In the sewing room, no. 8

After feeling like I was working on too many things and getting nowhere, I’ve reached the point that projects are coming together.

scrappytrip2

My Scrappy Trip-Along quilt top is finished!  I finished the last 12 blocks early Saturday morning.  I love seeing it draped over my sewing chair.

scrappytrip1

All the bright colors bring a smile to my face.  What a perfect project for winter!

scrappytripback

After rifling through my cotton prints for a backing I liked and finding nothing, I went through my flannel fabrics and found these two prints, both with enough yardage to make a backing.  Use it or lose it!  Last night I sewed them together and now I need to find time to baste it.  I’m really excited to finish this quilt.

scrappytrip3

My Scrappy Swoon quilt is also making me smile.  It’s quilted and the binding is almost finished.  It’s always a relief when you discover that you do like your quilt after doubting in the middle of the project.

quiltedswoon

Once these are finished I need to get going on some projects I started but haven’t touched in a few weeks, like these lonely little HST squares.

yellowhst

And of course I have a long list of new projects I’d like to start!  It never ends, but that’s the fun of it!  If only laundry was as exciting…

Happy sewing!
Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced.

Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along: quilting


scrappyswoon

Welcome back everyone!  It’s hard to believe we’re in the last two weeks of the Scrappy Swoon Quilt Along.  I’ve been admiring everyone’s color choices for weeks, and there are a few finished quilt tops in the Flikr group, but I also know that there are some finishes out there and they’re beautiful!  For those of us that aren’t done yet, let’s get started.  Now that our quilt tops are finished and backings are pieced, it’s time to quilt!

On my first Scrappy Swoon quilt, I decided to keep the quilting very simple by quilting in a grid on every other row of squares.  I quilted on both sides of the seam and am happy with the results.  I felt like the quilt was so busy on it’s own with dozens of different fabrics in it that the quilting is hardly noticed.

low volume whites

On the Scrappy Swoon I’ve made for the quilt along, I was strongly tempted more than once to practice my free motion skills by quilting a different pattern on each color; one pattern for background, one for primary colored blocks, and one for the secondary colors.  The more I looked at it, though, the less I wanted to draw attention away from the fabrics.  Since I didn’t want to do the same thing on this quilt, I settled on using the quilting lines to outline the sections of the quilt and see if I could make the pattern stand out even more.

quiltedcenter

I started with the center star, outlining it on the inside of the star seams and went from there, working with each section to decide how I wanted to quilt it.

scrappy swoonquilting

I ended up using a combination of approaches.  Each section of color was outlined, and within many sections I also quilted in the ditch to stabilize the quilt but have the lines be as un- noticeable as possible.

quiltingcorners

In the corner background sections I ended up quilting a cross hatch pattern.  I did this a little bit in the center star, as well.

quiltedswoon

And then it was done!  I really enjoyed quilting this quilt because I made a lot of decisions along the way instead of having a set plan when I began.  What I did was ultra simple, but I like it.  The plan was to take a good picture outside, but as it was snowing most of the weekend with strong winds, I didn’t bother trying.  I’ll share a better picture next week!

So, have fun quilting and we’ll talk binding next week.   The link party for your finished quilt will start on March 11th.

Happy sewing, Jennifer

In the sewing room, no. 7


scrappytrips

My sewing room is currently being used as a guest room, which means very little sewing has happened in the past week.  I did, however, put together a few more scrappy trip along blocks after neglecting them last week.

scrappystrips

I also sewed the rest of my strips together for the final 12 blocks.  I would really like to finish this quilt top in the next few days, but it will be taking a back seat behind basting…

swoonquilttop

The Scrappy Swoon-Along is headed into the home stretch and I’ve got to get it quilted right away.  I’m so happy the top is all put together because now I like it again.

I finally finished all my blocks for the Canton Village Block of the Month.

blockofmonthsquares

I’m happy with the blocks but am at a total loss as to sashing.  What color would you use to sash these?  Would you go dark?  Light?  Bright?  Neutral?  I keep looking at them and wondering what direction to go.

It’s nice to be on the close to finished end of a few projects.  I’d love to wrap them up so I can start on something new.
Thanks for stopping by!

Jennifer Linking to Freshly Pieced

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