This is a static export of a blog I put on ice many years ago, that still has personally relevant content. No promises can be made around linkrot, styles, or working functionality.
Sandwiching quilts inevitably results in scraps of batting. Sometimes, they are large enough for use in another project, but much of the time they end up just a little bit too small. My unofficial resolution for 2014—actually one I’ve been trying to work on for a few months already—is to work from stash before heading to the store. I’d like to do that for the quilt I’m working on now, however my batting scrap drawer was lacking the 58×76″ piece of batting that I need.
Instead of buying more batting on my trip to the store, I picked up a roll of fusible batting tape. Not only is it cheaper, but it could help me use the scraps I have.
The verdict: I ended up with a piece large enough to use, but I don’t think the fusible batting tape was the best fit for the job. It didn’t seem to fuse well, so I ended up sewing a multi-stitch zig-zag over it to hold the pieces more securely. Maybe it was the brand of tape, maybe the batting, or maybe it’s me, but I think I’ll keep looking for a better solution.
I will say that the tape and stitching combined worked much better than an attempt a year or so ago that failed miserably, so at least I’m making progress. We’ll see how it holds up to quilting this weekend.
It seems that no quilting year is complete for me without at least two Tula Pink quilts. Last year, I made Tula Does Up the Walls in Pah-ree then followed with Superfluous Tula, both using Parisville. This year, I finished quilts using two different lines; C++ used Saltwater, and this latest quilt is Acacia. I call it “Thorny Patchwork”.
“Thorny Patchwork”, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
I picked up the six-pack of fat quarters a while back with no project in mind. They paired well with a bit of leftover the Birds and the Bees, a zebra print, and unknown origin purple linen texture, all from stash.
“Thorny Patchwork” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
My plan was to use 9″ squares (8.5″ finishing), but the store that sold the FQs was very judicious with their cutting and after I squared up, I had a bit less than 18″ to work with. The finished squares are 8.25″, making a 50″ square quilt before washing.
“Thorny Patchwork” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
Urban Threads sells a few embroideries based on this line, so I stitched out the raccoon in the middle of the purple plus to fill the space before I sandwiched the top. The 44,000+ stitches took three bobbins and three hours to stitch, and I didn’t even use the largest size embroidery! The finished design is worth it.
“Thorny Patchwork” back, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
The back is a print I picked up on my last trip to Ikea. It’s a canvas, which is where the thorny bit of the title comes in (aside from a play on words with Acacia). I broke eight needles of various types and sizes trying to FMQ this. A bit of planning combined with a lot of luck saved me: I started in a top corner, so I was able to switch to my walking foot after the eighth needle and it looks almost like I intended it to be quilted that way. Once I switched to the walking foot, I didn’t have any more issues with the needle or tension.
“Thorny Patchwork” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
Mixed in with the quilting are a few embroidered swallows (also from Urban Threads). The corner ones are in a variegated embroidery rayon, while the other two and the rest of the quilting is Aurifil 28wt (with cotton Gutermann in the bobbin). I planned to use a variegated for the overall quilting, but was thwarted by numerous tension issues—again, likely because of the backing.
“Thorny Patchwork” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
This was a fun, quick project to finish up the year. The only non-stash component was the raccoon embroidery file; all of the various threads, the Nature’s Blend batting, the swallow quilting embroidery file, and the fabrics were in my stash. All that is left is boxing it up and mailing it to a niece for her birthday next week!
“Thorny Patchwork” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 50″×50″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
When I purchased a charm pack of Metropolitan Fair by Barbara Brackman this summer, I knew it needed to be paired with linen, but the proper pattern eluded me for months. Then, though I am not a trendy sort, I couldn’t help but being inspired by the recent flock of flying geese quilts showing up on Flickr, Pinterest, and in my RSS reader. Reproduction Sky was born.
“Reproduction Sky”, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 60″×70″.
I turned 39 of the 42 charms into 168 flying geese (the remaining charms and a few unused geese are on the back), paired it with one light linen/rayon blend, a darker 100% linen, and just a bit of a FQ from Old Sturbridge Village that has been in my stash for a while.
