IditaQuilt Finish

The last musher to finish the Iditarod gets the Red Lantern Award...it symbolizes determination to finish a tough race even under the best of conditions. Here's my Red Lantern finish on my IditaQuilt.

IditaQuilt - 98x110

Here's a recap of my journey.

It all started with this beautiful batik fabric from Hoffman that came out in Alaska stores in June of 2010.

These fabrics came home with me where I stored them in my mind and on my shelves...with too many other lovely pieces of fabric.

Then in October at my monthly quilt gathering we took on the quilt, Bali Seas Stars, the cover quilt of Kim Brackett's book, "Scrap-Basket Surprises."

After I had made all my stars I played with them on my design wall and realized there were at least two ways to align the stars to create different layouts. 

With EQ7 I added a sashing block that attached the stars to one another and created a bigger star. Then I took the scraps from trimming all the half square triangles (HST) and made mini pinwheel stars.

Spinning Bali Sea Star - 98x110

But I had also come up with another design using the Bali Sea Star Block which I  drew up on EQ7

This meant treating the stars as their quarter parts, 6" blocks and adding a 6" square of companion fabric. 

Then I had the bright idea to work on the quilt during the Iditarod Race and finish it by the time the Red Lantern racer came under the Burl Arch in Nome. Since it was my first race I found out quickly I wasn't prepared. I lacked batting and one of the three colors of thread I wanted to use. All had to be ordered on the internet. I was in trouble. But everything finally came together and now my quilt is completed..two weeks after the Iditarod's official finish. Here is some eye candy of quilting designs. Please note I doubled my batting...it really makes the quilting pop and I think it makes the quilt the perfect weight for actual use.

Click on the photos to enlarge.

This was quilted by me on my Nolting 18" Fun Quilter. I make mostly bed-sized quilts and approach quilting design as combining looks with it's intended use. I expect my quilts will  be machine washed and machine dried if possible...king size is tough to fit in a home dryer. I live with dogs and a family that are not afraid to use my quilts so they need to be sturdy.

"She's My Jenny," - Forrest Gump

No...I didn't get a new puppy! I just thought it was time to get rid of those winter scenes from my blog banner and the dog picture I wanted was from the day I picked up Jenny...2 1/2 years ago.

This is Jenny...all grown up. She is quite a guard dog. This morning...4 a.m., she started barking. She was sleeping in the basement when she saw this walk by the window...

My son took this photo the evening before when we went outside to try and scare off this moose. She is pregnant and not in a very good mood so we didn't have much luck. She apparently remembered my tasty shrubbery and made her way back this morning. 

I really don't like these big critters except packaged up in my freezer for dinner. Maybe she knew I had moose breakfast sausage in my refrigerator...it was great!

See all that snow? Still got lots of it at my house.

Favorite Monthly Event

Today was the last Thursday of the month...Breakfast Club Meeting.

Breakfast Club =  Quilters Gathering to Quilt, Share and Eat!

And for anyone whining about the weather in their area not being sunny and warm enough for spring...in the Anchorage area it was snowing this morning. The roads were icy, traffic was terrible but we all made it safe and sound. The "new" snow was mostly melted 5 hours later when we left. 

Time for Show and Tell!

I'm starting with Marie and her winning smile. This is the charm size McGuffey from Carrie Nelson's Schnibbles Times Two. Our group tackled that pattern at the January Breakfast Club. Marie's my kind of quilter...batiks are often her palette.

Marie also had this lovely table runner...she does her own quilting on her domestic sewing machine...lovely.

This is Erin's snowman quilt, a work in progress. I guess she hasn't had enough of the snow yet. I didn't remember the cool, swirling background fabric until reviewing the photo.

I managed to get a nice photo of Carol with her completed Kitchen Sink from Kim Bracket's Scrap-Basket Surprises.

Sheila's flimsy of a Judy Niemeyer paper piecing challenge, Drunkard's Wave. She bought this as a kit and it looks like the fabrics Ms. Niemeyer used in her original design. This photo just doesn't do this top justice. Sheila was getting the backing fabric today and then will be sending it off to be quilted. I really want to see the completed quilt.

Here's Sheila with a quilt that is from her scraps. A very fun quilt! You know...just something she threw together!

A baby McGuffey from Cathy. 

Cathy also had this lovely wall hanging.

And finally, another very soft and spring-like wall hanging from Cathy. 

My show and tell will be covered in the next day or two...the advantage of having your own blog...executive control!  Since the sun is shining now and then I might be able to get some detailed photos of my quilting.  

Ooops...I forgot to show our leader's quilt top...

How could I forget this batik beauty? We are tackling this design from Kim Bracket's Scrap-Basket Surprises in April. Our leader, Marcia, used a Zinfandel Bali Pop with one fabric for the background. Love it!

Press N Seal...Great for Quilting

I'm working away on my Nolting Fun Quilter...or as she prefers to be called...Marta. I wanted to name our female Bernese Mountain Dog, Marta, but no one in the family would agree with me and since we knew we were getting a male at some point we went with Jenny and Forrest from Gump fame. But I really like that name for a pet...it means lady of the house. Marta Fun Quilter.

Machine quilting...I hardly know where to begin! I don't have the precision like I do with piecing but my eye always likes the end result so I try very hard to get past the part where lines intersect...and not always nicely.

