Finally, Fall is Here! And I Finished my Quilt. No Kidding!

It appears summer is finally releasing its hold on the south and we are now a week free of having the air conditioner running in our salon. It can still get pretty warm inside but the evenings have been pretty nice.

Since we used a bigger air conditioner this year as opposed to the last two years I was able to actually accomplish some summer sewing.

Some. Just not a lot.

Last year we finally replaced our tired and very old (nearly 18 yrs) main sail and I made sure that our old main sail came back to us as I really hoped to make some bags out of it. Well, we got it back all right and after letting it stew in its own juices for a few months (all folded up in a tight, hot mess) I, all of a sudden, decided I needed to get started on those bags.

It took me two whole days to get one hunk of sail cloth clean enough to even consider sewing. Mold, mildew, and filth hardly describe the mess I discovered upon unfolding our main and I nearly wore my arm out with scrubbing before finally giving in and adding bleach to my repertoire.

The guy that ordered this uses it for his volleyball evenings. It holds beer, snacks, garbage bags, etc... He calls it his 'chick bag'.

All of my sail bags have 6 internal pockets along with a secure velcro pocket.

 

This was an anniversary gift for a surprised wife.

A fellow live-aboard gentleman and I had a talk about what motif we should put on his bag. After many ideas (I swear men will forever be trapped in a 10 year old mentality) I persuaded him to let me do my own thing. I came up with this. It's entirely up to discussion.

And here is the finished quilt I started this past spring. I so need to get this in the mail.

 

 

And for the next baby quilt on the block, it's called Applejack!

 

A couple of finished squares.

 

For this new project I'm using a 'Quilt as you Go' method. So far I really like it. It makes sewing a quilt in a small area a very enjoyable experience.

 

I've been really zipping along on this and I have such high hopes for it! I'm keeping my fingers crossed. But in the meantime, I received an order for another sail bag.

Good Times.

 

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A Finished Quilt Top

 

 

As most of my sewing projects go, this one was no different. Which means I started out with an idea and good intentions, but ended up with something else entirely.

My original plan was to sew my jelly roll (remember my jelly roll consists of 40 2 1/2 inch by 44 inch strips) into groups of 6, cut them into 12 inch blocks and then arrange them into a log cabin type of pattern.

Easy.

Unfortunately, even though I was very careful and tried to keep my seam allowances the same, my strips did not come out exact. When I tried to arrange them into blocks it was obvious that some of them were off by as much as a quarter of an inch and more. I would have to stretch some blocks and scrunch others. Well, crap!

So I decided to whack the blocks into strips, stagger them, re-sew them, and cut the finished product into 12 1/2 by 10 inch rectangles. It was time consuming, the result is a bit crazy and needless to say nothing matches up.

Which for once was what I wanted.

 

How it started out. Simple strips of 6.

How it ended up (before I added the border). Crazy!

The jelly roll came with strips of polka dots in four different colors. I used 4 of them for the border. The length of the quilt was a bit too long so I had to piece the corners with a coordinating fabric.

It's difficult to see the whole thing (and yes, I know our cockpit cushions are on their last legs. The Florida sun has done them in).

 

My biggest challenge was finding a place big enough to spread it out so I could decide what to do about the border. Then I had a brilliant idea (something that doesn't happen very often) and took it to my Zumba class. It's a huge building so I showed up a half hour early and was able to lay it down and not have to step all over it while figuring things out. I'm glad I did because what I thought I might like; I didn't.

I kept it simple with my polka dot prints and was able to sew it together yesterday. Now all that's left is to buy some batting, quilt it, and bind it.

I'm still up in the air about the quilting. I should probably pay someone to do it, but it's a baby quilt! I mean It's gonna get puked and pooped on for crying out loud. I don't feel like hand quilting it and I don't want to tie yarn knots through it because those usually end up turning into holes. I guess I'll probably try to do free motion with my machine and just keep the stitches simple.

 

Wilbur the inspector asks, "What the hell happened?"

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The search for the ever elusive scant 1/4 inch continues

 

 

We pick up this story with my continued quest of trying to find out how to accurately sew quilt pieces together.

After sewing my pre-cut jelly roll strips together I was looking forward to cutting them into 12 inch squares. That is until I realized the new blade I'd put in my rotary cutter a couple of months ago was rusty. I would have had better luck running a dull butter knife up and down my fabric it was that bad. This is what comes from living on the water in Florida; if things don't get moldy they get rusty.