“Reproduction Sky” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 60″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger.
I think it took longer to cut and trim those flying geese than it did to sew the entire quilt top together.
Among other imperfections, I didn’t baste the back on perfectly straight, so the piecing of it is a little skewed when compared to the vertical quilting from the front, but it’s not too bad. I had just shy of three yards of this Etchings print in stash, as well as the green vines, which made for quick piecing of the back.
“Reproduction Sky” (back), Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 60″×70″.
Nature’s Touch batting gives it a nice drape. The quilting is a mix of 40wt Gütermann thread and a 28wt hand-dyed white to beige variegated thread I picked up at a local quilt show. The latter was used to echo the seam lines of the geese columns and continue that grid to the edges, while the lighter-weight thread was perfect for a few more lines in between the others and stitching in some ditches.
“Reproduction Sky” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished December 2013, 60″×70″.
This one isn’t staying around the house for long, as it’s intended as a Christmas present for some friends of ours. I do look forward to cuddling under it while I finish up the binding. I cheated in the photos by using Steam-a-Seam to fuse the binding to the back. Not only does it clean up the binding for photos, but it holds it in place perfectly when I hand sew it down. With 6″ of snow on the ground and more forecasted, sewing binding while sitting under a warm quilt sounds lovely!
A bit of modern design executed in linen and reproduction fabric (Metropolitan Fair by Barbara Brackman) is basted and ready to quilt, while 27 (!) yards of ruffles and Peter Rabbit fabric wait to become two quilts for twins. Deadline: mid-December.
The recent spate of flying geese quilts in quilty blogland (and the various social media outlets) has me both charmed and inspired. I’ve made a few flying geese units for various sampler blocks, but never a full flock of them.
The Question(s)
For my next project, I want to use a charm pack for the goose part of the blocks, so how many geese can I get out of a charm pack, how much extra fabric do I need for the sky (outer triangles), and what is the resulting block size?
The Answer
One standard charm pack (42 5″ squares) and 1 yard of standard quilting cotton cut into 168 2 3⁄4″ squares (four per charm square) makes 168 1 7⁄8″×3 3⁄4″ geese using my preferred method of no-waste geese.
If you sew all 168 geese into 8 columns of 21 geese, you’ll have a 30″×~39″ quilt—still a bit small for anything but a wall quilt, but by adding on borders or making alternate blocks and you can easily grow it to a baby quilt or larger.
Mine are going to fly in a larger sky of white space for a quilt measuring 60″×70″. Time to get started on those 168 geese!
I’ll spare you a lengthy essay on the quilt title, but the tl;dr of my stream of consciousness was something like “for CCC / double plus / C++? / cout “C++”, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger
But as the start of that stream of consciousness reads, this quilt is for my sister Courtney, also known by her initials as CCC or Triple C, and the quilt was inspired by one titled “Double Plus.” She’s been waiting patiently for a quilt since I made the ones for our mom and other sister back in May 2011 (plus the otherfabricthings I’ve made Kaite), so I’m glad inspiration finally hit!
“C++”, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger
It all started with a six-pack of FQs from Tula Pink’s Salt Water line. I threw in a bit of shot cotton (maybe a Moda Cross Weave?) and Kona Nautical as binding from my stash. Rounding out the fabric choices are yardage of another Salt Water print for the background and Laura Gunn Painter’s Canvas for most of the block corners.
“C++” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger
Ideas floated around in the ether for a bit, always coming back to plus quilts, so when I saw “Double Plus”, the idea took shape. A few rounds of digital sketching later, I had the plan to execute in 70″ square form.
“C++” back, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger
This yardage from IKEA has always been slated for the back of Courtney’s quilt, even before there was an idea for the quilt front. My brain decided it, and so it is. The piecing was less about intention and more about making the fabric I had work for the back—particularly without another trip to the store. The blue is a textured linen-like cotton that has been in my stash for a while, previously seen in Carl’s bag. Had I remembered it was there, it likely would have ended up on the front as well instead of the Painter’s Canvas. Case in point: I need stash organizing, stat.
