So, here's where I am with that quilt I've been talking about. I wish I had taken a pic before I added the gingham border and pin basted because it was so perfectly pressed and beautiful. Now it's bumpy.
I'm a bit worried because we rushed to pin baste my quilt in class before class was over and I never got a chance to press the whole thing out again. When we were basting, it was all stretched out and smooth and flat, but after we were done, I rolled it up to take it home. I'm sure it's normal for it to look like this. I just loved how FLAT it was before. Lol!
The only thing I worry about, and maybe some of you seasoned quilters can help me.. Shouldn't it be pretty flat and smoothed out when you start the quilting process? I guess I'll need to stretch it out again on a table when I start making my chalk mark lines for the quilting. Any advice would be appreciated!
ok, edited to add: after much twittering and flickr-ing will some very kind ladies, I'm going to re-pin this thing. I think since i rushed and didn't press the top out well enough, this is going to make for a bumpy quilt. I'm also going to try that spray adhesive stuff you can use to adhere the batting to the quilt top, along with pinning. That spray adhesive sounds awesome!
Also! I would love to hear what surface you use when you baste your quilts. My teacher really stressed getting a banquet table with a narrow top so that you can use binder clips to clip your back fabric to it and then lay everything else on top. BUT i've heard from some ladies today that they just use their floor, and use tape if they have hardwood floors (which i do.) What do you prefer?
I also used (unbeknownst to me) a partially polyester fabric for my gingham border. We didn't realize this until we saw that it was "acting up" a bit in comparison to the vintage cottons. Grrr. But I just went with it. It's proving to be a bit wonky around the edges now because of it, but I'm ok with it. I'll know now in the future to always make sure whatever fabric I buy is 100% cotton. My quilt was actually pretty much on the money and "square" and everything before I added the wonky border! Oh well. Lesson learned.
I actually would probably prefer hand-tying this quilt as opposed to machine quilting just because I LOVE the look. I'm not a huge fan of the look of machine quilting. BUT I want to learn how to do it, so I'll be doing it for this quilt. Who knows, I may change my mind and love it. We'll be quilting on the diagonal for this. Any opinions and experiences with machine quilting and what you prefer would be very appreciated! I love hearing other folks' experiences.
Above and below are some pics I took on Saturday when I was putting together the quilt top. I was sort of glad it was a rainy day outside because then I didn't feel so bad about being holed up in the house sewing (for 12 straight hours, I may have mentioned that? ha). My desk is in front of the window right now because we're still painting those brick walls, and it was actually really nice being able to look outside instead of looking at the wall. Sort of wishing we could keep it this way, but the boys like playing in that bay window. ;-)
In other news, I posted some more *lovely* artwork inspiration over on the Kitschy Digitals blog. Here's a peek of everything I posted.
But you MUST hop over to the KD blog to get a better look. Here's the embroidery post with projects using my patterns and here's the scrapbook inspiration post with projects using my digital kits. So many *amazing* pieces that are sure to give you lots of ideas.
And last I will begrudgingly post a couple pics of me. As you may have noticed, I don't post alot of pics of myself. There are several blogs that I read where the photos of the author are in abundance. Bordering on narcissistic. BUT hey, if you love yourself, GO RIGHT AHEAD! Honestly. I think there's a happy medium though. Blogging is such a fabulous thing. I love it. There are blogs that I've been following for years and I don't think I've ever seen one photo of the author. EVER.
I think personally, I do love it when blog authors share photos of themselves. It helps to put a face with the words. It makes you feel more connected.
That said, I think in this age of Iphones, facebook and just over-the-top voyeurism.. I honestly don't want to see a daily picture of you. Seriously. Lol. (but hey, everyone has the right to do what they want! As we said when we were little "IT'S A FREE COUNTRY, I CAN DO WHAT I WANT!"
;-)
Maybe I'm just an ever so slightly older generation. When I was in high school there wasn't even email. Ha.
Anyhoo!
In an effort to take more self-portraits for me, and for my family (to show them that I actually did indeed exist) I took a few quickies last Friday before "Date Night". We don't have a lot of date nights. And I rarely progress past showering and clothing myself each day. Much less put on make-up and fix my hair.
I'm not really as unenthused as I look in that second pic. (ha)
And in the spirit of Wardrobe Remix, here are the details on my outfit:
- both tops from Forever 21 (the top shirt has these little flowers you can't see!)
- "skinny" jeans which aren't looking so skinny, and too baggy for my liking, from Target I think
- shoes from Zappos, Ecco
- plastic bow barrette, Forever 21
You will actually be forced to look at my mug again hopefully (or not) later this week when I do a pretty cool giveaway. I will have to model something. Oh fun. ;-)
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