Saturday, September 12, 2015

On a Roll

When I completed the quilting on "Burgoyne Strikes Gold", I felt rather invincible. I had faced my fear and had walked away victor, so to speak. I decided I needed to ride that wave and pull out something else I have been afraid to quilt, before the feeling passed.
This was what I made when Lori (Humble Quilts Blog--this link takes you to the beginning of her latest little SAL) had her "Faithful" SAL. We were to use any  6" block we might have on hand, or make a new one, and she walked us through the steps of adding those HST borders.
The 6" Mariner's Compass that I used for the middle was made a couple of years ago on a dare (sort of) from Karen (Log Cabin Quilter blog). I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I had to see if I could really make it. The pattern is named Sunburst (find it at the bottom of this blog post). It seems to fit, so that is what I think I will name the quilt.

I had decided that I would ditch stitch around the compass points and all of the HSTs, and put feathers in all of the black borders and around the compass.



Using the bendable ruler (this is a method I learned from a Patsy Thompson tutorial), I marked my feather spines.

Then I pin basted, and as I always do on minis, I did the ditch stitching on my DSM. I take ditch stitching  seriously. Stitching slowly, I really try to stay in the ditch.








The final touch was the feathering, on Gidget. When I feather on an outer border, I always draw a containment line 1/4" from the edge, so that my feather plumes don't end up under the binding.










Then finish with the 1" cut, single fold binding. Very happy with the results of this one.

My two "brave" finishes together.

I had a rather low-key Labor Day weekend, but I did get in some stitching. With the leftovers from "Burgoyne Strikes Gold", I made this little quilt, which finishes at about 7" square.
I think I'll name this little quilt "Pumpkin in the 9-patch".
And the little pincushion (yet to be stuffed) was from the leftovers of the little quilt.




I have been eager to try out this little pattern from issue #21 of Miniature Quilts Magazine. I have simplified it by not lining it. It is too tiny to see inside of, anyway.



















They are paper pieced, but it isn't as involved as the little ornaments. I'm pretty sure I am going to be making a few more of these.












Speaking of ornaments, I also made a few of those over the Labor Day weekend.
Have yet to stuff them and add the hangers. That is the easy part.

I didn't feel like I had accomplished much over the weekend, but when I put it all together I guess it adds up.

One last thing. I have made slow, but steady progress on my little Thimble quilt in honor of my visit to Cyndi's Busy Thimble shop last month, in Maine. I've been using it as a leader/ender, but you don't do much of that when you are machine quilting, or paper piecing.
I love seeing how these little quilts shrink as the pieces get sewn together. This is at the halfway mark. It will probably finish somewhere in the neighborhood of 10"x16".

One of these days I am going to make progress on my current big quilt project. Won't that be shocking?

Until next time,
Janet O.

35 comments:

  1. Everything looks wonderful! Are you selling any of your ornaments? I guess I could make my own, but then I'd actually have to sew! LOL

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  2. Looks like you spent your Labor Day holiday making Labors of Love! And plentiful too! You are very inspiring and are making me "itch to stitch" but I have a couple finishes to try to do and some paperwork that I have procrastinated about for weeks and now the deadline looms!! Luckily, my evenings are like "mini vacations" for me.....I try to spend them doing what I love to do.....sew or read! Handquilting tonight!

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  3. Well, "Riding the Wave" was a total success!!! Absolutely lovely!! You are such a great inspirational teacher! Again - I'm way on the "free" side of FMQ!!! LOL

    All your "littles" are so dog gone cute!! Well done my talented sweet friend!

    Blessings and hugs!

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  4. Well done....actually wonderfully done! Thanks for sharing all your process and detail on quilting your little quilt. It all looks amazing....great feathers as well as SID. I think you had a very productive week.....those tiny ones are so cute.

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  5. Sunburst is quite simply spectacular! You are certainly on a roll my friend. Those tiny stocking are so sweet, I can see an entire tiny Christmas tree decked out with these.

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  6. You are just a talent, using all those tiny pieces, in such precision! I love to see what you are working on!!

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  7. Your feathers are beautiful! I love all your MINIs. Lori is starting a new SAL so you are ready now. I had to use old "HELGA" today. "Betsy" is being naughty. I did some FMQ on a 36" Challenge quilt. I need a LOT more practice. Just have to Bind it and get it to my DD#2 so she can deliver it to the Quilt Festival for me tomorrow.

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  8. i'd say you are getting plenty finished! Some beauties too! Those little stockings are rather cute!

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  9. Wow Janet! Amazing quilting on your Mariner's Compass quilt! I like the idea of the containment line. Very cute stocking ornaments! Love the Pumpkin in the Nine Patch!

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  10. Well done, Janet. Your feathers are gorgeous. Sounds like you have a very productive weekend. Love those little stocking ornaments. And I'm drooling over those fabrics you are using for the thimble quilt. What a nice m emory quilt!

