Curved Cross Hatching and Straight Lines

I love making progress on Green Tea Sweet Beans. I'm about 3/4 of the way there! I'm not very good at quilting for hours. I'm much better quilting for a little while and then going back later so progress is slow but steady. I decided to really make the applique pop in this block. I quilted very close straight lines in the background and outlined each applique piece. I basically held a straight ruler next to my foot and just kept on sewing up and down. 

I felt this fabric was busy enough for me to try out curved cross hatching. I didn't mark a thing. I just followed the lines on my curved ruler. It's not perfect but I got some great practice. I also learned how to outline around applique pieces. I didn't think you could use a straight ruler but you can! You just use the straight ruler to move around the applique piece which is a great guide for your foot. I'm still new at this but I can definitely see how practice helps so much!

As you can see, I have a helper. That's Molly keeping an eye on things. I think she's really interested in the laser light from the long arm. That's what I use to follow pantographs. I usually shut it off but Molly is entertained by it so I leave it on. What we do for our pets!!

Cross of the UK Block and more

I had cut the pieces for these blocks over the weekend. It seemed to take me forever! I'm using my scrap bag. I emptied it all out and chose fabrics that I thought would look good together. I started sewing them together this afternoon. I was surprised how quickly they went together. They measure 4.5 inches square. 

These are two blocks in progress. I sewed each corner unit first. Then it had to be trimmed down to size. I then got the middle strip together. Once you sew the corner units to the middle piece, it becomes an odd shaped 9 patch at this point. It was easy to sew the three strips together. I worked on all 6 blocks together. Chain piecing made it even sew up even faster.

Here are all the blocks I've made so far for Long Time Gone. I like it so far! There's a total of 16 different type blocks to make this quilt. I have 3 down, 13 to go!!

HST Quilt Top

I finished the Half Square Triangle quilt top. The pattern was originally written for 12 blocks. I like square quilts so I decided to make it 16 blocks. I made 4 star blocks, one for each corner. I found a block made up of half square triangles that looked similar to the other blocks in the quilt. I had enough blocks to make the quilt square, 4 X 4 blocks. 

I chose a very pale blue for the inner border. There are so many colors in that quilt that I thought a soft color would work best. I also decided a darker blue would look good as the outer border. But I wanted the blue to look like a solid from a distance. The outer border sort of looks like little dots and definitely looks like a solid from a far. This top is all set to quilt! I may just use a pantograph to finish it quickly. 

The February Fabric Blow Out Sale 2019

I had so much fun today! I went to Nashua, NH to shop at The February Fabric Blow Out Sale. It consists of 5 shops vending in one huge room. The prices are amazing! It's not just fabric. There are patterns, notions, thread, kits etc. I bought a few things but I didn't go too crazy! I have way too much and don't really "need" anything. However, I did buy some supplies which I'll happily show you!

I  love patterns by Jaybird Quilts. I've been looking for the Nova pattern that came out last year but never saw it anywhere. I found it today! I got it at half price! Not too bad!

I bought 5 yards of this fabric. The close up shows the color much better than the other picture. I thought it would be great backing for the BOM quilt top I just finished. That cost me a whopping $20!

Each of these items add up to 1 yard each. I could not resist them! I love the solids as well as the cheerful 30's fabrics. They're perfect for scrap quilts. (Although I'm supposed to be using my own scraps but that's okay!!) They cost $5 each!

I could have bought more but I resisted. There's a similar sale taking place in 4 weeks. I have to pace myself so I can buy more supplies then. That sale has even more quilt shops vending! I can't wait!

Quilting and Superbowl

I quilted this block yesterday before the Superbowl. I didn't have too much time so I thought I would just quilt one block. I wanted to try curved cross hatching for the bowl. It's a small bowl so I thought it was the perfect size to try a new technique.

I marked one inch dots all around the bowl. It was a little difficult where the bowl curves. I just did my best. I've always heard curved cross hatching is very forgiving. It looks fine to me! It's difficult for me to keep the foot tight up against the curved ruler. I think this is the first time I kept it against the ruler and actually got the look I was aiming for.

We bought some food for out Superbowl dinner but I made air fryer egg rolls. They came out so good! I feel they're healthy since they weren't deep fried so I could eat as many as I wanted!! We had a fun night especially since our team won!!

Half Square Triangle Quilt Top

I made some good progress on the guild's BOM. If anyone is interested, the pattern is free here. I made mine larger but it's still very similar. Each block measures 12.5 inches square.

I put the first 2 rows together the other day.

I sewed the next 2 rows together this morning. It was easy to just add the sashing in between the rows. I'm changing up the borders but haven't decided what I'm doing yet. I just may have to make another trip to the quilt shop! I won't mind!

Quilting Green Tea and Sweet Beans

I was looking forward to quilting Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I think it's more of a challenge than I had thought it would be. There are so many diverse blocks that I have to make decisions constantly on how to quilt that area. It's coming along fine. Here's a portion of one of the blocks. I made swirls in the corner pieces and loops in the white pieces. It will be interesting to see how all the quilting will look when it's off the longarm.

I made feathers in the inner circle as well as the outside the circle. Sometimes, my white thread seems to blend in too well. I can't even see it!!

I quilted cross hatching behind these flowers. The picture leaves out some of the lines. They're hard to see as well.

I made petals outside the circle and echoed them. I just made curves inside the circle.

Phew! I'm not even half done! Too many decisions!