I’m a happy girl….I’ve discovered the joys of owning a ‘walking foot’!

I’ve owned only Berninas for the last 30 years or so. I bought a new machine about 2 years ago…A Bernina QE (Quilter’s Edition) Aurora 440, but I had to keep my old 1080 Bernina because it was such a good friend and had been there for me for many years. I still pull it out and use it every once in a while! My old Bernie had been very good to me. Well, my new machine has a BSR (Bernina Stitch Regulator) which I use quite often when I’m free motion quilting and a Walking foot, which has just sat in the box since I purchased the machine. I’ve  been trying to figure out how to attach wide satin binding to flannel/minky etc… for baby blankets and make it look neat and not all wavy and puckery….I finally remembered I had a walking foot somewhere and I thought I might as well give it a try. I had a preconceived notion it would take a long time to attach, but I found out it goes on as fast as a normal ‘foot’ does, and much to my surprise it made a world of difference. I’ve been watching youtube videos of people attaching the satin binding and they say how they don’t pin it on, just sew using a normal foot and from what I could see they had lots of waves and ripples. I experimented with my walking foot and I pinned a lot, and I had great results. I know these pieces of flannel don’t exactly look great together, but it’s all I had on hand, and I was raring to go to give my ideas a try! I also seamed the binding like you would a normal binding and I think it looks much better than most of the suggestions on the internet and youtube.

So since I’ve fallen in love with my walking foot I thought that adding regular binding would be a piece of cake for the walking foot, and it definitely was! I doubt I’ll ever sew it on with a regular foot again!

My wool applique table runner that is almost done…..I sewed this binding down with my walking foot and it was super easy and I loved how it worked.

And here is my 4th BOM of Evelyn’s Garden….All fused down and I only need to blanket stitch around the wool now….Fun handwork!

And the last three scarves I’ve knitted…the middle one is a pretty green, this picture just doesn’t show it like it really is.

Happy Quilting! Kris

I’ve been busy!

I’ve been busy making small items such as table runners, scarves, wall hangings etc.etc.etc….and I’ve been enjoying every minute of it! Been using scraps and haven’t had to buy anything for these projects. I have a couple of drawers of yarn that I bought when it was on sale and I’ve been having fun looking through that to decide what to put together for a new scarf! I’m working on a green one now….and almost have a black one done too.

I made another penny wool table runner but used a black background. I like it! I’m sure I’ll put one of these on the auction at our Christmas get-together.

This is the latest table runner I’m working on….It’s from the magazine Primitive Quilts and Projects Winter 2012. The above penny wool table runner is out of the same magazine only the Spring 2013 Issue. I love this magazine! It’s more like a book and it’s only $10….It’s well worth the price for all of the projects you get in each issue. They are available at most quilt shops, and I’m thinking I might subscribe….I’d save quite a bit of money if I did this.

And here is a close up of the wool applique part….I’m not done yet, but it’s coming along pretty fast.

My third block in the Evelyn’s album BOM….This is a fun and fast one….

And another project that I started about 15 years ago….My uncle gave me several bags of crocheted granny squares that came from who knows where, and I started putting them together with some black yarn, this is almost done and I’d like to finish it and start putting another one together. It’s kind of fun and interesting to see….the granny squares are all different colors and you can tell that whoever made them used tons of left-over yarn or whatever they had on hand. I think this one was promised to my sister Val many years ago, and she might finally get it this winter!

Happy Quilting…and Knitting and Crocheting!

Kris

I love English Paper Piecing

As most of you already know…I’m working on a Grandmother’s Flower garden quilt using the English paper piecing method. I’ve made hundreds of hexies so far and I really enjoy working on them when I’m sitting in my easy chair in the evenings after work. While in a quilt store a few weeks ago…my sister and I saw a new book titled ‘English Paper Piecing’ by Vicki Bellino….there was a table runner in it that my sister Susi and I immediately fell in love with. It was made using the Aunt Grace’s fabric from the Garden Party BOM I just finished a couple of months ago.  I knew I had to make this table runner…..it just stuck with me and that’s all I could think about. Vicki Bellino designed the Garden Party BOM and she also designed the next BOM I’m starting in June called ‘Vintage Rouge’. I had quite a bit of fabric left over from the Garden Party BOM so I decided to make one for my sister and one for me. I just finished the one for my sister today. I like how it turned out, the little dresden plate flowers in this runner are kind of small and time consuming. I think I’ll wait a few weeks before I start on  the one for me. I only had to buy 1/4 of a yard of fabric to make two of these runners….Not too bad! The flowers, leaves and vines were all hand appliqued, it would be pretty easy to sew them down with a machine, but I think that sometimes doesn’t look as good as the hand applique.

And here is a picture of the runner and my sister Susi who I made it for. She loved it. It made me happy to give it to her!

Happy Quilting, Kris

My busy weekend

Well, I’ve had a very busy weekend. I worked overtime on Saturday……then came home and made a table runner and started working on a  Grandmother’s Flower Garden quilt. I really need to get my house clean, but I don’t find too much enjoyment in that anymore….I’d rather be quilting! I’m scheduled off on Wednesday, so hopefully I’ll get the house somewhat clean and get some more sewing done.

The table runner I made is a bridal shower gift, it’s in the colors of the bride’s kitchen. Turquoise, terra cotta and brown. I’m real happy with the free motion quilting and just basically how it turned out. I used the Retro Flower design that I made my daughter Lesley’s quilt from. I wanted to get some practice in on the free motion quilting and try and figure out what to for Lesley’s quilt. I was very happy with the design I chose…..so this is probably what I’ll end up doing for the much larger Retro Flower Quilt. These pictures just don’t do the table runner justice, it looks much better in real life….

I’ve decided to get busy and make hexagons using the English paper piecing method…..I figured I would call it my FedEx Quilt since I’ve started working on it in the mornings when we have late freight. I’ve decided it’s a bit addictive, I want to take my hexagons with me every where I go, you never know when you might have a spare minute to get one sewn together!

I have big plans for this Grandmother’s flower garden quilt….I’d like to incorporate some hand applique designs in the border. I’m only in the planning stages now, but I’m sure by the time I’ve gotten hundreds more of these made, I’ll know just what I want to do! I’m excited about this because it’s another scrap quilt. I’m using 1” hexagons for the flowers. I found a website on line that you can print different size hexagons for the paper piecing, it works great. You have to cut them out, but it’s well worth it, I just print them on card stock, I get enough hexagons to make two flowers on one sheet of paper. I’ll keep my blog updated with my hexagon flower progress!

Well, it’s time to bring this weekend to a close…..it’s bedtime and it’s off to work tomorrow morning.

Happy quilting! Kris