Posted on by agilejack

Four Out Of Ten Rows Done

It was another early morning today as I was at my offices and ready to be on the radio raising money at 7 am.

When I finished at 9 am I talked to a few co-workers who happened to be in the building then headed for home and another 3-hour meeting… the last one of those for a while.

It was an absolutely gorgeous day in Portland today. I managed to get two lovely walks with my boys… both in sunshine and daylight.

It doesn’t take many days like this in the winter to get the grass to start growing. I’m going to need to have my lawn mowed in a couple weeks if this keeps up.

After our second walk in the sun and a little bit of dinner I headed back to my sewing room to start putting together my blue quilt top. I thought sewing four of the ten rows together would be a good goal. So I tagged all my rows to keep them in the right order as I sewed them.

I always note on the tag whether row #1 is on the top or bottom of the quilt.

I pulled the blocks off the design wall and made little stacks for each row.

Then I pinned all the seams in each row and sat down at my sewing machine. I sewed all four rows together before I got up and pressed them.

Once they were pressed I pinned row 1 to row 2, and pinned row 3 to row 4 and sat down at the machine again. Pressing was next. Here are those two sections on my cutting table, ready to be pinned together.

I confess, I am a pinner. I have a little trick I use when pinning these long rows together to keep the fabric nicely in place as I wrestle that bulk through the machine. I nest the seams and use a vertical pin along the seam to hold that secure. Then I add a couple of pins horizontally between the seams to keep the fabric from slipping. I had been seeing my lower fabric slip away from the upper fabric which meant that the seam allowance on the top was 1/4 inch, but on the bottom it was only 1/8 inch. This method of pinning prevents that lower fabric from slipping away and prevents me from having to pick out and re-sew blocks. .

I place all the pins far enough away from the edge of the fabric that I can just sew like the wind without having to remove pins.

I love looking at all these gorgeous fabrics as I do the final pressing.

I’m not being concerned about the matching of any seams other than the seam between blocks. It would be really difficult to match the seams on the sashing strips from block to block. Some of the turn out pretty well…

Others don’t turn out quite as well.

But I think the fabrics are busy enough that no one would ever notice it… at least no one who is going to see this quilt!

I’m pretty happy with how the squiggle sections came together.

And a bit of a close up…

That’s pretty close!

I tossed that finished section back up onto my design wall when I was done.

I just can’t stop looking at this quilt!

`I took a break from work today and stood in my sewing room just staring at this quilt. And I I remembered something. I had purchased a 5-yard piece of the blue feathers fabric about a year ago anticipating that I would need a backing for whatever I made from all those blue fabrics. And voila! I found it at the top of the drawer where I keep my larger cuts of KFC fabrics.

I bought that fabric because it was on a really good sale. I can’t remember where I bought it but I’m pretty sure I only paid $6 a yard for it. That’s a great time to buy fabric for b backings!

Maybe I’ll finish the remaining rows tomorrow night.

37 Replies to “Four Out Of Ten Rows Done”

  1. The feathers fabric will be perfect for the back of the quilt. Inspired! I would not have thought about using the sharks teeth like you did but it’s really effective given how you cut and pieced. It’s a beautiful quilt already…

    PJ Kytlica 805-660-4400

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    1. I’ve seen a good number of quilts using the sharks teeth for sashing. My friend and I were talking tonight and we agreed that we’ve never seen it used this way. I’m thinking we’ll start seeing it more!

      Anne

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  3. The feathers are perfect. i love that fabric. something about the blues and hints of other colors in that feather fabric that is so luscious. i don’t like feather in any of the other colorways just the blue. what are you doing for binding? Absolutely you’re right about using shark teeth this way. Once you list on Facebook the cats out of the bag.

    Lawn mowing already? We’ve still got snow cover!

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    1. I agree… that blue feathers fabric is really something. I’m so glad I have that piece for the backing. It will be perfect! I do like the other color ways, except for one or two. there’s a brown/blue one and a gray one that I don’t love.

      I’m guessing people will go nuts when they finally see how I’ve used the sharks teeth.

      We only need a little sun and warmth this time of year and everything starts growing! Spring is soooo close!

      Anne

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  5. I was a garment sewer from age 11 to 42 and anyone who puts in sleeves knows to pin. So I’m a quilter who pins too. I think your quilt is going to be stunning and I agree that your points won’t be noticed. I’m excited to see the finished top.

    Is Rico a different breed than Bender because I noticed his ears are different? They sure are cute boys.

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    1. I watch a lot of tutorials where people don’t pin when they put their blocks together. For me, pinning is worth the time it saves in sewing!

      Rico and Bender are both pure bred border collies. Rico’s ears are somewhat unusual. You do see an occasional dog who has ears like his. But they aren’t common. I just love his ears. Can’t imagine him with any other ears!

      Anne

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  6. What’s not to love! Once again you are turning my head with fabric patterns I had previously passed over. The “feathers” is just rich with patterns and colors! 

    Enjoy the weather with your fine fellows! Always enjoy reading what you all are up to.

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  7. Spectacular! That is a super fun quilt! Makes me happy looking at it. No wonder you keep looking at it – perhaps coddling a bit? 😆

    so glad you and the pups had beautiful weather. We are having excellent weather here in San Antonio. have a fabulous weekend♥️♥️♥️

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    1. I hope you’re able to put the fabrics together from your stash! I’m really looking forward to seeing what others come up with in fabrics and colors. I would really love to see someone do this in a totally different color way!

      Anne

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  11. It’s looking stunning! I was actually wondering about whether those sashing corners matched, and you obviously anticipated the question – although I had already realised by the time I read that bit that if I couldn’t tell by looking at the quilt, it really didn’t matter!

    I’m so jealous of you finding that beautiful feathers fabric for $6 a yard – that would be a dream come true for me!

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    1. you hit the nail on the head… if you can tell, then it doesn’t matter! That really precise piecing isn’t where I find joy. So I like a quilt that can be a little wonky!

      I was pretty happy to find that feathers fabric on sale. It will be perfect for this quilt.

      Anne

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  12. Love love that blue quilt!!! don’t you need some funds to buy more fabric!!!! Well if you ever wish to part with this lovely quilt…I’ll be first in line!!!!

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    1. Oh, interesting. I thought what I was doing would be considered scandalous by quilting purists! I am a little disappointed that my idea wasn’t original.

      Oh well… it works really well!!!

      Anne

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      1. I have not found anyone else who does it that way. I did teach it to my students when I taught One Block Wonder quilts here in North Dakota. But I haven’t taught it since covid so there are only a few of us out here.

        I find it hard to convince long time quilters that it is a good way to pin. There is a lot of resistance out there.

        Quilt on.

        Nancy Drew

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