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Monday, March 16, 2015

My Design Wall, Lately

Now that most of the excitement and chat about QuiltCon has died down (it was the topic of our March 9 Central Florida MQG meeting), I've been focusing on quilty obligations - teaching, preparing to teach, organizing a Mod Quilt Retreat, and prepping for quilt shows - and time in my sewing room... the latter of which has been very limited due to the aforementioned obligations!

Still, at least two UFOs will be off my "On the Horizon" list (a tab, above) in 2015. I pulled out the the finished quilt center of this Blogger's BOM, begun in 2011, and added the pieced border blocks, most of which were pieced for me by quilters in the Mid-Century Modern Bee. I had to do some fiddly sewing to make the corners work out.
Strawberry Fizz and Lime Pop - 79" X 79" 
And then, for the back, I joined a few trial-and-rejected pieces,

siggy blocks from those previously mentioned bee friends, 

an extra block, and my own homemade label. 

The strip I cobbled together was inserted horizontally in the fat back, about one-third from the bottom.

Now is the inevitable question: How will I quilt it?

On the teaching front, it's hopping! Last week I taught "No Tails Binding" (see my tutorial for this binding method on this blog) to quilters in Quilting Guild of The Villages. As is inevitable when teaching, we all learned a couple things related to this method:

1) it's not a good idea to try, for the first time, sewing with black fabric, either in the little quilt or as binding; and,
2) when machine sewing binding points, it's easier to see with an open-toed sewing machine foot.

I'm so pleased that the quilters caught on. Now, mostly by word-of-mouth, I have four more of these classes of 20 students, scheduled into May!
Quilting Guild of The Villages quilters at Sterling Heights Rec Center
I'm happy to share that "Ad Libbing" has been juried into MQX (Machine Quilter's Expo) in Manchester, New Hampshire, April 8-11. And, it's been entered into two more shows.

After chatting with two certified quilt judges while at QuiltCon (they were not judging QuiltCon), Lora went to the trouble of removing the previously-sewn length-of-grain binding, and replaced it with bias binding. We met last Friday so I could have Ad Libbing to prep and ship. Lint and fuzz has been removed, the label covered (solid orange fabric), paperwork and a check for returning it home, and packaging are all done.

Monday afternoon was the second of three Beyond First Time Quiltmaking classes - everyone's making a Quick Curve Ruler quilt, and it's fun to see the prints and colors.

Tuesday I'm leading an all-day Free Motion quilting workshop.

All this quilty stuff is great, but I need to keep up my strength! How about an energy ball? These are Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites by Spoonful of Flavor.

They're full of healthy stuff - almonds, cashews, dates - though when I didn't have enough dates, I improvised by adding diced raisins. If you're looking for a non-chocolate sort of pick-me-up, they're pretty good.

Also, this week I become eligible for social security. I've gotta look for the silver lining when I get that old. A monthly check suits just fine! Linda 

15 comments:

  1. What's with the binding on bias rather than straight? Are those blinds that look,like sails in the rec room?
    Can't wait to see your bee quilt quilted! You are a busy girl aren't you.

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  2. I was going to ask the same as Chris above- bias binding lay smoother or something? YES to the border- it's terrific!! What fun a quilting life is.

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  3. Congratulations and good luck with Ad Libbing. Strawberry Fizz is wonderful. Love the back too.

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  4. I also made the blocks for the Blogger's BOM and looking at yours reminds me that I need to get back to that and sew it into a top, Yours looks amazing by the way and I love the border. It really transforms this quilt from more traditional to modern (at last in my eyes). Great news about "At Libbing", but I'm not surprise, not even one little bit!!!

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  5. What a fun looking Blogger's BOM. I love the colors you chose for it. Your border just sets the mood for a traditional gone wild idea. Also curious about why you replaced binding with a bias one on a straight edge. If it was filled fully with the batting and quilt, I would have though it would have remained smooth and straight.

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  6. That border with all our blocks looks just amazing! Wonderful Linda

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  7. You remind me of Fizzies. Remember them from when we were children? You are so effervescent, a real whirlwind. Speaking of childhood, I wonder what you were like! I'll bet you were a handful! I think your mom made a mistake on your birth date. There's no way you are old enough to be eligible for SS! If they lowered the age requirements, I didn't get that notice!

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  8. Bias instead of straight...why? blessings, marlene

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    1. To avoid seams along the binding, Lora had put length-of-grain binding on the quilt. Two certified judges we met while at QuiltCon gave us feedback on Ad Libbing, at our request. Though the binding was straight along the sides, these judges pointed out the puckers along the top. They told us that binding should be cross-grain or bias, to lay smoothly. Lora changed it to bias, and we agree that it does look much better!

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  9. You are the most amazing Social Security Check Recipient on the planet, right up there with my eldest sister! I don't accomplish half of what you do, and always look to you for inspiration. Glad to see your Bee quilt finished--such a nice thing to cross of the list and so pretty, too. And have fun with all your classes--they are lucky to have you!

    Elizabeth

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  10. I had the same question about the binding. Thanks for answering it above. It was so good to see you. Wish it would happen more often, though!

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  11. I don't know how you do it all Linda. I imagine you are a geat teacher.

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  12. Yeah, more money for fabric lol. You sure are one busy lady wish I could come and take a FM quilting class with you . I just can't get pass the walking foot. Good luck in New Hempshire with your quilt. I love the one you just finish your choices of fabrics are always so beautiful. I am going to try your binding tutorial on the quilt I just finished. Hugs Sandra

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  13. How fun to see Strawberry and Lime again...she's looking awesome and even better with your fab quilting soon to appear. Congrats on AdLibbing going places! I was interested in your explanation about the binding. You were smart to get advice!

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  14. Your bee quilt is looking fantastic! And wow about your teaching schedule - that's really cool!

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