Where did August go?

I always seem to fall off the Blogland map for part of the summer every year, traveling and enjoying some summer weather keeps me off the computer, so I do have a few things to share.

  My featherweight addiction continues and I have acquired my third machine!  My justification is that I have two daughters, so now there is one for each of us.  (You can't argue with that can you?)  You can see more about my first and second machines here and here.)

This machine was purchased sight unseen from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. It was made in 1949 and has the beautiful scroll face plate.  The case is in fantastic shape with no odor and she sews beautifully.  It didn't come with all the original feet, but it did come with some really cool attachments.

The first is this automatic zig zagger with a set of extra stitch patterns.  Since a featherweight is only a straight stitch machine, so this attachment is necessary to do a zig zag style stitch.  It works well and you just exchange the red cams to change to a different design.

The other attachment is even more special.  It is called a hem stitcher.  It is truly a marvel of engineering.

This is what was inside the box.

My understanding is that this attachment is quite collectible.  The main unit was universal and fit on any low shank Singer machine, the cover plate however is machine specific so finding one for a featherweight can be a little trickier. Mine was the right match for the featherweight.

The large piercer at the front pokes a hole in the fabric and then you stitch as the foot moves the fabric from side to side.   It does take a bit of work to get all the parts aligned just right, but mine is in good shape and works really well.  One issue that sometimes arises is the the little gripping rubber bands dry out and crack and fall off the foot. The bands on mine are like new.

Here is a short video I found online that shows it in action.

This is a more detailed and longer video that guided me to getting things set up just right.

 With a little practise I was able to create a pretty respectable example of hemstitching.

 I can't think of a reason that I would need to use this attachment, but learning about it was really interesting, I feel that I should leave you with a little quilting since its been so long.  I just finished this little lap quilt for Donna with the Come Dance with Me Panto.

Eleanor's Australian Applique Extravaganza

When I first saw this quilt top I thought each of the blocks was a piece of Australian fabric.  Upon closure inspection I realized that each of the blocks was comprised of free form applique!  Eleanor had the vision to applique Australian prints over other Australian prints!

Eleanor's daughter Dawn brought this quilt to me and we discussed ideas for a quilting plan.  After our discussion the note I left myself was "a river runs through it, but not a fast one".  I decided to let the fabric be my guide as that was the star of this show.

 
I followed the print of the border fabric leaving some areas puffy.  I quilted around all the applique shapes and echoed around them. I tried to relax and let the quilting flow as I traveled to each new section of the quilt.

I have to admit that I had to quilt this one in short spans of time as it was tiring to concentrate on all the busy prints for very long.

The quilting designs show up more clearly on the back.

This was a truly unique quilt to work on.  I love the variety of quilts that come through my studio.  Never a dull day around here!

Reneta's Log Cabin

Reneta made this bold Log Cabin quilt as wedding gift for a lucky couple.  The colorful strips came from a jelly roll so it is a fairly large scale as far as log cabin quilts go with the strips finishing at 2" wide.

I decided on large scale free flowing feathers in the black areas.  Reneta is not normally a huge fan of feathers so I wanted to make sure they were relaxed and not too formal.

 I used the points from the piecing as the guide for the straight lines across the colorful log cabin strips.

The back is a grey Stonehenge fabric and it really allows the quilting to stand out.

The light was not cooperating when I was trying to take pictures but you get the ideas of how spectacular the entire quilt is.

Picnic Day

Eileen made this cheerful quilt.  The pattern is called Picnic Day and it was from the Spring 2016 issue of Fons and Porter's Easy Quilts

We auditioned a number of pantos but when "Yo-Yo" entered the race, it was the clear winner.  Eileen left the thread selection up to me and I opted for a Magnfico in a very light grey. 

Eileen selected one of my new Stonehenge backings.  I just love this light grey color and I think it will be very popular.

Such a pretty summer palette!

A pair of pretty quilts and a furry friend

This first quilt was made by Vanda.  We decided that a simple panto was the order of the day because the fabrics and pattern had enough interest.  Vanda selected the "Raindrops" panto.

While I was snapping a few photos I had a bold visitor.  I thought he was going to hop right on the pretty quilt!

This blond rabbit is a very unique color.  All of the others in the neighborhood a dark brown now in the summer.  He is cute and very friendly.

The second quilt of the day was made by Karen.  The was got some freehand quilting as attempting a panto with the loose prairie points would not have been fun.

Hearts, swirls and flowers were the perfect motifs to play with for this little girl's quilt.  And of course the minky shows it all off so well.

Amy's Cross Stitch Heart Quilt

Amy made this charming quilt as a present for a wedding that she is attending this weekend.  Amy left the quilting decisions up to me, but she did request that I quilt "McMillan Est. 2016" somewhere on the quilt.  She asked me to make it bold, as she made a similar quilt for herself and her last name is a little hidden.

I love how the personalization turned out, but I really was worried when I started the stitching.

I started out with a single green thread and the results were awful.  I thought maybe if I added a second line of stitching over top of the first I might be okay.  It looked like I was quilting drunk!  (I didn't take a photo of that.)  But, instead of ripping out my stitches I decided to keep going.

Apparently a lot of thread was just what the quilt needed.  I just kept going over and over it until I was satisfied that it was all filled in.  Phew!

I quilted a feathered hear inside the cross-stiched heart, although it is a little hard to see.  I filled the white background with teardrops and pebbles.

The outer border was crying out for feathers, and I had fun with hears and curls in the other two borders.  

Great job Amy, I'm sure this gift will be treasured.

Reneta's Chevron Quilt

Reneta made this great chevron quilt out of a couple of Lecien Fabric charm packs that she picked up at Fabriculous, a great shop in Swan River, MB now with a second location in Gimli, MB.

Reneta made this as a wedding present, and since the recipients are Mr. & Mr. I wanted to keep that in mind as I chose my quilting designs.  Reneta is one of my clients who has always told me that she doesn't love feathers, so I thought this was the perfect time to show her that all feathers are not the same.  I call these square feathers, but they may have another name.  

I used Magnifico thread on the whole quilt and it has a nice sheen that complemented some of the fabric that had metallic elements.  I used a steel blue on the solid grey and a bright green on all the printed fabric.  Some continuous curves with a little triangle thrown in was all the printed chevrons needed.

The backing is this fun print call Free Fall by Tula Pink.  It was such a great compliment to the front.