Garrett’s Quilt

My first grandchild.  A little quilt

Quilting a bag

Update to this post; I finished my bag!  And I love it!  Here are finished photos.

Here’s the bag turned to the reverse side.

 

 

 

And a look at the side panels.

 

I first tried free motion quilting many years ago, about 35 years I think.  I took a class at a local fabric store and remember recommendations to get a spring that replaced the press foot.  Unfortunately, I was never wildly successful with this setup.  I did do a couple very small projects that I can’t remember.  They were not very good, I’m sure!  I eventually became to frustrated with my less than stellar results and gave it up.

So, 35 years later and not one, but two awesome sewing machines that happily sew anything I ask, I am again tackling machine quilting.  I’ve taken several  online classes and finally, the planets and  karma seem to have aligned.  I am finding I enjoy the quilting process, quite a change from my experience years ago.  So, on to my current project.

I am working on a bag utilizing techniques in Leah Day’s Craftsy class Free Motion filler, Vol 2.  I love using my Janome 7700 for quilting because it has speed control.  It can sew a lot faster than I can and since I’m concentrating on perfecting my stitches, speed control really helps keep things manageable.

I don’t have a flat surface for sewing, a really useful feature when quilting.  I put some of my sewing books to good use to build up a larger, flat work surface.  Not perfect, but working pretty well for this small project.

Here’s another view of my jerry rigged flat work surface.

 

 

 

Here’s a shot of one side of the bag, pinned and ready to start stitching.

 

Here is one of the sides in progress.

Here’s a shot of the back of the bag in progress.

 

And the completed quilting, both sides are beautiful.

 

 

Day three of the bag project and I started on the second side.

 

Below is progress from today.  Hoping to finish the bag by the end of the coming weekend.

 

Free Motion Quilt Sampler project

Cold, gray, threatening to snow (or maybe rain the way this winter has been.)  What better way to spend the day (assuming you’re a sewing nerd) than to practice new techniques.  I recently have taken several Craftsy classes by Leah Day, a talented young woman who teaches classes online.  I was working on a free motion quilting sampler to practice techniques from Free Motion Fillers, Vol 1.  The quilting on this small project took about 4 hours, and I have another 2 or three hours of work to finish.

I used my Babylock Jane machine to piece and quilt this project.  Because this machine sews so fast, I duct taped a small screw driver to the foot pedal so I could not sew at full speed.  This worked great till my duct tape loosened and we were off again at breakneck speed.   I have to work on that, maybe a bigger piece of duct tape!

I’ll get right to the point and show you a pic of the quilted project.  It is not finished (need to bury the thread ends) but still looks great.

Here’s a look at the back.

And the back finished.

And a look at different sections of the top.

And a finished blue corner.

Christmas Apron 2014

I recently visited my daughter and she was wanting a cute apron.  Bingo!  Mom can sew!  (IF ANY OF JOIE’S FRIENDS ARE READING THIS, DON’T TELL HER!  I don’t think she checks my blog!)  So, I made one for her for Christmas and it’s reversible to boot.  Hope she loves it.  I used a pattern from Sugar Pie Chic, the Simply Chic Apron pattern.  Very cute, and easy to make.  Also, the instructions are good.

My daughter loves mermaids and I had found a mermaid themed fabric last year with her in mind.  I figured I might as well make it reversible, since it doesn’t take much more work.   As you scroll through the pictures, keep in mind that I made a number of changes to this from the original instructions.

• I made it reversible
• I drafted a new pocket
• The changes I made significantly changed the construction steps in the pattern directions.  Unless you’re an experienced seamstress, just follow the instructions.

Here is the bodice, one side has the mermaids, the other side is a coordinating water print.  It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the bodice is darted for better fit.  And of course, neck ties at the top.

 

 

Here is the reverse side of the bodice.

Here is the skirt.  The skirt is gathered, waistband is attached.

 

Skirt ties pinned on and ready to stitch in place.

 

 

 

Below, bodice and skirt has been stitched to waistband.  The waistband is pinned in place to be topstitched.

 

 

 

Taa Daa!   Finished apron, the mermaid side.  I drafted the cute heart pocket.

 

 

Here’s the reverse side.   The bodice looks darker in the pic, but is the same fabric as the skirt.