Finished LCT QOV

My Log Cabin Triangles QOV is finished, quilted, bound, and labeled. 

Appologies for the indoor photos; we're having bad weather. I hope to get some better outdoor photos next week.

Here's the center of the spiral quilting, which wasn't finished yet when I posted the spiral quilting tutorial last week.

A local friend is collecting Quilts of Valor for an event in St Louis in April. I'll give this quilt to her so she can include it in their event. I'll have opportunities to show it at a couple of local guild meetings first.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts

Spiral Quilting is Finished

After quilting it measures about 62 x 80 inches. Today I'll print out the label and prep the binding, and hopefully tomorrow I'll get it bound and photographed.


Linking up with Sew Fresh Quilts

I couldn't resist...

Some friends get together for coffee after the First Saturday BOM meeting at our LQS. This time, Karen brought a new project and asked for advice. So for most of the morning Saturday, we played with Karen's concept, looked at her fabrics, offered ideas, and just generally had a great morning.

Karen is participating in a newly formed bee at STLMQG and it's her turn to hand out the project this month. She chose string blocks a la Bonnie Hunter, and wanted guidance on how to present the project to her bee and what to ask of them. We offered advice and gave suggestions based on our experience with other bees.

I couldn't resist raiding my scraps when I got home, and I made a set of string blocks.

Karen, these are for you. They're trimmed to 6" and you can trim them down to the size you need. I'm passing along a few extra string scraps, too.

It was fun to make one set, and I'm glad I tried out the concept. I definitely learned that a whole quilt made using strings is not for me. That's the beauty of bee blocks - you get to make one, or a few, without having to commit to an entire quilt.

Karen, I'll pass the blocks and the scraps to you when I see you Saturday. Enjoy!


Linking up with Patchwork Times and Em's Scrapbag

Solstice Challenge Block 3

I'm still working on the spiral quilting on the LCT QOV, so nothing new to show there.

Other than that, I haven't had much time to spend in the sewing room this week. But I did take few minutes and make one block, Block 3 of Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge.

These are so not my usual colors! In addition to keeping up with the blocks, working with this palette is also a challenge for me. Here are the first two blocks and the fabric pull:

I wonder how this will come together. Will it look cohesive or will it just be a collection of random blocks? We'll see. Maybe I should limit the selection of prints and repeat a few of them in several blocks each. I think I have enough of that off white print to use it as a constant neutral throughout if I'm careful, and that also may help add continuity. It's too soon to tell where this is going yet.

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Spiral Quilting Tutorial

As a result of Monday's post, some of my readers asked me how I do spiral quilting, and asked me to reply on the blog for everyone's benefit, so here goes. Tutorial copyright 2017 Jan Ochterbeck; please do not pin without attribution.

Spiral Quilting

I quilt on a domestic machine, so all the advice I can give is only for a home sit-down machine.

If you've never tried this before, I recommend starting with a baby quilt or a table topper first, before spiral quilting a twin size quilt.

Machine set up:

• Use a walking foot, also known as an even-feed foot or dual-feed foot.
• Insert a guide into your machine's walking foot to the left of the needle, spaced as far from the needle as you want your stitching rows to be apart, 1-1/4" here. (Note: you may have to insert the guide upside down, as I do, since my guide is supposed to go to the right but I need it on the left.) 
• Reduce the presser foot pressure as needed to work with your walking foot and the thickness of your quilt sandwich. Less pressure is better than too much. 
• Insert a new needle. I'm using a Universal 80/12 but use what works well for you. 
• Use the Needle Down option if you have it. Otherwise, whenever you pause, always move your needle down into the quilt to keep the stitching as bobble-free as possible. 
• Wind several bobbins.
• I'm currently using 50 weight thread (large cone from Connecting Threads, no affiliation). I've also used 40 weight thread with good results. 
• At the center of my spiral my stitch length was 2.5; as I got a few rows out from the center I increased it to my usual 3.0 for quilting.

Walking Foot with Guide.

Guide is inserted upside down so it rides to the left of the needle.

Quilt prep:

• Mark the center of the spiral. (More about the spiral later)
• Pin baste the quilt sandwich about twice as closely as you would for ordinary Stitch-in-the-Ditch quilting. (I use straight pins and I definitely do get scratched a lot during the quilting, but since I move the pins a lot as I'm working, it's not worth it to cap the pins with foam stoppers.)
• DO NOT baste around the edge of the quilt prior to quilting. 

Quilting:

• Always sew clockwise. This will move your work closer to the edge of the quilt with each round, thus becoming easier as you go. 
• Start near but a few rounds out from the center of the spiral. Align your guide on your markings and slowly and carefully stitch, keeping the guide aligned with your markings or on the previous line of stitching. Don't worry that the first couple of rounds are wobbly and not spaced evenly. They'll look awful. We'll fix this later.
• Just keep going around and around. As you complete a round, move the pins out to the next round, keeping the pins about 2" apart to minimize puckers and pleats.  
• Let the machine feed do the work. Do not push the quilt through; in fact, it's better to hold back a little on it to help avoid puckers. 
• Don't worry about perfection. It's impossible. There will be some wobbly stitching and some puckers, for sure. 
• When you get to the point where your stitching goes off the edge, this is a good time to check and replace the bobbin. 
• If you started your spiral off-center, you'll get to one corner sooner than the others. From here on out you'll be stitching partial rounds, and the going will get easier.
• In the corners, just continue the arcs using the walking foot guide, repeating the arcs all the way out to the corner. 
• Pause, spread the quilt flat, and move pins after each couple of rounds. Keep pins spaced about 2" apart by moving pins from interior rows out to where you need them.

