Quilting Decisions

Quilt top sandwiched and in the ditch stitching done, now what. This is were the indecision starts, how do I want to quilt it or better yet what does the quilt itself want.

top waiting to be turned into a quilt

Supplies all gathered, I spent over an hour looking for that ruler toe foot. I rearranged some of my quilting things and of course I moved that foot. You know where, that place where it is easy to find and you can put your finger right on it. Yeah right...sure. NOT!! Note to self quit rearranging things, leave well enough alone.

supplies gathered, dove(2600) on machine ready to go

I use clear wrapping rolls from the dollar store to test draw possible quilting designs. They don't take up much room are 36 inches long a nice size when test drawing designs.

swirls????

or maybe?

swirls and lines??

Sandra of mmmquilts thought of radiating lines or swirls. How about a combo of the two? I do think this quilt is finally starting to speak to me.

I need to order another spool of Aurifil 2600, it is my go to colour. I am in luck Craftsy is having a Black Friday sale. (These are affliate links) 

Class Offer: $17.99 USD or less on all Craftsy classes

Supplies Offer: Up to 70% off Quilting and Sewing project kits & supplies

Aurifil Thread

 I'm going to try out some Boundless fabric.

Boundless fabric

 Did you do any on-line shopping from the comfort of your home?

Quilt Tops

When your mind is a jumble what do you turn to? Me it's simple I sew and sew I have done. I made three quilt tops for my guilds charity Ronald MacDonald House.

First up is the strip top. This one was started after my regular guild meeting, some of the members stayed and worked on the charity quilts. It is always fun, some people sew, some cut others press and of course there may be some laughter thrown in along the way.
I opened a bag of strips and just started sewing them together. They were all different sizes and some were not straight.

varying size strips

 I then cut them into 10 x 10 squares to straighten them up. I had 5 blocks done and more strips to go when I came home. I put them up on the design wall to decide on a layout, wish I would have taken pictures but never thought about it. I had enough strips to make three 10 inch rows with a couple 2 1/2'' strips to sew in between then. I then decided to frame the center and am glad I did as I think it brings it all together. I used a 1 1/2'' dark grey strip and then a 2 1/2'' strip followed by another 1 1/2'' strip.

42 1/2'' x 40 1/2''

For the next two I raided my stash. I had put some fabric aside that I knew I wasn't going to use for myself when I straightened things up the last time. It is a must, the cleaning up part, as once in awhile there may be a mess of stuff laying all over. I pulled a print and then found a solid that worked.

I had a little over a yard of each. I wanted something simple and easy so I made 6 1/2'' HST's. I had 50 HST's when I was done and just started playing around with layouts in EQ7. These are the ones I settled on. The first one uses 30 HST's.

39'' x 32 1/2''

That left 20 HST's and the second layout. I had a few strips left over, but the not enough of the print to make a complete border. An addition of the leftover solid and the border came together.

32'' x 30 1/2''

The last top I worked on is one I'm writing a pattern for. This one needs a name. Any ideas for one?

nameless

The next step for nameless is the testing stage.