Simplify – A Cluck Cluck Sew Pattern

I found this PDF downloadable pattern after reading Allison’s blog over HERE

She has many fun and easy to construct patterns on her site.

I’ve finished the top some time ago but it had to wait until I got some ‘me-time’ on the frame which eventually happened and now I have a brand new quilt for one of our beds.

I am already planning my next adventure, just not too confident that I’ll ever post on it but then…. Maybe here goes something?

What crap is this?

After I, for one, truly believed summer has finally arrived to our part of the world, we got hit by a cold front last Tuesday and by Wednesday I had to go digging in the guestroom cupboard for my stashed winters’ clothes.  Then literally less than a week later, we had a heat wave. Really awful!

Hubby went on a business trip and slept out one evening and I had one of my own quilts loaded on the frame but had brain freeze with this one and simply couldn’t decide how to quilt it.  I then remembered a quilter once said that occasionally when she struggles with making a choice, she takes her inspiration from the fabric and looking at my darker fabric this is what I did.  Heaps and heaps of pebbles with a little straight lines in other areas.

A while back I invested in an Isacord thread cabinet, filled to the brim and I love to have all these choices however sadly I haven’t had the opportunity to use many of the pretty colours available but I am sure I’ll get there.

My big kids treated me to a scalp, neck and décolletage massage along with a facial and gosh was I lazy to get going after this treatment?  However one section at a time and another quilt gets done.

The younger kids took us out for supper one night, so having had kids finally pays off!  Love the spoils that come with the territory.

I bought HQ circle templates for my frame but the hole left to slide over the ruler foot on my machine was just too small.  Grateful for a handy husband who was able to fix these for me.

My quilt vacation has started

Taking a break from quilting for others is like having a vacation, no pressure, no keeping doors closed to keep pets out, all about me, for me and because of me.

We had the grand kids over for the weekend, so very tired old people by Sunday afternoon, taking way too long an afternoon nap, leading to no sleep during the night and we basically only starts functioning normally by Tuesday.

I went shopping for the new Bonnie Hunter mystery named Good Fortune and surprisingly enough I had to purchase very little extra.  Did however purchase a bolt of black Moda as one can never have enough black or white, I think??

I finished the binding and label on granddaughters’ little heart quilt and she is as proud as can be. So within a week from being on vacation, I’ve made auditioning sheets, oiled and cleaned the long arm and domestic machine for piecing and finished up a quilt! I might just be able to move mountains until next year.

One way to audition motifs for quilting

Having done my last customer quilt for the year I’ve decided to look for ways I can make my long arm quilting more streamlined, find and practice more motifs and also experiment with ways to successfully roll a quilt back and forth without distorting the backing or blocks.

I contemplated doing another online course but when I checked these out I found that apart from stitching on another background or panel, the motifs all stay similar to those I’ve already done and that defeats the purpose.  I did however have many other areas I’d like to improve on and one was finding the perfect way to audition motifs, not only in a block but also overall the whole quilt.

In the past I would take a photo of the quilt, print this out and do my overall planning on a plastic sheet covering my picture.

This worked okay and I even did more detailed sketches in the different blocks

However these were not up to scale and what may look extremely busy with the thick felt tip pen on plastic becomes a scarce pattern on a quilt or in a large block and I wanted get a better idea of the real scale before starting.

So off to trusty old You Tube and Google and I found a site called Forever Quilting by Dorie Hruska with heaps of videos too….. just what I needed at the right time.  After watching some of her videos leaving comments (questions) which she promptly answered I even ordered her book Making Connections as finding a smooth quilt path moving from one block/area to another is also one of the things I still struggle with.

So making more auditioning sheets was step one.  I used lamination pouches without any paper in between and edged these with painters tape to prevent my pen markings to go onto the fabric.

This allows me to lay the plastic on top of the block on the frame and mark my pattern on scale.

Furthermore I can also mark a quilt path on these to successfully transition from one area to another without having to go over a previous line too many times.

Now there are other ways, I am sure, but for now this is what I will experiment with to see how it works for me.

Batik Beauty

I just finished the most beautiful Batik quilt and for a first time quilter, pieced to perfection.  I almost got depressed as I was about to finish it as I didn’t want the process to end.  However I’ve made a deliberate decision that this was my last customer quilt for the year as I needed to spend some “ME TIME” doing stuff for myself….. and boy I do have enough to do.

This is the back of the batik quilt and the front can be seen on my “Long arm quilting for others” page.