Quilting and other Things

 How can it already be the end of August!  It must be.  We celebrated my sister's birthday recently and I'm seeing back to school posts from my US cousins.   The binding did get added to my Longtime Gone quilt so its now ready to go on the bed as soon as we have some cooler weather.   I'm so pleased with how this turned out.  The binding is also a variety of blues from the quilt.  I tried to use mostly the mediums and darks but had to add the odd lighter one to get enough length. I also got all the flower petals and leaves traced for my Moondance Quilt.  There are 43 flowers to be appliqued on the quilt.  The centre of each flower has a little star shape with a small circle in the centre.  So I spent a few zoom calls appliquing all the centres into the traced star shapes. During Monday's Sewing session, I got the first of the 43 flower units appliqued to a background square.  The first leaves are pinned in place for the second unit.  Some of the applique will overlap se

 I forgot to come back and post about July.  I did get the courthouse steps top quilted and bound.  Its quilted using a pantograph called Kiss.  I've used it several times in the past and really like it.  I thought familiar motions would be useful the first time using the long arm since October 2019.  I had planned to donate the quilt and still need to follow up to see if they still want it.  I did most of the hand stitching on the binding while on zoom calls.  It was nice to have the computer table support the quilt instead of my lap since the days I worked on it were warm ones. Yesterday I took my Longtime Gone quilt to the longarm studio and quilted it.  I had thought about using Kiss again (I really do like that pantogram) but then Tracey showed me another called Paisley Park which has a similar feel but is a bit denser and would be good with all the small pieces in Longtime Gone.  I'm so happy she showed me that one.  We looked at a couple of others as well but I went with

 I have an appointment to go quilt a top this week.  I'm going to take the court house steps top I finished last year at the guild retreat a month before the first lockdown.  I plan an all over design.  I'm looking forward to finishing this top.  When I first finished the top, the plan was to donate it.  I'll have to re-contact the group to see if they will still accept it.  I'm not sure how rules have changed this year.  I'm looking forward to getting this one quilted. I've been working on prepping the applique pieces for my Moondance quilt.  The wings and bodies for the dragonflies are all prepped.  Now I need to prep the flower bundles.  Ideally I'll get all of the flower bundles prepped but getting half done would be good. The applique goes into the blank squares and overlaps some seams so it will be easier to applique if I add what I can prior to stitching.  I think I have a plan for the applique and assembly but need to go back and check the pattern.

I was really pleased with the finish of the Longtime Gone quilt.  It was ready in plenty of time for the class on the 18th.  Its binding is also made and is pieced from a variety of the blue fabrics in the quilt.  I just need to get a backing and it will be ready to quilt.  The Longarm studio I go to is now open again so I'll book an appointment.  I think I'll quilt one of the other tops first though just to get back into the swing of things.  Its been a long time since I've used the long arm.  Between a broken wrist and covid, I haven't been to the studio since Nov 2019. I liked the blacks I purchased for my Moondance and the missing squares are all cut and in place.  I've started preparing the appliques.  Some of the applique is done before the top is assembled.  I think I'll stitch all the appliques that are contained in a square then I'll stitch some pairs and add the pieces that go over seams so it will be a bit slow to assemble.  I'm pleased with t

 The main goal for this month is to get the borders on the Longtime Gone Quilt and make the binding.  I've made good progress so far.  Three of four rounds are done.  I added a white, a blue and a white.  Next up is another blue in darker colours.  Then I'll make blue binding.  Class is the 17th so I should be ready in time.  I'm hoping the quilt studio will open soon and I'll be able to start booking appointments to go use the long arm. I picked up the three black fabrics that I'd ordered for Moondance.  I think atleast two of them will work.  I need 16 squares and a rectangle.  I'll double check the three once they are washed.  The third might well work.  A lot of the applique lands on these squares and the rectangle for the pillow row.  It would be nice to get the applique prepped and confirm if the fabrics I got will work well. I got for a walk on a path in a green belt close to where I live.  In 2012 they painted murals on the wall of the tunnel under the

 I did get the centre assembled for the Longtime Gone quilt and I have a plan for the borders although they are not all on yet.  I've added a white border around the top and have added a thin blue border to the top and bottom.  The thin border is ready to be pressed and trimmed for the sides.  Then I'll add a slightly wider white border and another blue border.  Its inspired by a red and white version of the quilt I saw on Quiltmekiwi's blog .  It looks like the maker has done mitered borders but I'm doing square borders.  I'm looking forward to getting the borders on.  The final class is on June 19th so there should be lots of time to sew the final borders. I also made really good progress on this old UFO.  Its Moondance from Applewood Farms.  The blocks are all made.  I need to prep some applique and cut the missing squares.  I've run out of the black tone on tones I was using for the background and have some ordered.  I'll hope to be able to pick it up on