Deadline Met and Mission Accomplished

I was SOOOO excited AND exhausted but I finished sewing on the binding at 6:00 pm Friday evening!!  Yes, a completed quilt in 5 days.

( You need to read my previous post to know what this post is talking about )

Hubby came home a few minutes after I finished it.  I was glad I had moved my sewing 

room back upstairs where all my gift wrap, bows and such are up

here too.  I quickly found some ribbon and tied it around the

folded and rolled up quilt.

Hubby was really surprised when I gifted it to him.  He was REALLY

impressed I had actually machine quilted it.  Especially

in a design other than just straight lines.  ( I was patting myself on the back for this one too! )

Here it is…. I know it's just squares, but I wanted it simple so I could make it quick and fast

as fast could be.  

I chose some older fabrics

that have been lurking around for a while 'cause I'm sure tired of looking at them

every time I thumb through my stash!!

I knew Hubby and the Goober dog would like it regardless!

( The Goober dog lays in the chair every night with Hubby so it's his quilt too! )

This gingham on the back has been in my stash l-o-n-g before I knew to call it my stash.

I added this tan fruit/veggie in 'cause it has corn and various other

fruits and veggies Hubby has in his garden.

I like it……especially now that it's finished.  There are sunflowers and a block FULL of red tomatoes.

An African print toward the top, various type prints and a few flowers

thrown in so he can stay in touch with his FEMININE side! (snicker)

Maybe I should challenge myself with deadlines on future quilts and inspire myself to 

get more accomplished………….naaahhhhhh!

I'm headed outside now,

it's 84 degrees!!!!

I'm Doing It....But I Don't Like It

Those of you who follow my blog may remember I'm not much for/sold on Machine quilting.  I like all the ones I see in blogland.  Most I see turn out just beautiful.

I'm just a Hand Quilting type of gal. But as Mr. Browndirt reminds me quite often, "there comes a time when you are going to have to get some of them quilted."  He also insists I take some

out to a longarmer to get them done, but I want to do them all myself.

I guess that's why I have 18 quilt tops lounging upstairs across a bed.  Some have been sandwiched and basted for a while now, patiently waiting.....for me......to make a decision.

I'm going to get this one finished and I must say,  Mr. Browndirt is most excited!!!  He offered to fix me a sandwich.....to keep up my strength. Ha!

So........here goes!!!!

This is the quilt from my previous post.

4 Patch & Furrow Quilt Finish

Yes....it's good to have another finish under my belt!! I love how my scraps and the vintage repro fabrics mix well together! I am amazed how hot pinks and red reds can play nicely with the soft floral pastels.

Even though some of the darker squares seem to jump out at you....in person this quilt has a soft vintage feeling and look to it. I am so happy it turned out exactly as I had it pictured in my mind. I split my furrows squares using two different fabrics instead of just the one color scheme. I decided not to add borders to it.....just wanted it to look like some of the old quilts I have collected through the years. I don't think mine looks a whole lot like Bonnie's, but her quilts inspire me to be creative and I love to do my own version!! This quilt measures 60" x 66".

I wanted to hand quilt it sooooo bad....but I made this one for a gift and I thought machine quilting it would be best so that she could really use it if she wants. Don't you think it has a 'plaid-ish' look to it ???........I like!

This is my favorite block!! Mr. Brown Dirt went by the fabric store and picked these out for me!

For the binding I chose blue scraps to finish it off with. The backing is some more of that 17 yr. old fabric I also used for the back of my Chunky Churndash.....the one I hand quilted with all those concentric circles....remember? And I 'STILL' have enough of this fabric left to do ANOTHER quilt back.....man, what was I thinking when I bought all that yardage!!!

And a big THANK YOU to all you 'rowdy'.....'clowning' blogger friends of mine for harassing me about not blogging! It's nice to be missed!! I promise.....I haven't been lounging or loafing..........really......I've been stitching away...letting the fabric dust fly!!!

Black/White Quilt Finish

A view of some of the machine quilting I did.......'simple'.

More machine quilting.......'simple'.

This quilt was hard to photograph.....it wants to look more grayish than a true Black....which is what I wanted from this quilt....MORE BLACK and 'simple'.

More machine quilting and a close up of some of the wonderful fabrics my no blogger friend Gail from Michigan sent to me. She has waited patiently to see how I used them. I chose 'simple' for this Black and White Challenge quilt I signed up for last year. We had a year to complete this

challenge and I just b-a-r-e-l-y made it. Thank you Jackie for setting up this challenge AND

THANK YOU AGAIN GAIL for all these great fabrics!!!

My 'simple' B/W quilt is about lap size.

Here is a view of the pieced back.

Never Say 'NEVER'

I have always said I would NEVER own or do a machine quilted quilt......I am SOOOO a HAND QUILTED type of gal!! WELL...I guess I will have to eat my words. Here is my first officially completed MACHINE QUILTED quilt!!!

If you follow my blog you know this is one of two fall style quilts I have worked on....a His and Hers pair. This one is Mr. Brown Dirts and he LOVES it...so much so I really had to just rip it from his body to get some finished photos.....LOL....yes, I got this one finished just about the time to put it up ( fall colors and all ) and drag out the Christmas colors......Oh well.......