  I am a turner when it comes to working on borders...some folks like to do it all in one pass. Not me. I really enjoy the opportunity to review the quilting about half way through and sometimes I make additions...sometimes I  rip out entire sections! It also gives me a chance to check for tension issues on the backside. But mostly it's a chance to see the quilting without the stretch of the frame and in it's entirety instead of just 18-inch widths.

Lots of fun areas to fill in my quilt design and I thought I would talk about using Press 'N Seal.

First off...I don't draw too well...but I can trace! I wanted a couple of butterflies to add to my quilt so I turned to an internet search for "butterfly clip art free." I found two that I really liked

. It's as easy as it looks. Rip off a piece of Press'N Seal and lay it on the art work, sticky side down. Trace with a Sharpie. I use a fine line Sharpie. I have used the thicker Sharpies which are great for seeing the design but I had a hard time seeing my thread stitched on top of it leaving me frustrated with intersecting lines that didn't match up so well when I pulled the Press'N Seal away. 

Position the Press'N Seal sheet on your quilt top, sticky side down. It's not very sticky at all but it adheres just fine for stitching. Stitch the design. I use very small stitches for maximum perforation and better if making small loops.

Since I wanted to stitch loops around my butterfly I stop with my needle down after stitching the butterfly and ripped the Press'N Seal away. Start from the outside edges and work in when pulling it off the top. 

The final version. I had to do 14 of this particular butterfly so this method enables me some consistency in my design.

Here's the second butterfly. I have four of these...one in each corner.

Things I have learned...sometimes the hard way.

Remove the Press'N Seal from your top as soon as you have stitched it in place. Sometimes the Sharpie ink does leave a residue (very faint) when stitched through...removing the Press'N Seal right away really helps avoid that problem. If you are using a light background go with the lighter color marker than black. I used a blue marker today...on my lavender background I can see no ink residue. 

I usually make the impressions I need as I need them. One time I made 3 dozen ahead of time and it took me another couple of days to get back to the project. I left the impressions stuck to my cutting table top...it took a lot of rubbing alcohol to remove the stickiness from my cutting table top when I finally pulled them up...not a problem at all when used as soon as they are made. 

I also tried gold paper...horrible for me...it completely ripped and disintegrated when stitched to the point of not being able to follow the design after a few stitches. It's expensive and I'm sorry I spent the money on it. I have used regular tissue paper with fine results. It's a little awkward to pin it to the top but it works. 

I work primarily with batiks and some are more tightly woven than others. I have had trouble with skipped stitches when using the Press'N Seal. If this happens go to a bigger needle, smaller stitches and loosen the tautness of the top in the frame. I also slow down. I have just started using titanium needles in Marta and my Bernina...they are like butter when working with batiks!

Time to get back to quilting with Marta.

Design Wall Monday

I've been very busy but haven't had much to share in terms of finishes or interesting photos. 

This week I hope to finish two quilts:

Two sides of the binding to hand sew on my Iditaquilt...I'll tackle that during Dancing with the Stars. Looks like I'm hooked on another season of the show.

I'm loading this top on my quilt frame today and need to have it done in time for my monthly quilt gathering on Thursday. It could happen!

Did a little internet shopping (I had a birthday this month).

A new line of batiks from Holly Taylor at Moda, Dragonfly Summer. Love it. Thinking about a design for it. There is also a line of cotton prints that are very reminiscent of a line from many, many years ago. I didn't get that because I have the previous line of fat quarters that have been decorating the shelves of my sewing room...I think it was called Moose Lake. 

I'm not sure if I have every thing for this particular pattern but since Dragonfly summer looks so similar this might be a  good time to take it to the next step...cutting. Whenever I buy a set of fat quarters I have to look at them as a set for a long time before I can actually take them apart...four or five years! Wow...I can't believe it's possibly been that long. I tried to make my own pattern for this set and never got it worked out so I stopped...

My big dilemma is what project to work on at my monthly quilt gathering on Thursday. The group is doing a very simple stash buster that looks like string blocks. I like the idea but I'm just not feeling the call of that design at this time...

Kim Bracket's new book, "Scrap-Basket Sensations" is calling loudly to me.

Swirling Threads

The end is in sight...

14 hours of quilting...I'm so happy with the outcome. Tomorrow...binding.

Words of Warning

Just had to tackle the latest block for the Layer Cake Quilt Along with Moose on the Porch Quilts. It's not as easy as it looks! I did my usual scant 1/4" seam but that was too small...upped it to the full 1/4" on the "E" arms and now my block is 12 3/8 squared instead of 12 1/2" like all the other blocks. I used my seam ripper far too much on this block already and will probably fix this before putting it away.

It is a nice looking block. 

I am now adjourning to my quilting machine. I threw the dogs in their dog run with new bones and told them to get over the lack of a walk today. We have finally started our break-up weather which means lots of icy patches to navigate on dog walks and with a strong, 80-lb dog on the leash I sometimes feel like I'm in a Disney movie where the dog is more like a horse and I'm just holding onto the reins and hoping for a good outcome. You  know what usually happens in those movies...the person usually winds up landing in a pile of poop! I'm trying to avoid that too.