A post or several ago, I shared my new class sampler for my Intro to Free-Motion Quilting and mentioned I had received some threads from Gilbreath Threads to try out.  I used the sampler as a way to test the threads:

From left to right:

• Gilbreath  Emerald green, cotton 30-wt, #253
• Gilbreath Yellow wool 12-wt
• Gilbreath hot pink silk (lying down) Seta Bozzolo 24-wt., #196
• Superior Threads 40-wt. poly, hot pink #820
• Superior Threads 40-wt poly, rainbows, green variegated #820
• Gilbreath orange/mango 40-wt Palio poly
• Gilbreath 40-wt ecru cotton, 2-ply, #025
• Gilbreath 50-wt white cotton, 2 ply, #000
• Superior 60-wt white poly (used in the bobbin), # 621
• Superior 60-wt  yellow poly (used to sew down the binding), #641
• in the back, two Gilbreath threads not used because the colors didn’t work for this piece: 60-wt purple cotton, 12-wt deep red cotton

I don’t think I’ve ever used that many different types and weights of thread in one piece, but I’m thinking this could be something to add to my arsenal of techniques! At the top you can see the completed, washed piece before the final line of stitching in the ditch on the binding.

I applied the binding to the back, wrapped it to the front (the front side is 1/8″ wider than the back, so the stitching to apply it is on the back of the quilt, not the binding), and stitched it down using a buttonhole stitch and Superior Threads’ Bottom Line thread, a very fine polyester that blends in and is unobtrusive:

The last step is to use the triple-stretch stitch (a bold straight stitch) in the ditch to outline and accent the binding with the hot pink poly from Superior.  See how it crisps up the edge in this photo which shows with and without the outline stitching?  It’s a design choice; both ways are good, just pick the version you like.

Here are close-ups of the quilting in this big-print class sample, which uses motifs from the Free-Motion Sampler (the magenta and lime quilted grid that is in the book) and my “More Machine Quilting” sampler which is featured on the cover of the book, the peach quilt:

It has been a LONG time since I’ve washed a quilt after quilting it, and was very happy to see how the fabric holes closed up around the stitches.  In this last photo, you can see where I added some stippling (ugh, but sometimes useful) around the ecru leaves after it had been washed.  The needle holes in the checkerboard have disappeared, but you can (faintly) see them around the leaves. The quilt is now dampened and back in the dryer to remove those needle-holes too.  Hmm…good learning piece:  Use thick threads in the bobbin!  Rinse and fluff in the dryer…. will have to try that with a very fused and densely quilted sampler and see what happens to the edges of the raw edge applique…. guess what my next class sample will be?

Hope you’ve enjoyed! Cheers, Sarah

Wow….Kathy gave US a major treat for her birthday!  Summers are difficult for the three of us who still come every month (Hannah is overwhelmed with family and her burgeoning business, see her blog here, and Deborah is now in Maryland, which is blissfully closer to Maine than was Texas):  Kathy has lots of family gatherings, Kate and I have kids underfoot.  So we are now skipping meeting in July, but reconvene in August.  The end of August is Kath’s birthday, and she happens to have a deal to use a waterfront cottage down the peninsula south of Damariscotta for a week.  This was a barter for a major quilt she made for a friend…I don’t know who got the better deal!

Here are a whole bunch of photos with captions…enjoy!

The owners found the old whale rib washed up on shore and added it to the front porch

We ate on a small patio off the living area...glorious!

The birthday girl snapped this photo for me (on left) with Kate (on right)

Bundt cake, berries and fresh whipped cream for dessert

the cabin, with the tail of my car on the left--Maine doesn't get any better than this!

sea glass wired to the dining table lamp shade

Lobster buoys that must have washed up, clustered under the pines

Kate’s Delectable Salad

Kathy made peanut-curry soup, I think the recipe is from Mrs. Cutko (kates MIL) --either that or from Kate's mom. It is SO GOOD!

Kate and I have been sidetracked by summer and kids, but Kathy actually had work to share. Here is her floss box..beautiful colors!

And a nearly finished bird of  from Kath:

And I have NO idea why the formatting changed.  I put the text into the same places, but clearly I am missing something!  Oh well…at least you get to share.  What a wonderful place to be:  in Maine, by the sea, with friends who make and love art and cloth and thread!  I am blessed.

My dad was, quite literally, born in the Victorian era, in 1899.  He would NOT believe what I did this week, or what Joshua did:

Yes, that is my  nearly 17-year-old with pirate-stud-earrings.  He actually tried to pierce his own ears (unbeknownst to us, in the bathroom, using a kit, an apple–behind the ear, and a safety pin).  OW! He has been after me for a while to allow this, and I of course stalled.  However, after having attempted it on his own, I decided it was time to just cave in.  I am weak.  So we went to WalMart.  Since he already had steel metal studs, he picked these…quite suitable for the son of a Fiber Pirate!
But still, my dear old dad would be (if he were buried instead of cremated and scattered outside the Golden Gate) spinning in his grave.  And yes, Joshua has a beard.  How do I have a son with earrings and beard who is nearly 17?   That vortex you hear is time disappearing at warp speed…….

