Edges of The 4 I's

I got The 4 I's quilt all trimmed down to the 24w x36h" size and all ready to attach the facings.

Facings were sewn on using the usual Jeri Riggs™ method. For the facing pieces I used the same grey fabric with German writing so that it would blend in well on the edges. I had just enough left over, so thus, it was meant to be.

This is a picture taken of one of the corners, after the facings have been pressed over and around and the corner seams pushed out.

Now to hand-sew them down and add a label and a sleeve to be really really done and ready to turn in for the fair exhibit.

Facing the Facings

Thanks to Wonderclips and lots of pins,  I'm getting the facings stitched down on the Colorful Triptych. It's a lot of stitching, because these are quite long but skinny. 

I'm doing the stitching while watching daytime (for me) Giants games as they play on the East Coast, so that means I'm hanging out with the Jawbreaker pillow that I made back in 2020. I didn't have a pillow form that was the right size, so I made my own out of batting and fabric scraps so it's heavy and solid and makes a great lap stitching device.

The Wonderclips really help a lot when you're trying to hold the rolled over edge in place while you stick down the facing an inch and half away.. I still need to make the three hanging sleeves to add on and get the trio hung up on the wall.

Quarter Three Finish-a-Long Finishes

Here's my omnibus post for all of the finishes I completed this past quarter.
Thank you to the Finish-A-Long bloggers that run the challenge, it really helped me focus and get some stuff done.

So out of the ten things I had on my third quarter list I finished the following six:

1. Weekend Whatever #19 -  I pieced the backing, had it quilted, sewed the binding down, and stitched on a label.

2. Technology's Spine -  I squared the piece up, completed the machine embroidery and quilting, applied a facing, and stitched on a sleeve and a label.

3. Our Sister's Huts - I made this quilt from start to finish and sent it off to the show that it will be a part of in Washington DC and elsewhere.

4. Shenzhen Skies -  I squared the piece up, well sort of. I turned over the raw edges and did a few rounds of stitching on the edge of the quilt instead of adding a facing or a binding. I also stitched on a sleeve and a label.

5. Slurpee Stitched - I squared the piece up, did some additional hand stitching in the edges, applied a facing, and stitched on a sleeve and a label.

6. Color Collusion - I finished the free-motion quilting, stitched the edges in lieu of a binding or facing, added a sleeve and a label.

Six out of ten, not bad. I feel good about what I got done this quarter, and I'm thankful for the finish-a-long group to keep me focused.
More on the what I didn't do and why tomorrow.

Rounding the Corner

 Almost there with the Triangle Study, I got the facings hand-stitched down yesterday. Now all that's left is to hand sew on the hanging sleeve and the label.

I think the corners turned out pretty well this time.

Tumbler Finished

The tumbler quilt is finally done! I've been working on this since January of 2005. I was wondering how long it would take me to sew on the binding, but this thing was taking up so much room in my sewing room that I had to get it done to move it out!

Thanks to friend Jaye for cutting so many great fabrics for me, I couldn't have made this without you!Clocking in at 116x106, it is officially the largest single quilt I've ever created.

You can see the great curvy swirls that Colleen Granger quilted all over this giant thing, I'm super-pleased with how it came out. 

There are all kinds of crazy fabrics in here, even the Venus of Willendorf, which I stamped that with permanent ink.

It is very bright and cheery and interesting to look at, I'm looking forward to having it on our bed.

It's fun to look at from every angle.

The backing is a mish-mosh of great and terrible fabrics. I think making the backing to the right size was the hardest thing about this quilt.

Finishing Just In Time For Spring

Finally, finally, finally! The largest quilt I've ever made is getting done.  I posted about this monster way back in 2009, I was ready to try quilting this king-size+ quilt that I'd made for our bed and was struggling with figuring out my Flynn Frame.  I did finally figure out the frame, but decided against quilting this giant quilt as my first try, so it got put away and I'd feel guilty about it every March (I wanted to give it to my husband as an anniversary present!).  But recently I was meeting my friend Jaye for lunch and she was taking a quilt in to be quilted by someone from BAMQG.  I said "hey maybe I oughta just give up on ever quilting this thing myself and have her do it."  And Jaye being the practical, encouraging, get-it-done sort of friend that she is said "Yes, bring it!"  So I did and here it is all quilted, voila'.  

I didn't know what to expect or if the quilter would take a look at this crazy, wonky, raw-edge quilt top and say "uh, no thanks."  But Marci at Lily Street Quilts was up for the challenge of quilting over all those raw edges and it turned out great.   Absolutely worth the cost!  (Thanks Marci!)
Just the binding and label need to be sewn on, and they're already made, I'm sewing them on today, just watch me.  And then I'll have my anniversary present ready in time (pshew!).   When the binding is finished I'll try pinning it up on my design wall and take an official picture which I'll post.

 The green background bullseye blocks in the middle came from a swap that I did waaaay back when with Quilting Arts Forum. The other bullseyes on the pink backgrounds I made myself.   All the rest is sashing and setting and random blocks that I came up with to make the quilt into something big enough for our bed.

There are two corners with a hand-dyed green background with the circles left over from trimming out the bullseye blocks.  Bullseyes are stacks of three circles and you cut out the centers so that the blocks aren't quadruple thick layered.  Lots of leftover circles, and I had to use them for something...
Also, you can see the swoopy, spirally pattern that I chose in this picture here pretty well.  It's quilted allover in this pattern in green thread.  I thought it suited the whole quilt pretty well.

On the whole this quilt is very chaotic and haphazard looking because it was made over the course of many years. Not as planned out or designed as I'd have chosen.  But you know, I like how it turned out, it has a lot of spring, happy energy and it's going to look great on our bed.
Finally a quilt big enough for our bed! This is a bigger deal than you'd imagine.

A Bag, Finally

Here it is, the long-awaited, finally-done, "spring" bag. Yes, done just in time for the end of Summer. At least it isn't quite Fall yet, right?
I bought the fabric way back in April, and the Sewing Workshop L2 Bag pattern in May.

What was the holdup? Well, hmmm. I'm not sure really. I guess I got it cut out in June, started sewing it, realized I didn't have the iron-on interfacing or stabilizing stuff, had to find some, then I needed some ultrasuede in the right color. Anyhoo, after several stops and starts it went together super easily, and I can't wait to transfer my stuff into it and begin using it already!

And here is the super cool, full-'O-pocketsessss, contrasting inside.
I used a Clover magnetic catch, which was super easy, and it looks good, and holds well.

Guess I better get started on my Winter bag, right?