“C++” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″. Photo by Carl Pfranger
I picked up a spool of Isocord thread to quilt with and I really like the results, but had to battle a fair number of tension issues. This also isn’t my best quilting because I tackled it all with my free-motion foot—even the straight and stitch-in-the-ditch parts. I need much more practice with doing straight lines that way, but now that it is washed, all the little mistakes aren’t obvious.
“C++” quilting detail, Rachael Arnold, finished October 2013, 70″×70″
Tula paired up with Urban threads to offer some embroidery motifs that pair with the line, including a quilting one, so I mixed it in with my FMQ. I planned to do more, but those tensions issues made me modify that plan. There are still a few anchors mixed in the quilting.
The final wavy texture is amazing and it drapes beautifully. It’s hard to part with, but nothing but the best for my very favorite oldest younger sister who is infinitely patient.
To top it off, I threw together a quick tote bag from another bit of Tula Pink—the Turtle Bay print from Prince Charming—paired with a stashed solid (I’m not sure what), another embroidery from Urban Threads, and lined in the Ikea text print. I made her a zippered cosmetic bag from this same print earlier in the year (but never photographed), so it all ties together pretty well.
That’s three quilts in three months. Can I keep up the trend?
The more exact a vision of quilting I have in my head, the more Murphy’s Law takes effect, as evidenced by my current project.
I started with a grid in a plus in the very center of the quilt, planning to continue that motif throughout the other blocks.
I quickly realized that it is time consuming, mind numbing, and not the texture I really wanted. Since it’s the center of the quilt, it can be a bit special, so I left it in place, then switched to alternating between straight (or as straight as I can do with an FMQ foot) lines and curly lines.
I also had grand plans of using a machine quilting motif designed by Tula Pink to go with this Saltwater line (sold on Urban Threads) quite a few times on the quilt. Here it is from the back, where it shows up more clearly.
I’ve managed to get two sewn completely, had to rip out half of one of those, and now have another half of one to rip out because my machine doesn’t seem to be happy with this plan.
So, my plans are changing again, stopping with this third one, once I managed to fully stitch it.
I think I’ll finish off the background quilting with a nice, simple wave that I’ve used before. I don’t think much can go wrong with that. At least, not unless my FMQ foot keeps acting up, as it has also done throughout this process.
Dearest Murphy, a respite would be most appreciated.
When you are the one who makes the quilt from start to finish. You know its story; the whys, the hows, the whats—they are all part of the narrative born from your choices (of course, how that narrative is interpreted by others is another story all together). But for this quilt, I don’t know the whole story. I only made ~1/10th of the blocks in this quilt. The rest came from other women who endued them with their own stories that aren’t mine to tell, but I can tell you the story of turning the blocks into a quilt.
“Swapped Stories”, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
My contribution to the story is all about traveling. I travelled outside of my comfort zone to work in Civil War reproductions, and at a level of piecing quality that I felt comfortable handing off to other women.
“Swapped Stories”, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
While some of the fabrics came from the LQS that hosted the swap, others came in my travels around the country—every where from MA to KS, and various parts of NY. The fabric that I included in two corners is one of those; it came from Old Sturbridge Village, and wasn’t intended for this quilt until I realized I had miscalculated how many piano keys I needed when I donated spare blocks back to the group for a charity quilt. I think it works perfectly.
“Swapped Stories” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
Measurements travelled a bit, too. Particularly with the piano keys, the blocks weren’t all perfectly square. The borders worked out, but not according to my original plan. I had fewer stars than expected, as three women decided not to continue the swap (it was a busy spring!), but it worked out fine in the end.
“Swapped Stories” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
Our final swap was at the end of June—almost eight months after we started—and much had happened in that time. More travel was in my future, as we moved to VT in July. I finished the block piecing before that final swap, but had to wait for the meeting to collect the piano keys and signature stars. The quilt traveled from NY to VT before it had borders…
“Swapped Stories” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
…and then back to NY this past weekend as I completed the hand-sewing portion of binding while volunteering at the Mohawk Valley Quilt Club’s biennial show.
