Tag: Wonderfil GlaMour thread

Galactic Quilt Done and Hung

Turkey Tracks: May 22, 2020

Galactic Quilt Done and Hung

I LOVE THIS QUILT.

Tara Faughnan designed this quilt block and chose the color palette for this project in her online class hosted by Sewtopia, The Color Collective, season 2. How we used the colors was up to each maker.

I hand quilted with the Wonderfil GlaMour rayon/metallic 12 weight thread that Tara Faughnan also used on her Galactic quilt. I used 5 different colors—and justified that cost by the fact that I have a smaller block version that I’ll quilt with it as well. And…just because we all need some treats in the middle of a pandemic where we are “staying home.” I also used a Tulip Sashiko needle (found online easily)—the thin, coated version.

I knew from the beginning that I wanted a wall hanging for a wall on a stairwell landing between two floors. Galactic replaced these duck prints—and it’s so nice not to have to think how I can make these pics hang straight anymore:

It’s hard to get a good picture of a quilt hanging in a stairwell, but…

Galactic just draws one right up those stairs.

Thanks, Tara Faughnan, for this one!

Now, on to the next project in this class.

Turkey Tracks: Wonderfil Glamour Thread

May 2, 2020

How did it get to be May already???

Wonderfil Glamour Thread

I’m handquilting the Galactic wall hanging quilt now with Wonderfil Glamour thread, as shown by Tara Faughnan on Instagram. The Galactic quilt is a project in Tara Faughnan’s season 2 online class hosted by Sewtopia (Amy Newbold) . Glamour is a 12-weight rayon thread with a metallic strand.

These are the thread colors I’m using for this project. The orange one was risky—it’s so hard to tell real colors from an internet picture—but it is working out well I think.

I saw a magazine ad for the Tulip sashiko needles and wondered if they would be a good idea for this heavier weight thread in a quilt. I found them online (Fat quarter shop). And, yes, I think these needles are a good idea. However, I did find I needed a learning curve to handle the needle and the fabric to get smaller stitches. This is the THIN coated needle, and you can see the bigger eye helps NOT to fray the thread.

Here, you can see that my stitches started out bigger and gradually begin to get smaller. I don’t mind as there is a certain funkiness about this quilt anyway. And I do like the way the thread shines in the quilt.

Here, you can see the progression starting to go from big stitches to smaller ones. See the bottom rows in this picture. My first rows were…BIG stitches.

Now, look how pretty. I am just keeping the quilting simple—straight lines on a diagonal.

I hand quilt at night while watching tv. Someone thinks it’s time for him to go outside to drop his britches. Afterwards, he will decide that it is time for us to go to bed—all of which involves teasing wallowing on me.

Turkey Tracks: Self-Distancing Days

Turkey Tracks:  March 28, 2020

Self-Distancing Days

I hope this finds you all doing well.

I am doing fine.  Here are some recent pics from recent days.

I finished these two knit tops—the fabric was bought last spring and has been sitting in the garment pile.  The brown sweater is the Sew House Seven Toaster Sweater, version 2.  I made several tops from an earlier Simplicity pattern, 8529, that is this same idea.  Sew House, though, incorporated some really nice finishing touches, which makes the “boat” top much nicer.  The sleeve is more sleek in that it does not have a cuff.  BUT, the brown version was not as long as the Simplicity, and I liked that longer length.  So, I made the blue version longer and dramatically longer in the back.  It fits like a dream.

This knit dress is next in line and ready to go.  It’s the Caroline Out and About Knit dress from Sew Caroline.  My first version was made in a grey jersey—and I did some altering where the bodice meets the skirt.  I’ve incorporated that knowledge into the pattern—along with raising the location of the pockets.  We’ll see how this goes.  I love the grey dress, so suspect I’ll love this one too.

If the above project goes well, then I’ll cut into this EXPENSIVE organic cotton and repeat the dress there.

