Reverse Churn Dash is finished

I seem to spend most of my time in the kitchen these days but I did get the Reverse Churn Dash finished.

I quilted this on my new Juki with a meandering (large stippling) stitch. I love sewing on the Juki partly because I can easily see what I have already sewn.

The quilt has been laundered so I'm not sure you can see the quilting.

I used #2600 light gray 50-weight Aurifil thread to quilt this 50" by 60" donation quilt.

I began this quilt in May. I thought it would be a neat way to use some scraps. I also used leftover pieces of binding to make a scrappy binding. I finished the quilt top at a recent retreat and friends were checking out all of the scraps - some child may easily play Eye Spy with this one.

The backing fabric came from The Quilter's Fix in Sheridan Wyoming. It's very bright and cheerful. I really don't see the pattern in the back until I look at a picture of it.

I am slowly quilting another quilt and I also have a couple of quilts that I am slowly cutting and sewing. In another week, I should be done working with produce so then I will have a lot more time to quilt!

Catching up and a finish

Where does the time go? I've really been busy with freezing and drying zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, ... and I've been busy with the Cricut. Here is Ray's new shirt that he designed.

We hung the sign that we bought in Virginia on our porch.

I finished a quilt! This is the quilt made from the African Wax Prints - I finished the top at the last retreat. I bought the collection of fabrics at Crimson Tate in Indianapolis last April.

The backing is some fabric that Ray picked out at Seams Sew Easy in Fairfield, Ohio in July.

This donation quilt has Dream Cotton batting and is 52" by 66". I used a walking foot and quilted this with straight lines. I used light gray #2600 50-weight Aurifil thread. I used my new machine!

close up of laundered quilt

I've really wanted a new sewing machine for quilting but I don't have the space for a long arm and I can't stand up for hours at a time. I considered a sit down long arm but again that would need quite a bit of space.

After years, make that 11 years of looking, reading, talking with people, researching, I finally purchased a Haruka, the Juki TL-18 QVP. This is a mid-arm machine and I love it. My understanding is that haruka is Japanese for beyond. So far is is beyond my expectations!

I am just finishing my first free-motion quilt on the Juki and will show it to you when the quilt is done. In the meantime, I'll be getting more produce this week so I'll be back in the kitchen.

I have a finish!

Enjoy each Day

I love our trips and my retreats and I also love being home. I've been home 1-1/2 weeks and I've enjoyed each day. I enjoy having some time in my sewing studio - I even have a finish. The blocks of this quilt each have 16 2.5" squares - 10 red and 6 white. Each block reminds me of a log cabin block so I named this quilt Square Log Cabin Diamond. This donation quilt is 59" square and has Dream Cotton Batting.

I free motion quilted loops on the white with Aurifil cream #2315 thread and meandering on the red with Aurifil dark red #1103 thread. The dark red thread was used for the entire red back. It felt so go to free motion quilt again but I really need some practice.

I used a walking foot for the borders and quilted straight lines.

The Jenny's Garden quilt top is finished. I made the blocks at the last retreat and now have them together and a couple of borders added. 

I once again have piles of quilts in various stages - I think it's becoming commonplace here!

There's been a lot of kitchen time freezing and/or drying produce. Some baking has happened too. There has also been some relaxing - I've read three books and done some knitting. Last week we enjoyed gorgeous weather and I loved being outside and on the porch.

I think we have a busy week this week so we'll just see how it goes. It's nice to just go with the flow...