Fun with bargello strips

I have been having so much fun with this Bargello.  Step one was to cut two sets of strips.  Each strip was 2" wide and the full width of fabric.  I then sewed them together.  Hint:  if you sew each strip on in the opposite direction, such as top to bottom, then bottom to top, you are more likely to keep your strip unit straight.  Otherwise it might start to curve like a rainbow.  No bueno.

 I stacked my two units on top of each other to save time.  Here is what I cut:
6--3/4" wide
12--1" wide
12-1 1/4" wide
8--1 1/2" wide
4--1 3/4" wide

 I stacked them all up by size to keep them straight.

 Then I sewed them into loops.  I didn't pin--I felt like that would have been a waste of time.  I stacked each pile on  my leg, lined up the short ends, and chain-sewed all of them.  I left them sewn together by size to make it easier to keep them organized and a little less crazy.

 Then I had to reach into each loop and press the seam allowances toward the dark fabric.  This was only slightly tricky.

 Next was the fun part--removing the seams at strategic locations, and laying out my bargello.  I started from the middle and worked my way out.  It was actually really easy to do.  I'm doing a double bargello, so the top and bottom are mirror images of each other, with one strip right side up, and one strip upside down. 

 Then I sewed the middles together, and joined the ends of every other strip so each would be the same length without having half-rectangles sticking off.  If you look at the very center, narrow strip in the picture above, you can see that it is gray on top and white on the bottom.  Doing this will put half of the white on top and leave the other half on the bottom.

 The ones that I sewed the ends together then had to be cut in half, right through the middle of the "extra" piece.

 Can you believe this thing is a quilt?  My husband says it looks like a mop.  Thanks for being my hand model, hon.

I love chain sewing.  Even though I end up with "mops" like this sometimes, it really helps me stay organized.  This whole thing has every strip in the right order, so all I have to do now is carefully cut them apart and realign them so they match up correctly, then sew all the strips lengthwise and my top will be done.  This has been so fun, I might actually do a larger bargello someday.  It hasn't been scary or intimidating at all.

I'm linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

While I'm waiting...

I'm waiting for my carriage upgrade to come.  I'm hoping it will get here today, especially because the company is in Salt Lake City and not too far away.

In the mean time, I decided what to make for my mini quilt.  I'm not going to go the New York Beauty route this time.  Instead I'm going to do a mini bargello.  I have always wanted to make a bargello quilt.  They are so.... I can't find the right word.  Striking.  But also very intimidating.  The idea of doing a mini is just perfect.  I have a bargello book by Billie Lauder that has been sitting on my shelf for some time, so I pulled it out as a reference.  I'm doing mine with 6 fabrics.

My quilt will be small enough that I only had to cut 2 strips of each color, and 1 1/2 of each would have been fine.  I'm starting with 2" strips this time.  I've had the two black and white prints and the purple for a while--I got them a couple of years ago at my fav quilt shop in Buellton, CA while visiting my husband's grandmother.  I have really liked black and white quilts with an accent color lately, and decided to throw in gray this time too.  I used to hate gray.  Growing up, my sister loved gray and would talk about how beautiful it was.  I would make a face at it and move on with life.  I've changed my mind on that one too.  Some grays are still icky.  Like old heather gray t-shirts.  Not a fan of those.  But some grays are quite beautiful, especially when paired with a bright color. I'm glad I was able to find these at my local quilt shop yesterday.  I'm hoping now that I can get some time to get these strips sewn together today before the carriage upgrade arrives!

Argh!

I've been trying to do what I can to make my quilting system work really well until I get a longarm.  I got the new Brother (which I love) and today I got a stitch regulator.  I went to hook up the stitch regulator tonight, and it WON'T FIT on my carriage!  I am so frustrated about this.  The carriage I have works just fine--it moves very smoothly and allows me to do what I need to do.  However, it is really important to me to be able to offer the best quality workmanship to my customers.  I wouldn't want to spend hours making a beautiful quilt, pay someone to quilt it, and get it back with wonky stitches.  I'm picky, and I'm sure many of my customers will be too.  I want to be satisfied with my work just as much as I want my customers to be satisfied with my work.  So it looks like I'll be calling the company in the morning and seeing how fast I can get a carriage upgrade.  I'm pretty annoyed about this, but I'm glad I'm getting these kinks worked out. 

On a happier note, I'll be attending HMQS in a couple of weeks and taking a few classes.  One of the classes I'm taking is called "Sew fast, sew precise machine bindings."  I'm intrigued about it.  Good binding takes quite a while, and this method sounds worth learning.  One of the supplies I need to bring is a mini-size quilt that needs binding, which we will do in the class.  I am leaning towards doing one like this by Kati.  Really, look at this link.  It is fabulous.  I may have to do something simpler though, because this is in two weeks and I have some other things to do in the meantime.  If I don't make that this time, I will be doing something like it eventually.  The pattern for this can be found here.

