I am back from our guild‘s quilting retreat. Today was the first day I have gotten to use my computer since Friday morning. It was an emotional reunion, which left me questioning my dependency on technology, but that’s a different discussion.
Anyway, the retreat was wonderful, partly because my best friend Gillian, flew from Boston to join Jane and I in our cabin! On Saturday, we stopped sewing at midnight and the three of us stayed up talking in our cabin long enough to watch the time change. But then it didn’t, and I thought my phone was messed up, but it turned out we’d actually talked past the time change and it was NEW 2am, not OLD 2am and I haven’t had a voice since, but it was totally worth it.
At the retreat, I had two goals: finish my urban lattice top, and finish my bento box top, and I finished both!! Thrilled, beyond measure, guys.
Now I need to whip up some backs for these suckers. The bento box will be something simple because I want to make sure I get it to a long-armer in time to get it back for the holiday. The urban lattice may get something a bit more complicated, but we’ll see!
I finished both tops Saturday (in time for voice-removing slumber party style chatter session) and so for Sunday, I decided to face the dragon quilt of doom, as I fondly call the quilt I have worked up for my niece. I want to try thread sketching/doodling/drawing for the quilt but I seriously suck lack skill with free motion quilting.
Last time I tried FMQ, I sewed my quilting foot into my quilting..multiple times. It was a special thing, because everyone I’ve talked to has no idea how I did that, and *I* certainly have no idea how I did that, so I was a bit scared of the whole thing. However, I recently picked up a supreme slider, and holy cow, that made a huge difference! I’m actually thinking I might try FMQ again.
By the end of Sunday, I had started getting the hang of the thread sketching, AND drawn enough dragons that I finally figured out how to draw the face the way I wanted. So double score for the dragon quilt of doom! Now I just need to design the dang thing.
What could possibly go wrong?
Linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.
44 thoughts on “Re-entry”
Well done. Both tops are pretty and you certainly had a great time. Win win.
Thank you! It really was a great weekend. I think I’ve almost recovered from it! 😉
I love both your quilt tops – absolutely beautiful! But, it’s your dragon I’m in love with! He’s fantastic 🙂
Thanks so much! I have a bunch of really unattractive dragons that I made before I got to that guy that I conveniently didn’t show. 😉 I am really in love with thread sketching now!
Damn girl, you work fast! I love the Bento box quilt – it’s so light and fresh – it has quite a summery vibe to it for me. If your Dad doesn’t love the Urban Lattice quilt (which I highly doubt), feel free to send it my way. Must. attack. navy. stash. now.
Also, your dragon FMQ sketch is incredible. Wow. Your niece is going to freak out.
The bento box took me a year and a half to get to that point, so not THAT fast. 😉 I went to the retreat with all the blocks for both quilts, with the goal of getting them into a top.
I’m pretty sure my dad will want the urban lattice, but just in case, I will totally keep you in mind! And get going with those navies! 😀
I hope my niece is happy with it! You never know with kids. It always seems like they prefer something that would be way easier but I don’t like as much. 🙂
Anne, I think that bento box has turned out spectactularly! It’s so fresh and light, and blue and calm and scrappy, but coherent. Love it! Your lattice is super nice, your dad will definitely love – its very manly.
And you had best be making something with that “practice” dragon, because it is the cutest thing I have ever seen!! I want him!! Either poking off the side of a quilt or as a coordinating pillow. But promise you’ll use him somewhere. (and scan a copy of him as a line drawing for future use ;-))
E xx
Thanks so much, Erin! I don’t dislike the quilt as much as I did when I was putting the boxes together, so that’s a good thing! Hopefully when it’s a finished quilt I’ll be back to loving it. 😀 I am really stuck for what to do with the back. I want something simple, so I guess I just need to find 2 or 3 prints I like to hodge podge together, and not try anything fancy? It’s going to a long-armer and I hear it’s best to keep the backs simple.
The practice dragon is made on fabric I’m not that fond of, but maybe he’ll show up on the back of her quilt. 🙂 I wonder if I could get a label in his mouth somehow.
love the tops! Very impressed at your productivity! And YAY Gillian!!!!
Thanks! It almost makes up for the fact that I haven’t completed a quilt since July! 😉
Gillian being around was a serious yay! I still have no voice. I guess I used my month’s worth of talk time already. 🙂
I love the urban quilt, very striking.
Thank you Barbara! I’m really pleased with how graphic it turned out. I think I will continue the graphic style onto the back as well. 🙂
I love the dragon! His/Her? face is just fabulous. I can’t wait to see what you do in a quilt!
