The finished product

I finished up my DQS7 quilt this morning.
I'm so pleased with it.

My partner loves rainbows, and I thought that would be a fun pallet to work with. I chose this design to show off the colors and not complicate the quilt too much with lots of squares or triangles.



The label was made by tracing the DQS7 logo onto white on white fabric with some colored Sharpies. I love using Sharpies for my labels just because they come in such an array of colors, and they don't bleed too much.

For the backing, I used a cute sheet I found at the thrift store a few months ago. It's not vintage, but it sure is fun, and it went perfectly with this quilt.



When I started the quilting, I noticed that my walking foot was not working so well. It was pushing the fabric, making the middle bar of black and white move in the direction I was quilting. So I ripped out a few lines of quilting and went to the store to get a new walking foot. I was ready to put down some money for a new foot, that is until I realized HOW EXPENSIVE THEY ARE!!! The Viking store wanted $90 for a new one! I'm sorry, but I don't even think my machine is worth that any more, so NO, I was not going to spend that on a foot.



Since I wanted to get the quilt done, I used my free-motion foot to make straight-ish lines. I actually like it better than if I had used the walking foot to get nice uniform straight stitching. This quilting just seemed more......organic.
I. love. it.

I've since bought a foot off of eBay for a really reasonable price, so any straightness that needs to be done in the future will be done correctly, and hopefully with no puckers like the last project I used it on.

I hope she loves it, because it has really grown on me during the process of making it. I've heard other swappers mention how hard it is to let their quilts go, and now I understand. I'm going to miss this beauty!

I got it!!!

My DQS7 quilt came in the mail on Friday! It's gorgeous. It's made with super good quality fabric and the quilting on it is so beautiful! I'm envious because I don't usually get as creative with my quilting. Please ignore the wrinkles, I was so excited to get a picture and get it posted, I figured you all wouldn't mind.

She's so sweet, she also included a charm pack of the same fabric in case I wanted to make something coordinating. I'm already brainstorming.

Thank you so much Kristina!!

What gymnastics class has done for me....

Mr. Big started gymnastic classes on Saturdays a few weeks ago and since I didn't have any binding to work on, I decided to start on some hexes.

I don't usually do a lot of handwork if it doesn't include bindings or pincushions, I'm not really an embroidery kind of girl, yet anyway. But I have started to enjoy the process of sewing hexagons during the hour long wait for gymnastics to end.

I first started doing them during guitar practice, but that didn't last too long with my 7 yr old, so now we've moved on to gymnastics, and even thought it's right in the middle of the day, I do find it to be a pretty good way to spend the time.

I don't really know what I'll make with these, though I've started sewing flowers together for now. Maybe instead of flowers, I'll incorporate them into my quilting like this one, or this one. Aren't they gorgeous?

It's Finished!!

I just completed my first hourglass quilt this weekend. Well actually, it's a table runner. I gave up about half way through when I realized HOW MANY half square triangles I'd have to sew to make an actual quilt.

Since I'd never made this pattern before, I didn't consider how many seams came together, and how many points there would be to match up. What a pain. I'm not sure If I'll do this pattern again, at least not with 4" squares anyway. Maybe a nice 9" wouldn't be so bad.

I backed it in a pretty vintage sheet I had in my collection.

Also during this project, I came to the conclusion that my walking foot is pretty worthless. The top feed dogs are practically smooth, which means it was still just pushing the top layer along like a regular foot would.

I visited my local Husqvarna store in the Joanns store to get a new walking foot and they wanted $90 for a new one that wasn't the generic "universal" type. Seriously???? I've since visited eBay to get a new one. Keeping my fingers crossed that I win the auction.

The new runner is up for sale in the shop as of today.

Eye Patches and Wooden Legs

We've got a band of pirate squirrels around here. How do I know this?

BECAUSE THEY'VE BEEN RAPING AND PILLAGING OUR GARDEN!!

We planted corn this year for the second year in a row. We planted more than last year because I've finally learned how to cook fresh corn, and because Mr. Big could eat corn on the cob for every meal for the REST OF HIS LIFE. I was excited.

I did the happy dance every time I saw signs of a little ear popping out of the stalk.

I got a chill down my spine every time I saw the hairy tassle thing sprouting out of the ear.

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED.

Now I cry a little every time I go to see how the garden is doing. And just when I thought we'd actually get a COUPLE of ears for ourselves, they were destroyed the next day.

However, this story does have a happy part to it.

I fell in love again with my husband today. He was walking back to the house holding a BB gun.

TAKE THAT YOU BLASTED PIRATES!

On it's way!

Top finished for DQS7
Originally uploaded by quayandco

I finished up the top for my DQS7 swap.

My partner LOVES rainbows, so I used a couple of bars from every color. I really like the black and white middle bar that separates them and it will be bound in the same fabric.

This weekend I plan to get it pinned and possibly quilted. I'm a little undecided how to quilt this though. I was thinking of stippling the white part and doing horizontal lines with matching thread on each of the bars, but OH BOY the time that will take!

Maybe I could just do lines through it all in white thread. Will that take away from the colors?

Anyone have some ideas or advice? I'm feeling stuck.

Further along

Hourglass
Originally uploaded by quayandco

I'm making some progress on the hourglass quilt. I've now got it put together and I've decided one thing.
I am NOT a fan of hourglasses.
What was I thinking making something with this many triangles and points to line up????

DQS7 Sneak Peek

These are the fabrics I'm planning to use for my DQS7 quilt.

My partner loves rainbows, so I took inspiration from this and this and plan to use a black and white fabric for other parts of it.

I hope she/he likes it. I really feel a lot of pressure to make a WOW kind of quilt, but I have to remember that my whole point in joining this group was to learn and enjoy. So, I have enjoyed going through my scraps, finding fabric I forgot all about, and am learning to incorporate my math skills when designing my own quilt. Boy am I getting a headache.

I heart Sharpies

I just found out today that Office Max is giving away Sharpies for ONE CENT!!!

For me, these are the BEST pens for labeling quilts. And, unlike the Micron pens, they come in pretty colors.

I made a friend go with me so I could get 3 more without breaking the "one coupon per customer" rule.

Best six cents I've ever spent.

The coupon expires August 8th, so print one and hurry over.

Free Fabric!! Woot Woot!!

Rachel, the cutest southern gal I know ('cause she says y'all a lot) is having a GIVEAWAY!!

She is giving away a $50 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter Shop, and seriously, who doesn't LOVE free fabric??

If you go to her blog and link it to yours, you get a second and third chance at the drawing. She'll be drawing the winner on Aug. 1st.

I'm in, and if you want a piece of the action too, you better git y'all, NOW.