Finishing the olive knit dress will leave one more garment to make.  A summer rayon batik dress.  Then I WILL BE CAUGHT UP on purchased garment fabrics.  I am wondering if I can get a summer knit top with leftovers from the brown or blue strips.  But…that will be play.

Here are quilts all ready to be quilted.  The box of thread is Wonderfil’s GalMour, which is a rayon metallic thread that should just be wonderful in the top quilt, Galactic.  I started down that path after seeing what this quilt’s designer used—Tara Faughnan for The Color Collective.

Here’s the design wall at the moment.  The right hand project is Gudrun Erla’s quilt project, Elvira.  I’ve never made a quilt with BIG pieces of fabric, and I have no idea if I will like or dislike or finish this one.  There is something catchy about it though, and it is certainly a stash buster.  Bonnie Hunter did a version which you can see on her blog.  Getting the diagonal line installed was easy after all the 60 degree long cabin blocks I’ve been making with The Color Collective projects, as in the smaller ones on the left of the design wall.  The middle project is “Gumdrops” from The Color Collective, an English Paper Piecing project.

 

 

AC and I have been out every day.  Here are some recent videos of a walk in some nearby woods.  Listen for the wind in the trees—it was just roaring yesterday.

 

Turkey Tracks: Social Distancing: Ongoing Sewing Projects

Turkey Tracks:  March 20, 2020

Social Distancing:  Ongoing Sewing Projects

I’m ok.

I hope you all are all ok too.

I am social distancing.  AC and I go every possible day to the woods, to the beach, and to the grocery store as needed.  I am connected to friends and family a good chunk of each day via technology.  Except for worrying about getting the virus in a serious way, about family or friends getting it and not faring well, and about my seriously diminishing stock portfolio, I am peaceful.  I am enjoying all my sewing projects.  It’s good to see ongoing planned projects getting finished.  And working with my hands is, as always, soothing.

I am reminded that life is what it is, that we have to take it as it comes, and we can do that with joy and purpose and some laughter, or we can just let it all overwhelm us.  That’s a spectrum, of course.  I’m sure I hit the highs and lows of it every day, but mostly I’m…ok.

Here are some of my ongoing sewing projects:

The Galactic wall hanging top is finished, layered, pinned, and waiting for obtaining some Wonderfil GlaMour thread—a rayon with a metallic strand—that designer Tara Faughnan used and loved.  Marge Hallowell at Mainely Sewing is going to carry this thread.  I am hoping she can mail me some.  I LOVE this quilt and this pattern.  Tara Faughnan designed it and curated the fabrics in THE COLOR COLLECTIVE online class by Amy Newbold’s Sewtopia.

I am also playing with a two-round smaller version with the extra fabrics I have.  I have no idea where this project is going.  Play without a goal is important too.

Here is Gumdrops—another Tara Faughnan project from The Color Collective.  The blocks are English Paper Pieced, and we learned how to use a cardstock that one’s printer would take to make the six different patterns.  I’m making a wall hanging with this one too—probably about 30 wide by 30-40 long, with three staggered rows.  I will, of course, move blocks around a whole lot more as each combo gets finished.  I hand sew at night while watching tv.

I’ll be layering and pinning the solid scrappy trip/granny quilt from Then Came June (Checkered Garden) today.  I want to diagonal grid quilt it on a domestic, but will pin it on the longarm.  I loved Then Came June’s version and thought it would be a good use for the solid scraps I have.  It’s bright and wild.  And maybe that’s it’s name?

I cleaned and oiled my serger over the holidays—and replaced the knives.  There’s a blog post on that project.  It’s running like a dream.  But I’ve been having so much fun with quilty projects that I have not circled back to making garments.  There is a pile of knits to be used.  I cut out two tops this week.  Here is the Linden Sweatshirt from Grainline.  I made this top a while back and wear it a lot, so will enjoy this one as well.  This top can be hacked to make other interesting tops.  There is a short-sleeved version as well.  I wear it both layered with a high-neck t-shirt and all by itself when the weather is a bit warmer.  This particular jersey knit is so, so, so soft on the skin.

Be well!

Take care of yourselves!