Quilt-As-You-Go Finished

   The bargello style quilt-as-you-go quilt is finished.   

I will not be doing another quilt-as-you-go project for a LONG time.  After sewing all the column strips and the borders on using the quilt-as-you-go technique, I felt it would look better with more quilting so I did  free-motion leaves and loops. 

part of the front

 

view of back

 

I divided the border into equal sections and marked with soap then I free-motion quilted simple spirals.

   This has been yet another charity / comfort quilt that was not on my list of quilts to finish.  Next I really  need to finish one from my list.

Grape Leaf Trapunto Finished

    I have been studying Cindy Needham’s Craftsy class “Design It, Quilt It: Free-form Techniques”, because on my wish list of quilts to make is a whole cloth quilt.  I considered using the grape leaf class sample as a practice cloth for some of her free-motion background quilting. I decided that would not be appropriate for students I might have so chose to do simple echoing and stippling.   

My second class sample with grape leaves is finished.

     It has been cool and damp most of the day so I did not want to spend the afternoon working in the yard, although my yard needs some attention.  I pulled out the bargello WIP.  About a month ago I had pieced the columns and started sewing them together in quilt-as-you-go.  I quickly knew this was NOT the technique for me but I have to finish with this method.  I sandwiched the backing and batting.  Then I marked the center and started adding columns from the center out sewing through all the layers.

Finally all the columns are sewn together and it is ready for a border. Maybe that will get done tomorrow. I am VERY happy that this one is almost done. 

Butterfly Trapunto Finished

    The butterfly small quilt is finished.  It is my first sample for the trapunto class I will be teaching in October at Midlands Tech.

After stitching the butterfly motif with extra batting, I decided to stitch the background in a ½” grid.  I had to mark it and with the trapunto already done, it was difficult.   I learned when you think you might want to stitch a grid for a background filler, you need to mark it when you mark the design for the trapunto.

Also, for marking I used a Dritz fine point Mark-B-Gone marking pen (blue) which I have used many times before with no problem.  In the past I would just spritz the marks and they disappeared.  This time after wetting them a couple of times and having them reappear, I put the small quilt in the washer full of water to soak and spin.  So far, all the blue marks are gone. The quilt is still drying.  The warning says heat will set the blue so I did not put it in the dryer. 

Here is the back.  I like it as well or better than the front. I decided not to add a hanging sleeve so the back will show well.