MQ Frustrations

I picked up my oldest son's quilt from being machine butchered (aka "quilted") this week. At first blush, I know you are all thinking "this quilt's not so bad". That was my initial impression for the first 30 seconds I saw it. Elation of having another quilt nearing completion was quickly drowned by my frustration in not being able to find a machine quilter that is both decent and affordable.
The person that did this is local to me. I saw some of her work before taking this, and thought it was fine. What I saw, however, were leafy and flowy patterns. That just was not going to work on this highly geometric (male) quilt. When I suggested to her my scheme for quilting this one down the center of each row, she never gave me the impression she'd have an impossible time of it. I knew well enough not to ask her to ditch stitch the entire thing because if she was not in the ditch, THAT would show. Line up the rail, straight stitch right down the center, right??? My quilt is expertly pieced (little grin here...but all seams do line up nicely). Never in a million years was I expecting to see this...

She said that the machine sews straight, but that the material sometimes shifts a bit (BS, in my opinion. The fabric is held in a rack. It can't move upwards of an inch. So if she thought she was going away from the center, she found what she thought was a convenient spot to "jut" back over to the center. There are a TON of "juts" on this quilt. Most are a barely noticeable from the front, but some are, as above. From the back, which is mostly large blocks of solid color, these look like total CRAP.

See (above), the notion of my quilting plan really does work well with the Bento Box design. But here's a case where I discovered that she forgot two entire rows!! Fortunately she sent me home with one bobbin and a roll of the quilting thread. I can get these on my machine. At this point, I am still trying to get my eyes back to the front of my head. They're rolled back THAT far! How on earth can she expect me to pay $160 for this mess?

Here's a shot from the back... Isn't this lovely??...
The borders of the quilt have diagonal straight stitching. It's mostly OK, but there are a few places near the edge that have small puckers. Maybe the binding will mask it.

I made up the binding this morning and once I get the gumption to fix/finish the quilting, I'll be ready for the binding. I'm not a real fan of hand sewing binding on large quilts in the summer, so it may actually sit in wait until October.

Finding a good machine quilter is so challenging. I'm going to go berserk before I get a good one. I hate to spend a good amount of money on really nice quilting fabrics, meticulously piece a pretty top, only to have a machine quilter make a mess of it. One other local quilter I have used does a good job, she charges 25% more than this one, but she's generally boring. I tried another last fall for a Christmas quilt gift. She charged nearly twice this person, but the quilt was lovely. I used another this spring that charged $15 for a lap quilt. It did have it's issues, but I worked around them and it's now kind of pretty. What's a piecer to do??? I'm about ready to buy my own machine and flub them up myself. At least I won't be PO'd at every experience :-)

Backing, Fronting & a few in-Betweens

I've been sewing lately, just not quite as much as usual. I have a 3rd kid now out of school, which makes things more hectic. He doesn't sleep in as late as the others, and naps are off his agenda! Plus the dynamic between he and his 5 year old brother leaves a bitter taste in my mouth, making me too mentally frustrated some of the time to be an efficient and accurate quilter.

None the less, there has been a little progress. I have learned of a local machine quilter who's price is very reasonable (~$100 for a queen). I'm going this afternoon to see some of her work. I saw a small piece she did that my mom received as a retirement gift and it's nice. If all checks out OK, then she will be quilting my older son's quilt. I spent time the last 3 days getting the backing (below) pieced. It's all from leftover Bento blocks and pieces of the Kona/Bella solids. It's busy, but I like it.
Yesterday, I had just had enough of working with the very large backing (above) pieces, and needed to make progress on a flimsy that I could quilt this week. Sooo...I pulled out 12 6-1/2" squares from my dwindling pile of Kaffe Fassets, and bordered them up. The borders are bold, in-your-face type prints, but colorwise, they coordinate well with the center squares.

I hope to get this quilted and finished this week. That should leave things wrapped up nicely for starting the sewing on my daughter's birthday dress next week.

