Red White Double Irish Chain Oopsy - Or Not?!?

Here are pictures of the completed Red and White Double Irish Chain quilt. Hot off Mrs.Singer's rails yesterday afternoon and bound last night! But that's not the end of the story, unfortunately!

I washed her this morning.  I had read that today's fabrics do not bleed like fabrics of old, and since this was all new fabric, I trusted that.  I had also read that when washing red for the first time, put a towel in with it to absorb the red, and I trusted that, too ...  trusted, as in "past tense" ...  I don't trust those bits  of *wisdom* anymore.  The floral vine fabric, which used to have a white background, is now a pleasant pink!  The amazingly weird thing is that the solid white chains and the solid white backing did not take on any red - none whatsoever.  Sew I am thankful for that because the white chain helps maintain her beauty, but I am disappointed because I really did like the white!  So the notion of prewashing is proved again, but I likely won't listen unless quilting with red and very light fabrics ... or maybe I'll do a presewing colorfast test to see if any of the fabrics take on red.

Another consequence of washing is that she shrank 6" in width and 7" in height! Yikes! I wonder if this has to do with using the 118" wide backing on the opposite grain in order to use less of it? Any thoughts?  She still qualifies as a twin / full size, but barely the full.  The washing step does ensure that my customers get what they are expecting and that it remains the size and color that they first desired, which is very important to me.

And that 118" wide backing?  It's Kona Premium Muslin Bleached White purchased from Fabric.com, and I love it!  It is so soft and smooth, has a slight sheen to it, and has a tight enough weave so no colors show through, and like I mentioned above, it didn't take on the red in the wash!  So don't let the word *muslin* in its name deter you from trying it out!  I will be using it again, for sure!

Quilt Stats:

Pattern:  Double Irish Chain
Size:  72" wide x 90" tall, twin / full
Quilt Top Fabrics: 

• Red Fabric is Kona Bay Marble in Deep Red
• Vine Fabric is Bordeaux by P&B Textiles
• White is a tone-on-tone from a LQS (local quilt shop)

Backing:  Kona Premium Muslin in Bleached White
Binding:  Kona Bay Marble in Deep Red
Batting: Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly
Quilting:  All-over meandering in deep red cotton thread on my vintage 1896 Singer Sewing Machine
Value:  Precious!

For sale at Busy Hands Quilts on Etsy!

Linking to:

Crazy Mom Quilts

Red and White Double Irish Chain Progress!

That is a ray of sunshine you see!  We are enjoying a sunshine-y, wintry day!

Freshly off Mrs.Singer's rails today is this twin/full-sized Double Irish Chain quilt!  Here is the back - white fabric with deep red thread - and a peek at the front.  When she was wound up on the rails, I forgot how big she is and said WOW when I pulled her off and laid her flat!  Next up is binding, and I'm so glad I enjoy that step, too!  Then I'll show you a finished picture!

HERE is my quilt binding tutorial.  I always use a double-fold layer of fabric and sew it completely by machine for durability.  How the quilt wears over time is more important to me than it being hand-bound; plus, machine binding is much faster ... as in MONTHS faster for me!

Go HERE to see the finished quilt!

Linking to:

Stash Report - Annie's Farm Stand Collection!

... Annie's Farm Stand by Holly Holderman for Lakehouse Dry Goods ...

... my latest obsession ...

... am I really confessing that there are over 40 yards of fabric there ...?

Believe it or not, this collection is for my living room, dining room, kitchen re-do.  From this fabric I'll be making a full/queen-sized quilt for the wall, 6 living room window valances {each with a different quilt block pattern}, a piano bench cover, at least two quilted throws, sofa pillows, several table runners, a set of floor-length curtains for the sliding glass door and a valance for the kitchen window, and perhaps a curtain for the front door window.  The sliding glass door curtains will be made from the "cheater" fabric that looks like a pieced quilt in the top right of the picture.

