Coloring the Blocks

This past week I went to our local dealers machine embroidery club.  I love these small groups that focus on a specific sewing adventure. Like machine embroidery. One of the embroiderers there bought along her completed Anita Goodesign "Prayer Garden"quilt. Finished! and stunning---I wish I could share the pictures I took, but I better not take liberties with that---just trust me to say it was awesome!

Now, I had no plans to color in my blocks except maybe a few key features. But, after seeing a "Prayer Garden" colored---I can't resist doing the same to the one I'm completing.

I have 6 more blocks to embroidery! Yeah!

This member said it took her a month to finish the quilt---wow, did that make me feel like a slug.  I know I'm slow because I get side tracked doing a lot of stuff in the sewing room. I really should focus more, but I have so much fun just doing what I do--- I do admire "focused people". I'm just not one of them.

I've scattered off and made more little cat purses for one thing---I'm hooked! And my fat quarter stash is going down---which is good. I have a bunch of fabric cut just for the cats.

I've also been cutting up fabric into 3.5" tumblers.  I have stacks and stacks of tumblers ready to sew together.  Maybe it will be one of the projects I take to the quilt retreat.  They do make a quick quilt top.

A Tumbler quilt

I've made friends with the Copic pens after all.  It's more about the technique with the blender on the fabric and the pen colors.  I need to think watercolor, rather than just laying down a layer of color.  I'm enjoying the painting on the quilt blocks.  It's been a long, long time since I watercolored, and this is bringing it all back----

Here are some pictures I recently took that you might enjoy.

Justine's tomatoes

Fading Hydrangeas 

Dogwood tree changing to Fall colors.

The Remnants making Martha Quilts

Sewing Machine Mat, Ohana and Cat

I finally made a sewing machine mat.  I've been wanting to make one for ages.  I'm not sure it's even a truly useful sewing machine item.  I just think they are neat looking. Sort of an apron for your sewing machine! with pockets! and I love aprons!

 I also finally got my Ohana ironing table this past week.  I think it's been a year  I've wanted to get one of these since I saw a few up at quilt retreat last year.  It's not that I haven't tried, but contacting the couple that make these tables---can be difficult at times. So, don't give up if decide you want one. They are either not home, because they are on the way to a quilt show, or setting up at a quilt show and not able to juggle talking on the phone to take an order,  so I sort of forgot/gave up buying the Ohana for awhile. I'm glad I kept pursuing getting one though.

 The Ohana Ironing Table

The tables are all hand made, and very adjustable. Fold flat, portable and lightweight. 

 Showing the  adjustable underside that clamps to the sewing desk, and the adjustable height support on the right.

So handy for pressing fabric and quilt blocks near the sewing machine.  

I had a some fun this week with this In-the-Hoop purse-let. Meow!

Even the zipper is sewn on while the fabric is in the embroidery machine hoop.  How neat is that!

 Approx. 5-1/2 x 6-1/2 inches. The design is at Embroidery Gardens website.

Have you had your sewing or embroidery machine serviced lately? Well I hadn't, (for several years)-- and Miss Elllie' had a tantrum and after sewing  this little cat purse project she up chucked several huge thread nests and would not sew a stitch without skipping and making some really ugly noises.  Well, you might do that too if your innards were coated with linty dust! Off to the sewing machine doctor she went and she is back home now---Good as new! The moral of this is just because the bobbin area is clean does not mean everything else is!

Finished- "Witch Way"

Finished the quilting on "Witch Way",  or very close to it.  I do still have the sleeve to tack down, and a label to make.  I had so much fun with this Halloween quilt! It is a kit quilt that was featured in "The Quilter" magazine August/September 2011. I purchased the kit from Heart Beat Quilts.
I debated buying the yardage, it is Quilting Treasures' Harraising Halloween Collection designed by J. Wecker Frisch, but, the past few years I've come to realize that at the prices of fabric, kits are the way to go for me if it's a project like "Witch Way".

I truly like "The Quilter Magazine" because they are so detailed about pattern, fabric resources and all the supplies needed to do the quilt patterns they offer each issue.

"Witch Way" Pattern by Helen Weinman. Aug. Sept. 2011 issue of "The Quilter" magazine

Some of the quilted blocks.

Border and Sashing

 Another view

The busy Halloween backing was from my stash. Yeah!  

