WIP: FMQ Auditioning and HQ Class

Although I have not made any physical progress on my monkey on a bike quilt from a couple of weeks ago I have been mulling over different options for the FMQ on it. Here is one fourth of the quilt top. The center panel FMQ will be directed by the scene and critters on the panel but what to do on the border? I took a two day class on the Handi Quilter longarm machines this weekend and what a source of inspiration and practical tips it was!

The teacher was Megan Best. She showed us a method to audition and practice our quilt patterns before committing to them on our quilt. Here is a photo I took of my quilt border. I printed it out and slipped it inside an 8.5" x 11" sheet protector. Using a dry erase marker I can try out and practice different designs. They erase easily using just a scrap of batting. I can use my cell phone to snap a quick picture of the ones I like and consider keeping.

 

It just occurred to me that I can avoid the printing out step, too. Those printer ink cartridges can get expensive! If I take the photo with my iPad, I can slip the iPad itself inside a sheet protector and doodle away. Sorry about the photo quality. It is difficult to hold the iPad with one hand inside its slippery sheet protector and take a picture with my cell with the other while angling so that the reflections do not obscure the point I am trying to illustrate. But I think you get the idea.

My purpose in taking the class was to become better informed about my possible purchase of a sit-down long arm machine – a Handi Quilter Sweet 16 or a Baby Locke Tiara. The class was very good for that. What was totally unexpected was the education I got on threads and tension, the numerous tips shared like the one above, and the wealth of inspiration I absorbed from Megan Best's quilting styles. Her website is not very extensive but that is because she is so busy creating beautiful quilts! I recommend taking a class from her if you have the opportunity. She is an educator for Handi Quilter and travels around the country teaching. I snagged this picture from her website, http://www.bestquilter.com/ to encourage you to take a peek.

In the meantime this week I drifted to an old standby, cloth books, so I can be productive while letting my brain churn on that monkey on a bike quilt. I began with an old panel called Ocean Babies. When I first start buying these book panels I had considered making them into quilts. The fabric quality is such however that they are better off as books. For Ocean Babies I have pinned the pages to be sewn right sides together, matching the corners – the photo shows the wrong side of the fabric. And all those bumps you see? They are because the panel was not printed square. I will be doing a bit of bias stretching to coax it square when I add the batting for the book pages. The weave is loose enough that I will probably be fairly successful in distorting it back to square.

This book My Babies Day is the second one of its kind I will be making. I already made one over a year ago for my now 18 month old granddaughter (see December 27, 2012 post) and this will be for the granddaughter just born this month. Each pair of pages is pinned right sides together by matching the corners. These pages lie much flatter than those in Ocean Babies but the fabric is still rather thin and more suited to a book than a quilt.

When I lay these six pinned rectangle out on the batting I will trim them and the batting all in one step. I will then sew around each, turn each, and stitch around the four outer edges. Once I put the pages in the right order, align the spine, stitch each spine and backstitch again ... Voila! Two more books will be ready to be scrumpled, stuffed in a mouth, drooled on, and oh, yes, hopefully read out loud.

Completed projects since 04/09/14 WIP post:

1. Mailed DianeLoves2Quilt – Vol. 2 to my sister (April 14, 2014 post)

Ongoing projects:

1. Monkey on a bike quilt (April 2, 2014 post) 
2. Chicken quilt - awaiting FMQ
3. Classic Cars strip quilt (August 3, 2013 post) - need to back, quilt, and bind
4. Grinch quilt (May 22, 2013 post) - all borders added, need to back, quilt, and bind
5. Overlapping square wall hanging - awaiting FMQ
6. Mask quilt (October 19, 2011 post) - hidden away awaiting inspiration for arranging hexagons

New projects since 04/09/14 WIP post:  

1. Ocean Babies cloth book
2. My Baby's Day cloth book

I will now link up to this week's WIP link party at Freshly Pieced.

Second Volume of Blog Books and Granddaughters

My blog book DianeLoves2Quilt – Vol. 2 arrived and I am very pleased with its quality. I am a happy repeat customer of SharedBook http://www.sharedbook.com/ having used their blog2print service. The glossy hardbound book covers blog posts from March 2013 – February 2014. The front cover shows my granddaughter (from my daughter and son-in-law) and signifies the chronological start of the time period covered by the blog book.

The back cover hints at my granddaughter-to-be (from my son and daughter-in-law), not yet born at the time of publication, and marks the closure of the time period encompassed by the blog book.

The color of the book cover was intentionally chosen as pink for two granddaughters. I decided to change the cover color with each volume. Not only does this make each volume distinct, but I will not become frustrated if a certain cover color option is discontinued in the future. The dedication for Volume 2 reads:

This was the year of the baby. My Granddaughter Autumn in Oklahoma (front cover) was rapidly changing from a baby to a toddler, 5 months to 16 months old. My granddaughter to be (still in hiding on back cover) is due to enter into the world in Southern California at the end of March, after this book is published.

For Volume 2, I did select the large picture size option instead of the default size and am quite happy with it. My blog online has extra-large pictures selected but I do not think the super size is an option for the blog book. I am also continuing the habit of giving dates for my posts or spelling out an entire URL so hard copy readers still have a way of looking up my references since clicking on a link is not possible. I also included comments with the posts this time, which I think adds to the fun. For a review and lessons learned from DianeLoves2Quilt – Vol. 1 see my April 17, 2013 post about my first blog book. Here is a page midway through Volume 2 that shows how the post headings, pictures, comments, and footers are handled. Everything in the side borders when viewed online, such as ads, are excluded.

My second granddaughter (Vol. 2) has since appeared, nine days past her due date, on Sunday, April 6. Here is Vivian at two days old, daughter of my son and his wife.

And here is the most recent picture of my first granddaughter (Vol. 1), her cousin, 18-month old Autumn, daughter of my daughter and her husband.

Pardon the pun, but these two photos speak volumes. I dare say these two adorable little girls will play a large role in my sewing projects in the year to come.