Thanks Ruth! I still have quite a bit of designing to do, but I am definitely getting more ideas about the whole thing. I suppose I should start finalizing if I’m going to get it done in time for Christmas…
Your Bento Box has turned out beautifully! And you were so worried about it. 🙂 I thought I spied a dragon’s eye on your Flickr site the other day. The dragon is looking good and I love your lattice top, too. You’ve been going like a house afire!
Oh, thank you Pat! I am much happier with it now than when I started, for sure! I’m still looking forward to it going away for a while to be quilted, though. 😉 And yes, I did post the closeup of the eye! I was really having fun with the sketching thing once I started getting the hang of it! It’s amazing what you can get done when you have 48 hours straight of sewing. 😉 (Well with a little sleeping I guess!)
I love both of your quilt tops and your dragon looks excellent!
Thank you, Cheryl! Sadly, I am kind of stuck for ideas for the backs of the quilts, which I need to figure out sooner, rather than later. 🙂
both quilts are stunning! i wouldn’t mind trying to make both of those!
Oh you should! The urban lattice is MUCH faster than the bento box, though. Although I suppose that’s partly because it’s smaller as well. Anyway, point being, you should try them. 😀 I’d love to see what you did with the patterns!
I love both of your quilt tops. Your color choices are beautiful. I love the dragon sketch!
Thank you, Yvonne! The colors of the bento box were chosen around my bedroom color (pale blue) and the urban lattice was based around wanting to work with navy (and keeping the colors appropriate for a guy). 🙂 Thank you so much for the compliment!
Awesome! I really like the Lattice quilt. Beautiful. Is the dragon pictured, a pencil or thread sketch? Either way, the FMQ sketching is looking good. 🙂
Thank you! Hopefully my dad likes the lattice quilt as well. 🙂 The dragon pictured is a thread sketch, although I did sketch it lightly in pencil first so I knew where to “draw” with the thread. 🙂
All gorgeous work but my favorites are the bento box (so many fabrics!) and the super great dragon!
Thanks Sarah! The bento box quilt was my “dissertation quilt”. I collected fabrics while I was writing my thesis as a carrot. “You can work on a quilt with these fabrics when you finish your thesis!” When I finally finished and started working on the quilt, I had collected something like 92 fabrics. O.o lol
I love the Urban Lattice quilt! I did not realize how large the block was. And the bento is amazing!!
Thank you! The diamonds in the urban lattice are made up of four 12″ blocks, so it comes together really fast. 🙂 It makes for a large-scale but striking pattern for sure!
Your dragon looks amazing! I might have to try the super slider thing too. My Juki has a super long bed, but it could be more slippery.
Thanks Mary! The supreme slider was pretty expensive, but it made a world of difference for me. I have a small harp and my quilting foot is really a darning foot, so I need all the help I can get. 😉
Your Urban Lattice is gorgeous.
Thank you! I really love how quickly the design comes together. I might have to make another one of these. 🙂
Dragon is delightful.
Thanks so much, Jenny! After sketching dragons for what feels like weeks straight, I’m happy to have finally settled on a face design I like!
Both of your quilts are amazing! I love the boldness of the Urban Lattice. the Bento is just wonderful! Love the mixture of soft colors! Looks like a nice quilt too!
Thanks so much, Joanie! 🙂 The urban lattice is much more graphic than I originally though it would be, but I really love that it came out the way it did. 🙂 The bento box changed a lot when I cut up the squares, and I think it was a good change. 🙂 I just wish I had some idea of what to do for the back of the bento!
Yay!! Your bento looks amazing! Great job on both of them. And your dragon, awesome!
Yay!! Thanks so much! I’m really excited about both of these (and still somewhat intimidated by the dragon quilt, but hopefully that will fade when I get a design nailed down). Not too excited about making backs, though. lol
Oh, Brava!!! Both of your tops are wicked cool. 😀
Thanks Lynette! 😀 A good friend of mine moved to California from Vermont, and she’s the only person I’ve heard say “wicked” before. 🙂 I like that turn of phrase!
Love, love your quilt tops! Two great finishes…..and the thread sketching is so amazing!!! Can’t say I ever tried that, but it really looks awesome. Sounds like a fun weekend:)
You’re so sweet, Paula, thank you! 😀 You should try thread sketching!! It’s just like FMQing except that small stitches are okay and to be expected. lol It is really cool with appliqué too. 🙂
The blocks for the lattice top are huge! The effect is very cool once the blocks are together too. I love the crazy calm of the bento box top and am glad you are making something for you 🙂 Good luck on the doom dragon.
Yah they are! They’re bigger than I expected, for sure. 🙂 Each quarter of a block is 12″, so a full diamond is 2’x2′. I just finished the back to this last night. The person long arming my crazy bento box quilt had a sweet deal, so I’m actually sending this one out as well. Woo hoo! That just leaves the Dragon Quilt of Doom. 🙂