Melissa Dunworth – Page 34 – Sew Bittersweet Designs

A Lovely Year of Finishes – February 2015 Finishes Party

16 Comments / A Lovely Year of Finishes, Fiber of All Sorts / By Melissa Dunworth

Well I survived this month. Let me tell you…it has been an emotional roller coaster. I am so glad that I picked a small goal that I could accomplish this month. Next month will be more of the same, as well April. My floors are going to be completely ripped out and replaced, which means Anne and I will have to move out for a full week and also take care of a lot of the moving prep as well. No one is moving my sewing machines except me! LOL

Here is my finished bound baby quilt.

I will post more photos later this week! It has been delivered and I’m told is well loved. Which is what every quilter wants to hear!

Do share, were you successful with your February goal?

What one item did you choose?

You have two requirements to be entered into the prizes this month.

1. Link-up {on this post} the first 7-days of the month

Please choose ONE project

and

2. Link-up in the last 7-days of the month

Only with a completed, successful project. And yes the same one that you choose earlier in the month.

Add your blog post or flickr photo (with appropriate descriptions) to the linky party below.

Please grab a button or link back to Shanna and I so other people can join in the fun!

And if you are on twitter or Instagram tag #ALYoF

**Please note, the linky party is the same here and over at Shanna , so there is no need to enter twice **

Here is a list of the lovely new and old sponsors and prizes for February:

1. 10 piece Fat Quarter Bundle of Cotton and Steel
from Gotcha Covered Quilting

2. One pdf Pattern from Clover and Violet

3. One PDF pattern from Michele of Aiming for Accuracy

4. One PDF Pattern from Meadow Mist Designs

5. One PDF pattern from Sew Sweetness

6. One PDF pattern from Honey, Bunny, and Doll Designs

7. Thimblepie’s Quilt Supplies – Custom fabric package, 3 yards plus free shipping anywhere

8. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

9. $15 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop

10. PDF Pattern from Katy – The Littlest Thistle

11. Sew BitterSweet Designs one pdf pattern

12. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

13. One Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate to
Stitches n’ Giggles (winners choice)

~~~

Remember to click on a few other’s links and give people some love.

Just keep Stitching

Working on my Free Motion Quilting

This past week I have been working on a mini quilt for a birthday club I am in. This one is special because the person I am sewing for is a long arm quilter. Ahhhh! I hope my FMQ is up to snuff! Here is the back of my quilt. It is a rainbow octagon of my own design. I’m pebbling and doing some straight-ish lines.

Since I am planning to bind this by turning the backing to the front I stitched the label onto the backing. Hoping that decision doesn’t turn out to be a bad one!

Happy Friday and don’t forget that Sunday the Finishes Party opens for February A Lovely Year of Finishes!!

Tutorial – Supporting Those Large Quilts

6 Comments / Swoon, tutorial / By Melissa Dunworth

The projects I will be working on for the next couple weeks will be largely heavy on the handwork. This is because my flooring did not match and I had to pick out all new floors. When they are finally ready to do my floors Anne and I will have to move out for a minimum of 5 days. To say the least, I am not looking forward to that prospect. In the meantime, I got my Swoon Quilt back from the incredibly talented Vicki of Orchid Owl Quilts. You should follow her on Instagram, if you don’t already!

The Swoon is huge, 80″ x 80″ huge! When working with a quilt of this size I know some people can get a little intimidated, but over the years I have come to find that it is simply a matter of getting creative on how you support your quilt.

This is my sewing set up on a typical day. How I like it to be when I am piecing or working on small quilts.

The table next to my sewing table is actually a drawer set from Ikea and bonus, it is on wheels.

This is my set up when I am working on a huge quilt. Even though I didn’t quilt my Swoon, I still have to be able to work with it’s giant size to put the binding on the front. This is my set up for that process.

I’ve turned my ironing board into a side table and moved my set of drawers out to the front to support the weight of my quilt.

Now here is how it looks with my 80″ x 80″ Swoon on it:

Once I sit in my chair and adjust the quilt to sit further back on the extra table, the quilt doesn’t pull down at all. It is 100% supported and I don’t have to worry about it pulling on my machine or impacting my tension.

Get creative in your sewing room to support those big quilts. I’ve used chairs, ironing boards, extra side tables and my husband once or twice. Don’t let your quilt pull or hang from your machine. It isn’t good for the machine or the quilt.

Have Fun Quilting!

A Lovely Year of Finishes – January 2015 Winners

5 Comments / A Lovely Year of Finishes, Fiber of All Sorts / By Melissa Dunworth

The last couple weeks have been rough in our house, but I have to say announcing winners with Shanna always cheers me up a bit because I know it brings people joy, and who doesn’t like bringing joy to others?

Our list of winners for January:

1. PDF Pattern from Katy – The Littlest Thistle

Iris – Crazydutchbirdquilts

2. Green Fairy Quilts – 3 pdf patterns

Andrea – Flickr

3. Sew BitterSweet Designs one pdf pattern

Cynthia – Quilting is more fun than housework

4. One pdf Pattern from Clover and Violet

Cathy – Sane, Crazy, Crumby Quilting

5. PDF Pattern from Persimon Dreams

Melissa – Melia Mae Quilting

6. $15 gift certificate from Fat Quarter Shop

Jenn – A Quarter Inch from the Edge

7. One Charm pack or $10.00 gift certificate to
Stitches n’ Giggles (winners choice)

Julie – That’s Sew Julie

8. One PDF Pattern from Meadow Mist Designs

Becky – Flickr

9. One pdf pattern from Sew Sweetness

Melinda – MekiQuilts

10. Honey, Bunny and Doll – 1 pdf Pattern

Mina – Kinda Quilty

11. Thimblepie’s Quilt Supplies – Custom fabric package, 3 yards plus free shipping anywhere

Alida – Tweety Loves Quilting

Keep working on those February finishes!

Pot Holder Swap

9 Comments / Modern Quilt Guild, Paper Piecing, SSMQG, swaps / By Melissa Dunworth

My local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild had its monthly meeting last Wednesday. We also had our first swap of the year. We did modern pot holders. The goal was to use modern fabrics, color combinations and/or modern pattern to create a pot holder. It needed to be something that you, yourself, would want to receive. This is what I created:

It is the Circle of Geese block by Piece By Number.

I actually downsized the pattern to finish around 8.5″ square. I used a layer of InsulBrite batting and a layer of 100% cotton batting – as stated in the directions for the InsulBrite. I didn’t got crazy with the quilting, because the two layers of batting made it pretty thick. I also didn’t bother attempting to traditionally bind this. It is so tiny, it made more sense to me to just flip the backing over to the front. I have a great tutorial here on how to do that.

I got a fun Valentine’s inspired pot holder in return, I would love to show you a picture but being pink and covered in hearts, Anne has long since absconded with it!

Have a Happy Tuesday!

PS. I get my floors tomorrow! Say a prayer that they match and this month long saga can finally be over!

Author name: Melissa Dunworth