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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Valentine's Quilt In Progress

The red and black QAYG that I showed you at the top of yesterday's post is actually a Valentine's quilt that I cut the strips in November of 2011 and then in December I pieced the Log Cabin Blocks and then they went in the pile of UFOs.  After I pulled it out yesterday I figured I would work on it and get it done for Valentine's Day.  My 19 year old son has already called dibs on it, since he loves everything Asian and the fabrics are all Asian inspired.

He helped me lay them all out on the bed and I started sewing them all together today.  The QAYG that I will describe in this post is how I usually do it.  It was used on this quilt that I made and finished a couple of years ago only I used blocks on the back that were the same size as the blocks on the front:



It isn't wonky, there is a table behind it. :)

So first thing we did was lay out the blocks on the bed. 

Then I started sewing them together in twos so that I could stack them in rows and know which ones went where when I started putting them together.

First I sewed the next section of the front together (4 log cabin blocks) and sewed it to the front of the quilt through the batting and the backing, since I will quilt along this line with a fancy stitch it doesn't matter that there is a line on the back of the quilt where I added the front section:

Then I add the section of batting either zigzag it on, or hand baste it on.  I'm going to hand baste from now on since I can't get this sewing machine to not stretch the batting as I zigzag it no matter what settings I use.  Just remember not to sew through any fabric as you add your batting.

Then add the next section of backing

Smooth the batting and the front pieces down and pin baste them then quilt that section and you have this, front and back:



You can see my stacks of blocks in the back, all in order how they go on the quilt.

Add more backing, batting and front sections.  Usually I start in the center of the quilt and work my way outward but this time I started in the bottom left corner and I'm working my way up and over, just to see how it goes doing it that way.  Now some pics of the progress as it is going.







I'm still out there plugging away since I don't have to work tomorrow due to weather conditions here.

The big news of the day was when my boss called me at 2ish and told me that as of February 3rd the clinic will be closing.  Anyone who's read my blog for a while knows that I only went back to work to help him out after someone else quit.  I had 8 months off before I went back, so this is actually a good thing since I only made $150-$200 every 2 weeks anyway.  With couponing and selling a few craft items now and then I will be able to make that up, plus I won't have to use gas on my 20 mile round trip commute in to work.  Plus with more time at home maybe I'll actually start cleaning house more often...

Aren't husbands of quilters about the most understanding tolerant men?  When I am so into quilt mode that I barely 'have time' to even cook my DH is so nice about it.  As long as I DO cook for him he won't complain about the state of the house if I'm in SEW mode. :)

3 comments:

Little Penpen said...

So, your backing is in one piece while you are doing the process. In other words, the top and batting are the only parts done in pieces? Is that right???? I'm loving this!

Samantha said...

I also add the backing as I go. I have done a whole piece backing before and it works the same way. More pictures today (Wednesday) as I work on it. :) It's just easier for me to do big quilts this way.

Little Penpen said...

Love this ... can't wait to try it!