Monday, May 3, 2021

April's Finish and May Blog Hop

 Hi.  First, some info:  As you may have heard Feedburner is going away, and if you follow my blog via email, that will stop in July.  I do ask that you continue to follow me, and sign up under the Bloglovin tab, but I'll be finding a way to continue sharing by emails.  I plan to do a newsletter type thing, and will ask you to sign up when I get that set up.  Thanks!  I appreciate that you follow and occasionally read my posts.  

Second, my April Island Batik Challenge is finally done.  


These last few months have been a challenge for me.  I'm not sure why, but I've been procrastinating my sewing.  I have a custom project that is not one of my favorites, and I want to get it done, but other things keep jumping in front, then deadlines loom and I have to get the challenge pieces done.  I started this top with the intention of getting it done by April 28, and would have by Vanna, my Handi-Quilter Amara was giving me issues.  There's a wire on the back that connects the carriage to the computer, and that seems to be the problem.  I was getting motor errors, and if I stopped the machine to change the bobbin or check tension, the Run button on the tablet would not work.  I would have to shut the tablet computer down, check the wires (which all seemed to be connected) then turn it back on, and then reposition the design.  For this top alone, I had to do that about 10 times.  I called Handi-Quilter, and the tech support suggested a temporary fix of taping the wire to the head of the machine, and that got me through.  They are sending a new wire and a clamp that will hold the wire and prevent the issue in the future.  I think they discovered the issue and new models already have the clamp.  Vanna is celebrating 2 years with me, so she's getting the repair.  

But back to the quilt.  I used French Blue collection, which was from 2017, and coordinating yardage that Island Batik supplied in one of the previous years.  I saved this collection for something special, but didn't have a specific design until I thought about using my older pattern, Zen Basket, to make a twin size quilt.  The pattern is available in my Etsy shop.  It uses 2 1/2" strips and a little extra coordinating yardage, plus borders, and is fast and easy.  I had the blocks all done in just about an hour, and the top was assembled in less than 2 hours.  The borders took about another hour to add.  Using precuts speeds up the top, and it's so pretty.  It works with strips cut from yardage, too.  

I had a pretty blue floral wide backing that looked perfect with the Island Batik fabrics, so loaded it all on Vanna. 
Then I couldn't decide which edge to edge design to use.  I tested 8 or 9 using Prostitcher Designer software.  You create the design and place it over a photo of the top.  Some looked okay, but others would not work.  So, I texted Megan Best, another ambassador and Handi-Quilter expert, and she suggested Dancing Flowers from Mycreativestitches.com  I had looked at that, but wasn't sure, but when I tested it on the computer, it worked.  The tjaps have flowers and since the quilt design is straight lines, I wanted something with curves.  I offset the rows of the design to add more interest.  



For the finish, I decided to do a faux piped binding.  It just adds a little color on the edge.  
Here's the binding, prepped and ready to sew it on. 

Some more shots of the quilt.





 I used Aurifil Forty-3 for quilting, 3770, Stonewash Denim variegated.  It looks so pretty, and the texture is perfect.  I used Forty-3 2725, Light Wedgewood for the bobbin.  

Other projects in April included the Evening Star Quilt Guild Mystery, which was a Zoom presentation and fund raiser.  Mary, the guild president, found the design from Fort Worth Fabric Studio. 
Here's a photo of my top, but I may add borders.  The program was fun!  We were given directions for some prep sewing, and made the lily blocks on Thursday night and finished the rest of the blocks and assembly on Saturday.  I had my top done in about 2 1/2  hours, and the rest of the participants finished theirs by lunch.  I guess I'm speedy!  I used some of the Mystery collection by Claudia Pfeil for Island Batik for this.  The colors are prettier in better lighting.


It's a good thing I'm a fast quilter.  I need to get my top designed and done for the Island Batik Blog Hop, which starts today, and showcases all the new collections shipping to stores now!  I have about a week. lol.  

I haven't decided what to make yet, and LOVE the design in this photo for it.  Please click on the link for Island Batik above to see the list of bloggers and the schedule.  Below you'll find the Rafflecopter link for their give-away.  I'll have one next week, too.  

Thanks so much for reading along.  I have to go cut some fabric after I design my project.  Have fun hopping!  See you next week.

Maryellen

8 comments:

Claudia said...

This turned out beautifully and that color combo is lovely. Glad your machine is fixed!

Emily said...

I love the flowers in that quilting design! Great choice!

Jane Hauprich said...

Love this quilt!! The colors and quilting are beautiful!!

Preeti said...

A fresh quilt with beachy vibes with sunny skies and blue waters. I love faux-piped binding. It provides a neat little channel for machine stitching and looks so neat. How big is the finished quilt? I am looking forward to your May project. Hope the machine woes are behind you.

Nancy Angerer: SewingGranda@gmail.com said...

I think a 9 patch is a good beginner quilt

JANET said...

Love that design too. It is very eye catching. Can't wait to see your quilt with it!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

Sorry to hear about the machine issues. I need to deal with that FeedBurner issue. I don't want to do a newsletter. A rail fence might be a good beginner project.

Jennifer Thomas said...

Lovely quilt! It does look fast to piece together, too. Have a great weekend.