Southern Spirit Hunters
Beyond The Spirits => Hobbies => Topic started by: duh on Nov 13, 2015, 05:58:21 AM
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This is a club project. I find it interesting that most quilters prefer to do projects that are laid out for them in detail rather than open to interpretation. But so far that seems to be the way it works.
This project will run until the spring. The challenge is to make a block each month depicting a dog or a cat. It can be done anyway you want.
So here is the idea for mine. They are all cats. (Imagine that).
1. The first one was a beach scene with a cat in a beach chair that I tried to fussy cut. That didn't work so I just cut around the cat on the fabric and stuck it on the block. It's cute and simple and looks like a beginner did it. Which is very accurate.
2. The second one is done with the biscuit technique where the cat silhouette is stuffed where it is laid on the background and then I machine appliqued around it and stitched over it to make it look like a patchwork stuffed toy. Then I got some flower eyes and applied them to the cat. I think it is cute but simplicitic.
3. The third one I am working on now. It is a cat silhouette that I call the cleopatra pose. You know how cats will stretch out when they are laying down sometimes? Well that i the pose and I put her on a chaise lounge and then I hope to make a beaded headdress for her and to then tuft the chaise lounge with the biscuit technique again and then use little french knots for the tufting. Doesn't it sound cute? I'm dreading the work because I've never done it before and it may not turn out.
4. The fourth one is in the planning stages. I have a silhouette of a cat stalking it's pray and I plan to couch down feathers all over the background. That should be simple.
5. The fifth one is sort of in the same mode. It is a cat batting at a butterfly. I plan to fussy cut the butterfly and then fabric paint it. Cross your fingers for me on that one. I haven't done that well with the fussy cutting.
6. The sixth one is using the cat fabric again. There are three cats walking abreast of one another. I'm going to put them on a background of a village street of shops like at a tourist destination.
So that is the plan. Pictures won't be taken at the club until they are finished and presented in May of 2016. I might try to take pictures myself but the last time I tried to bring them over here it didn't work. So we will see.
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that sounds really nice tammy. i admire that you are willing to work at it. and i like cats :)
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I'll be learning a lot and I like cats too.
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Cute!
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The next block is due on the 4th of December. I'm not sure it will make it because the binding on that woven placemat is driving me nuts. I've repinned it and plan to take another stab at it today. And stab is the focus word. It's a real porcupine. Wish me luck.
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Good luck and calm hands.
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I got the cat appliqued to the chaise lounge. Now it is on to sewing the batting and chaise lounge to the background. It's not as good as I had hoped but you can tell it is a cat.
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i immediately forgot to put the stabilizer on the background. Will I never learn? Well it's new to me. I'll get the hang of it.
Time to watch The Big Bang Theory.
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the cleopatra block. Didn't work. Ill have to come up with something else or get some help. Oh well these things happen.
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It is great that you keep on learning, Tammy.
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It is great that you keep on learning, Tammy.
i agree. i had a friend tell me, when you quit learning, you die. he was 92.
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Well in that case I have nothing to worry about lol.
I've done the machine applique around the edges of the cat and the chaise lounge. Now I am moving on to the tufting. Then the beading. Then the embroidery of the chaise lounge feet. I'm thinking the oval lotus blossom style. We'll see.
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Sounds cute, Tammy.
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Thanks Tina.
The tufting didn't work. Because of the stabilizer possibly the fabric just didn't pull in like I would like it to. Grrrrh. But I'll continue until done and see if it improves in looks. Otherwise I'll be replacing this block with another. Also a grrrrrh.
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I beaded the headdress. It also didn't work like I wanted it to. The eyes I was going to use were to big so I used 3 pearls for each one. That also didn't work. Are you noticing a pattern here?
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tammy, it sounds like frustration?! I wonder if you could use a single one of the beads that are narrow on each end but fatter in the middle for the eyes?
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I finally found some teardrop shaped rhinestones and used those. They were much smaller. I'm waiting for the jewelry glue to dry to see how they look. That will be this evening. I got on quiltingboard.com and explained the problems I was having and got some really good advice.
Then I was watching fons and porter and the quy was explaining how to rip out machine satin stitch which is what I need to do. So I'm on track for that as well. The tufting I'm going to leave alone. When I quilt the whole thing I'll do another tuft and see if that gives me sufficient depth. Before that I'll carefully cut away the back layer of stabilizer that is affecting the tufting.
And here I thought I was done with that block, lol.