(the Foxgloves pattern is one of my favorites...I may have to stock up on some more :-)))

And, one week later, as expected, I have all 20 of these pieced stars for the Tree of Life quilt. They finish at 4.5" square (on point). It took until about the last 5-6 before I really had a good rhythm on the piecing! Needless to say, I'm not disappointed that this part of the quilt is done. It was some of the tiniest and meticulous piecing I have done. ...On to the center tree~

And last but not least, here is Kate's birthday block, and the end to the swap she so patiently hosted. She asked for texture, and short of glueing burlap to a square, this is what I came up with. It gives me a new appreciation for this type quilt. This is 10"x13", and took about 6-8 hours of hand work. I'll need a lobotomy before I make a full bed quilt in this pattern!!

Top Nearly Done

And a very Happy Mother's Day to you ladies.



Sometimes when we have small children, and we are in the throws of constant tantrums and dissatisfaction, it's too easy to forget that it is a blessing that we have these rotten little creatures. Despite off and on morning rain drizzle, I dragged my entire crew to a local garden that is in full bloom right now. It's a very small public garden, that has thousands of tulips in bloom right now. It has become an annual tradition - we have been all but one of the last seven years. Even my 1st grader asks about going, so it is nice to have something that is looked forward to which is so simple as flowers. Go have a look...

The quilt flimsy for my oldest son is nearly completed. I added the diamond border this weekend. I love the way the border tames down the wildness of the Bento Box pattern. I never did use the inspiration fabric from which all of these fabrics were selected, but it will go on the back.

My son's room is in shades of the dusty blue so it ought to look good. Although, he was begging to paint his room this morning. It's always something!

It's been an uninspiring week...

I'm not really sure what I accomplished this week besides sewing 25 squares together. This is just the top. The borders will be done once the fabric arrives (hmm...I should just order 4 yards too many each time I place an order!). My son likes it this far, so maybe he will still when it is done. I did design the borders, but that didn't take too much precious time. Mostly I procrastinated this week :-)
I have been puttering, mostly this week. Without a stack of flimsies to quilt or a pile of blocks to sew, my direction is confused! I have hand sewn/appliqued one of my birthday block swap blocks. I'll show all of them soon - one is still on paper, as it is a New York Beauty. I'm not that motivated to conquer it. HA!

I am going to a local fabric fair tomorrow morning. I heard of it a couple years ago - it's known for having dirt cheap bargains! Just hope my daughter won't be still under the weather so she can go to her last day of daycare (and I can have my morning in peace.).

I sewed up 40 9-patch blocks for the 3 by 3 swap I joined. These are fast!

And, if you are a follower of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap, you know that I am gearing up for a Block Swap, of some form or fashion. Check it out if you think you might be interested or may have some block suggestions for me to consider.

Happy May Day

And a happy one it is. I learned this morning that I was selected for an award from my department. It comes with a very nice $2500 check too! Cha-ching (the fabric bells are going off!). It was a complete surprise considering I only teach classes part-time. Now I have to get myself a respectable thing or two to wear before next Friday, as there is a banquet to attend.

The rest of my materials for the Bento Box quilt arrived this morning. I discovered earlier this week that I likely did not have enough Kaffe prints to do the entire quilt, especially if I expand it from a twin to a queen. So a nice shopping trip was an order. I also needed a few Kona solids, but really wanted to order all of this from one place. I opted to try the Moda Bella solids instead, hoping they'd look and feel close to the Konas. And they do - they are a nice weight, and sew beautifully. I just lOVE the Kaffe Fassett Millifiore (on the right) - I tried to get a couple more colors, but it's sold out in many shops.
Here are the first nine of these 16" Bento Box squares. I have made them larger than the typically seen 12" block. I like the look with the added row of color. Individually, each block is wildly colored, busy, and borderline scarry. In person, however, this is looking so nice - reminds me of looking at a grove of trees, with the clear blue sky showing through the greens and browns. It's boyish and loud, without being garrish.

I still hope to somehow incorporate this feature fabric - the one that all of the others were chosen with which to coordinate. Perhaps a binding. Maybe somehow on the border. Or just on the back. Don't know yet.

I have been remiss this week in a major way. Last week I signed on to Lisa's Pay it Forward. I failed to post this sooner, but the first three people that comment, and agree to also send three people a handmade gift in the next year, will also receive one from me. Long winded and convoluted sentence, but you get the idea!

I also signed up with a easy little swap that Anina of Twiddletails is hosting. We are swappign 6" 9-patch blocks. I love the look of a little old-fashioned 9- patch quilt. We should get either 32 or 48 mostly different blocks from the swap. Worst case, they are quick and easy to make and it's a sweet donation quilt.

