Tuesday, May 15, 2018

Trying to Move a Couple Quilt Tops Forward

Vintage Red is finally getting its turn in the quilting queue. I found time last Saturday to have my guys get the dining room table moved out of the way and then was able to get this thing sandwiched and pinned.
Vintage Red getting sandwiched and pinned
This quilt top has been waiting in the wings for about 2 years. I have wiffle waffled around about how to quilt it and now have made the decision to do both machine and hand quilting. Pinning took approximately forever, but hopefully, it will do the trick and puckering will not be a problem. And machine quilting a grid first will move the hand quilting along at a slightly faster pace as well. The newbie quilt tops ratio to finished quilts these days? Sadly slipping again.....
A full picture of the quilt top
The red fabric has been causing me a bit of anxiety as to the possibility of bleeding issues. I can't help but worry these days as I've had some bad luck. In looking back, I found the pertinent post where it shows that I had actually soaked the border fabric. What do you know? The question is, did I ever soak the red solid fabric the flowers are made out of?*sigh....  Don't think so. It was definitely washed, but soaked and tested thoroughly for bleeding issues, not likely.
Loving the vintage look of this one....
Oh well. What's done is done and for now, I'm so looking forward to adding some lovely perle cotton stitching to this. Just soaking in the sparky, fun loving vibes of my alien looking flower.
And a closer look....
I've also started playing around with the leftover cream quarter circles that I pulled out of the orphan block totes earlier this year. I adore this dotty cream and black fabric for some reason that is totally illogical. So of course I couldn't just throw these bits away after they were cut from the back of another quilt. At this point I have cut out 64- 7 1/2" mixed print background squares and sewn {by machine} all the cream quarter circles onto the tops. Just a raw edge sort of stitching as I fully intend to do some applique work to cover, similar to what you see being auditioned there in the picture. Too bad that gold and pink print is just a scrap from the overflowing corner scrap basket. It could have found a lovely home with this quilt! Right about now I'd say this is the one quilt project that is definitely making my creative juices sit up and quiver. It just feels free somehow.
Auditioning some ideas...

And back to speaking of the potential of certain fabrics to bleed, I've been soaking some darker pink/raspberry colored fabrics all day. Getting ready to cut out the binding for Quilty 365!
Getting ready for binding
That's it for now. Just plodding along as usual. It's a tough time of year to really get in a good groove with any quilting progress though I try all the time. Our church camp-out is coming up at the end of the month and of course we are nowhere near ready. In fact, our camp trailer ended up with a massive leak in the bathroom area last winter so I can't even go get it cleaned and well stocked yet. We have taken on the t-shirt/sweatshirt orders these past three years as well and it's been more paperwork this year than I expected with all the pre-orders and changes. Fun stuff. So glad I have a permanent check list {for this particular camping trip} on my computer that I print out every single year. Couldn't manage without it.

Today was an off day all the way around. Wound up locking my keys in the car when I went grocery shopping and then later, about ran into a Man when I was trying to find an empty stall in the Ladies room at Walmart. Don't bother talking to me about inclusiveness etc. etc. as I'm not really asking for a political/social opinions rant. Most women would agree that it's very unsettling when it happens unexpectedly {definitely not a normal happening around here}, and leave it at that. Also, to top off the day, my daughter discovered a pretty determined line of little sugar ants invading my kitchen. Ughh.... Seriously? And I just went to town today. Linking up with sew-stitch-snap-SHARE!

19 comments:

  1. you sound like me with a camp list that needs to be checked off every year - us too! and the motorhome is off to be serviced today and will be back in a couple days to pick it up. Love the quilts I hope there is no problem with bleed - always such a problem with reds - but I find purple and dark blue to be just as bad.!

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  2. Don't mind ants outside but HATE them indoors, especially in my kitchen. I usually get a few this time of year in spite of my Bug Man. I'm loving that Vintage Red quilt too!

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  3. The vintage red looks great. Warm greetings

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  4. I once came out of a stall at Walmart and found that I was in the men's room. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one in there. Maybe the guy you ran into wandered into the wrong room by accident like I did.

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  5. I like using Shout Colour Catchers when I'm worried about colours running. I had a black and white cotton sweater that I hand washed and dried flat. The black ran into the white and I was heart broken but couldn't throw it out or wear it. Then I found the colour catchers and threw several along with the sweater into the washer and dry as I figured it already was ruined. Bleeding came out and I still wear it, one of my favourites. Don't hand wash it, into the washer and dryer and no more bleeding.

    Love the finished top, can't wait to see your hand, machine quilting on it!

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  6. Vintage red is going to be amazing with some handquilting texture! Excited for you that 365 is almost over the finish line :0) Yes, this time of year is so busy - I am longing for more time at my machine and time for more applique prep.

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  7. I am loving Vintage Red!!Lots of colour catchers when you wash it eventually. Thanks for linking to Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE.

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  8. Vintwge Red is just shouting for you to get started on it. Hope all those issues go marching out one by one just like the ants.

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  9. Just about every red I have used, even though washed before hand, bleeds when I rinse the block. I have used Spray and Wash on the red runs and, in the ends, seems to help remove those marks.

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  10. You're making progress on your projects, every step counts.
    Sugar Ants can be a panic! Call the 'Bug Man' quick.

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  11. when you drag something older out to be quilted I usually remember it but I must have missed Vintage Red or just totally forgot about it. Well red tulips are in season around here right now and that's what your happy flowers remind me of :)

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  12. Oh you poor love - what a horrible day! So glad you have the gorgeous Vintage Red to keep you happy - I love it!! Don't forget to throw a colour catcher (or two) in the wash with it. That might take care of any excess red dye. Enjoy your hand quilting. x

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  13. Your 'vintage red' quilt will look great with some addititonal Audrey style quilting! As others have commented, lots of colour catchers should help.

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  14. Love that happy quilt! happing stitching

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  15. Happy stitching on Vintage Red, it's such a cheerful top for springtime quilting. We've had good luck getting rid of sugar ants with Terri liquid bait, the one where a drop or two of the sticky liquid is placed on a square of cardboard and placed along the path they travel. Takes two or three days and then they're gone.

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  16. Oh my, good luck with the red fabric and the check list! I hope your red doesn't run and your list gets done. Good luck!

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  17. Vintage Red is a beauty, I'm going to look forward to seeing the guilting as you go along.

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  18. Vintage Red is looking good, I'm glad its turn has come. The whole red thing stresses me out, so now I'm just using shirts when I want red as they've been washed a whole bunch of times and don't seem to bleed at all.

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  19. Your vintage red quilt is lovly - I lik the idea of combining hand and machine quilting. And your new project looks great too - I hope you have fun with it! I hope you've managed to work your way through your lists ok....

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