Magnolia Mystery – 6 - Done

This will definitely be my last finish for 2017 for now I intend to sit back, eat, drink and be merry until 2018.

This was the first quilt done on my new frame that I got in November and also the first time I applied the binding totally by machine but I prefer the look of adding the binding to the back by hand, so I don’t think I’ll do this again.

One more completion for the 2017 year

I tested my quilt frame by quilting a panel fabric to check tension and then decided not to dump this piece but chop it up to make place-mats.  Finished up the binding of these 12 African place-mats while sitting by the grand children at the pool and having family visiting.

Gift-making being contagious

Every year this time I read all the blogs I follow and very few does not show gifts made for family and friends (okay maybe just mine).  One little bag in particular has been catching my eye for quite some time now but being a quilter and not at all fond of zippers, I ignored the urge to make one for very long….. until now.  So I ordered my pattern for the Sew Together bag from Craftsy over HERE.

So off zipper shopping I went and started this little bag yesterday afternoon to finish it this morning.  So this year at least one person I know will be getting a handmade gift.  However after reading about all the negative/ungrateful responses received from quilters who gave quilts, I might just keep it all to myself.

Remember this little chicken grandchild that I babysat and talked about in THIS POST?

Well she’s over here again but this time a massive chicken and I said to my daughter we should have slaughtered her for Christmas, now the meat is just getting tough.  She did not find it funny and try as I might I cannot keep “Kiep” out of my house.  So I suppose I’ll be washing carpets once her parents fetch her this afternoon!

A little of this and that

As said with it being our summer break, nothing major happened on the quilting front.

I had a two machine setup.  On the front machine I worked on clue 3 of the On Ringo Lake mystery by Bonnie Hunter and on the machine at the back I stitched bindings to place mats.  This kept me from not getting bored with doing the same thing constantly. Unfortunately my one machine ran into a problem and needs to be checked out.  Fortunately I have another.

Friend Karin came over to take a look at my frame and even with one hand in a cast; she gave the free motion stitching a go.  Even her hubby tried his hand at it and they were both good.

Even with 5-year-old granddaughter having moved in for the holidays, I finished HALF of clue 3 of the mystery on 23 December but then decided to pack everything up and tidy my room until after Christmas.  It is time to concentrate on some serious food making and eating.  Wishing all a Merry Christmas.

Not much piecing or cutting done

My kids and grand-kids are on holiday already, even though I would still have to go to the office until 21 December but fortunately, with the office being closed, I just have to stay until I’m done with whatever needs to be done.  So for most days I can easily leave the office at 9 am (after having started at 7) but then it is family time.  I want to be home to have my grandkids over, pop something in the oven for us all to snack on or just order a meal to enjoy together, so until next year, I don’t believe I’ll do much quilting.

I do however need to seriously practise using a long arm.  At this stage (and I am female, I am allowed to change my mind after a while) I can spray baste and pin a quilt sandwich faster than I can load a quilt on a frame.  I can check my tension on a domestic machine immediately (after about an inch of 2 of stitching) unlike on the frame where I can only check this after 11 or more inches.  However….. if only I watched Jamie Wallen’s video’s on tension when I used my domestic sewing machine, I would have had far less struggles with tension.  I adjusted my tension on the fame tremendously, thinking I am taking a huge risk, no way…. Jamie Wallen knows it all.  Go bonkers and have fun. This video can be watched HERE. Now if he mentions Longarm and you are a domestic machine user, just ignore one word, guaranteed, this works for every machine when doing free motion.

I think I now belong to every long arm, mid-arm and free motion group on FB and if I spend less time reading all the hints and tips on these or watch You Tube videos I could have had heaps op tops quilted but heck,  some of these people are simply walking encyclopaedias.  I need to listen to them al!  In this photo I am not showing off my fabric or quilting motif but check the tension, especially on the black backing.  I used black thread on the top and gold on the bottom….. not a single speck of either coming over to the other side.  This is my idea of perfect tension.

I finished the practise piece and I think I like the back side better than the front.

I also finally figured out that in order to have the quilting show up on a photo, I need to have the flash switched off in daylight and take the photo indoors.