Sewing Scientist: November 2022

2 weeks -Ending November 27, 2022

A lot has been happening and I missed posting a recap last Sunday, so this one is for two weeks! I worked on and completed the Origins Quilt Pattern test for Lifting Limits Quilting. Below is a sneak peek at some of my blocks.

I received more quilty wishes - these epp diamonds will come in handy.

I got another quilty wish of orphan blocks and nature prints. They also sent me this cute little needle minder book that I've already put to use.

I worked on a secret project project for a quilty friend.

I finally got photos of the Carlsbad Cardigan i made with recycled content french terry from Minerva.

Another package of quilty wishes.

I had to take a break from fun sewing to make pillowcases. I used an old flat sheet. The fitted sheet from this set became discolored over time and looked awful. The top sheet was still great, so it became new pillowcases.

These blocks were my secret sewing project. I used all tula pink fabrics. These were so fun to make. I mailed them off to a quilty friend who will be putting them with some other blocks made by other quilters. I can't wait to see the finish

I had a quilting mishap! I washed a quilt like I normally do before gifting, but something went wrong. The dye bleed a whole lot. It was really bad. I had used color catchers, but apparently not enough. I tried rewashing the quilt multiple times with oxiclean and other color safe bleaches to no avail.

I tried Carbona color run remover and while it got most of the blue out, it changed the color of most of the fabrics.

Here's the quilt after the mishap. It's still beautiful, just different than it was before. This is the Chantli Quilt- Pattern by Jessica Poemape.

I finally bound my Bug Quilt. Pattern by Rope & Anchor Trading Co.

I bound my Linking Lives Quilt- Pattern by Andrea Haverinen. This one needed to be finished as I was gifting it on Thanksgiving.

I bound my Blue Grotto Quilt- Pattern by Lifting Limits Quilting. This was one I did longarm quilting on.

I bound my Diagonal Dazzle Quilt. This one was too big to hang on my arbor. I did the longarming on this one.

I bound by Crystallized Quilt- Pattern by the Crafty Capuchin.

I bound my Hurrication Quilt- Pattern by Running Stitch Quilts. I did the longarming on this one too.

Here's the back. We didn't get it perfectly centered, but it's close enough.

My recycled stuffing bucket was full which meant it was a great time to start a stuffed project. I've been cutting all mu strips of scraps into chunks and putting them in this bucket. There's batting bits and all kinds of fabric.

I made a tree! Now I need to make at least 2 more and pack away the pumpkins.

A friend delivered 16 boxes of sewing "stuff" to my house. I need to take a day off to go through these boxes and see what I can use and pay forward what I can't.

I traveled for Thanksgiving, so along came my EPP Lucy Boston blocks.

The Utter Chaos Quilt pattern by Kelly Renay released on Black Friday!

I was in Lancaster, PA and visited some of the cutest shops. I saw these wooden spool trees and had to take a photo. I have so many spools! I coukd make a bunch of these.

I came across these Amish made pressing sticks. I thought it was so cool that the maker had signed their name on each. I had to get one as a souvenir.

I visited a few fabric stores and found some fabric to bring home. Are you surprised?

I came home to another quilty wish - this one all the way from Germany! These orphan blocks are just beautiful!

I also had a package from Thistle Creative Reuse.

I finished this hectic 2 weeks taking photos of my finished quilt tops. These are both the Origins Quilt Pattern from Lifting Limits Quilting. Yes. I made 2. It's a long story that I'll save for another post.

This coming week I plan to make more trees for my fireplace and maybe try to quilt another wip. I have 3 that I was hoping to finish before Christmas. I may send them to my local longarmer to get them done.

Utter Chaos

I've tested quilt patterns for Kelly Renay many times now. Her patterns are always so well done with fantastic instructions and illustrations. Her patterns can be complicated and have tiny pieces, but always have a beautiful and intricate final result. Others are whimsical and fun. This one is - different. It may even look a bit chaotic. It is Utter Chaos.

This pattern has two options that are perfect for precuts - either charm packs (5" squares) or layer cakes (10" squares). The pattern also includes fabric requirements for making a four color version using yardage.

I elected to use 5" squares. I used a combination of charm packs (no whole one, but partial ones I had in my stash), random 5" squares from who knows where, and I cut many 5" squares from my scraps using my Tim Holts Vagabond 2 Sizzix Machine.

Have you ever heard "If it's still ugly fabric, you haven't cut it small enough?" It's true! Some of the fabrics I decided to use were "ugly" in my opinion and were in charm packs that I bought and had used all the other prints expect for the "ugly" ones. I don't want you thinking I used all "ugly" fabrics. I didn't I also picked out some of my favorite 5" squares to include. Initially I only made 4 blocks and used fabrics that I really loved. One can be seen right in the middle of the photo below. It ended up a bit dark and all the colors just melted together. So when I decided to make more blocks to make an entire quilt, I knew I needed to add in more variety - and color.