So off I ventured to my favorite fabric store, and for the first time they didn't have something I needed. I have a Fiskars Cutter and they don't carry them. I couldn't get to JoAnn's because I didn't have the vehicle that day so I had to wait until yesterday to drive there. Luckily I had a 40% off coupon and bought some titanium blades (I have no idea if they'll stay nice or not and I need to come up with a better storing solution). But then I remembered they sell Janome Sewing Machines at this store and I asked one of the employees who was sitting at a machine if they happened to carry a quarter inch quilting foot and by golly they do! I then asked her if she'd heard the term 'scant' quarter inch and she gave me a baffled look and shook her head. So I went into my long winded explanation of why I wanted one and she said she's made many quilts using a simple quarter inch seam allowance and never had a problem.

That's when I decided enough was enough and to quit making such a big deal out of this and just suck it up. I ended up buying the foot they had in stock and it also came with 2 guides; one for the 1/4 inch seam and one for sewing in the ditch (actually the guide runs in the ditch and allows you to sew very close to it).

 

This is the foot with the 1/4 inch guide attached. The other guide is off to the left.

 

 

AHA!! CHECK IT OUT! SEE WHAT IT SAYS ON THE PACKAGE?

I did not have my reading glasses with me and I didn't see this until I got home. Is that not just too funny?

So the search for the scant quarter inch foot and guide is now over.

The sad part about this is when my quilt ends up with wonky seams I won't have anyone to blame but myself.

 

No sewing this weekend as Hans and I cast off our dock lines yesterday and anchored in the bay for the night. This little racer zipped past our stern with about 6 'scant' inches to spare.

I crack myself up!

 

 

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Some small steps on my baby quilt.

 

First of all, let me express my thanks to those who welcomed me back from my bloggy absence. It really surprised me and also made my day. Oh, you are so going to wish you'd never encouraged me!

So I started sewing the baby quilt I mentioned yesterday. I sorted out the strips and then sewed them together in groups of 6. Each group of strips will then be cut into three 12 inch squares.

But here's my dilemma; Is it just assumed that everyone knows the secret of the 'scant' quarter inch seam allowance? I'm not a quilter but I do have a couple of quilting books and I've also read and watched a lot of tutorials, yet not one of them mentioned this term. I can't remember when I first heard about it but I did know upon starting this quilt that I should follow the rule. I know you can buy a special foot for your machine but apparently it isn't always accurate. Then I heard that the line spacing on index cards is measured at pretty much a 'scant' quarter inch. So of course I bought a batch of them at my local Winn-Dixie.

It would appear that my teflon foot is the closest thing to what I need (yet still not quite right), so I measured as best I could from the needle and taped a hunk of memo pad to the bed of my machine as a guide. This much I know; 6 strips of sewn together fabric should measure 12 1/2 inches across. Mine are pretty close yet not necessarily exact and that pisses me off. And the individual strips after having been sewn should come in at 2 inches (except for the two outside pieces that still have unsewn seam allowances). I'm sewing as carefully as I can but I can't help but wonder if the fact that the quality of some of the fabrics is different from the others might be the problem. The lighter colored fabrics are much lighter in weight than the darker ones.

I swear, only I can find a way to make something so simple, so complicated. But regardless of these minuscule discrepancies, I'm going to continue to charge forth. After all, this is for a baby whom I expect will puke, poop, and do God knows what else to it, so who cares if it's not perfect.

 

One set of strips. Remember these came pre-cut and some of the prints aren't exactly centered.

 

Three sets hanging on my clothes line (Wilbur's retractable leash).

Now that Wilbur's an adolescent, I don't dare leave my camera lying around. Here he tweets yet one more selfie.

 

The weather these last few days has been wonderfully cool and perfect for sewing. Tomorrow I plan on cutting these strips into squares and then trying to come up with a good layout.

I also need to find a way to keep my iron from spitting rusty stains up all over everything.

 

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I'm still living and sewing on our boat.

 

I can't believe how long it's been since I last posted. We're still down here on the Gulf Coast of Florida and while I've sewn a number of things, I don't have access to a lot of the pictures as my computer died and I'm slowly moving them from another hard drive to my iPad.

We've been in the same marina now for nearly three years.

Wow.