For the full/queen-sized quilt for the living room wall, I plan on using the pattern on the cover of Eleanor Burn's "Still Stripping After 25 Years" book.  It is the pattern in the bottom of the picture.  I love the traditional patterns in the book and the step-by-step layout with colored diagrams.  Eleanor's easy-to-follow style really helped me establish strip-piecing in my quilting.

Below is a bundle of coordinating fat quarters I picked up at a LQS's annual fat quarter Mardi Gras sale this week.  I didn't really need it {oh, really?}, but couldn't resist its sweetness!

Happy stashing!!

30s Barn Raising Quilt in Progress

Currently on my sewing table is a 30s Barn Raising Quilt in solid pastels and white.  You can view the pattern HERE.  The pattern says to cut 800 squares, and I ... simply ... cannot ... do ... that ... I refuse!  I cut 2.5" strips WOF and then cut them in half to about 22" and sewed the strips together and then crosscut them.  It still lends a totally scrappy look to the quilt as I am being careful to really mix up the sections before joining them into the block.  The first two sections of the block are sewn together, and I'm pinning the third section on to complete the nine-patch.  Did I mention there are 100 blocks, each 6" square???  The top should be finished this week and ready ... to ... wait ... for her turn on Mrs.Singer!

This is the picture of the pattern from Moda Bake Shop.

Picket Fence in Spring Quilt

Picket Fence in Spring is a design from my head - my first-ever quilt design!  I didn't want to cut up those yummy fabrics and wanted to have some large squares so they would be visible in all their yumminess!  She will measure 60" square {she is square, but is just pinned to the wall a bit crookedly}.  I just need to add a few borders and she's ready for Mrs. Singer ... who, by the way, is stitching again with her new foot ... but ... one of my sons noticed that one of her belts is ready to break!  It's in the mail and should be here very soon!

First Mrs. Singer will finish this quilt, a red/white double irish chain which has been on the rails since December of 2011.  This picture does not show the borders.  She is a twin/full size.

Then Mrs. Singer will quilt this quilt which is a twin size:

And then Mrs. Singer will quilt the Picket Fence in Spring quilt above!  

I've got sew many quilts in the works and am loving it!  Tomorrow I'll give you a peek at what is on my table now and what is coming after that!

Linking to:

For Sale: Dansko 36 Black Leather Knee-High Riding Boots

Boot Stats:

• Style:  Dansko Knee-High Boots
• Material:  Leather
• Color:  Black
• Size:  36   US 6
• Heel Height:  2-1/4"
• Condition:  Brand new without box, never worn

For sale this week on eBay! 

Auction ends Saturday, 02/18/2012, at 2:40 p.m. Pacific time.


SOLD!!

Lined Drawstring Bag

Today I made this Drawstring Purse, a gift for a special friend. I have made very few bags or purses, and this pattern is a great one to begin with.  Now I have some kids asking for one!

Bag Stats:

• Fabrics:  Honey Child, Essential Dots by Moda, and Pretty Please by Jennifer Paganelli for Free Spirit
• Size:  7.5" wide x 10.5" tall
• Value:  Useful!

You can find the pattern at In Color Order.

Linking to:

Shabby Chic Roses 'N Dots Lap Quilt

... A ... Simply ... Sweet ... Snuggly ... Quilt ...

This quilt has SOLD!!

Quilt Stats:

• Size:  40" wide x 56" high
• Fabrics:  All quilt-shop quality fabrics including Rhapsody in Bloom by Maywood Studio and Grand Revival Dots by Westminster Fibers, among others.
• Batting:  Warm and Natural 80/20
• Binding:  Double layer attached by machine for durability.
• Quilting:  Diagonal straight lines
• Value:  Priceless

Available for sale at Busy Hands Quilts!

Linking to:

Military Wives Choir

This video is taken from a British series where Gareth Malone takes a group of people and turns them into a choir. This time he's taken a group of military wives whose husbands are all away in Afghanistan and turned them into a choir. Gareth looks about 16 years old but is actually in his mid-30s and a Choir master for the London Symphony Orchestra, among other things. They wrote a song based on excerpts from letters written by the couples whilst apart, and this is the beautiful result.





This video can be found at http://youtu.be/0hR6O7VxKaQ