I've been wanting a colorful quilt that I can use outside without fear. This quilt is going to be perfect because it is so busy that any stain that it may possible get will disappear into the pattern and colors. Our neighborhood often has cookouts and there is never enough seats. I can't wait to take this quilt with me to spread out on the ground to enjoy the next picnic.

This pattern was so fun to make and it is really quite simple. As I laid the piece out I thought it might be fun to modify the layout slightly and might have to make another in the future playing with the blocks a bit more. I might also try to do a 4 color version next.

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Unraveling Quilt Pattern by Needle Down Chin Up

It's been a while since Hollie at Needle Down Chin Up released a quilt pattern. When I saw her newest pattern, Unraveling, I signed up to test it as I loved the design and immediately saw the visual representation of her inspiration.

Here's what Hollie said

"The second quilt in my Growth Pattern Series, Unraveling is a visual representation of coming undone. Sometimes we need to unravel or let some things fall away in order to become who we want to be. Other times we need to remember to hold on to the good things and let everything else go. Unraveling is a modern and scrap friendly project that sews quickly and is beginner friendly!".

The pattern was super easy to follow as you make the quilt in blocks. You have a list of the block letters to make and they each have a diagram to follow for construction. I selected the baby size as it happened to be almost the same size as an old quilted throw I had in my living room that we used to protect a chair from the furry mess that our oldest kitty, Garfield, leaves in his wake. It's his favorite chair and he sleeps on it daily while I'm working.

The throw I was recycling was from Pottery Barn and had a nice thick batting. It was a whole cloth quilt that was silk and the silk had disintegrated over time. It had very loose quilting on it - a single stitch every 3 or so inches. It was super easy for me to tear the fabric off the batting. I cut up the silk and added it to my bucket of scrap stuffing. I reused the batting for my Unraveling Quilt. I did a simple grid design when quilting it with my walking foot. The thick batting gave it such a great texture.

The photo below is from before I quilted it. I selected my fabrics based of the backing I had decided to use. I was using a very mid century modern floral design and picked a few colors out of the print to use for my Unraveling Quilt. I decided that the darkest fabric would be the background. Part of the reason was I wasn't sure I would remove the whole cloth from my quilt when I recycled the batting. The original fabric on it was a dark red and I worried about it showing through. I also worried that any traces of the red thread on the batting that I couldn't remove might show through. But I really think the Navy was the best color for my background.

The baby size is 45" by 45" and I really love this size for a baby quilt. With this size it means I can use a 60" wide cotton for the backing - which is what I did. I really love how the design shows the blocks falling away and the number of blocks falling increases from left to right. It's not as dramatic on the baby size. The design is truly striking in the larger sizes.

The Unraveling Quilt was so fun to make and it was my first to have a top that was all solid colors! I'm such a lover of prints that I almost never use solid colors, and when I do its typically sparingly. This quilt just felt right to use solids to go with the fun print I wanted for the back.

Week ending November 13, 2022

I had a very productive week! i took off from work on Monday and Tuesday. Monday was spent finishing up the blocks for the Utter Chaos quilt and then prepping the backings fow all my quilts that need to be finished. I had to add a bit of a border to thus National Parks panel.

Tuesday after I voted, i got my Utter Chaos quilt up on my design wall and finished puecing it. I then took photos ot it in the woods.

My iron finally died and I had to order a new one from Amazon and chose one that could be delivered the same day. I got this Beautural iron and so far I'm extremely happy with it. The cord is longer than the one on my old broken Rowenta and it heats up fast.

I then got to work on a jelly roll rug.

I had never made one before and it was much easier than i had imagined.

Here's my finished rug. It came out smaller and more round than i had wanted.

Since it was a quick and easy project, I started the hard part - cutting down batting scraps and joining the ends together.

Friday was Veterans Day (a day off for me) and I reserved the long arm for the day at Not Your Mama's Quilt Store. I had such a good time! They have Handiquilter that is computerized. I was basically there to babysit it. Debi, the staff member in charge of longarming, did most of the work.

I quilted my Hurrication Quilt first.

Then did my Blue Grotto Quilt followed by my Diagonal Dazzle Quilt shown below.

I grabbed 2 stickers from the store as I paid to add to my pattern cabinet.

I then spent the weekend working on a pattern test for Lifting Limits Quilting. I made blocks for my quilt, then decided that my blocks didn't mesh very well colorwise and started to make more blocks.

At this point I think I'll be making two quilts. And that's alright with me.