Liberated Wedding Ring

    I picked most of the fabrics for my version of Little Miss Shabby's Liberated Wedding Ring quilt at the International Quilt Festival, held in Cincinnati back in April. I got a cream with black dots for the backing, and a black and cream stripe for the binding at Stitches Quilt Shop in Glendale, Ohio. The batting and solid cream background fabric came from JoAnn's.

    This quilt is to be a wedding gift for my niece and soon to be nephew-in-law. Originally, they were planning a wedding for April, 2012. Well ... The new date is 09-10-11. September 10th! That's only 4 months away! Oh, well. I should have plenty of time to finish the quilt by then. Here are a couple shots of the blocks I've gotten done so far.

    And ... the UPS man brought me something special today! Here's a photo.

    It's my brand new quarter inch piecing foot with guide for my sewing machine!!  YAY!!!  Not that I'm expecting to make perfect quarter inch seams from this day forward, but surely they'll be better using this foot. Surely. = )

A Quilting Frame

    I decided to tell Larry that I wanted a quilting frame for Christmas. It just so happened that Hancock's had a frame on sale. It was one that extended to 96 inches. This would be large enough to accommodate most quilts I'd be making. If I ever get up enough nerve to do a king sized quilt, I can simply turn it sideways, and I think it will fit on the frame. Here's the frame I got.

    I've always sewn. I made most of my daughter's clothes in her early years, and most of my window treatments and home decorating items. So, I've always had a large stash of sewing stuff--two sewing machines, a serger, not to mention every scrap of fabric I've ever had. Besides, now I'm sewing for grandbabies! All that to say, everytime I want to work on an project, I have to drag everything upstairs to our dining room table; then put it all away every time we have guests in our home. NOW, I have a new quilting frame--that, I might add, takes up a space approximately 30 x 100 inches. Not really something I can pull out and put away too easily. SO ... we decided to convert our fourth bedroom to a sewing room. It's so nice!! I can stop and start on projects, knowing they'll be exactly where I left them.

    With the sewing room dedicated and the quilt frame assembled, I decided to mount quilt #1, Ashley's Journey. Apparently, it can be a little tricky to get quilt top, batting and backing all on the thing without any bunching, pulling, stretching or the like. I did it in one try, and I think it's pretty good. I didn't re-do it, anyway.  = )


    Then came my first real attempt at quilting by hand. I'd assumed it would be pretty easy. I was wrong. I couldn't seem to get my stitches even. So I decided to google YouTube to see if I could find some video instructions on the easiest way to do it. I found this and it was helpful, but here's what I've decided. 1) Everybody has to come up with their own way of doing it--the way that feels right and most comfortable. And, 2) It's going to take a while for me to get comfortable, quick and good.

    Here's a shot of my quilt frame with Quilt #1/Ashley's Journey on it and in process.

    Arrrrgggg. Another process. Oh, well. I guess I might as well just resign myself to the fact that becoming a good quilter is going to take a while. Ok. Maybe 'resign myself' isn't such a good strategy. So, I'll re-phrase. I've decided to enjoy the process, not to be too hard on myself, and to remember that 'practice makes perfect.' Well, actually--'perfect practice makes perfect!'