they were also selling the hardware, I bought this Korean pattern. Don’t you just love name: bag bostonian. When I travel I like to buy fabric and yarn as mementos, that way when I am working or enjoying a completed project – it reminds of the trip. I found this charm pack of fabrics in Oregon. The instructions were wonky, but other people have made this bag, thank God for the internet. I used not only batting but a layer of canvas as well as the lining fabric. This bag had good body and doesn’t flop around. I also like the combination of simple squares with circular quilting.Unclipped the bag is very spacious, I probably won’t use it often like this.When piecing the fabric, one never knows for sure if the conversation piece will be in the correct location. Luckily it worked out for these typewriter keys.A final touch was these little feet. But something was missing, I had used a sturdy zipper, but the pull was typical, small and not easy to use. Back when I was making Jewelry, I wire wrapped this fish. The necklace came apart long ago, but I held onto the fish. Perfect, now it has found it’s new home.And final shot, looks very good in action.

Leah

The quilt that ‘killed’ the sewing machine

Well, not really, I was improperly inserting my needles. Tightening the clamp too hard until the screw wore down to a point and wouldn’t hold the needle in place. But this quilt is what finally caused me to just go get another machine.

Here it is quilted finished and labeled. Ready to go to a baby boy. It’s nice that friends are having children and grandchildren.

I love tools of the trade, anything to make the project easier or more interesting. I discovered this wonderful Quick curve ruler and had to start playing.

As a quilter, I have a stash, a lot of fabric on hand. I was lucky to be given this wonderful car fabric, what better for a little boy, add some solids and we have a palate.

Jenny started a QAL (quilt along) with wonderful instructions and a

Flicker ModOlive Quiltalong group

Of course I joined, and off I went.

As I went along, I played with the color layout.

All well and good, until I got to the quilting part. The missing clamp for my Babylock is supposed to arrive at the end of March. Who can wait that long?? No idle hands here! I must be creative all the time. So I broke about 15 needles, struggled with a very difficult FMQ (free motion quilting) job, but I did it!

My backs are always pieced, another way to highlight the fabrics. In this case you can really see the quilting stitches as well. Despite the effort the result is beautiful.

Final step

Now I get to play with my embroidery threads. I found this cute image of a flower, easy to turn into embroidery. Of course name and date and even enough room for the parents to write the name and date of birth of the baby.

I love the quilt, but that was it, I couldn’t quilt with this machine as is and I have quite a few projects on the docket. Joel agreed, I am always working, I should have the right equipment. When I tested the Juki, it was amazing how easy and smooth the quilting was. Of course I was working on a small sample, but I have no doubt, even with larger quilts – I am going to love working on it.

Leah