Superhero Cityscape progress

Last night Kyle helped pin and press while I sewed (on my fast new Brother!) and we got the whole top put together.  I'll be adding some appliques so we decided to leave it in two halves for now to make it easier to put those on.  For some reason I didn't realize this, but Kyle said that the day half is going to be Metropolis and the night will be Gotham.  I like it.

Metropolis:

Gotham:

Both:

This is all straight, long seams, so it went together really fast.  I was glad to have a helper!  In fact, while we were working on it after the kiddos were in bed, I said, "Thanks for helping me," and he said, "No, you're helping me!"  I am enjoying working on this together as a joint project.  Usually it's just me in the sewing room.  I also really like that he designed this.  He drafted up the whole pattern in autocad. 

We're waiting on the fabric for the appliques to get here, and I am starting on Amber's quilt tonight, so stay tuned for updates on this one in the near future.

New Brother at my house!

No, not that kind of brother.  My new semi-industrial straight stitch quilting machine arrived yesterday, and I am so happy to have it here.

 This is going to be a great addition to  my studio.  I've been having to move my Viking on and off my frame depending on if I was quilting or doing other sewing, and it was just a pain.  This machine also has nine inches of throat space, which is quite an improvement over my Viking!  I'll be able to stitch larger designs with this machine.  I'm still planning on upgrading to a long arm sometime, but I will love having this machine for high speed straight stitching for a long time once I do.

We made progress on the Superhero Quilt last night.  Here is it with the night time buildings:

Complete day/night layout:

What the night part looks like right side up:

This quilt doesn't officially have a right side up or upside down.  It will be reversible.  I can't wait to add the superhero elements into this--The Daily Planet, the Bat Signal, Stark Tower, and maybe even Wonder Woman's invisible plane.

I'm linking today to Work in Progress Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

The Search is Over

I've been searching for the best batting to supply to my customers for a while now.  I've looked at Hobbs Heirloom 80/20, mostly because that is what everyone seems to offer, and was leaning that direction.  I've decided to take another direction completely.  I discovered a local company that is gaining national recognition and has wonderful products.  It is Winline Textile products.  They have a variety of battings available, and they are all high quality, needle punched with a scrim, and last for a long time.  They have an absolutely wonderful drape, even when densely quilted.  However, because of how it is made, it doesn't need to be densely quilted and will stay put.  This is the batting for me.  I'm currently offering their 80/20 blend, but I can also get their bamboo batting, which is naturally antibacterial and wonderfully soft.

On a personal note, another reason this is a great find is because the company is just a few minutes from my home and I can go pick up what I need without having to pay for and wait for shipping.  They are absolutely wonderful to work with as well. 

They will be at HMQS in Salt Lake City next month.  Check them out if you are there!

Superhero Baby Quilt

I have a quilt from my friend Amber waiting to be quilted, but I am getting a new quilting machine tomorrow (hopefully) so I decided to wait to get it started until that comes.  My new machine will sew faster, more regular stitches, and it has a larger throat space, allowing me to sew larger designs.  I'm really excited about it, and I'm sure I'll post more about it when it comes and I've gotten to use it a little.

In the mean time, Mr. Mills and I decided to start our next project, which is going to be a joint effort.  He designed it and chose the fabrics, and will be very involved in the process.  He is a superhero nut.  He has seven Green Lantern t-shirts.  Maybe eight.  And two Batman, one Superman, and two Flash.  And maybe Captain America.  He has a box with about 70 action figures.  Our three-year old daughter can name more of them than the average American.  I know more about superheroes than most women should... but I digress.  Kyle's cousin Ashley is having a baby in June.  Her husband Jason loves superheroes even more than Kyle does.  They are going all out decorating this little guy's room in superheroes, and it is adorable.  Really, I couldn't think of a better way to do it.  When I saw it several weeks ago I loved it.  And then I noticed the empty crib, and that settled it.  They must have a superhero quilt to go with this room.  I'll reveal details as they come, but this is what we got cut and up on the design wall tonight. 

Sky:

Sky with a few buildings:

With all buildings:

 This is the top half of the quilt, and there will be several other elements appliqued to it later as well.  I'll be working on Amber's quilt as soon as my new machine comes, so this may sit on the design wall for a few days.

Here is a (fuzzy) picture of the back of the Genome Quilt.  I love the variegated thread.