I have wanted to do a few things...make a scrap quilt, sew aimlessly on each of my Featherweights, and have an on-going project I can work on over time with no pressure to finish. Inspired by my friend Maureen, who just completed a Postage Stamp quilt, I decided to combine all those desires into a Checkerboard quilt. I'm loosely following a "pattern" in Cheryl Arkison's Sunday Morning Quilts book. It's filled with modern scrap projects designed to use up all those little bits of fabric in one's stash and this particular quilt is supposed to be done a few squares or rows at a time so it was ideal.
Step one is gathering the 880 2-1/2" squares of printed, bright fabric and 880 matching cream or white squares. This assembly itself is a bit of a challenge so I'm working bin by bin to get them cut. I have a lot of scraps but they aren't that small so it takes a while to cut the squares. I wish I had tackled this every time I finished a quilt, tossing the leftovers in a container. I guess that means I'm starting now but I might cheat and begin sewing when I have a layer or two of fabric ready. Maybe not. I'll see but I think it would be easier and scrappier to have ALL the pieces ready to join and then just sew them when I have a minute. Cheryl offers a tip for rigid rule followers like myself and that is to put all the scraps in a bag (or bin) and randomly draw them out to stitch. When you have 20 sets of 'twosies' you sew those together to make a row. It is supposed to be surprisingly beautiful what you end up with so I will throw caution to the wind and take that approach.
I have one Featherweight set up in the card table and I plan on using that for the most part. However, I also have my Gidget table that I can use to alternate machines. I have the pinking attachment on my Centennial (as it waits for a repaired or new bobbin case from April 1930's) but I still have the white 221 and my first one, Annie, who need to be used. I'm sure everything will work out sewing on different machines if I use the same 1/4" foot for consistency. I'm excited to get started.
I have quite a few things to share with you but I have to get around to taking photos first. I've been focusing on our health with the new year so planning, shopping, cooking, and exercising have taken up a lot of sewing time! I did finish the Featherweight sewing pad out of the leftover quilted big-with-pockets pad I made. I love how it looks and I love doing machine binding. I'm getting better at the corners and faster at sewing it down. Next time I want to use a blanket stitch and maybe some thicker Aurifil thread for an accent. So many great machines, tools and techniques to play with, so little time!
Comments