This past weekend I took down our dodger (located toward the front of the boat, the dodger contains the plastic windshield) and reinforced the seams that were coming apart thanks to our brutal Florida sun. BTW, I forgot to put sunscreen on my upper exposed back neck area and, yes, I got a sun burn. Big surprise!

Since sewing (even with air conditioning) on our boat during the summer is nearly impossible, I had hoped to do some fun sewing this past winter. I did manage to get some projects completed but they leaned more toward functional boat stuff as opposed to fun creative stuff. And then we received news that the stork is due to make a delivery within the next few months to a cousin in the family and I got a bug up my butt and decided I really want to make a quilt. However, the only quilt I've ever made was for me and it was beyond amateurish and I wouldn't even gift it to a homeless person.

I then happened across a YouTube video from the Missouri Quilt Company that utilized a pre-cut jelly roll. Now, in the past I'd heard the term jelly roll, layer cake, blah blah blah, and actually, I found them to be kind of weird. But weird or not, pre-cut fabrics are just what the doctor ordered since I have very little cutting room here on the boat. I actually want to make two quilts so I order two jelly rolls for the tops and yardage for the backs. I can't tell you how excited I was yesterday when my fabric arrived and I was able to run my hands over 80 pre-cut 2 1/2 in wide strips. Yaaaay!

 

 

This print is called Bartholo-meow's reef. Too, too cute!

Look at all those bright prints.

It doesn't smell like a jelly roll!

Today is rainy and overcast which makes it perfect for me to get started.

If you have time you should check out the Missouri Quilt Company link I hi-lighted above and read about how they got started and what they've accomplished. What a great group of people.

 

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Still afloat

defrosting the fridge 

We're still sweating away here in Florida.  Not a lot of sewing gets done though as just plugging the iron in is too much for our air conditioner.

And then there are boat duties that take up time too. Our refrigerator broke but luckily a neighbor helped  us get it running again. Our head quit working and after spending days trying to clean out the exhaust hose we ended up replacing it.  I've been up the mast a couple of times to replace bulbs etc... and I'm going to have to go up again (even though I'm afraid of heights).

a very pampered pooch

Tropical Storm Debby

Wilbur goes to the doggy park during the week and you should hear him scream when we pull into the parking lot. I wish I'd had my camera with me last week when during a doggy birthday party he left his party hat on for at least a half hour and he ate his ice cream cup in a very gentlemanly way.








We were caught off guard by Tropical Storm Debby but we were very prepared for Hurricane Isaac who didn't even bother to show up.

Hans ended up tripping over a stern line when he tried to get on the boat and after landing smack on his butt he rolled all over the place in the water that had overflowed our dock. I tried not to laugh but c'mon!!!

Up the mast

"HELP!"

Poor Wilbur got stuck modeling a baby hat I made.














Cyndi from Cut-Up and Sew made Hans and me a quilt for our wedding and it's absolutely beautiful. Her pictures are much better than mine and you can see it here too. Needless to say I'm not going to let Wilbur near it and I'm keeping it in our guest berth. I've never owned a 'real' quilt in my life and I love it.

check out the couple in the canoe

Like I said, Cyndi's pictures are better than mine but I don't want to take it outside because it could get dirty.

I know I should post more often but I just don't seem to have the incentive for it these days. However I still enjoy reading everyone else's blogs so keep posting!

My quilt is done...

... and now I really appreciate this type of art.

All my life I've loved quilts.

Some of my friends have quilts that have been handed down to them through the generations (for some reason in my family of sewists this hasn't happened), some can be picked up for a song at garage sales (this has never happened to me either!), and some people just make their own.

My old home town hosts the largest agricultural fair in the state and you wouldn't believe the huge amount of quilts that are submitted for judging. They are breath taking and truly works of art. And each year after our fair was over and I was done drooling over all the entries, I would vow to make one of my own.

But I never did.

Until now.

My quilt is of the very simple patchwork style. The 2.5 inch squares that are sewn atop the 5.5 inch squares don't even have finished edges. They are supposed to fray during laundering thus giving the quilt a scrappy look. I have a feeling 'scrappy' would already be a pretty good description of my creation.

I finally cut out my binding which consisted of 1 & 5/8 inch strips, pieced them together, and attached it.

A close up.

But, most important of all I wondered, would it pass the Wilbur test????

You tell me!