A Leftover's Quilt Top

Yesterday I blogged about the orphan block & leftovers I had, and what to do with them.  I used just about all of the leftover 3.5" tumblers from this quilt-----

.....to make this 42" x 48" quilt top  

 (I still have 4 little tumbler pieces leftover.) I guess this is progress---

I haven't posted a picture of Sassy for a long time.

A bundle of love!

Leftovers

I have been piecing some leftover half square triangles, and digging through the drawer under the ironing table labeled "Orphans".

It truly is a miss-mosh of squares, half square pieces, tumbler pieces, embroidery blocks, some string blocks, some paper pieced diamond.

I sorted and stacked and bagged all the smaller scraps. But, now what?  I know what to do with leftover food! (gobble-gobble!)---but, I think these leftovers are getting moldy!

The Orphan block drawer.

 Leftover 8" batik tumbler block pieces. Maybe I'll have enough for a lap quilt.

Leftover from this quilt (below).

I think I'll sash these cute ABC machine embroidery blocks and make a donation quilt. I don't even remember how I came to have these.

Quilt of Valor

 I think there are 110 red/white/blue half square triangles. Remembering how I incorrectly cut them for this Quilt of Valor and had to redo them. I have strip sets leftover too.

Oh and I have these baggies of of assorted pinwheels of various sizes. 

Some paper pieced diamonds leftover from this.

Here are more orphan blocks I didn't remove from the drawer for pictures. Just waiting. Some are already sewn,  and some are cut half square triangles to sew together.  I wonder what I will ever do with all this stuff?  or worse yet, why I can't just get rid of it. Sort of like the refrigerator/freezer ? You keep thinking you will use that little dab of mashed potatoes, or whatever. Instead it has to get moldy before you can dump it. 

Markers

I'm considering painting or coloring some parts of the Prayer Garden machine embroidery quilt blocks.....like the daffodils and leaves in this quilt block. Anita Goodesign suggests using Copic markers. I already have a few sets of markers to use on paper. Some say permanent, or waterproof, archival or acid free. I decided to test all of them out on a piece of cotton fabric then set the colors with a hot iron and wash the fabric.  Here are my results:

(One of the quilt blocks I plan to color.)

The following pictures show the final results of my testing.

#1-The Pentel Gel Roller is first and I consider the best of all the markers I tested.

The Pentel Gel Roller marker did not skip or resist rolling across the fabric like some permanent pens or markers do. It also did not migrate or "bleed" onto any of the adjoining fibers of the cotton test fabric. I would give it a high score and I may invest in more colors of this marker brand.

#2- The Signo Uni-Ball marker

The Signo Uni-Ball marker came in a close second except it did not flow as smoothly across the fibers of the fabric. But, it also did not migrate or "bleed" which makes it a good second choice.

#3- The Zig Millennium marker

The Zig also did not have the nice roller action of the Pentel, and it also showed just a tiny bit of migration or bleeding onto a few threads on the fabric near the pen line. I could see less definition in the fonts as well. 

#4- The Vellum Writer has a writing tip at each end of the pen. A fine tip, and a medium tip.

This marker could be 2nd or 3rd choice because it really did not migrate or bleed any more then the Signo or Zig, and it's a plus to have the two tips which did write fairly smoothly across the fibers of the fabric. 

#5-The BIC Mark-it

With the BIC Mark-it I started to see  unacceptable results.  Definite migrating and bleeding for sure, but also a yellow or orange residue surrounds each letter in the writing.  This occurred after heat setting and washing.  The BIC marker did have a nice writing tip. But, the orange residue around the red marker lines is very detracting and I would not use it on fabric. 

#6-The Copic marker

The Copic marker on fabric testing results were surprising.  This was the suggested fabric marker for the Prayer Garden project.  Looking at how badly it migrated and bled around each drawing line makes me glad I tested this marker before using it to color any of the embroidery.  I could see it would migrate under the thread, or even onto the thread.  The Copic marker also has a fine tip, and a wider brush like tip. As you can see both bled so badly on the fabric you can barely detect which is the finer tip lines. (it is the first "Copic")--- and which was the brush type tip. Glad I only purchased three colors to test this marker. 

#7- The Spectum Noir marker

I guess I don't have to say--- the Spectrum Noir marker is the worst. As soon as the fine or wider of the two tips touched the fabric,  the ink started to spread out like a puddle which made the individual letters difficult to see and read in this sample. 

Time spent testing the markers was interesting, and certainly worthwhile.