Well I think I'll do the Butterfly block next since it shouldn't be too hard.
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I'm going to try and get the pictures over here. Wish me luck.
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv660%2FTKHooper%2FQuilts%2FMachine%2520Quilting%2FCleopatra%2520Block_zpszag7ewpc.jpg&hash=3c293bcc992ba8e97cab2042bc24f394aab9b248) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TKHooper/media/Quilts/Machine%20Quilting/Cleopatra%20Block_zpszag7ewpc.jpg.html)
ok that's one.
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv660%2FTKHooper%2FQuilts%2FMachine%2520Quilting%2FPatchwork%2520Stuffed%2520Cat_zpsvlgecwpc.jpg&hash=9ea46fcd92a00a18286ac1f1ca230bbcf76ddbaf) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TKHooper/media/Quilts/Machine%20Quilting/Patchwork%20Stuffed%20Cat_zpsvlgecwpc.jpg.html)
wow talk about fuzzy.
(https://www.southernspirithunters.com/smf/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fv660%2FTKHooper%2FQuilts%2FMachine%2520Quilting%2FSunbathing%2520Cat_zpsficb1xhk.jpg&hash=90f3fadb72c35a9ad8a3c0788cfee1ec582e2e41) (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/TKHooper/media/Quilts/Machine%20Quilting/Sunbathing%20Cat_zpsficb1xhk.jpg.html)
And that is as far as I've gotten for the most part.
Now where is that owl...
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Looking good, Tammy!
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those are nice tammy!
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I'll have to redo the cleopatra block after I've made all the corrections.
I started on block 4 which is the cat and the flutterby. I'm going to machine stitch around the butterfly and the cat again. The cat in this one is reaching up to touch the butterfly. And the butterfly is really colorful. I did it on the hydrangea fabric.
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Ok the background fabric is cut. The butterfly is cut out. Now where did I put that cat fabric?
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I hope you find it. I'd like too see that one.
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me too. i like the other's i've seen.
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When I get it put together I'll get a picture. I'm not hurrying on it because that block isn't needed until January and the victorian is closer to being behind time.
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Found the cat. It so like the background that we're calling it camo cat.
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Been a while since I worked on this one. I machine appliqued the cat in place with a very thin zigzag now the only thing left to do is hand applique the butterfly.
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Oh, Good. I hope we get to see a picture of this one too.
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finished the butterfly. Then realized that I used the wrong fabric for the cat. That was the fabric that I was going to use on the hunter cat. Ah well, onward and upward.
About pictures. I can't get descent pictures because I wobble. And I won't have this one finished and quilted for quite sometime; but, when I do I'll definitely provide a link to the quilt club gallery so you can see it.
So the hunter cat will be white which is what the play cat was suppose to be. Now if I can just find the silhouette I'll be in good shape.
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The hunter cat turned orange so he will kind of blend in with his background too. He will be hunting a bunch of feathers that I will hand stitch onto the background. Then there will be floating feathers here and there to attest to the near misses. Weird right?
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The silhouette for this one is quite small so I'm going to make a smaller block and use a bigger frame to make it all work. Or at least that is my plan. I've chosen a sashing that is triangle that are reversed with a strip between them. Simpler that my last sashing certainly but i think it will be pretty. I auditioned the fabrics for it this morning and found three that I think will work well together.
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Cut out the cat and the background fabric. Machine appliqued the cat. Sewed on the feathers and now it is just the sashing that needs to be done. Then I'll be down to the last block the borders and sandwiching and quilting and then binding. Think I'll be done by June? I'm not so sure. There will be pictures but they are going to be a long time coming.
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It'll will be fun to see when it happens.
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the sashing was an utter lost. I wasted a lot of fabric. I talked to Marilyn, we'll get together the first Monday in April and see if she can explain it to me. Who knew it could be that hard.
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As I'm not sure what sashing is, I'm more confused than you are. I keep envisioning a border. But I probably have it wrong.
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a border usually denotes something that goes around the entire quilt. Sashing just goes around the blocks. In my case it's more like a frame that goes around one block.
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Thank you for the explanation. I hope you get it figured out.
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I've learned a lot in the last year. And it just shows up what I still don't know.
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Well I took my mess to Carol at Quilting Expressions. And she told me that one of the fabrics was not a good match and that the pattern I had chosen was to hard for me at this point. I had taken my book with me and we chose a different pattern for the frame and a new fabric. So next month I'll be back on that. After the star flower I plan to do some cutting on the Spanish Bond Raggedy Brick Quilt.
