zig-zag

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Girly Zig-Zag

Well, I’ll say one thing in favor of making the same quilt several times over: it gets faster every time.  Or, at least, that’s the case with Amanda Jean‘s no-triangle zig-zag.

Pink & Purple Zig-Zag

I cut, pieced, and assembled the entire top during our retreat on that delightful little Featherweight.  It was only too funny doing it in the presence of the person who wrote the tutorial.  She could scarcely believe that I was able to put it together so fast, and without laying out the whole thing.  I assure you, the first time I made it, I had every piece laid out on my guest bed, and put it together one seam at a time.  I was terrified to move it, as I was sure I’d lose my place or put it together wrong.  The second time, I set out the rows carefully and did them one at a time, but didn’t have to lay it all out at once.  This time, I chain-pieced the whole thing.  It was a little ridiculous.

Pink & Purple Zig-Zag

Anyways, it was a commissioned quilt made for my friend’s mother, as a gift for a new baby.  She requested pinks, lavenders, and creams (the cream fabric in between each row is actually a subtle print, not a solid, which gives it a warmer look close-up).  The back, on specific request from the purchaser, is a small pink print. (Hard to see, photos were taken quickly and in less-than-ideal light.)

As with anything I’ve done multiple times, I’m now ready to put the pattern aside for a while.  But it really is a great one, so I imagine I may come back to it again someday.

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Amy is hosting an online Quilt Festival over at her blog, and a few hundred folks have already joined in.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to play. I’ve blogged nearly every quilt I’ve ever made, which has all been over the course of the last year or so.  Plus, it’s hard to pick a favorite.  But I think I’m going to go with the one I made for the unnamed-at-the-time Marcella, my friend Mallory’s baby girl.

Zig-zag quilt front - vertical

I was really happy with the way this one turned out.  I loved the zig-zag, I loved the colors.  And I am so happy I started over and made this one instead of the original.  The first attempt was a total failure. It sort of worked in theory, but ended up being ugly as sin.  Not to mention totally against my personal taste, which was only just developing (still is, but there was a steep jump last spring in finding out what I like and don’t like).  I’m glad I trusted my gut and made this one, instead.

Zig-zag quilt - backing

I loved it so much, I barely wanted to let it go.  But I am so happy it is being used and loved by a sweet little baby girl (and I still get to see it, from time to time).

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I mentioned last week that I would have another finished quilt to show off with nearly identical fabrics. Two different people asked me to make baby boy quilts in blues and browns, and I’m all about efficiency, right? This second one was a custom order from my husband’s aunt, who I knew we’d be seeing in Florida this weekend, so it was the perfect time to finish it.

Brown & Blue Zig Zag - Front

I think I liked the no-triangle zig-zag pattern even better the second time around. For some reason, it didn’t feel like it took as long as the first time, and I would definitely make it again at some point. I did make it a hair smaller, starting with 2.75″ strips instead of 3″, only because it made fitting the backing and binding a little easier (the last time, I just barely had enough with a crib-sized batting). The finished size pre-washing was about 42×52″. The solid blue on the front is Kona Cotton in either Sky or Cloud (again, not that I would be smart enough to write such things down).  The solid brown on the back is Kona Cotton in Espresso (that one I’m pretty sure of) with a strip of little squares of the prints from the front..

Brown & Blue Zig Zag - Back

I fell in love with two new things in the making of this quilt.  The first is basting spray.  Thank you so much to the people who suggested it when I was having such trouble with my walking foot.  It was nothing short of awesome. The process wasn’t too hard, and I added a few pins just for my own peace of mind.  There was dramatically less distorting. Arguably this was a more forgiving style of straight-line quilting, in that there were no crossed/overlapping lines, I still think it was a major improvement and will definitely use it again. And I was really happy with the way the blue quilting lines showed up on the dark brown backing.

Brown & Blue Zig Zag - Binding

The second new love was one of necessity. As I was packing everything up to take to Florida to finish, I could not for the life of me find brown thread. As anyone with toddlers can attest, things tend to go missing. So I grabbed some cream-colored thread and threw it in the bag, and figured it was time to make the switch to ladder stitch for my binding. Holy crap. I was doing little tiny stitches before that were hard to see, but I was a little worried at how well they’d hold things down, and they were still, technically, visible.  This thing is no-joke invisible! I mean you have to really look closely and start pulling at things to see the stitches.  And I didn’t find that it took all that much longer than what I was doing before, so another win.

Brown & Blue Zig Zag - Folded

Sewing has to go on the back burner this week as I need to use the precious naptime to frantically price and tag three huge bins full of clothes and other stuff for my Moms of Twins Club’s semi-annual tag sale.  But as soon as I finish, I’ll jump right back in!

