TBT - Bargello

It's time for another edition of Throwback Thursday!  Please join me (see links at the bottom) and show off one of your earlier projects.

One day early in my quilting career, I was browsing quilts and came across a bargello. That technique immediately went onto my "someday" list, as something that I wanted to try.  A while later, I splurged on a book about bargello quilts, and how to design them. I did some reading, and in September of 2009 I took the plunge.  I picked up some fabric in my favourite turquoise colourway, and came up with the concept of a water scene for my bargello.  I sketched it all out, just like the book said, and started cutting strips.

I was a little leary of the method used in the book I was reading, for assembling the bargello. It had you stitch each line of the design directly to the batting/backing. So essentially a quilt as you go bargello. I still don't know if that's the usual method, but I admit that it kept things straight and square quite nicely.

When I laid out my strips, based on my design, I was not happy at all with the results. I'm not sure what didn't translate, from paper to fabric, but this first cut wasn't working. So I played around, rearranging strips.  I had to work with what I had, as all the fabric had been used already.  A few tweaks over the next couple of days resulted in something that I felt resembled a waterfall, as I had wanted.

This quilt was slowly assembled over a couple of months, and finally finished in January 2010.  The advantage of the assembly method was that when the top was assembled, it was already quilted. All I had to do was add the borders, and quilt the large border so it would stay nice and flat.

I still want to make another bargello one day - something a bit more adventurous with an interweaving design.  But while they are beautiful quilts in the end, the assembly process is a bit repetitive and I think that's what has kept me away from another attempt thus far.

The rules are simple (and flexible :) ). Write a post (or revive an old one) about an old quilt or project that you have - maybe something from your pre-blogging days, or just a project you love that you want to show off again. Please include a link back to this post in yours, and when you link up make sure you are linking to your specific blog post, not just your blog address. You want to make sure people can find your post if they drop by the linkup later.

Add your link, and check out some of the other links for some inspiration. See my sidebar for a TBT button you can add to your blog. 

if you don't like it, change it

During my finishing blitz this past weekend, I quilted and bound one of the convergences quilts I made a couple of weeks ago.  I was not completely happy with the end result of this quilt. I had envisioned a sunset kind of image, and it just wasn't quite coming through, no matter which direction I looked at the quilt.

After I finished binding it, I had another look, and inspiration struck. I added some applique, carefully positioned to hide the transitions I didn't like in the quilt.  And voila!  I think it really does look like a boat sailing at sunset.  Now I just have to figure out how to fasten that applique, without destroying the quilt.

Right now, it's cut as raw-edge applique, but that means stitching through all layers of the quilt, and showing the outline on the back. Or, I could possibly recut and do needle-turn applique, where I could bury the stitches and leave the back pristine.

I suspect simplicity will win out, but I'll let it stew for a few days before I commit.

Design Wall Monday - Sept 7

Still the same projects in progress on my design wall. No new scrappy pineapple blocks got made, no progress on my twister. I did add a couple of rows to my skyline relfection. And realized that I completely forgot to reverse the image for the reflection part :(  So a bit of juggling there, but I'll be able to make it work, thanks to all the cutting I was doing anyway.

My efforts this weekend have focused on finishing some projects.  I made really good progress, even if most of them are just little baby quilts.  First, Fox and Friends got quilted. This one is now done, because someone else will bind it. 

I quilted my Modern Rainbow quilt. Just need to bind it today to consider that a finish.  I'm not too happy with the back (it's not lying as flat as it should be - definitely a case of why one should always quilt from the center out) but the front makes me very happy.  And my extra layer of fabric on top of the batting seems to have completely resolved the issue of the colour showing through from the back. See this for my earlier post on that topic.

And I quilted and bound a few donation quilts.Not my best work, but hopefully they'll brighten up a room and keep someone warm this winter.

Drop by Judy's blog for more design walls today.

Stash Report - Sept 6

I have lots to report out of my stash today.  I've been busily working on a few of my own tops, to get a few finishes under my belt while I have a lull in customer work on my longarm.

I quilted 4 small tops this weekend, and put binding on all of them plus one larger top.  That's 4 yards for backings and 1.75 yards for bindings.  And I have my Modern Rainbow on the longarm now, which used another 2 yards for backing plus 2 for a liner to keep the back from showing through to the front.
That's a total of 9 3/4 yards out this week (I do love counting backs :) )

Stash totals for the year:
95 3/4 yards in
205 1/4 yards out
Total: 109 1/2 yards out

Drop by Judy's blog for more stash reports today.

UFO Busting report

I fell off the bandwagon for Vicki's UFO busting party the past few months, but I was reviewing my current status and thought it was time to check in again.,

I'm pretty happy with where things are, although the numbers don't show it.  In March, when I posted last, I had 26 tops, plus 8 being pieced in progress.  A pretty daunting number I must say.