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Good, I'm glad you can take care of business so well. You have some good friends.
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I do have some very good friends and some of them aren't even members of spirithunters. At the quilt show I bought several fabrics that might work for this project. We will have to see.
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grumble, I thought I had until June. Now I find out I need to have it finished by the second meeting in May. Don't think I'm going to be able to do that. So it will end up a UFO. These things happen I guess.
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yesterday I got the squares cut out for the hunter cat block. This is the second attempt at putting together a border. This time with the guidance of carol at the quilt shop. She is a life saver. I'll be working on this all this week, then I will try to get the last block in the works. That is going to be interesting. I've visualized it now the trick will be to see how well I can pull it off.
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ok the quarter square triangles have had their first sew and cut and are pinned to the second square. This will give me the 3 triangle square that looks kind of like the back of an envelope. my book calls it an "Air Castle." I've so got my fingers crossed.
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Aircastle sounds nice. I am really looking forward to seeing this quilt.
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It has been a hoot to do. It is also probably the last club challenge that I will do until my quilt list is done and I am only doing charity quilts.
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The sashing isn't the right size and it isn't square. I'm going with it anyway and I'll fake those parts that don't work. who knew a border could be such a pain.
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Good going, Tammy.
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Half of them are the wrong way around. Who knew I'd get a mirror image on half of them. I never even considered it. Who knows what will happen next. This project is a real adventure.
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ok next time I'll know to cut the half square triangles at 4.25 and the quarter square triangles at 4.75. I'll get this right sooner or later. And the date for these is June so I have some needed breathing space.
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I finished the block and it is a mess. The corners are all different. Two of which look very bad. Who tell me who would design something that doesn't work and then publish it in a book? I know who and I know where her studio is because she has the address on the internet. Silly woman! Well I learned something new today. Draw out the entire border to see who it fits together before deciding on it. Who knew.
And if your wondering yes it is going on the quilt with the design defect in place. If my errors can be on it so can hers. I'm just going to put everything at an odd angle so it looks like it is suppose to be wonky.
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Patch number 1 was two small I have to rip out and redo.
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I'm sorry Tammy.
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it's ok, ripping out (frogging) is just part of the process especially when I'm working without a pattern or a clue. It will definitely be an original when I am done.
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redid the patch and you can hardly tell where it is. Or at least, i can barely tell where it is.
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You're the only one who would critique it so much, Tammy.
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All a part of the process I think. Last night I started cutting up the background fabric for this top. I've never done one this way and I'll alittle scared that it won't turn out and I'll have wasted a great deal of fabric but all I can do is try.
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if you try, you will succeed. eventually. then it will all be worth it!
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broken iron, grrrh. This isn't going to turn into another jinx quilt is it?
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I have been dinking around with the border with paper and colored pencils and there is a way to make it look symmetrical. It will require frogging out the entire border right down to the individual little 3 inch blocks and then sewing them back together in the new order but it would look good. I might just do it but I'll show it as is on the 6th first and then fix it in the next month period right before i get it all put together and quilted. Or at least that is the current deadline.
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I was working on the made fabric yesterday and it is far harder than it looks. First there is layout and then fitting all the fiddly little pieces together without getting a bunch of puckers. But every little bit is progress at this point.
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And that is exactly what I did today, I made a little progress. A very little progress.
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And that is exactly what I did today, I made a little progress. A very little progress.
any progress is some progress. like they say, you can even eat an elephant if you take it one bite at the time.
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oh Jenn, lol. That' funny.
Working with Marilyn yesterday made a huge difference. She took that wonky block apart put the pieces back together the way they should be and then discovered a keystone block idea that was perfect.
We talked about whether this block could go in the charity auction in November. She thinks maybe yes. I'll reserve judgement until it is quilted and bound and then ask my mentor.
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I still managed to sew one of the pieces on wrong. Maybe I have a thing about this block. Here comes another patch. But that reminds me of what Marilyn said about my last patch. "You really wanted that patch to stay on there didn't you?" I guess my stitches were a little small.
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That's funny, Tammy.
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I got a patch over the piece that I had mis-sewn and I finished the made fabric that will be in place of the 6th block. I'm happy to have both of those pieces completed. Now it is a matter of putting sashing on all the blocks that are smaller than the big one. Then I can sew the blocks together up to that last one that will be shown on the 6th.