He has told me his favorite side is the back. I like it too.

For my first endeavor quilting on something this large I thought just sewing some straight lines would be good practice in learning to 'man handle' a quilt and my machine. I did cross hatch style squares in the middle.

I decided on lots of closer together straight stitching in the borders.... I.LIKE......I haven't washed it yet so it's not as 'crinkle-ee' as it could be.

I never wanted to do a quilt that looked like I had 'sewed' all over the top of it. I have seen some quilts that the first thing I noticed was the machine quilting....instead of the quilt as a whole.....this being my reason for NEVER wanting a machine quilted quilt. I knew I would
need to change my thinking on this as my pile of quilt TOPS was growing. SOOOO....this is what I did.......I put my STITCH LENGTH to 3.00....and lowered my bottom TENSION to 2.25....(trying to achieve that DIP and DOT look of HAND quilting). I used a CREAMY OFF WHITE THREAD instead of the stark white. This thread color just seemed to melt away and is hardly noticeable. I don't know if any of this is right or wrong, but it is just what I experimented with and what I decided was right for me.....MAYBE this machine quilting isn't so bad...I just might
do some more!!!

We'll talk about the ORDEAL I had with the batting on this at a later date and post!!!! Here is a HINT.....I wore a dust mask.............

Adventures In Machine Quilting

Hot Pad front.......circles / bubbles / pebbles quilting

Hot Pad back.........


Placemat back........

Placemat front......Swirls / skwiggles / loopie loops

Placemat Front......meandering stipple/zig zags/ swirls

Placemat back.........

Love the black and white binding/edges......THANKS GAIL (no blog).....this project IS FROM some wonderful LOG CABIN batik SQUARES GAIL sent me ( see here)......I cut the length GAIL SENT into three pieces....I sewed up the BATIK STRIPS GAIL SENT to make up the back of these wonderful placemats!! These will certainly brighten up our dining!...LOL..I hope you don't think I messed them up too bad Gail! The ONLY THING I CONTRIBUTED to this project was the 'practice' machine quilting!! Oh.....what an adventure that was to figure out!! I started trying to learn the bubbles/pebbles about a month ago.....that was a hair puller but my FAVORITE!!! I finally took the BSR off and just free motioned the rest. I learned that using the BSR on Batik fabrics can be a little more difficult to machine quilt than maybe other fabrics! I can thank MAGNOLIA BAY for helping me figure that out!
My other help and inspiration for learning this machine quilting came from the wonderful ladies at these blogs...FREE MOTION QUILTING BLOG......CRAZY MOM QUILTS......and HANDMADE BY ALISSA BLOG. I am truly amazed at these girls talents and I thank them for being so generous with their videos and tutorials!!!!!
While learning to use my sewing machine to quilt was fast and a wonderful challenge and learning experience......I must say......I still love HAND QUILTING the best!!!!

Practice Makes Perfect

Practicing my machine quilting.............I changed my needle, adjusted my tension just a tad and put in regular quilting thread to practice with and I've had much better results using the BSR (bernina stitch regulator). Getting my hands and the speed moving at just the right cadence is better too....LOL....I feel as if it's like that old trick of trying to pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time!

Practicing my machine embroidery..........oooohhhh.....I have sooo many cute designs to get to!! I'm not completely happy with the contrast on this one...but, hey.....that's what practice is for!!

Practicing on my new addiction......why.....it's Hexies of course!!............TIP: my joint at the top of my left index finger and my thumb began to ache while sewing my hexies....straining to keep the two pieces aligned and together.....so...I had an idea to use those same little hair clippees I use to hold down my quilt binding while I sew it on. Perfect!! Oh wow....now my hand can relax and the pressure on the joints is much better while I'm sewing them together.

I want to thank the bloggers in my previous post for playing along and sharing their quilt 'backs' with us. I wish there had been more participants.....I have seen a lot of lovely quilt backs out there!! So, if you have one you want to share....you still can....just go and add your link!!

Playing With 'Miss Bernie".......

Hey, how did those people in Switzerland who make these things know I had cows..????? Isn't this a HOOT!

I'm learning and checking out all her 'bells and whistles' today. Look at some of these wonderful stitches she allowed me to make!!

Oh my...look at these sweet little snowflakes. I'm thrilled they are a nice size and not tee-ni-nee!

This swirl or ocean wave stitch looks like real 'hand stitchery' to me....this one stitches out slow!

I used my BSR--Bernina Stitch Regulator here for some quilty practice runs.....Miss Bernie is not playing nice with me....the stitching is 'crap-o-la'!!!......Uh, well....maybe it's me???

My seem ripper slides easily underneath the large spaces on these seams...the seams are longer than when I use a basting stitch!! (Click to enlarge)....I thought this stitch regulator would make my stitches look better. I have practiced some just lowering my feed dogs and free motion....that worked better than this. I know.....it's probable ME!

Can you see what I'm talking about.....maybe I should get out my handbook....when all else fails.....read the instructions! I think maybe I need to adjust my stitch length.......I'll go try that and see what happens! .......MUST.LEARN.THIS.

......And Jenny (no blog) I'm waiting for that email picture of your scrappy log cabin...can't wait to see it!!