Meet Walter!

This is what giving up looks like...

I've tried on two separate occasions to free motion quilt this little baby quilt and both times, I ran into trouble. Whenever I try to curve the stitching, the tip of my needle catches in the fabric. Even though I'm using the same machine, and foot, and thread, and batting, and bobbins, I've used successfully a hundred or more other times, it won't work.

The quilt top has already been sitting since January of 2016 and I don't have any idea when I'll be able to free motion quilt again. (At this point I'm violently resisting the idea of taking my machine to the dealer since it hasn't been long at all since its last cleaning/checkup and on previous occasions its come home unable to do free motion quilting. Too much time and money risked for something that's not guaranteed to work.)

So I pulled out my walking foot and now the quilt is done. I'd rather that the quilting was a pretty meander, but it's not going to stay at my house and quilting with the walking foot is a completely acceptable way to finish it. So is machine stitching the binding.

I'm hoping now that this one is done I can tackle the free motion quilting drama with fresh eyes. Whatever happens with that, it feels good to have my first baby quilt finish in almost a year.

I love the top and backing. It's Bonnie Hunter's Lozenges, in the size that she intended for them to be. For the lozenge quilt I'm keeping, I'm making them much smaller. This one was fun to put together, but I think I'll be happier long term with the smaller pieces.

Lozenge Update

Either this is most of the lozenges, which means I need to cut a bunch more pieces....or I've got more lozenges in a plastic box somewhere and need to figure out what safe place I put them in. I counted while I was cutting and I'm sure I started with enough for a 60x60" quilt.

I love long term scrappy projects like this one, but they sure make it easy to forget what you've already done and where you put it.

This post is linked to Jo's Country Junction. 

Lozenge Update

If I was making my lozenges according to Bonnie's instructions, I might be done by now...but as soon as she said that 2 1/2" strips would make the lozenges too small, I knew that was how I wanted to make mine. The more different prints I can fit into a scrap quilt, the happier I am. And the smaller the blocks are, the more prints there's room for.

It's been two years since I laid out my finished units and took that picture. At this point, I have no idea how many I've got done or how many I still need to assemble, but I've got a box of cut pieces that I need to make into lozenges, so that's probably the easiest place to start for now.

This post is linked to the UFO Challenge over at Jo's Country Junction. 

Baby Blue Lozenges

Blue lozenges for a new baby quilt, this time in the size Bonnie suggested for her Leaders and Enders challenge. I'm not sure if these are easier than the smaller ones I'm making for my own quilt because they're a lot larger, or if it's just that I need a lot fewer of them.

Decisions, Decisions

Do I start assembling the lozenge units I've already made into blocks so I can get a better idea what the finished quilt will look like? Or use the pieces I've got cut to make more lozenges? Or cut more fabric? 

I think there's enough already cut to make the 60x60ish quilt I'm aiming for, but I've found more lights and darks in my stash since then. And I can't find the shoebox with the rest of my pieced units in it, so I'm not even sure how many lozenges I've got done at this point.

But I've got fifty-some more than I had last week. That's progress, no matter what I decide about the rest of it.

This post is linked to Patchwork Times and Jo's Country Junction.

Jo's Show and Tell Challenge

Did you see that Jo's cooked up another challenge for us as she prepares for her Bonnie Hunter retreat? I can get more lozenges sewn up...or maybe just figure out where I put the ones that I've already finished. At this point, I'd count that as progress.

Yup, that's the same picture I posted the last time I worked on my Lozenges quilt for one of Jo's Quiltville challenges. I've got maybe twice that many lozenges pieced now, and enough squares and rectangles cut for me to finish the top.

Lots of New Lozenges

They're not the most fun units to sew up, but they're a great excuse for watching Netflix with my Kindle propped up next to the sewing machine. I'd planned on laying out all of the pieces for a progress shot, since I've got about twice as many as I did have,  but the box with the rest of them is winning the current game of Hide and Seek. I'll take pictures when I find it.

This post is linked to Design Wall Monday.

Lozenges

With everything else going on, this project had completely slipped my mind. It looks like it's been November since I last pulled it out and did some sewing.  Yesterday, I pulled out the box of cut pieces and added another thirty-two units to my collection. 

I think what hangs me up on this project is the pressing. Halfway through each unit, I have to step away from the sewing machine to press and trim away the excess bits. I'm not a huge fan of stitch and flip triangles and this quilt is nothing but those.

But I've got confidence that it's going to be gorgeous (or at least pretty) when I'm done.

This post is linked to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times and Main Crush Monday.

Quiltville Challenge Update

Jo from Jo's Country Junction has challenged the rest of us to finish up some of our Bonnie Hunter WIPs before the challenge starts.  

Now that my cheddar bow ties are assembled into a top, I've turned my attention back to the lozenges.

Lots of dark and light rectangles cut, a few of them pieced together....nothing dramatic, but it's progress. 

I'm using smaller rectangles than Bonnie suggested, and I'm still not sure what size I want the finished quilt to be, so there might be some more cutting to be done. It all depends on what turns up as I'm digging through my stash. 

My Bonnie Challenge Quilts

I won't be doing the latest Quiltville mystery, but I'm sure I'll love the finished quilt and wind up buying whatever book the pattern is reprinted in -- that happens every time!

Jo from Jo's Country Junction has challenged the rest of us to finish up some of our Bonnie Hunter WIPs before the challenge starts. That works for me even if I'm not planning on doing the mystery. I've been dying to get back to my lozenges.  

The last time I counted bow ties, I only needed another hundred and sixteen. I've made a handful since then, but have no idea how many. Guess that means it's time to do another count, as much as I dread the idea. Counting pieces just isn't fun.

It feels good to be sorting and cutting fabric again! I'll see which quilt I wind up making more progress on.

Lozenges

I shouldn't have looked up my last post about this project. Realizing that five months had passed since the last time I picked it up just drives home how little quilting time I've had this year. Yeah, I've knit nine pairs of socks -- but I want to quilt!  

Now that I've made a dozen new blocks I'm feeling happier. I dug out at least three scrap bags full of fabric that'll be just perfect, but it's so hot lately I almost made myself sick ironing the brown fabric to start Chocolate Covered Cherries. Think a quilter has ever given herself heat stroke trying to iron during the summer?

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

More Lozenges

Now that I've got some dark and light lozenges to mix together, I'm seeing how this quilt is going to work with my fabrics. And I'm loving the idea of it even more than I did last week. 

happy sigh  Can I drop everything else and just  cut pieces for a while? Unlike Bonnie, I'm using 2 1/2" and 1 1/2" strips. Makes it easier to scavenge from other projects! 

This post is linked to Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times. 

Lozenges!

I'm loving the idea of this quilt, but I'm still not sure how it's going to look with my fabrics. I could play it safe and stick to my bins of lights and darks and make a version that's similar to the antique quilt that started this whole thing...and that's tempting!  Then I look at some of the wild prints that Bonnie is cutting up and I really want to see where she's going with hers.

This could be the perfect project for me right now. It's just a little bit less mindless than Teenage Daughter's postage stamp quilt, but it doesn't require a lot of decision making as far as fabric placement. As long as I can make up my mind which fabrics to cut to get myself started!

I'm linking up to Design Wall Monday over at Patchwork Times.