blog : carolyn friedlander

Hunt QAL #12 Check In.

By carolyn friedlander on May 28, 2020 in Featured on Home, my patterns, Quilt Along, weekend projects | Comments: 6

Hunt QAL #12 Check In.

Month #12, we did it! It’s been a year of Hunt, and I appreciate you following along and joining in. At the start, I really just thought I’d make a quilt top by this point, but to my delight I have an almost half-quilted quilt! Yay!

hunt quilt along quilt . carolyn friedlander

Backing + Basting

To back up a bit, it’s been an eventful month–or it’s at least felt that way. Looking back on the calendar, I see that it hasn’t happened fast, but instead it’s been steady bits here and there that have added up. In my mind I know this to be true, but it’s easy to forget and so this is an encouraging reminder.

Having finished the quilt top middle of last month, I pulled backing options before the start of May. They sat in my studio taunting me until the 17th when I could spend an afternoon sewing them all together.

After my backing was ready, I couldn’t wait to get it basted so I could start quilting it. The anticipation was killing me, and I used that energy to seize on some progress.

It’s worth noting that I had batting ready. Normally, I get to the basting step, and I’m like “oh, batting…” (hand to face emoji.) Glad there wasn’t anything slowing me down here.

My quilting dream for this quilt was to big stitch hand quilt with contrasting sashiko threads. I’ve loved big stitch for years, and I’ve recently been exploring (and loving) using sashiko threads. It felt like the perfect thing for this project, and it’s been on my mind for months.

Supplies

Here’s a look at my current supply situation. Dark green thread (from here or here), my trusty Kai scissors, Olympus needles (although I have a heap of others to try, I’m just in such a groove with this one), a thimble situation I’m pleased with (more below), and light and dark marking tools. Yes, I’m marking.

On a completely superficial note, the thimble situation since my last tool discussion was driving me a little crazy. I LOVE the Clover flexible thimbles, but the pink/purple combo was driving me bonkers. It’s completely ridiculous, I know, but I couldn’t handle it. Looking for other options, I tried these, and love combining one for my index finger, with the Clover blue version on my thumb and then my usual thimble on my middle finger. Joy sparked.

Quilting

The quilting is coming along–like everything else–in bits and pieces that are adding up. It’s the most relaxing way to unwind at night and stitch away on a few rows. I’m doing straight lines, 3″ apart in different directions. If I get tired of going one way, I change it up. This suits my mood, and I think it suits the quilt. I also like that it’s a totally different approach than my previous versions (here and here).

Any time I add hand quilting to my projects, I do it before any machine quilting. This flow works better for me, but it also means that I often think about machine quilting while I’m doing the hand quilting. I’ve had it in mind this whole time as a possibility, and I’ll see how I’m feeling about adding it–or not–when I get there. Today, I’m happy leaving it all hand quilted. It’s just so soft and homey.

Thinking ahead

I’ll continue chugging along, and hopefully I’ll get it quilted by the end of next month. I can’t even believe that I’m halfway through already. The binding is not a settled issue, but I’ll continue to ponder that while stitching away.

Thank you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for following along! How did you feel about this informal, year-long format? I hope that it felt like we were moving along together, and that the check ins provided some accountability without too much stress.

I know it helped me immensely. There’s no way I would have gotten this far or been able to keep myself on track otherwise. I eventually finish things, but it’s the extracurricular projects like this that so easily get pushed to the back burner without some means of accountability. All along I’ve been thinking about how nice it was to have monthly goals for this project, and I’m planning to continue to set a date each month to check in on my progress as this finishes up and with what I pick to work out next.

Pattern: Hunt quilt pattern

Fabrics: Mostly mine from many of my collections. Backing fabric is also mine plus Liberty of London, some sparkly linen and a Robert Kaufman gingham.

See all of the Hunt Quilt Along posts in the summary here!

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#FreshlyQuiltedTP, my TP quilt.

