Quilt #3 - Rainbow Quilt

I cannot believe how fast this past 2 weeks have gone by!  I thought I had written this post already and that it was ready to post.  So my last quilt was a quilt top from the mid 1980s.  When I made  it, I was disappointed.  It was very hard to find nice fabric in the colors I wanted.  I put it away, but chose to keep it.  I'm not sure why, but I'm so glad I did.

 

Because I'm struggling with not being able to move the position of the quilt as I do on my sewing machine, I have drawn out the rope pattern.  I used a Sewline ceramic mechanical pencil to do the markings.

 

This is the little quilt.  I hated the only solid green I could find and the yellow was just plain wimpy!  Back in the 1980s it was hard to find yellow.  It is possible it is not even cotton, but a cotton polyester blend...the green may be the same.

 

What I do like, is the rectangular blocks of color.  That was unusual in the 80s.   The contrast with the black, I love.  Today in my eyes, the colors sing.   This still needs binding which I haven't taken the time to sit at the machine and piece it.  I find that I want to be working with Phoebe and continuing to learn this new craft to the best of my ability.   

 I enlarged this picture so in the little sunny section in the upper left the piano key portion of the border shows up.  I love doing this particular detail.  Love the way it looks.

As far as the rest of the border,  like the rope border, I'm working on learning to quilt in all directions. I'm not crazy about the way it came out, but it is one more time of practice and I'm getting better.  I figure it will take a year to get quilting down to my liking.  So this is the Rainbow Quilt.

But, you know what?  I love working with Phoebe and I'm proud of each quilt I do.  Somewhere along the line, I will improve.  It really is exciting to me.  I still cannot believe I have a long arm quilting machine. it is not a love/hate relationship.  I simply love working with Phoebe whether I'm struggling or not.  She is a great blessing to me.  I'm working on another one now.  I'm not sure what I will call it.  Here is a quick preview:

 

Enjoying my blessings!

dianne

Quilt #2 - Red Raffle Quilt for Living Waters Center

 I volunteer at Living Waters Center in Lowell, MA.  Living Waters is a Christian based Community Center formed to help the homeless in this city.   We had an Empty Bowl event to raise money for the homeless back in early February.  So I had this little quilt top ready and hadn't had a lot of interest in quilting it.  I simply had no idea what to do with it.  I was debating adding applique to give it some interest.  When we were asked if we had anything that could be raffled off, this came to my mind immediately.  These pictures are not great and the color is not true, but it was great practice helping with handling the machine.  What I love is the ruler work piano key border.  I will do this again on something.  I really love ruler work.  It makes everything look so finished.

 This shows off the piano key border really well.  Also on this quilt is a little half inch border in white.  It has almost become a signature part of my quilts made in the past 18 years or so.  There is something about it that is a step away from border after border after border. 

 

I've had this fabric for years and absolutely love yellow and red.  When it came to choosing a back, I was all over choosing this fabric.  So glad I did.  I hope the winner of the raffle loves it as much as I do.

I also chose peach thread to quilt this.  It was the perfect pink!  I was very surprised.  It blended so well with the red on the front, but was subtle on the white.  And it was very pretty on the yellow.  I don't usually use thread that stands out like this, but I definitely learned something important doing so.  It will now be part of my decision making process.

So, all in all, again the learning process or learning curve has been a great experience.  There truly is always something to learn.  Every day I improve and every week or two I've finished another quilt top.  It works for me.  By the Way, I actually love the way this little quilt came out!

Enjoying my blessings,

dianne

Phoebe and Me - One quilt quilted

I want to keep a record of this quilt.  It is the very first quilt top quilted with Phoebe.  The Quilt top was made in the mid to late 1980s.  The fabrics were purchased from the Massachusetts Mills in Lowell, MA just before it closed down production in the late 1980s.  I paid $3 for a brown paper grocery bag of fabric...this is just a small portion of the fabric in the bag.  I made baby quilts, and bed quilts from those fabrics 80s fabrics; what a deal!  I have one more quilt top from them to be quilted.  I'm looking forward to working on that one as well.

So this is a practice quilt.

 For me, this was an adventure in creativity into a new style of quilting.  It was decided step by step on the quilting frame.

My quilting isn't perfect, but I'm pleased.

This is the back of the quilt.  It shows up well.  Because the backing is a solid piece of fabric, it is a whole cloth quilt on the back and a Dresden Plate on the front...two quilts in one;  I love both sides.

I am on a learning curve with Phoebe.  This is a new thought process.  My concentration is on moving the machine.  Quilting on my Husqvarna sewing machine is like drawing with the pencil held in a holder while I move the paper to draw.  This is more like normal drawing except I'm trying to maneuver a big machine rather than a little pencil.  As a result, there are bloopers,  but I'm okay with that.  Many professional quilters say once it is done it will still look great.  I think I agree.

I've finished one more quilt since this and I'm working on my third one now.  As I was working on that third quilt, I realized that I was not thinking about moving Phoebe over the surface, but was now thinking about process. I was watching my starts and ending, my meeting points on feathers and my speed rather than just control of the machine.  I'm making progress, growing and I love it.  It is one of the most creative things I have ever done and I'm excited!

Enjoying my blessings,

Dianne