Class, quilt, bind!

 The class went really well, with 7 relatively new, or super new, quilters making the 2-3-2-6 quilt. I wanted to have pictures to show you, but the time went by in a flurry and I was so busy, I forgot! I took one student picture, and hope some of them will bring their finished tops to be quilted soon.

Yippee! These fabrics were so wonderful! I love how she changed it up from the focus fabric dogs to the support fabric row to row. Good job!

Back home and in the studio, I unloaded the quilt from Millie and got on with the next one. The finished one was this collage quilt of a fox, and I think the customer did a good job with the fabric selections for the fur and eyes. The only problem was that she didn't sew anything down! There was a lot of edge glueing and watching while the machine moved over the pieces to be sure they didn't flip over under the hopping foot. If you make one of these, the hard part is securing all those bits with stitching before you start the quilting. Fusing is not forever. These bits will lift over time and there will be glueing in her future.

Isn't he cute? The ombre fabric is very effective for the background, too. 

I need to apply the binding and sleeve for the customer, then I'll be done with it.

I chose the panto, Fanciful Flyers for the quilting because of the butterflies flitting around the fox.

The backing is this pretty batik.

Next, the customer made two string quilts. One for her granddaughter and one for the girl's doll. I recognize many of the bright fabrics as ones I have used in my kid quilts, too. I love the bright playful mix of patterns and colors.

These are thicker than usual because the foundation is muslin. Plus, she used flannel on the back. Warm and snuggly.

Panto (hard to see!) is Jetty

Flannel back. See the pattern?

Baby doll quilt

I worked the same Jetty pattern in a smaller size for this one. It is so cute!

Dogs on the back. I chose a solid blue for her binding on both quilts.

The strip with the cats was appliquéd by me after the quilt was completely finished. When I looked it over, the original piece wasn't sewn in! The quilting folded it over and totally ruined it. I carefully cut it out and put in this piece. Done and dusted. Check your seams!

Yesterday was a big binding day. I not only made  and applied the binding for these two quilts, I also made and applied the binding on the vintage Sunbonnet Sue quilt. There was a Sharpie stain on one of the plain blocks, and I used the new stain remover I bought at the quilt shop in Cumming. It is Amodex. It worked like magic! 

I didn't purposely take a close up of the stain, but you can see it here .

After treatment (and still wet) the stain is gone. 

Pardon the color; I took this picture in the garage where the light isn't as good.

This small bottle was $14! Fortunately, I only needed a tiny bit. The product is a thick white liquid and stays on the stain while you brush it in. It took some brushing (old toothbrush) but the stain came out.

Today, I will be doing the binding and sleeve on the fox quilt and quilting a big outdoorsy quilt for the customer's husband. I have a sewing project to do, as well, and will be working on it on and off all day. The work goes on, and I am happy to be a part of getting quilts finished and back to their makers. Life is good!

My talented friend, Audrey, did the embroidery on this project. The customer started it, but quickly was overwhelmed and brought it to me. I don't generally do embroidery, but Audrey is a master, so I called her. 

The embroidered pictures go all the way around the piece, with angels, flowers and hearts in abundance. I soaked it yesterday to get the blue dots out of it that were the quilting suggestion. I'm planning something else for the quilting. It should be dry today and I need to select the border and backing fabric, and complete the quilt top.

Here is the next quilt to be done. The customer's husband wanted an outdoors theme.

Thank you to Cindy over at Live a Colorful Life for the cartoon. 

Made me laugh!