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  11. Your clear photos as you go through each step shows meticulous work!! I think you have a stadium full of quilters giving you a huge Wave all the way around. Another fabulous mini!!

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  12. I like the little tiny stockings! what an interesting pattern!

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  13. Such beautiful quilting on your Mariner's Compass. Thank you for sharing your steps. Very inspiring!

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  14. Oh my, you have been a busy little bee! So small and beautiful!

    Have a wonderful and Blessed day
    Kristie

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  15. Gosh you have been busy, so many beautiful projects! Love the feathers on the mini quilt, thank you for the tips about how you go about this. I have not seen those bendy rulers, is there a company/manufactures name on them? One day I might get adventurous enough to attempt feathers!

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  16. Another stunning effort Janet - well done on your bravery!! Quite a good little pile of finishes there - not a bad effort for the weekend!! Your thimble fabrics are lovely - that will be another gorgeous project. The stocking are also very cool!! Hope this weekend is just as productive :-) PS Love the Pumpkin in the 9-patch name!!

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  17. Great post Janet and I realized, reading it, that you were very inspired those last days !! What a beautiful quilting and the others little blocks are soooo cute !!
    Thank you for sharing your lovely projects and ..... Bravo ! :)

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  18. Yes, my friend, you are indeed on a roll - a very productive and successful one!!! Love, Love, Love the quilting on this one too! All those lovely feathers - they make my heart go pitter-patter :*) You have truly become a skilled craftsman with these sweet minis - each one is more precious than the last. Thanks for all the tips too. It's easy to forget marking the 1/4" loss on the quilt edge from one project to the next - ask me how I know LOL!

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  19. "On a roll" is an understatement. What an inspiring post. beautiful work on the Mariner's Compass feathers. That bendable ruler looks like a tool I need. Everything is so beautiful! great work.
    Mary

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  20. Your posts are always so inspiring. Your latest finish is outstanding with those fabulous feathers in the border. Even your leftovers are so sweet. Love all the fabrics in your tiny thimbles. A big quilt? That would be shocking!

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  21. You accomplish a HUGE amount!! I need to get on the rogue quilter express train!!

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  22. I think you've got machine quilting all figured out - no need for your to be timid about it. I am completely envious of those skills. Love all of your projects - they are all just beautiful.

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  23. I don't know why you'd go back to full-size quilts when you're so amazingly successful with the minis!! I cant believe how tiny those Christmas "stockings" are!! Love looking at how "unproductive" you are!! VBG
    Makes me feel quite unproductive myself!!

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  24. You, unproductive? I think not! Wow oh wow! You really rode that wave, didn't you? Your quilting was perfect for that little quilt. And those little stockings ... love them!

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  25. Oh my goodness, everything here is just lovely! I am especially enjoying your dark background quilts! What pen do you use to mark your feathers?

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  26. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the post and learned a lot. Your projects are beautiful and inspiring!

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  27. WOW, WOW the quilting on Sunburst is Sooooooooo special, it turned out so awesome. I also love the tiny stocking, they are so cute, are they hard to make? I treasure my ornament, I see it each day. Wishing you a Blessed week.

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  28. Wow your mariners compass is wonderful. I need to look into getting a flexible ruler - what a great tool. Your quilting patterns always look great with your piecing!
    The stockings and ornaments are so so cute - You are the Queen of "little" sweet things.
    Love those little tumblers. I made a mini flag tumblers and was so shocked how much it shrinks with the sewing!

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  29. My kind of colors in your new piece. I used to have one of those flexible rulers but I must have given it away as I have not seen it in my tools for a very long time. Would be good to use for the feather spine as you have done.

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  30. Oh my goodness, your quilting in the first two is marvelous! And I love the colors -- right up my alley. But then who am I kidding? *ALL* colors are pretty much right up my alley! Your tumbler piece is coming along!! :)

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  31. Great tutorial! I like the new to you stockings. Always surprises me how quilt projects shrink with seams. Enjoy your day Janet. Sandi

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  32. I'm back after reading Lisa's blog to encourage you to enter your little quilt at Paducah.... I would love to see it when I visit next year!!! Also glad to see you recovered in time to be able to attend her class - well done!!

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  33. not accomplished much? well that's a gross understatement i'd say....such beautiful little projects....and thanks for the tip of the bendable ruler thingie...i took a class on marking feathers and must have missed this idea....oh janet you do such beautiful quilts no matter the size!

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  34. My goodness! You look like you got so much done! The "Sunburst" quilt is perfect! I wouldn't have realized it was from Lori's SAL if you hadn't mentioned it. It is sooooo different from how mine turned out! BTW, I finally basted my mini tumbler quilt, so that should be finished soon. Yea!

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  35. Your starburst is so beautiful. The feathers are just perfect. I am in awe.

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