. . . saying goodbye to Summer :(

Well, here we are at the end of August.  It's a lovely day in Water Valley today - about +20 degrees, mostly sunny skies - but there is a chill in the air in the mornings, the days are getting shorter, the hummingbirds are gone, and the leaves are starting to turn golden - it happens every year - the end of summer and the beginning of fall.  Our hay is all up and baled, and just a bit more to do with greenfeed and that's it for the farming as well.  Quilting is always slower in the summer, but I have been busy and am making headway on my own UFOs (unfinished objects).

Barb made this little quilt for her neighbor's baby - it's a very unique pattern - look closely at it.  I quilted it with Glide thread - Bright Gold which worked perfectly, and freehand 3s and Es - I'm getting better at those!

Barb's baby quilt - close up

Barb's baby quilt



Myrla makes such unique quilts - this one is made with hexies (that new craze!) that she works on as a take along project.  I have to admit, I had a bit of trouble with this one.  Myrla wanted invisible thread - so it didn't really show, but the quilting showed.  I had a purple cone of invisifil by Wonderfil Threads I thought would be just perfect.  I don't use Invisifil often, except for stitch in the ditch when I don't want the stitching to show at all, but rarely have I used it as the main quilting thread - but others do, so I didn't see that it should be a problem.  Once I got the tension set - which has to be very loose for Invisifil - the first issue I had was "bearding" on the back of the quilt.  Bearding is when the batting pokes through on the back . . . and because it was white batting, and a dark backing, it was very noticeable.  There are all sorts of theories of why bearding happens, but the most common cause seems to be a poor weave backing.  Well, this is what I had to work with, so I switched up the batting to a black batting - and voila - problem solved.  Now, I can't say if it was the batting, the backing, but whatever, the bearding stopped.  Hurray!  Now on with the quilting - as you can see, the hexies are made from a variety of fabric pieces - next problem!  The invisifil thread doesn't like going from a regular cotton - to a batik - then to a fabric with "sparkles" - I kept getting thread breaks.  I slowed the machine down, took my time and the thread breakages were more manageable.  So after all that - here's the finished product. Pretty Paisleys panto (reduced in size); Invisifil Thread; Hobbs 80/20 black batting.  I'm very happy with it and so was Myrla! 

I've had a chance to finish a few of my own projects as well.  This Friendship Braid quilt has been quilted for a long time - a really long time - but I finally got the binding done!  Hurray - into the done pile!   Glide Thread (sand); Freehand feathers, curves and swirls; Hobbs 80/20 batting

Last winter I picked up a couple of packages of fat quarters - Hoffman Batiks River Rocks.  I really like these colors, and had planned to make a couple of curve quilts - but I decided instead to use one of the packages to make a Hopscotch quilt.  This is a great fat quarter pattern - you have absolutely NO scraps when you're finished (now I like that!!!).  I whipped this up when I was camping this summer - well, OK, RVing with electricity and my sewing machine on board.  The backing is a fleece type backing - so soft and cuddly!  I used Diamonds are Forever panto by Urban Elementz - very happy with it - look at the design on the backing!  I'll be making another curve quilt out of these fabrics to go on the bunk beds in our grandkids sleepover room - nice and cozy!

Hopscotch River Rocks hangin' with Freeda

Hopscotch River Rocks

Backing - Hopscotch River Rocks

Backing - close up Diamonds are Forever

 

 

I'll be delivering three quilts next week - and then off for a bit to enjoy my daughter's wedding.  She'll get a quilt - but it won't be done for the wedding!  I'll get there, but I want it to be special so it will take some time!

 

 

Until next time - enjoy the last of the summer days!  . . . . from the Little House