Category Archives: quilt

Quilted cover

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Sewing is one of my more regular craft-type pursuits.  Quilting is a more recent one and I’m willing to experiment with my sewing machine.  Specifically the quilting, free-motion, or darning foot.

Without getting too technical when using this particular foot, the feed dogs are lowered and the pressure on the foot is set to light.  This allows the sew-er to gently maneuver the fabric in any direction while sewing, not just in a straight line.

I wanted to experiment with free-motion quilting and our heating pad needed a new cover.  No one would ever see this so what better way to learn than to practice!

I layered a piece of 100% cotton batting between two pieces of cotton fabric and pinned this all together before taking it to my sewing machine.  The total size was 12 inches by 27 inches. I began stitching in the center and made my way out toward the edges.

My stitches aren’t even as I moved the fabric around.  Going slowly gave me better control of stitch length.  You can see some longer stitches and very short stitches as I tried to make this star.

I drew a leaf with pink chalk and tried to go over the lines here.

More leaves and a heart.

Can you see the hidden messages below?

 

All quilted.

I added binding around the entire piece (don’t look at the horrible corners!) then folded it in half to make a padded envelope for our heating pad. I also made a new flannel cover to conceal it all and make it removable for washing.

I do need lots more practice using this foot on my sewing machine before I tackle a regular-sized quilt. It was fun and I learned a few things.

Do you sew and have you tried using all of the feet that came with your machine?Patti

What I’ve been doing

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I finally finished the quilt for my Colorado grandson!  Happy Dance!!!

I love it, I Love It, I LOVE IT!

Once the top was pieced together, I added two borders to make it bigger to fit a twin-sized bed.  The finished size is 72 X 94.  I think I may have made it too large but, well, it should still work.

This is before the outside border was quilted.  I just ran a line of stitching next to the white border and again next to where the binding would be sewn.  I hope that area won’t shift without much quilting to hold it together.

The front.  Shout out to Mr. Aitch for standing on a stool and holding it up for the picture.  It was raining and the front porch was the only option.

The bottom right corner has a surprise for our grandson – his name (machine embroidered).

The back.

The bottom right corner has the dedication: To Lennon with love from Nona 2020 PJH.

And another surprise on the blue stripe running down the back – his initials.

Here is the quilt on a queen-sized bed. It’s plenty long enough! You can see the variations in the blues and greens better in this photo.

Ruana

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Way last October I mentioned that my SIL asked me to knit a cardigan/poncho/ruana for her.

My progress so far – 200+ rows each side for the front with a few stitches added at the back neckline knit in a ribbed pattern for 15-16 rows.

I’m on the back half which will be approximately 200 +/- rows and 171 stitches for each row.

Nothing fancy as that is what she requested though I think pom-poms at the corners would be a great addition to add weight and interest.  My plan is to be finished with this by the end of the month…for mid-February at the latest.

The quilt is top is still unfinished but it’s down to the border pieces then the quilting…

Windmills

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or could these pass for propellers?

Though I have been sewing as long as I’m been knitting, I still don’t feel comfortable with precision patchwork.  Half-square triangles to be specific.  It’s all about sewing on the bias or any angle that could stretch out of kilter.

So I decided to make the windmill block for my grandson’s airplane quilt symbolizing a propeller rather than half-square triangles using this tutorial.  This block still involves an angle but doesn’t have to be spot on with precision points.

Once all the blocks are sewn together, deciding on their placement will be the next challenge.