Today, that number doesn't look so different:  As of Sept 1 I have 27 tops waiting for quilting, 1 quilt to bind, and 11 piecing projects in progress.

The good news is the change in those tops.  Of the 26 tops I had in March, I have finished 16.  Plus I started and finished 6 quilts.  OK, apparently I added 17 new tops and a few new projects, for a net gain in UFOs.  But it still looks like progress to me, with 16 quilts completed since March :)

Yesterday, I decided it was time to make some more progress, so I put a few tops on my longarm and went to work. First, I finished up Fox and Friends, since that one needs to be ready for a class this month.  The background is quilted in spikes, and all the animals are outline quilted in matching thread.

Then, I sewed together a bunch of backings, and loaded 4 small tops.  I stuck with my favourite pantograph for baby quilts (Cloud 9) and used up some leftover bobbins I had from previous quilting activities. All my new convergence tops and a little snowball/9-patch are now quilted and ready for binding.

Current UFO count, for Vicki's stats:

# Projects In Progress March 31 - 26 tops, plus 8 being pieced
# Projects Completed - 22
# new projects started - 20
# UFOs trashed - 0
# projects in progress August 31 - 27 tops, plus 11 being pieced and 1 to bind

TBT - Cambridge Blues

It's time for another edition of Throwback Thursday!  So sorry for missing last week, but I'm back and hopefully going to keep better track of my calendar :)  Please join me this week (see links at the bottom) and show off one of your earlier projects.

Back in the late 00's, theQuilt.com ran a charity auction every year, and all proceeds went to cancer support services.  Every year, I tried to ensure I had a quilt to send to them, and usually I tried to use Northcott's "Quest for  Cure" fabric line, because that seemed appropriate for the theme of the auction.

In July of 2009, some of the local quilt shops hosted a shop hop. As part of that, they each sold a kit for 1 part of a mystery quilt. The shop hop was a "Quest for a Cure" shop hop, and the mystery quilt was made from fabric from Northcott's Quest for a Cure "Cambridge Square - Blue" fabric line.

Following a 3 year tradition, I decided to participate in the mystery, and donate the resulting quilt to thequilt.com. I had donated a quilt every year for the previous 3, and always tried to use at least some fabric from Northcott's current "Quest for a Cure" collection in the quilt I donated. So, this was a perfect starting point for my next donation, and I picked up all the kits on my tour.

Unfortunately, the first 2 parts of the mystery which I attempted were both short on fabric. A rather disappointing start. I debated my options: give it up as a lost cause; purchase an additional fat quarter of each of the 6 fabrics I was (so far) short on; or try to make something from what I had. I chose option 3. I gave up on the "mystery" aspect, and pulled out all the fabric and directions for the quilt. With a bit of creativity, I rearranged the colour scheme into something that was mostly achievable with the provided fabric. I picked up one extra matching fat quarter, and continued on my way.

In the end I was quite pleased with the result. I ended up modifying the layout somewhat, but the changes from the original design are hardly noticeable if you don't have the original in front of you. The shop hop was a lot of fun - it was one of my first, and introduced me to some new stores in town. It also gave me an excuse to spend a day with a quilting friends, which is always a good time :)  

This quilt was quilted on my domestic machine with a meandering pattern, and then sent off to theQuilt.com for the 2009 auction.  

The rules are simple (and flexible :) ). Write a post (or revive an old one) about an old quilt or project that you have - maybe something from your pre-blogging days, or just a project you love that you want to show off again. Please include a link back to this post in yours, and when you link up make sure you are linking to your specific blog post, not just your blog address. You want to make sure people can find your post if they drop by the linkup later.

Add your link, and check out some of the other links for some inspiration. See my sidebar for a TBT button you can add to your blog. 

September!

Ah, September. It's hard to believe it's here already.  My son heads back to university today, the days are getting cooler (or they were - 30 degrees Celcius is the high for today), nights are getting longer.  And I noticed deads leaves falling from my trees on the weekend. Looks like fall has snuck up on us again.

It looks like I'm going to have a bit of a lull in my longarm quilting business this month. I hope not to let that time go to waste, and use it to catch up on a few of my own projects.  I'm actually quite proud of my accomplishments this year so far. Of the 22 quilt tops I had at the start of the year, 1/2 of them are now completed. Of course that doesn't mean I didn't add just as many new tops waiting to be quilted - but at least they are newer projects :) 

This month I hope to quilt a number of these tops. First, I have to finish two new ones, for classes I'm going to teach this fall and next winter.  Then, I'll see how many others I can complete before Christmas quilts start coming in from clients.  A smart person might pull the oldest tops and do those first, but I suspect I'll take the easy route and pull out all the small tops I have piled up recently.  Instant (or faster, anyway) gratification that way.  These pictures are the next two finishes you should see from me, if I stick to the plan.