Irish Chain

Making progress! First photo is one of the ends that I quilted around the clovers.
The other photos show the work on the large white areas of the quilt; one down and nine to go. The yellow fabric is the fabric on the backside of the quilt.




My St. Patty's Day quilt. I'm using fabric that mom had sent along with some fabric with clovers in the classic Irish chain quilt pattern.

Having fun with the old ladies.

Mom sent me some fabrics that I used with leftovers from the anniversary quilt fabrics to make my latest quilt. The piecing was done on my Singer 201K, and the quilting and binding were done on my Davis NVF. And of course my finishing decorative stitch was done on the Threadbanger TB-30. I made my own quilting bar out of a coat hanger since the quilting bar that came with the Davis doesn't fit the hole in the Davis foot. I had to tape the bar in place to keep it from sliding around while quilting. The lines aren't the straightest, but that doesn't bother me. I discovered if I adjust the ironing board underneath the cabinet I have a larger work area to hold my quilt while working. The red binding fabric and the blue fabric on the back are from Mom.

NEQID

The never-ending-quilt-is-done. Yeah! I got it finished this weekend. Yeah! This isn't my prettiest quilt. I made numerous mistakes with this quilt and learned a lot. I did try to rescue it; so, all wasn't lost. There are sections that I just love and others that are just the "oh well" sections. For now, it has the honor of decorating the chaise in my sewing area. Someone that is resting on the chaise while watching me work, like my husband, will enjoy snuggling under it.

The front side of the quilt.



I went back through some sections with a decorative stitch from the Janome to give it more of a defined look.


This is the backside of the quilt which is pieced from leftover fabrics. I wanted a reverse look, but I didn't have enough fabric to pull this off. Oh well!


Well, it's done and I'm ready to move on. YEAH!

Quilted Decorative Cards

I have decided that I would recycle cards with the scraps from my quilting projects. I have so much fun with my Valentine's Day card that today I tried a birthday card. The quilted side is an abstract of the back printed side.

Happy Valentine's Day!

My mom sent me another box of fabrics. As a thank you, I made her this card with some of the fabric that she sent me. I like this card so much that I made one for myself.

Back side of card.

Modern Hunter Star Quilt

Playing with decorative stitches from the Threadbanger on the stars.

Close up of the quilting.

Update on my quilting this never ending quilt. I found an interesting method of basting that I decided to try over spray basting or pinning. It is a technique used in the clothing industry for basting, a herring bone baste. It wasn't difficult to do, just time consuming. It took me a week of basting sections while watching tv. I then ran some straight stitch lines in the area of the hunter star pattern with my new machine, Davis NVF. I like how that machine stitches. I then had a difficult time coming up with a quilting pattern. I'm using a scratchy lines free-motion quilting throughout for a more modern look since this isn't a traditional hunter star. I'm using my Singer 15-90 treadle, Jasmine, for this work. The top thread is a variegated orange to black, and the bottom is white.
Here are some photos of the work so far.

Moving machines!

My new arrangement of machines in treadles. The Davis NVF is on the left, center is the Two Spools, and right is the 15-90.

I needed to move one treadle to make room for the Davis NVF treadle; so, my 201 got moved behind my sofa. The 201 looks so small in this picture. Since it is my quietest machine to use, it has the honor of the living room.

Protecting the decals!

Penni is all cleaned up and ready for sewing. She looks pretty and the cabinet cleaned up well also.


The cool drawer with the holder for the bobbins. I was lucky that the attachments came with this machine.

The cabinet has its own tape measure that measures to the half yard.

I had to attach the left side of this scroll that had fallen off.

My major concern is protecting these beautiful decals. The machine has an overall cloudy haze to it and the bed has tiny bubbles in the shellac. I don't want the decals to turn silver on me when I clean this. I have spent hours researching information, and reading so many blogs from folks with gorgeous machines that they have collected. I'm so happy to see that there are many of people that are collecting and preserving the vintage machines. So many unique beautiful machines, cabinets, and treadles. Vintage machines are a work of art!






Photos of the metal parts cleaned and a test area cleaned in the back upper right top where there was a lot of oil close to the oiling spots on the machine.

Not another machine! YES!

My Davis Vertical Feed (NVF)! I had to have her! So, meet Penni! This machine is way cool since it has no feed dogs. The foot and needle push the fabric. Another project for me and another beautiful treasure! The seller's son gave her this machine as a gift. He had found it at an antique shop for $50. He knew she wanted a machine like the one she had learned to sew on, old VS Singer, and made her wedding dress with. Her mom still owns that machine but her sister has claimed that machine even though the sister doesn't sew (time for a deal if you ask me). Well, this isn't the machine (VS yes, Singer no). Since it needs more work than she was willing to do, she put it up for sale. All she wants is a Singer VS treadle like the one her mom owns. And all I want is to play with this machine. Now the eclectic attachments are another prize that I purchased with this machine. Some are for this machine, others for Singer machines, and another set for what may work on my Free machine.

Work needs to be done on this cabinet. The hinge area is in need of repair.


And Penni is named after the person that directed me to her. Thank you Penni!

Continuation of Hunter Star

One side (A) that is pieced with the smaller block of hunter star. This piece will be situated so that it will fit in the large black and white block on the other side (B). The idea is that the quilting on the smaller block (A) will show on the other side (B)with the large black and white block as a decorative stitch. I at least hope that is how it will work. One side will decorate the other side with its quilting pattern.

One side (B) that is pieced with the larger block of hunter star.




Making slow progress, but I plan to finish. After finishing holiday quilt gifts and daughter's intense sewing project, I now have time to work on this again. While piecing last night, I discovered that some of my later blocks are smaller than the first set that I had pieced. Now, I have to rethink the layout of my quilt and how I plan to do the quilting. I think I'm going to like what I have come up with as a solution to my fiasco. This new look should have a more modern look and less repetition. Plus, one will not know which side is front and which is back (love the look of quilts like this).