By carolyn friedlander on May 13, 2020 in Featured on Home, Quilt Along, weekend projects | Comments: 2

Have you been following along with the #FreshlyQuiltedTP quilt along that @elisabew and I are hosting? It wraps up this week, and I thought I’d share the progress on my own TP quilt.

TP quilt in progress . carolyn friedlander

Over the weekend I was able to get a lot done on my project. I sorted out my quilt top, got it quilted and now I just need to get the binding on there.

To back up a bit, I was inspired to create a patterned background using some of my patterns (Everglade, Alturas and even Hearts). Many of my appliqué designs have reminded me at times of bathroom tiles, and so in a TP project like this, it seemed fitting!

patterned background . carolyn friedlander

I played with the scale of the designs and used different patterned fabrics to add another visual layer to the experience. I totally got carried away, and as a result I split my motifs into 2 different panels. One is now my TP project, and the other is something I might quilt up on its own. Or maybe I’ll let it get bigger, we’ll see!

pattern background quilts . carolyn friedlander

This project has been a welcome, creative challenge unrelated to anything else that I have going on. I think we all need a good break sometimes, and I hope that this TP quilt along has provided that for you too.

Here’s a look at where I’m planning to hang mine, which is right by my shower. It’s a super small space, but hopefully you get the idea. I normally hang different tea towels that I’ve collected there, and I think this quilt will be a good addition to the rotation.

#FreshlyQuiltedTP quilt . carolyn friedlander

A note on the quilting and construction

All of the TP and patterned background pieces are added via fusible, raw edge appliqué. It’s a speedy technique that can really make you feel like you are painting by numbers, but with fabric.

I used mostly Steam A Seam Lite 2, as well as some Clover fusible that I had on hand. With any fusible product, I use extreme caution to not only keep my iron and ironing surface free of sticky gunk, but also to keep my machine and sewing needle clean.

quilting my TP quilt . carolyn friedlander

Years ago I quilted quilts for other people, and the fusible projects were usually the most stressful. Gummed-up needles are not only bad for stitching, but they can transfer the gunk into your machine. For this reason, I highly recommend cleaning your needle regularly if you are using anything fusible. When I quilted this, I cleaned my needle after every 2-4 passes with an eyeglass cleaner. You could use rubbing alcohol or something similar as well. It seems extreme, but it makes the experience much much easier.

The top is all trimmed up, and my binding is cut and prepped. Hopefully I can get it sewn on tonight.

quilted TP quilt with binding . carolyn friedlander

Want to join in?

If you’d like to join in, there are still a few days left and you can grab a digital pattern to get yourself going. We are using the Java House Quilt pattern, We’re On A Bigger Roll.

To enter your project, post a pic or some pics on instagram using the hashtag #FreshlyQuiltedTP through 5/15/20 so we can find it.

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05/04/20 What I’ve been making

By carolyn friedlander on May 4, 2020 in Featured on Home, weekend projects | Comments: 2

05/04/20 – With so much going on, I appreciate being able to jump between projects depending on my mood. Here’s a look at what I’ve been making lately.

MeMadeMay2020

It’s MeMadeMay, which means it’s also a great time to scope out some good garments that people have been sewing up. (So inspiring!) For me, I’ll be making an effort to share some of my handmade wearables, and here’s one of them. This t-shirt is a new favorite. It started as something else long ago that didn’t work out and has sat in my sewing room ever since. I finally dusted it off and re-cut it into a t-shirt. Pattern is the Jeanne T-Shirt by Ready To Sew. I’m such a fan of this pattern. There are no modifications except that I left off the pocket, and the fabric is from my Blake collection.

TP

Yes, that is toilet paper. If you haven’t heard, @elisabew and I have been hosting a TP quilt along using Java House Quilt’s We’re On a Bigger Roll pattern (deadline is extended to 5/15/20). This has been a low-stress, fun project that has sparked plenty of creativity for me. That’s what a challenge can do sometimes! It can help you think outside of your own box.

Some of my fabric TP is up there, and a bit of my background is below. I’m going a little wild in my background by doing a mashup of some of my own designs–many of which have reminded me of bathroom tiles. This seemed like the perfect way to use them.