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I have about seven more sewing days before I leave, so let’s check in on my self-imposed quilting marathon!

The big pink and brown ragged square quilt for Mary is now basted and I’ve started the wrestling match that is quilting it. Squares with a walking foot on a twin-sized quilt with my machine? Let’s just say I’m making liberal use of the “reverse” button so I don’t have to cram quite as much of it in there.  But, slowly, I’m making good progress. Barring any unforseen derailment, it should be quilted and almost-bound in plenty of time to come with me to Chicago.

Quilting in progress

Yes, Mary, I’m taking it with me. Maybe I’ll even ship it straight to you from there! Hope you like the block preview. :-)

Pink/Brown Ragged Square blocks

I also have the fabric cut for two more ragged-square quilts, a request from Marie N for her boy/girl twins.  They’re small, so I’ve got a shot at making them before I leave, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.

Red Ragged Square Cuts

After this, I think I’m going to have to take a break from this pattern.  It’s awfully cute and kids like the raw edges, but I’m ready to do something different.

Blue Ragged Square Cuts

Other than that, I just need to make sure I pack enough needles, the right color thread, and supplies to make a few labels so that I can be well and truly done with these by the time I get back home!

Neptune squares cut for zig-zag

Oh. Ahem. That.  Well, it was raining this afternoon. I may have put on a movie for the kids and sat with them while I cut my squares for the ORBCo zig-zag quilt-along.  Heh.  I’ll likely get several weeks behind on this one, what with leaving town and all, but it’s started.  I’m committed.  Or, you know, maybe I should be committed. Whatever.

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Because I’m a glutton for punishment and having five projects on my to-do list, I decided to add two three more. Gah!  As it is, I finally have all of the fabrics I needed for Mary‘s daughter’s quilt, and have started putting the blocks together. Mary, hope you like the little preview!

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As for new stuff, I couldn’t resist joining the next project that has grown out of the Old Red Barn Co quilt-along: zig-zags! I’ve done a zig-zag before, of course (the baby for whom it was destined arrived yesterday, welcome to the world, Marcella!). And I have another one on my to-do list (a “commissioned” quilt for my husband’s aunt). But the ORBCo version will actually be done with half-square triangles. Plus, I’ve got a fat quarter bundle of Neptune just begging to be used.  I think I’m going to do two small (40″ square) quilts, one a little more girly and one a little more boyish.  Yes, I have boy/girl twins and a thing for fairness and symmetry, why do you ask?  Thankfully, though, these have no particular deadline, so they can get bumped down in the priority list if they need to be.

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And finally, I’ve joined my very first swap!  I’m doing the DQS7, and I’m both excited and totally nervous. What if the person I get is actually a REALLY good quilter and I send my lame beginner stuff and they’re really disappointed?  Gah!  But I’m looking forward to having an excuse to try something new and send it to someone who will hopefully enjoy it.  We’ll get our “assignments” next week, so I look forward to trying to figure out what my partner likes and figuring out what swaps are all about.

In the meantime, I’ve got two nearly-finished items on the pile for the trip to Chicago.  Binding attached, all it needs is the hand-sewing on the back.  It’s the nine-patch quilt and a cute little sock monkey baby quilt for my friend’s second son, due to arrive in the next week or two.

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I’ve got (theoretically) 12 more sewing days until we leave… we’ll see how much more can get added to that pile! I’m hoping for at least one more, but who knows what life will throw my way in the meantime.

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So, it turns out I was justified in my paranoia, and the recipient of the purple & green quilt was, in fact, reading along as I was sewing. No worries. I think she liked it. And I know I sure did.

Zig-zag quilt front - vertical

Like isn’t strong enough. I love this quilt enough that I had a hard time parting with it. The pattern was fun and enough of a challenge to be interesting, but not actually terribly difficult. I love the colors and the white sashing, and the fact that I managed some semblance of order in my stripe layout (can you see it?).

Zig-zag quilt front - horizontal

I adore the back. The scraps were meant to be a variety of widths, but I don’t think the variation in size was large enough, so it just looks like I might have messed up. If you can actually look closely enough to see that some are smaller than others. Oh well. Love it, anyways.

Zig-zag quilt - backing

I’m even happy with my little label, and the excuse to use one of the pretty decorative stitches on my sewing machine. And my obsession with striped binding, apparently, continues. Whatever. It totally works.

Zig-zag quilt - label and binding

I could point out imperfections, of course. But I won’t bother. It’s pretty and big and soft and yummy. I’m really happy with it, and I hope a certain little girl (due to join us in the next few weeks) will use it and abuse it. That’s what it’s for.

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