Playing with Patterns

I think I am honing in on a pattern I may use, but I'm considering some of the comments, especially the one from Emma about paring down the # of fabrics. I'm not yet committed to this, but thinking about it. I am also playing with a couple of patterns that mostly use 2" strips as the smallest size so that the patterns of the Kaffe Fassett's will show.

Here's a version of a plaid that I really like. It's done with 12" blocks that will probably be a nightmare to keep all colors straight, but I do like it. I pulled the red from the colors to see it it helped to settle down the chaos a little (only kept the red for a narrow border or the binding). Afterall, my brown prints have a good bit of red in them. I like all the blues and greens for the cross members. I just wonder how the few soft blue/greens KF's that I have (and really want to incorporate) will look interspersed with the browns as the background?? Should the background be random, or done in diagonals? So many thoughts!...
This next one is actually one of my favorites. I set the above 12" blocks on point, and stuck just a few red strips in.
I also played a bit with the bento box design, as that is my other forerunning choice. What I haven't decided on is how to do the squares. Here's some options...

(1) each square and it's opposed diagonal have the same solid fabrics (also has red)

(2) same as (1) but with red pulled out - a little calmer look

(3) Opposed diagonal squares are the same, but each block contains more than one solid color (no red)

(4) same as (3) but red is included(5) total randomness of bento box coloring (opposed diagonal blocks are different) and no red

(6) same as (5) but with red

Any thoughts now that you'd like to share??

The Ideas & the Fabrics

Many thanks for those ideas that have been submitted for the quilt I want to make for my son. Keep them coming. I won't cut fabric yet as I am still very much undecided. I thought I'd share a few of the designs rambling through my head thus far.

Let me share the fabrics and then some of the pattern ideas. Maybe seeing the materials will help those of you giving me suggestions.

This was my "feature fabric". I have only 1 yard of it, but love the color gradations and graphic-ness of it. It was the piece that all other fabrics were selected to coordinate with. My biggest problem is that I don't really know how to incorporate it, and it's only enough for about a 4" border around the entire quilt.
I have half yard pieces of these 8 Kona solids, as well as the 2 aboriginal dots in 2 red shades on the right end. The colors are washed out - it's a forest green, 2 shades of teal, 2 shades of bright green, royal and turquiose blues, then red.

Here's my brown set of Kaffe Fassets. Except for the two on the upper left, they are only fat quarters.

These are the blue-greens, and are only fat quarters.

And here's the entire pile of madness together. The patch of wedgewood blue needs to get worked on somehow as this is what the curtains in the room are in, and the dust ruffle. I'm not changing those anytime soon. That color coordinates with the KF's well so that does not worry me.

And onto my Madness of Pattern Thoughts...

1. Tesselation - just a random mix of all fabrics (see end of post)

2. something that uses the solids as small stones - randomly placed, the browns randomly mixed around the stars and diamonds, and the blue-greens which I have fewest as the points on the stars.

3. This pattern is called Next-Door Neighbor. I envision the stars from the solids, blue-greens as the centers and the browns randomly as the others.

4. Jacob's ladder. I love this pattern done up, and it does lend itself well to randomness of color and many colors/patterns. I'd probably aim for the stones and diagonals to be the solids, the few blue-greens as the triangles and again, random browns everywhere else.

5. A woven disaster - Oh, pattern I meant to say. I like the idea of doing a pattern like this, but am not sure I want the Kaffe Fasset's cut into such narrow strips. We might lose the effect of their graphic qualities - another of my big stumbling blocks with selecting a pattern.
5. Some kind of triangle-zig-zag pattern. Obviously, this idea was never finished, but you get the idea.
I have also considered a random disappearing 9-patch. It seems kind of boring, and the easy way out, but is easy for lots of fabrics. I also drafted up a card-trick block which is on the short list of ideas too. I prefer to do a geometric and somewhat orderly pattern. My kid is a math genius (chip off the old block you could say), so I think he may get a kick out of that someday. Or maybe he'll just want to kick me. Who knows!?

I love the Bento Box concept, and am currently thinking about how I'd do that.

Now, do you have any more ideas to share???