BINDING BLITZ REPORT FOR JULY!

Today I have 2 quilts to report for the binding blitz that Julie has each month.  I will link with her as soon as she does her final post for July.  Both of them are donation quilts.

This one will be donated through the quilters' guild that I belong to - it goes to the hospital for a baby.

The next one is a string quilt that is larger for an older child and I will donate it to a local outreach.  I hope a teen-ager will like it.  

This will be my last one with the cow fabric backing.  It wasn't quite enough, so I added the plain green fabric.  The binding is scrappy, but mostly it's green and the vary-colored fabric.

Thanks for stopping by!

SOME QUILTING DONE AND SOME NOT

I basted 2 donation quilts and finished quilting one.  This one is a large baby size quilt and I tried a different quilting design that I saw somewhere.  It still needs binding.  It began as a "leader/ender" project and it's mostly reds, blues and stars for the alternating blocks.

bottom view

top view

 Then I started on the next donation quilt, which is somewhat larger - almost twin size.  I have been having problems with the quilting.  Maybe you can see what the sewing machine is doing.  It only does this when I'm FMQing.  Then I have to stop, rethread the machine, take out the bad stitches and start again.  It also makes rats nests randomly on the bottom side.  Not fun.

I may have blogged about this before.  I have a Janome 6600 which sews great all of the time except when I free motion quilt.  Another blogger also has this problem with her Janome.  Does anyone else have this happen?  I have taken it to be serviced a couple times on this, but it didn't get fixed.  I will probably try again soon.

thread makes a triangle tent

2 rats nests in swirl

The quilting is put aside for now.  In the mean time, I am working on some table runners for my GDs wedding reception coming up in August!  Oh my!  Can she be old enough to get married already?  

A PATRIOTIC PIECE

You might remember that I had mentioned to my GD that I didn't think I had enough patriotic quilts to decorate for Independence Day.  Well, I got an email from Connecting Threads regarding some patriotic fabric on sale.  I decided to order some as I really liked one of the designs and also needed some white on white.  The fabric came on Saturday - fast delivery! 

Fabric from Connecting Threads

 Have you ever ordered from Connecting Threads?  Over the years, I have mainly ordered thread, and occasionally, batting from them.  But last year I was looking for some fabric for the quilt I was making for my GS's high school graduation.  I decided to check their web site and I found something that was similar to the fabric that Bonnie Hunter used (I was making her Star Gazing pattern).  You can see it in the header - it's the sashing fabric in the quilt that is on the bottom left.  I was very happy with the quality of the fabric.

The fabric that they sell under their label is about $5.96 per yard.  The patriotic fabric was half price, so I bought 4 yards of the R/W/B.  The white on white was regular price.  They also have some name brand fabrics which cost more, but are still less expensive than quilt shops.  I really like the 2 fabrics that I bought.  As to their thread, I use their Essential Cone Thread (natural) for all of my piecing.  One cone has 5,000 yards of thread for $9.99.  I also use their quilting threads and am very happy with both.

Below is the little "patriotic" wall hanging that I made from the pattern by Miss Stacy at Buttermilk Basin.  The pattern was free and is still available.  It didn't take me long at all to get this prepped and I machine stitched it, so that was quick as well!  I'm going to be looking for more patriotic items to make, so that next summer I won't be short!  Maybe a table runner, or something using my new fabric?

Americana Crow on Spool

Thanks, Miss Stacy!

TWO MORE DJ BLOCKS

Yesterday I made 2 more DJ blocks.  This first one was the hardest of the two, but I can't say if it is the very hardest of all the blocks I've made so far.  I need to stop thinking in terms of easy to hard and just make them in order, I guess.  I hope you don't scrutinize them too much.

C-7

D-4

My GD has been sewing quite a bit lately, including the 4th of July, when we had our sew-a-thon.  This is one of the bags she has made and I think it is super cute!

I'm going to put my DJ blocks away for a while because I need to concentrate on some other projects.  I will be picking up a bolt of batting today and I have 2 queen size quilts to baste/quilt, also a baby size donation quilt.  I'm also ready to sew some strip blocks together.  First I'm going to get the backings ready for the queen size quilts.  Then, probably next week, I will baste and get ready to quilt.  Both the queen size quilts (log cabin and ? [can't remember the name]) were long term projects, so it will definitely feel good to get them almost finished.

PLUGGING ALONG ON DJ

 I think I'm finally learning my lesson!  The lesson is to make the DJ block with plenty of extra fabric around the sides, so that it is big enough.  You can see on the photo below, that the block needs to be trimmed down to the correct size with my DJ ruler.

Now, it is trimmed and I don't have to add any fabric to the sides to make it big enough.  Yes, I have had to do that.  But, from now on, I am making the pieces bigger than I think I need.  It's hard to tell when PPing sometimes and you end up with not enough seam allowance.  At least I do.  

C-10

The red sections didn't photograph very well, but you can imagine that it looks better than this.

D-7

Today, I think I'll tackle one of the very difficult blocks.  If I get it done, I'll post it tomorrow.

ONE QUILT BOUND AND SOME DJ BLOCKS

Our celebration of Independence Day was quiet.  It's been very hot here, so DS#1 came over with GD and GS (DIL was still in Africa, but gets home today) since our house is air conditioned and their's isn't.  The men wanted to watch the Wimbledon tennis tournament, but I'm not sure if they got to see any of it.  GD and I had a Sew-A-Thon.  We had plenty to eat - too much, actually!

I finished binding this baby quilt.  At first I had a hard time finding the right fabric for the binding.  Then I spotted the perfect fabric, which was 2 FQs that I got at Good Will!  You'll see a close-up in the 2nd and 3rd picture.  It had all the colors in the quilt!

Then I started working on some DJ blocks while GD made a zippered pouch.  I set up my featherweight so we each had a machine and we hunkered down.

C-13

D-1

C-8

C-4

I didn't do all of these on the 4th, but continued yesterday.  Now, I have about 4 more ready to paper piece - fabric selected and papers cut and marked.  I'm almost finished with Row C!  With 13 blocks per row, that's 39 finished and I have 6 blocks finished from Rows D and E.  The quilt has 13 rows, so that comes to 169 blocks - not to mention the border!  Yikes!  I've been working on it for 1 1/2 years now.  Will I get it done?  I better try to do more blocks faster than this.

Hope you are staying cool (or warm if you are down under) .  Keep quilting!