“Swapped Stories” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
I tried photographing it at a beautiful old bridge spanning a river in the Adirondacks as we travelled back to VT, but it was late and the shadows were overwhelming the details.
“Swapped Stories” label and back detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
There was a bit of dye that traveled from red fabrics in the border to the thread and lighter fabric on the back of the quilt (barely noticeable). Because of the cotton batting (Pellon Nature’s Touch), the measurements travelled a few inches after washing, too, shrinking to 58″ x 89″ from the 60″x92″ pre-quilted, pre-washed size (a generous twin-sized bed quilt).
“Swapped Stories” back detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
I traveled to the store three separate times for quilting thread. I started with a spool that was previously used, and forgot just how large the quilt was, and how much thread it would take to quilt. I used up the fourth spool while sewing the binding to the front of the quilt.
“Swapped Stories” detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
The quilting is simple, with a grid in the center based on the seams in the uneven nine-patch blocks, and feathering in the borders. The stars are outlined in both locations, with some echoing in the center of the quilt, breaking into the grid.
“Swapped Stories” back detail, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
It’s done traveling for now. Its current home is adding a bit of color to our very neutral bedroom. (There’s a problem with moving from a house full of colorful walls where you buy neutral decor to balance it out to an apartment with beige walls: you end up with one big palette of blah.) But, I’m sure it will have future stories of traveling to tell. After all, I still need to get better photos.
“Swapped Stories”, Rachael Arnold, finished September 2013, 58″×89″
Three years ago, I made my first quilt. I knew nothing about quilting but a fair amount about sewing fabric together, so I dove in, read a bit, and ended up with something that wasn’t half bad. I also made mistakes, particularly using fabrics that couldn’t handle the love its toddler owner has given it. So, three years later, that same recipient is getting a second quilt—my nineteenth quilt finish (if I counted properly).
“Canyon’s Quilt” and pillow, Rachael Arnold, September 2013, 54″×54″
I’m still not one to use solely quilting cotton. The solids in this quilt are flannel, and the back is Minky. But, those hold up pretty well, unlike silk.
“Canyon’s Quilt” (front), Rachael Arnold, September 2013, 54″×54″
The batting is low-loft cotton (Warm & White, mostly because I had it on-hand in the right dimensions); that first quilt is probably the only one I will ever use a high-loft poly on. His name is appliqued, but done so with the embroidery capabilities of my machine, rather than manually (I’m using the excuse that I needed to test out my machine post-service; I’m not sure that it was any faster that way, considering the rehooping and trimming, etc.). An embroidered dog keeps it company.
“Canyon’s Quilt” (detail), Rachael Arnold, September 2013, 54″×54″
The quilting is a simple seam-line echo, in four of the colors from the quilt top; red, orange, yellow, green. There was no rhyme nor reason, those are just the colors I had that matched and didn’t have enough to use just one color. I went through an extra spool of the yellow, though, doing the applique.
“Canyon’s Quilt” (back detail), Rachael Arnold, September 2013, 54″×54″
I bound it in one fo the prints from the line, a red chicken wire pattern. When all was said and done, I still had a lot of that red, a matching FQ of one of the animal prints, and a bit of extra Minky, so I threw together an envelope-style pillowcase for a travel-sized pillow to match.
“Canyon’s Quilt” matching pillow, Rachael Arnold, September 2013
I had to add a hidden bit of velcro to keep it properly closed, as the envelope overhang gapes when the pillow is in there (I was winging it, measurement-wise). In the future, I want to play around and see what the minimum overlap is for that; it seems like an interesting problem to solve.
Three years, nineteen quilts (plus some minis and many other projects), but I think I’m just getting started considering I’ve already quilted another and am in the middle of one more at the moment!
All that is left is the borders (which I plan to FMQ), but we went for a walk instead.
My back needed a break anyway, and exploring abandoned highways is fun. I think I found the spot I need to take photos of my quilts now that I’m porchless.
