SRM Quilts – Progress Report 1

WOW! What a stuffed bag of goodies to use for practice quilting – and piecing.


I know the grey/hippo quilt top should have been addressed first, but the Cars book was calling my name.


For some reason the moment I saw it I knew exactly how I wanted to put it together. First there was quite a bit of trimming and squaring to end up with twelve 7” x 9-1/2” rectangles. Cutting the 3-1/2" sashing and small squares was then quite easy. It’s not finished yet, but here are the blocks as they look on my kitchen floor:

Due to the rectangle proportions this needed a landscape layout, so it is a bit non-traditional in appearance. Unfortunately these Cars haven’t told me what quilt design to use yet.


But the lions were rumbling, “work on me” – instead of calling it the hippo quilt top I call it the “lion” one since I seem to see more lions than hippos.

Free-motion quilting is what I need to practice and the lions were agreeable. It was a challenge getting the top “almost” square and laying flat. A piece of V’s quilt batting seems to be a low-loft polyester and is fine for this Quilt for Kids. Quilting isn’t finished yet, but here’s a sampling:

More projects in the SRM bag will have to wait until I finish these two – unless an inspiration for their completion hits me and can’t be quelled. ~~K

Love the Library

Internet Junkie? Of course I am. But I’d have a rough time without the library. I still love the printed word that I can hold in my hand. At times, it even awakens me as a book drops to my chest when I’ve fallen asleep reading in bed.

My latest endeavor – machine quilting – has put my library system to the test. My local library has a limited selection; my county library is a bit better; but the state system of cooperating libraries is fantastic. Searching “machine quilting” let me choose from 287 books! Here are some I’m currently perusing:
As long as a book is not on the hold list and I’m first in line for the request, I usually can pick up the book at my local library in about three days. It sometimes surprises me how many other people have requested the same book before me.

I’m a visual/tactile learner and need the true feel of a book so I can “absorb” the information.
After reading until I have a good grasp of the concept, I “air” practice – you know, like air guitar playing – I even tell my students “air keyboarding” is helpful typing practice.


Next comes a simulation – such as machine quilting on paper. Then on to the REAL DEAL!


Each new pattern requires me to step back and go through my learning process again. Time consuming? Sometimes. But usually very rewarding.

Go check out a library book! ~~K

Squeaky Wheel Gets the Oil

Free Motion Quilting Part 4 of ?

So it wasn’t a wheel – it was my sewing machine! I had probably used my sewing machine 6 hours this week and after 30 minutes of use the other day it started squeaking LOUDLY. I couldn’t tell exactly where it was coming from – I thought it was the hand wheel area at first, then I wasn’t sure.

I continued sewing about 10 minutes and then decided I had better check this squeak out before I caused some real damage to my old White. A good cleaning and oiling was in order and I’d take it from there.

As you know I’d been “quilting” on paper which I knew would generate some dust. I pulled a surprisingly thick wad of “dust” from under the throat plate by the feed dogs. Proper oiling in the bobbin area didn’t eliminate the squeak.

Upon opening the side panel, there was less dust than I expected (based on the throat plate area). Oiling the specified points seemed to lessen the squeak, but it was still prominent.

I don’t recall when I had last removed the top cover so I continued to that stage of maintenance. Again, not THAT much dust. But, after each point was oiled I manually turned the wheel and there was a lessening of the squeak. By the time I had finished following all steps for cleaning/oiling in the user manual, the squeak was gone!
Hopefully I’ve solved the “problem” and haven’t set myself up for a future shop repair. Online I read you should clean/oil your sewing machine after every 8-10 hours of use, and others suggest as often as every-other bobbin. I’ve been remiss! If I continue machine quilting (and I intend to) I’ll be doing this cleaning/oiling routine often. My past piecing, clothing construction, and reupholstering did not have as much continual “running” of the sewing machine as I’ve been experiencing lately while doing the “free motion” machine quilting.

Live and learn! ~~K

Third Time’s the Charm

Free-Motion Quilting Part 6 of ?

Finally, I successfully machine quilted in true free motion technique that meets my standards. On the third Quilt for Kids I used a continuous curve in the four-patches and medium stippling in the larger squares and outer border – and all without any marking on the fabric! All that practice was worth it.

Final size after washing; 39.5" x 34.5"

What a time-saver by not having to pre-mark the fabric! I’ll admit there are quite a few “quilted” 8-1/2 x 11 sheets of paper in the recycle bin. Visualizing the “pattern” and then doing it on paper at the sewing machine seems to give me the confidence and necessary muscle memory. Every activity seems to need its own specialized warm-up session (running anyone?).

Now I want to start practicing some other free-motion designs – perhaps connected hearts, maybe even loops.

Anyone have a pieced top I could use for practice? I need to get busy piecing, but I just want to “quilt”! ~~K

2nd Quilt for Kids

Free-Motion Quilting Part 5 of ?

Again I traced on the back, but used a larger stipple pattern. Actually I was hoping this would quilt quicker and use less thread. It did use less thread, but I ended up not saving any time.

Looking at what I thought was the finished project I realized I wasn’t careful enough with the quilting placement. I saw a puffy stripe down the middle that I eliminated by adding a squiggly line of quilting. I also added more stippling along the sides since I originally left too much empty space near the border.



I forgot to sew on the label before I made the sandwich, so I improvised the border quilting with a stylized diamond design. It’s quite a contrast to the free-motion quilting on the rest of the quilt.
Despite all of the missteps I am pleased with the end result and looking forward to the next quilt. ~~K