Densely Pinned for Quilting

Tip: As you're stitching around and around, keep your eyes focused on where the guide touches the previous line of stitching, not on the needle. The closely spaced pins will help avoid puckers, and focusing on the guide line will help avoid wiggles in the current row of stitching.

Focal Point

Spiral center:

• Make a template using an illustration app's spiral or using drafting circles. Print out on paper, glue it to template plastic, and cut along the spiral line. 
• To use drafting circles, start with 3/4", then 1-1/2", then 3", then 4-1/4" touching at opposite sides, then erase the lines you don't need. (You can also use shapes in Word for this.)

Drafting Circles; Template Made from an Illustration App

How to Draft a Spiral Center

Quilting the spiral center: 

• The first couple of rounds stitched with the walking foot will be very wobbly with bad spacing. Unpick them and bury the thread tails.
• Reset your machine for free motion quilting. 
• Using removable marker, carefully trace your spiral template onto the quilt top with the center of the spiral placed in the center of your previous quilting. 
• Add additional freehand markings to your spiral center to evenly connect it to your stitching. 
• Carefully FMQ the inner rounds starting from the end of your previous stitching and follow the markings to the center. I've done this very slowly, one or two stitches at a time, to get good results.

Center of current project showing wobbly starter rounds 

with bad spacing, not unpicked yet. 

Center of an Earlier Quilt, 5/8" Spacing, 1/4" Center Circle

Spiral quilting isn't really difficult, just tedious. I like the modern vibe it gives to certain quilts, but it's not for everything. Here are the others I've spiral quilted: 

Broken Chevron

Tyler's Baby Quilt

Antler Dance

If you have any questions, please leave a comment. 

Linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

New Year 2017: Picking Up Where I Left Off...

... and then some.

Before Christmas I started spiral quilting my LCT QOV. It's about 40% quilted now but I still have a lot to go. I want to finish this quilt - bound and labeled - this month so I can deliver it to my friend for the local QOV organization. They've put out a call for 60+ quilts for a homecoming event in STL in the spring. My friend's group and my guild are supplying 6 quilts and this will be one of them.

LCT QOV Spiral Quilting in Progress

My Dancing Plus II blocks are still on the wall and still not joined into rows. This was a December goal that didn't happen, so it's rolled over into a January goal.

Dancing Plus II Blocks on Design Wall

And I couldn't start a new year without starting a new project, right? I think I might like to follow along with Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge, 25 Blocks in 182 Days. This will be all from stash. Several years ago (8? 10?) I was collecting fabrics for a purple & olive quilt. With no particular design in mind, I never made it so the fabrics have been aging nicely. Maybe they can work for the Pat Sloan blocks. I have a constant neutral, and plenty of purples and greens. I hope we get some blocks with several levels of value so I can use lights, mediums and darks together.

Pat Sloan Solstice Challenge Fabric Pull

and First Two Blocks

These projects should keep me busy for awhile....
But before I can spend time in the sewing room, I have to spend time cleaning up and putting away the Christmas stuff. You can see gift wrap in one of the photos above!

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and Moving it Forward at Em's Scrapbag

2016 Year End Stash Report

2016 was a good year for stash usage, and for refreshing the stash.

December IN; 2-3/4 yards (8 FQs won from STLMQG; 3 FQs gift from Sew Bee It; Jelly Roll won from STLMQG not counted.)
December OUT: 3 yards (5/8 yard add'l border for Bohemian Bento Box; 1/2 yard binding for BBB; 1-7/8 yards wide backing for BBB.)

2016 Total IN: 104-5/8 yards
2016 Total OUT: 130-1/4 yards
2016 Net Change: 25-5/8 yards less in the stash than I started with.

My goal for 2017 is to break even or reduce stash. I'll continue linking up with Judy at Patchwork Times because these stash reports help keep me mindful of my fabric acquisitions. Since I've been logging my stash ins and outs, I haven't added as many prints just because I like something. When I do add, usually on sale, I focus on background neutrals, basics, backings if needed, and sometimes versatile prints. I give myself permission to add fabric at any time if it's needed to move a project forward or finish something.

Bohemian Bento Box, completed & gifted in December

I've published my overall goals for 2017, but I'd like to briefly recap how I did in December and lay out the specific goals for January.

December recap:
1. Layer & baste, quilt, bind and label the coral Bento Box quilt for a Christmas gift. Done & sent. Renamed Bohemian Bento Box from the border print.
2. Assemble the Dancing Plus top. Not touched. 😞
3. Make progress on one WIP: Roman Road or LCT QOV. LCT QOV is in the process of being spiral quilted. It's about 40% done.
4. Inventory UFOs for 2017. Done: I currently have 8 UFOs and 7 WIPs. 
5. Keep up with bee blocks. Done

December was just too busy with Christmas preparations, and family & household stuff, so I didn't spend nearly as much time sewing as I did in November, and didn't accomplish nearly as much. But all Christmas gifts were done well in time, no last minute rush.

January Goals:
1. Complete LCT QOV. Contact local QOV rep about donation.
2. Assemble blocks for Dancing Plus II into a flimsy.
3. Make progress on at least one WIP or UFO.
4. Keep up with bee blocks.

LCT QOV top. Quilt must be completed in January.

I'm hoping for a productive month. How about you, do you have quilty plans for January? Wishing you all the best in 2017,
Happy New Year!