Yes, it has been a while.  As usual, that means there has been more than the usual chaos around here.  We happened on to a house for sale ad in August, which started a ball rolling that we hadn’t anticipated.  We found a different house just a couple miles away (same school district, next town over), made an offer on it, and have been maniacally (sp?  that looks weird but not getting a spelling error notice) sprucing up our house.  That means little art and quilting have happened.  Until this week.

In the midst of getting the house onto MLS, I started a new sample piece for my Intro to Machine Quilting Class which I’ll be teaching again on Sunday at Maine-ly Sewing in Nobleboro.  I was prompted by two things:  this post over on Jenny Bowker’s blog and the fact that some students find free-motioning into the vastness of empty space –i.e. the 18 inch square quilt sandwich I have them bring– is intimidating.   I use this sampler as my basic teaching tool (it’s also patterned in my book–click on picture to see it larger):

Some students like to make it just as is, sewing the grid, then filling in the squares, since a small square is less intimidating that a large one!  Others feel too confined in the squares, so I tell them to just go for it on the sandwich without creating a grid framework.  I’ve also long counseled them to use a large print as a guide for learning.  You can put the print on the back of the quilt and use that as your design, or just in the borders but repeat the shapes and motifs in the center of the quilt.

If you haven’t yet visited Jenny Bowker’s blog, DO!  She is one of my all time favorite quilt artists.  Her work is always inspiring and amazing.  While you are there, be sure to click on the link to her website and view her quilts.   Jenny has combined the two methods I use into one piece…take a square of big-print fabric in the center of the sandwich.  Jenny has her students piece the top, I think, but I’ll try fusing instead…faster for a class room setting?  Then use various motifs from the print fabric plus fill patterns for the rest.  In looking at hers again, I think I need to make MORE of these little pieces; I also am thinking a bed quilt of assorted big print squares with wide, solid-fabric sashings quilted all over like this would be GORGEOUS!

So, I decided to adapt her idea by fusing an 8 inch square into the center of an 18 inch square of white.  I also received some spools of thread from Gilbreath Threads, fairly new to the quilt thread market I think–their stuff is available here.  They found my website, asked if I’d like to try their threads (the cottons are made at the same factory in Italy as the Aurifil cotton that is so luscious Correction!!!!  Gilbreath claims the cottons are as good as Aurifil…see my clarification posting dated October 11, 2010).  I said sure, and they sent me a variety.  In the next post, I’ll share more about them, but I think I am in LOVE with the 12-wt wool and the 12-wt silk.  I am re-thinking my aversion to bobbin work…these are too wonderful NOT to use!

I began by quilting on the print square, then spilling over onto the white.  Next, I continued with the variegated green (a Rainbows thread from Superior Threads), with relatively easy quilting (requires less precision than many designs) for the four different “waves” coming in from the sides.  I then decided to repeat the yellow color of the heavy wool used to outline the flowers, but using Gilbreath’s 40-wt. Poly.  The latter handles and looks much like Superior’s 40-wt poly threads, which are my favorites.

Once the colorful stitching was done, I decided to try the two cotton threads Gilbreath send:  a 40-wt ecru and a 50-wt white 2-ply.  I used the ecru to stitch a small leaf design in the center of the remaining open areas:

Finally, I used the fine white thread, which appears to be similar to Superior’s MasterPiece thread, for some background quilting.  I like to contrast curvy with linear in quilting, so I chose a checkerboard fill patter.  I got out my ruler (who me?) and drew a grid with wash-out blue pen (see above).  Then, because I am easily confused, I colored in the alternate squares so I wouldn’t go off-track, and stitched on top of the blue (yes, this is the picture from the top, repeated….):

Here’s the back:

You’ll notice some thread blobs…I left those on purpose since this is educational.  The point on this one is read the thread description FIRST.  I tried using the 12-wt silk and the 12-wt wool through a topstitch needle (both size 14,90 and 16/100), with limited success.  I then read that it is intended for use in the bobbin or by hand.  I simply cannot describe how heavenly that heavy silk is….. I can see doing handwork just so I can use it.  The sheen, the thickness….GLORIOUS.  I think I will take a very close up of that spool for the next post….drool!   Anyway, that’s for next time.  And you’ll see it with the blue washed out…mo bettah!

As if I didn’t have enough to do already, we are thinking of moving to a different house in the area–same school district, though.  So in addition to selling off mom’s household stuff, trying to keep up with my quilting career, raising two kids (one of whom is a teenager…’nuf said), eat, sleep, walk the dog, et cetera, we are getting the house spruced up.   The dear, departed Yeti-dogbeast (read about him here and here) left his marks on the house literally:  major scratches on the door from the garage to the house, so I needed to fix them.  Alas, there was so much to do that wood filler the color of the door wasn’t gonna do it, so I went to regular wood filler:

Yep.  That light stuff is ALL wood filler.  I didn’t get the molding done perfectly, but it is a whole heap better than it was.  Then primed:

And finally painted to match the interior walls…mo bettah!

So does this mean I have time to sew?  Alas, no…. life is happening in a major way, but at least the house is looking better!  And keep your fingers crossed that we find a buyer for our house SOON!