BLOGGER'S QUILT FESTIVAL FOR FALL

It all began here at a quilt shop in the Chicago suburb of Barrington that Beth took me to.  I saw the log cabin quilt (scroll down on my link to see it) and really, really loved it.  I knew it would be crazy to make one with one inch logs (unfinished).  Yes, that's one half inch finished!

I started the quilt sometime around the beginning of 2012 and finished it October 8, 2015 - just this month.  It is a scrappy quilt and measures 85" x 95".  Most of the piecing was done during our travels across the USA in our camper while visiting our 3 sons spread out from Florida to Oregon and visiting as many national parks as we could along the way.  I remember working on it while in Mississippi waiting for our truck transmission to be fixed.  My Featherweight got a workout on this quilt (and others).

It was finished and quilted with hooked feathers on my Janome 6600.   This link will show some sewing that was done in our camper on my Featherweight sewing machine.

I am entering it in the Scrappy Division of Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Here is the Festival Schedule:

October 23-29, 2015 – Linky’s Open & Nominate for Viewer’s Choice

October 29-Novebmer 5, 2015 – Vote for favorites in each of the categories

Each blogger may enter two quilts in separate categories. 

2 FINISHES!

My Log Cabin quilt is finished, except for the label!  It took me nearly 3 years to get it done and I am very happy!!  The "logs" are 1/2" finished.

The binding is the same fabric as the backing.

As you know, I had lots of quilting issues, but finally got that straightened out and fixed all the rat's nests on the back.

Here's a close up of the quilting if you can see it.  I posted this picture a week or so ago.

I also finished the Country Roads Quilt-a-long that Lori had.  It is quilted and bound as well.

Oh, it feels so good to finish things - especially things that have taken "forever."

We even went to the coast one day this week.  It's only about 50 miles from here.  The Oregon coast is beautiful, but not as good for swimming as Florida.  It was a cloudy day.  We got to see some whales splashing in the water about 1/2 mile off shore!

I'm celebrating the finishes today!

LOG CABIN QUILTED!

Well, ladies, I am finished quilting my log cabin quilt!!!  I still need to bind it, but that will be easy.  As you might remember, I was having problems with my sewing machine and took it to be adjusted once and then took it back for a second look because I was still having problems.  Luckily for me, Elaine was having issues with her Janome machine at the same time.  We emailed back and forth several times and I even sent her pictures of what my sewing machine was doing.  This isn't the first time she has helped me.  She was my inspiration to get started quilting my own quilts with FMQ (free motion quilting) probably back in 2010.  Anyway, she sent me an email with some pointers and strangely enough, leaving the feed dogs UP with the stitch length set to 0 while FMQing is the way to go.  I also remembered something from watching one of Leah Day's videos and that was to use Magic Bobbin Washers under the bobbin.  I had some, but had forgotten about it.  By doing these things, my problem is solved and I have been able to quilt with confidence again.

It is so frustrating when the machine puts a "rats nest" on the bottom of the quilt.  I still have to go back and fix some of those.

Rat's nest to fix

I quilted the whole quilt with hooked feathers without marking the top in any way.  I quilted the right side of the feather following the light or dark diamond shape and when I got to where I started I switched to the left side and followed that around.  When I quilt hooked feathers, they aren't necessarily real even, but they look good anyway.   I try to stay within that color section, but if there is quilting that extends over from the dark section I can just make the feather smaller or larger as the case might be.  It's very forgiving and with a busyness of the fabric, it's not noticeable.

I started piecing this quilt sometime in early 2012 and worked on it a lot in our camper while we were on trips.  The inspiration for it came to me while visiting Beth in the Chicago area and she took me to several quilt shops.  Click on her name for the post I did in 2011 and if you scroll down you will see a log cabin quilt in one of the shops.

Here's a picture of the quilt kind of spread out on the couch with DH holding part of it up.

I had a very pleasant surprise this week when Quilting Babcia called me and wanted to meet me for coffee.  I had known that she was coming to town for a visit from New York, where she had moved to last year.  We met at a coffee shop about 5 minutes from my home and sipped coffee while catching up on this past year of her moving to New York and me getting settled in Oregon, then went across the street to the local quilt shop.  We had originally met in 2013 when I won a giveaway from her and since we were visiting our son who lives near where she lived at that time, we met in person for the first time.

I just checked out Lori's final episode for here quilt-a-long.  I will sew that together today!

PROJECT UPDATE

Wedding quilt is mailed - and is supposed to be delivered today.

Log cabin quilt being basted

Notice the vintage Tupperware sugar bowl that I use for holding safety pins.

Quilting started.  I'm using caramel Essential Pro polyester thread from ConnectingThreads.com for the top thread and turkey red thread for the back.

Table runner bound and listed in my Etsy shop.

3 dresses finished to be donated to Lori who is taking them to Bolivia on a mission trip.

Pocket embellishments.

I have a new favorite place to photograph items - on the fence just outside our patio door.  It has to be done in the morning before the sun is so bright though.  We are almost finished painting the fence - which is very long.  The area behind the shed is mainly what is left to be painted.  Woo Hoo!

LOG CABIN TOP FINISHED

This morning I finished piecing my log cabin quilt top!  The inspiration for this quilt was my visit to a quilt shop Barrington, IL with Beth.  Here's my post about that visit.  Scroll down about half way to see the quilt in their shop.  I'm not sure exactly when I started it, but it may have been later in that year - 2011.  I worked on these blocks a lot while we traveled with our 5th wheel.

Here it is kind of spread out on our patio table & chairs.

It measures about 85" x 95".

I will get some batting and hope to get it basted soon along with another queen size quilt to I can get busy quilting both of them.  I'm starting to see some progress with my UFOs!!!

Happy quilting!

DESIGN WALL SHIFTING

I decided it was time to start putting my log cabin blocks together.  Each block measure 5 1/4" (unfinished) and I will be putting them together into a queen size quilt.  My design wall is filled with these and there are still more to add.  I started to sew the blocks together and once all these are together I can probably fit more on the wall.

I took this picture before starting to sew them together and after I had looked at the arrangement many times.  As I started to sew them together, I noticed that something wasn't right, so I had to re-arrange the blocks.  Notice on the top row, the light colored diamond shaped sections should actually be dark ones.

Here's a close up of some of the blocks.  I love the way the dark and light diamond shapes work together.

I took this picture after fixing the top row of blocks as well as some of the side columns.  This is a lot harder than it looks!  I can put up some blocks, but then have to back off and look at it from a distance to make sure the design is correct.  Even then it is hard to see incorrectly turned blocks.  I sure don't want to have to take it apart if I sew them together incorrectly!

The trees are beautiful here in Oregon now.  This is a tree in my neighborhood - an ornamental cherry tree.

This dogwood tree belongs to my next door neighbor and is right next to our driveway.

Other current projects are this table topper (like one I made for our table) which will be donated to a silent auction raising money for the youth group at church so teenagers can attend a special conference.

Another scrappy star table runner top.

I hope you have a happy and quilty weekend!