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sounds good tammy. and you mentioning "sashing the blocks that are smaller than...." gave me a great idea on how to handle some things I want to quilt but are of different sizes... Thanks!
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Your very welcome. I'm glad I could help. I have two left to do and a month and a week to get everything done to meet deadline. I really think I could hit it on time if I don't get stuck again.
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why I can never chose the simple path is beyond me. I had some extra strips of fabric so I decided to do strips of it and another fabric as the sashing for the next block. that is eleven little seams per side for a total of 40 before I add on the corners after they are sewn on the block. Needless to say the day went to poo before I could get that all done so some is still left to do. And the amount of ironing those little seams wow.
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I am sorry about the difficulties, Tammy. Fidgety things can be tedious.
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Something the quilting craft seems to be full of "fiddly little things." I guess I'll just have to practice calmly handling tediousness. lol.
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this morning I got the sashing on the Cleopatra block. That was all the small blocks put together.
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Marilyn helped with this block as well. The eyes of the cat keep disappearing. She suggested putting whiskers on the cat to draw attention to the face. It is the perfect answer to the problem, even if it does add another task to completing the block it will be well worth it. So that and putting on a simple sashings is the goal for the day.
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but whiskers are just straight lines, so won't be too bad tammy. you can do it.
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They are but they are going over a "stuffed" area and the question is how thick to make them. i'll figure it out I'm sure. I'll take them to the group and ask Marilyn. She is the fastest creative person I have ever met. She is amazing. In one short afternoon she found the solution to the messed up sashing, how to highlight the eyes in the patchwork cat, fix the skirt and a continuous line quilting pattern for the pet bom. It might have taken me forever to come up with much more common answers for all those fixes. So wow.
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I was going to ask Marilyn about that and forgot, groan. I also messed up all the blocks that I've been working on making them to small because the big one was in the bag to go to the meeting. Just shoot me I deserve it. Can not hurry quilting, must do one thing at a time and in order. I'll get that right one of these days.
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Got the whiskers on the cat in the patchwork block. I decided to use 3 strands of floss. I think it was to much but then there you are. I don't think it brought the focus to the eyes but I'm thinking now if I add a nose and mouth maybe that will do it.
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sounds like it should tammy.
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I wonder if I should stay in white or switch to another color. There is always some decision to make. Maybe I should try it on a scrap piece of fabric.
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sashing around two of the blocks done. 3 to go. Can't wait to see the end of this project. I hate it.
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I'm sorry. It is sad that a project affects you that way.
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I should have thought about the lieily results before I started by I have a tendency not to do that.
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I got all the sashing done today. I got the dinningroom table cleaned off so I could sandwich the quilt and laid out the batting and the backing after ironing the backing. So I'm happy with the progress today.
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So happy with progress, Tammy.
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corrected the size of the one block that I made to large. I have the layout now I think. So it is time to sew it together after lunch.
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Yay!
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did it this morning. It's not flat. Why am I not surprised? The batting isn't flat either. I'm going to have puckers darn it. I'll have to think of something. I did find some variegated thread for the quilting.
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spray based the top to the sandwich. It is so puckered it isn't funny but I'm going with it anyway. Just not interested in arguing with it. I guess it will be a hope chest liner.
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Put the safety pins in it. So now it is on to the quilting. I hope that is completed in the next few days.
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got the stitch in the ditch done between the blocks. That is a start. Now if I can do two blocks a day for the next 3 days I'm on schedule. We'll see how that goes.
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Good going.
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I ironed and pinned the top binding. I'm going to machine bind even if it doesn't look as good. This one has to get finished and out of my hair. Hope chest liner it certainly is.
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Well, it is a lesson learned for sure.
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That it is no more challenges for me. I'll leave those for the bored and the rich.
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top and bottom bindings are on and one side is pinned. No puckers so I'm really please with the improvement i've made machine binding both sides at the same time. i'm straight stitching rather than doing a decorative stitch.
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Good, whatever works best for you.
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Got the one side sewn and the other side pinned. So another day should see it finished. So glad. I need a finish. Things have been dragging here and that doesn't help me stay positive.
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Good luck! One more post to say it's done and the whole thread will be done, too.
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It's Done! It's Done! It's Done!
I'll post the link when Clyde takes the picture and post it on the quilt club website.
And if I ever decide to go back and quilt the blocks I'll post that too of course. But right now i'm to tired of it to even think about anything but being happy one of them is gone.