Tuesday, November 18, 2014

KISS Quilting

Many, many years ago I participated in a block swap at a quilting retreat at Sylvan Lake. We each made 12 identical blocks and swapped.  What we ended up with were 12 blocks in different colours.  I dutifully sewed them together and put the top away for later quilting.  I am not sure how old the top is, but I would guess at least 5 years old, probably much more!

The blocks were to be 9 1/2" finished.  Some weren't....so I simply added a black border around each block and trimmed to make them all 12 1/2" finished.  Not sure why the extra 1/2" on the block size, but there you have it.



I found some black batik with little dots of colour that was a perfect match to use for the backing and binding.   I machine stitched the binding to the back side of the quilt and folded the binding to the front and machine stitched it in place.


I loaded that puppy on the Handi Quilter Avante (Aster) and stitched away.  I remembered to start the timer and look at that!   It only took me 22 minutes and 26 seconds of actual stitching time to get that puppy done.   It was a total of almost 1 hour to load, thread and advance the quilt on the frame and stitch.




I did stitch with a slightly larger design than I usually do, but I wanted to show a group of ladies how quickly they could get their own quilts quilted.  I used WonderFil's Silco cotton thread in the needle and DecoBob in the bobbin.

We had a group of Friday sew day ladies in 2 weeks ago.  It was their first time at the centre and wanted a tour.  We showed them around the studio and explained the training and rental program for the Handi Quilter Avantes and Sweet Sixteens. I was getting ready to load and quilt this and told the ladies that I would do this quilt and then in the afternoon load some fabric for them to play.

I used a very large all over double loop and leaf design.  At first I thought this would not be enough coverage and I still think I may do the next one with the designs a bit closer....but, 22 minutes of stitching.  I've really got to get going and finish some of the tops I have left lying around!  Maybe I'll have some Christmas gifts finished in time this year.

black block swap 7
We do have some charity quilts that need to be quilted if anyone wants to come to the studio and practice.

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