3D PopStars quilt FINISHED

Thanksgiving fun, Ted, me, Jim, and John

 I finished quilting, binding AND labeling the 3D PopStars quilt last week and am just getting around to posting it.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

I used a free pattern from FatQuarterShop, as I explained in a previous post, using 12 fat quarters collected from various sources.  The tan background fabric and the dark brown shadow and border/binding, are all fabrics from Walmart's wall of one-yard prepackaged cuts.  

I chose to add the one-inch dark inner border
to highlight the shadowing color, and then made a finished (close to) 1-inch binding, enclosing the pieced border that was made in the same fabrics as the stars.  I really like the framing effect that it gives.

I hand-quilted in a big stitch around each star, alternating between a tan and a reddish brown thread, and then did the remainder of the quilting, with the tan thread, by machine on the Jazz 2.

EDIT:  You know what, I was mistaken !  I forgot until seeing the above photo, that I had also handquilted around and in the borders with bigstitch as well !

 

The quilt finished with a measurement of around 52 x 70 inches.  80/20 cotton/poly batting by Fairfield/Polyfil, ordered online from Walmart.com.  I'm thinking of looking for a bit loftier cottony batting.  This just seems too thin lately. 

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Months ago I bought a quilt kit from Fabric.com, from one of their half-off Fabric Friday sales, while I was waiting to receive my Jazz 2 machine.  Well, I wound up piecing it as a trial for my new JukiTL-2010Q, which performed beautifully. 

After finishing, I realized that I wasn't crazy about the farm/animal theme of the fabrics, although I loved the soft mood of the coloring.  So I offered it for sale on Facebook for basically what I paid for the kit.  No charge for the work.  And it sold right away-----turns out the lady that bought it is having it quilted as a surprise for her daughter who wants to be a veterinarian !  So perfect !

************************* Yesterday my brother John and his wife, Deb, hosted a family Thanksgiving at their house for our side of the family.  All five whole siblings were there, praise God, but sadly my half-brother Richard wasn't present......I keep hoping !!!!!!!!  Anyway, we all brought something, and there was a ton of food, and talk, and laughter, and the kids and grandkids playing outside in the rain !  I'll share a couple of pictures , but hoping my daughter sends me more.  

My niece, Ruhama and her husband, Rex

 

My brother, Jim, and his love, Lisa

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And finally,  I got out the many mini-jellyrolls that I bought on clearance, for a dollar apiece, last January, and did a bit of string-piecing, and several borders, to wind up with this.  Now to get IT quilted ~!~ (Maybe.......after resting abit from SO MANY BORDERS, I may wind up adding MORE......I still have a bag full,.....6 more jellyrolls !

Currently only 50 inches square..........should I keep going?????

Little FINISH in time for Christmas -- Trees......."O Holy Night"

 

Well, mark it up to old(er) age.......another finish snuck by me.  I had intended to hand-quilt this little one, but no design came to me, so I just machine-stitched diagonal lines an inch apart AFTER quilting in the ditch around the trees and the checkered ledges they're growing from !  

I used the Jazz 2 machine, and an open-toe foot that is intended for applique or satin-stitch.  I prefer it for quilting because of the great visibility that it gives to me. 

 

I did have a bit of fun using a decorative stitch (from Jazzy) for a garland on the lower third of each tree. And then I remembered that my Melody BabyLock machine had an alphabet !  So I made up a label, including a little bit of a pine cone type of design (blacked out a bit of info for privacy sake online).

Now, DON'T laugh........but I MIGHT HAVE bought another new sewing machine last month!!!!!!! 

I've been enamored of the Juki TL2010Q that I see being used on so many quilt videos, and of course, I wanted to do my part in stimulating the economy once more, right???????  I ordered it on October 20, and received it a week later, from Quality Sewing and Vacuum.  

That's 4 machines set up in the room NOW, and my poor little Featherweight is crying "foul !  Find me a shelf OR SOMETHING !"

I saved a quilt kit that I had purchased in a half-off sale from Fabric.com, and let it be my first real test of this Juki machine.  I finished the quilt-top today,

although I'm having a bit of a time finding the sweet spot when it comes to the exact size of 1/4th inch seam that I need;  after cutting EVERYTHING to an exact size, it was really difficult to make it fit if the seam allowance was off just a bit.   The foot is supposed to be an exact 'scant' quarter, but I have trouble just following the side of a foot.  So I used screw-on guides, but one position would be too skinny (right against the side of the foot), and then when I'd adjust it, it would be too fat !!!!!!!!!

But I really like the Juki machine.  I've become a bit spoiled by the foot-controlled thread cutter, and the knee-lift.  The speed control is a nice feature too, although I'll probably only use that button when I get brave enough to try free-motion quilting on that machine.  I've been so disappointed with not being able to get the Jazz 2's tension where I need it while doing FMQ that I think I'm just too afraid that I'll be disappointed AGAIN.  I'll let you know IF and WHEN I get over that.

I did have a bit of a scare yesterday, though....... (listen to me.....A BIT...girls, I WAS FREAKING OUT !!!!!!!!!)  I wound a bobbin, then did a bit of cleaning in the bobbin area, and somehow, when I pressed the needle-down button to bring up the bobbin thread, my needle went THROUGH the bobbin case somewhere, and the whole movement was stuck.  Lovely people on Facebook talked me through the solution, but I'm not sure that I don't hear a different little click that I didn't have before.  BUT, she's sewing beautifully, so I'll keep my self still for now.  But you know that feeling when you're not sure what you did wrong, and you're leery of every next move/seam/stitch?????????  Oh, me !  

Breathe.........all is well, and I AM BLESSED.  I PRAYED FOR HELP AND RECEIVED IT......PRAISE GOD/END OF STORY !

So, I think that's all the news I'll share today.  Hope to be back soon !