Monday, January 13, 2014

A Visit From the Ghost of Quilt Tops Past

I’ve noticed a lot of posts lately about WIPs lingering into 2014.  To be certain, I’ve got my fair share…Farmer’s Wife, half of Lori Holt’s Row-Along, and then numerous (and even basted!) quilt tops ready to be finished and find a forever home.

Then I was checking out what Rachel of Stitched in Color is up to and saw her beautiful Ikat blocks and that reminded me, I have a few quilt tops I made in 2013 that I never shared on my blog.  I made this quilt top last spring, out of a bundle of Indian Summer, a collection by Sarah Watson for Art Gallery Fabrics.

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This quilt top is made entirely of 5” squares I cut from each fabric, not having any idea how I was going to put them together.  Arranging them on the floor in our bedroom at night, with just the light from the hallway (since my husband was sleeping at this point), a pattern started to emerge.  Really, I think it was the low light that helped me to “see” the values in the fabrics and make this pattern pop out.

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I’m not sure if this is an Ikat pattern or not, it just reminded me of something I might see on a Native American rug  or woven basket.  Rachel’s post just reminded me that I have this beauty waiting to be quilted.

Now, why am I bringing up this WIP?  Because I’m finally going to get around to quilting it….on my new longarm machine that is arriving in less than 2 weeks!  You see, back in September I got to try out my friend Allison’s Innova long arm machine.  These are pictures I always meant to post, but (cough cough) never got around to posting.  This is me trying not to grin like a Cheshire cat.

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And this is what I quilted!  I was had to have one the second I saw those even stitches.  She let me doodle around with it for a few minutes and I loved how easy it was “drawing” on the fabric. 

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I only have one book about fmq, Angela Walters’s first book, so I wanted to get a few more to help me learn fairly complex designs.  I picked up three books on Amazon Saturday night, and they arrived this afternoon!

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I’ve already thumbed through all of them and am happy to report there’s not a stinker in the bunch!  If you are looking for a good fmq book and you have some experience, the Cheryl Malkowski book is probably the first one I’d start with.  I like her methodology and think once a person’s followed her book, learning designs from other books or making up your own will be a piece of cake.

We are still in the midst of remodeling our bedroom, but the drywall was fixed, the closet built, and everything painted.  Now we are just putting together the furniture and figuring out what will go where, and thank goodness, hanging up wall art that’s been sitting in a corner collecting dust for years and years and years.  And then the next Herculean task—the long arm has a 12 foot frame, so I’ll be moving my entire sewing operation from upstairs to downstairs in the next week!  Photos to follow…

19 comments:

  1. Your quilt is gorgeous! I love the design! Congrats on getting a long arm!!!

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  2. oh how exciting for you :-) And I love your Indian Summer quilt - the design really brings out the fabric colours.

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  3. I love your quilt! And how wonderful to be able to long arm quilt it yourself! I look forward to seeing you 'weave some magic'!

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  4. Oooh, I love that quilt top, and congrats on a long arm! Hooray! :)

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  5. Your quilt top looks great. I am so excited for you my dear. You are going to love your new machine. It is so much fun. I look forward to seeing more pictures.
    Hugs
    donna

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  6. I am so happy for you!!! Doodling with a longarm sounds like so much fun!

    P.S.
    Lovely new quilttop, so graphic and calm. But - "a few more quilttops in 2013"? (when?? how???) :)

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  7. Just to say the Ikat design is very cool and I agree looking at patterns and colors in low lighting, as you describe in your post, really helps to see the "value" of each fabric in relation to the whole design. The title of this post is what drew me in! Long of your own what a great way to begin a new year. Keep us posted on your progress.

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  8. Your quilting looks like you have been doing it for a long time. Beautiful. You are going to love your new toy.

    The Ikat top looks wonderful too.

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  9. I LOVE the quilt top! It is a great pattern!

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  10. Was wondering what happened to this one ;) You did an awesome job on it. Super excited for you girl,I don't need to tell you to have fun!

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  11. I'm totally jealous that you're getting a longarm!! I'd love to have one, but that would mean I'd also need a new house, big enough to set one up in. ;)

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  12. I love that quilt top, beautiful use of value. It's going to look amazing once you quilt it with your new long arm. You must be so excited!!

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  13. You are going to have such a great time with it :-) Your quilting looks amazing already!

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  14. I love that quilt top Jamie:)

    You got some good reads on Amazon! Look at you gearing up to play!!

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  16. Your fmq is gorgeous, what a lovely little flower, hope you have loads of fun with your new 'toy'.

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  17. Thanks for the shout out! And I LOVE your new quilting space! Beautiful!

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Some days the only adult I talk to is my husband...help him keep his sanity by leaving a comment so I have another adult to talk sewing with:) I will make sure to reply!