I tossed it on our bed just to get a good look at it and what happened?

This!

Peek-a-boo!

Normally Wilbur spends his evening plastered next to me on the futon but for some reason he snuck into our bedroom last night and hours later he was still there.

I guess everyone needs some alone time now and then.

Hans is really too sweet and after admiring my quilt he asked me if I planned on entering it at the fair. Don't worry, I know a five year old could do a better job and I told him so.

All I care is that it's functional and Wilbur likes it.

Period!

No, my quilt will never be entered in a contest. But maybe the day will come when someone picks it up for next to nothing at a garage sale and ends up using it for a picnic blanket, or a dog bed (and wonders who the little five year old was that made it!).

I just hope they get as much enjoyment out of it as we're going to.

Sew, what's up now?

It's been a long time since I've taken on more than one sewing (crafting) project at a time but for some reason I've bitten off a bit more than I normally do.

For starters, I finally bought (at 40% off) some batting for my quilt top and as soon as I have some 'Wilbur free' time, I'll get it put together. Unfortunately for me, as soon as I lay anything on the floor, Wilbur (our vicious pit bull) gives me his best cat impersonation, and lies all over it!

I opened up the package of batting and it's so stinking soft I almost hate to hide it between the quilt and its backing.

Almost.

And what's this? OMG, it's yarn! My middle daughter is having a very difficult time with depression and anxiety, and she thought that maybe if she took up a hobby like crocheting it might help to calm her nerves. Yesterday she brought her supplies to my apartment and made a small stab at it.

After she left I did a bit of googling and found some fabulous sites and YouTube videos that show people crocheting the most unbelievable things; rugs made out of thrifted sheets, sandals and dog leashes from recycled plastic bags... and in my attempt to understand and help, I ended up getting myself worked into a lather and bought a skein of yarn (I already own a crochet hook). However, most of my enthusiasm went by the wayside when I actually attempted to 'crochet'. Way back in the day I crocheted an afghan so I know I can do it, it'll just take a bit of time.

I'm just not so sure this is going to be a calming activity.

Today I took her to the market district which just happens to have an incredible fabric store. I mean a store with 'real' silk, designer quilt fabrics, and notions to die for!

I asked her if she'd like me to make her a bag and when she replied in the affirmative I expansively told her to pick anything she wanted. We ended up with these two (very expensive although she didn't have a clue) Amy Butler prints and matching acrylic buttons. The fabric colors are brick and gold but to me they are brick and green (my dad is completely color blind and my sister and I are color shy! Not a good thing when it comes to picking out fabrics!).

Anyway, she likes slouchy bags and I think I have a good idea of what I want to do and I also plan on making it reversible. And I think I'll have enough fabric for a matching wallet and maybe even a small purse for me!

Wish me luck!

Here's Wilbur, the vicious pit bull, I mentioned earlier.

He's my boyfriend!

My first quilt...

... almost. It's just not quite done yet. Here it is at 4 strips wide.

Anyway, I mentioned on my last post that I'm trying to use up leftover scraps of fabric in an effort to avoid spending money.

Those odd paper squares you see here are just post-it notes that let me know where the heck I am in this whole quilting block process!

I cut out one hundred and forty six (146) 5 1/2 inch squares of fabric, which I then stitched one hundred and forty six (146) 2 1/2 inch squares atop of. Does that make sense?

What I'm trying to say is that I sewed one 2 1/2 inch square on top of one 5 1/2 inch square. Very tedious yet a sixth grader could do it.


Like this.

The 2 1/2 inch square is sewn (with 1/4 inch seam allowances) onto the 5 1/2 inch square with the raw edges of the smaller square completely exposed. This means that when the finished quilt is laundered, the raw edges of the smaller square will ravel, thus giving it a scruffy, or 'scrappy' look.

Aha! A pirate! How appropriate.







A wash tub from my house cleaning days!











And of course, Wilbur. How can I possibly make anything without his approval?













And here it is, a finished quilt top.

All twelve rows.

Do all my squares meet up perfectly?

No.

Do I really care?

No.

Do I now appreciate all the work that people put into real quilts?

I most certainly do!

At the Salvation Army the other day I lucked onto a 4 yard piece of fabric for five bucks, and it will become the backing for this quilt, so all I need to buy is the batting.

Hopefully my next post will be that of my very first (and possibly last) finished quilt!