Cardinal Quilt, It Is Finished....

The Cardinal Quilt was finished in plenty of time for Christmas.  Here's a pic:

The long-arm quilter did an awesome job making this quilt look good.  All those areas that did't quite want to lay flat do now.  The quilting design is an overall swirl done in gray.  The backing is a cuddle suede and was very easy to work with.

I'm fairly sure that many of these beautiful quilt kits were sold.  I'm fairly sure that there were most likely many frustrated people also.  Here are my lessons learned from this type of quilt kit:

1.  Find the instructions before purchasing and make sure that the directions are fairly good.  Don't follow blindly.
2.  Measure the center panel and make sure it is square (you know I didn't do this).
3.  I don't enjoy the point-on-point squares.  (maybe this is a practice issue)
4.  Measure, measure, measure!

The long-arm quilter said that the majority of the issues that I had making this quilt was that the center panel wasn't the measurement indicated.  It was a little bit smaller in the middle which made it bow just a little bit.  Of course, I wanted the point-on-point squares to be perfect and most likely stretch them in my attempts.  That made a bit of cupping.  The wonders of quilting and washing making all that disappear.

Things I would do differently:

1.  Bias Binding instead of the straight cut.  Hopefully, it will be okay but in the long run I think that the bias binding will last longer.


Happy Sewing!

Finally Moving Toward Stitching....

The garden and house repairs have been keeping me busy.  However, there is rarely a day goes by that I'm dreaming of sewing something.  Remember this quilt kit:

Yeah, my two months of sneaking sewing has turned into one month.  Sunday, I finally got the fabric washed and I was hoping that all was well because I tossed everything in together and washed it.  Red and black with white and green isn't necessarily a good combination for the first washing of fabric but since they are to be together, I risked it and it was fine.  Monday, I pressed all the fabric.  I'm hoping today to get the fabric cut out and ready for stitching.  Maybe my sneaky stitching will be at work as it is much cooler there.

I did end up placing another order with McCall's for the Vogue patterns that I was wanting.  I purchased this dress:

This is such a 70s look. I couldn't resist it.  This is V9124.  The best part is I had this fabric in the stash:

...and I think it will be perfect for this dress.  I will be going with View C.  I have plenty of this fabric to make the dress.  This is not part of the 6-pac sewing as it isn't part of the color scheme that I will be using.  The fabric is some kind of knit.  It has a gauzy appearance.  I can't remember what project this was purchased for but it will be a fun fall garment.   In looking at the pattern description, it states that it uses a bias neck binding.  I think I will just use the cross-wise grain as it should be the stretchiest and I don't think knits really have a bias option.  One of the listed fabrics is a jersey.  I need to read through the directions and see if there is anything different about using the knit.  I need to purchase buttons and a belt.  I think I have thread already.

So, I guess my plan for this week will be to work on the quilt during the day at work for an hour or so and then work on the dress at home in the evening.  I wonder if I can actually accomplish this task.

Happy Sewing!

Cardinal Quilt Kit Finally Arrived....

This is the first time in a very long time that I have ordered a quit kit.  It was ordered on May 1 and it just arrived.  Here's a picture of what is is suppose to look like upon completion:

I'm hoping to have this the top finished by late summer so that it can be quilted before Christmas as it is suppose to be a gift.  The finished size is 66 1/2" x 84 1/2".  I'm planning to get a black cuddle fabric for the back but haven't purchased it yet.  I suppose that can wait until the top is finished.  One of my friends uses cuddle fabric for the back of all of her quilts.  I'm sure she will help me with the any issues that might come up.

Wish me luck!  Two months of sneaky sewing might be hard.  All of my equipment will have to moved from the basement to the sewing room where is will be hot even if the air conditioner going.

Happy Stitching!