Quilt Along is Back, Vacation week # 5

June 6, 2012  Vacation wk #5

Vacation is over and now back to the quilt alongs with Leah Day !

I have missed the Quilt Alongs with Leah in the Month of May, however, it sure was fun to have her for our guest teacher over at the 2012 FMQ challenge!  Enjoyed those new stipple patterns! 

This last week of vacation I have been working on finishing an Applique` quilt I started some time ago.  I have applied some of the techniques I learned from assorted teachers and incorporated not only the technique, but worked on improving my application of those skills into this quilt.  Thank you Eleanor Burns, Don Linn, Diane Guadynski, Cindy Needham, Sharon Schamber, Ricky Tims, Alex Anderson and our Quilt-Along Leader, Leah Day. Thank you all for sharing what you have learned in your writings, in your classes and over the internet !  Over the years you have inspired me, as well as stretched me to do my best, teaching me to not only enjoy what I am doing, but to enjoy the journey of creating as well as what I create, and I have seen improvement not only in the finished work, but you have taught me to enjoy the process along the way! 

Applique borders are ready for quilting

 Choosing Thread color ~  my samples became mug rugs

I used a Clover blue marker I bought at our new Joanns that opened last week in my area!  I was disappointed it ran out of ink before I finished marking the quilt!  How much mileage do you gals get out of one marker?  Leah, can you shed some light on this subject?  How to store them, use, and mileage we can expect to get from one?  I had to move to the yellow chalk liner to complete marking so I could get back to quilting.  Now the yellow was much harder on the eyes to see!

After quilting blocks, time to remove the blue marks.  The Clover marker says to remove marks within two weeks time.

While washing each piece after the quilting was done, to remove the blue marks, well, I had one red fabric whose color ran!  Oh my, if it ever happened to you, then you know how disappointing it is!  I used to wash all my fabrics before using them, but found I really liked the way the unwashed fabrics handled better, and have never had a problem with colors running, till now.  I thought about using a color catcher, but the chemicals in the catcher may interfere with the marker being released from the fabric, so I did not use one.   After many soakings in clear water, I do believe all the extra red dye is released!  Having said that, before I do the assembling of this quilt, I will soak the blocks in question again, just to be sure ~ and this time I can include a color catcher as the ink from the marker is now removed !

This is a photo of one of the borders I just finished quilting.  Here I used a blue EZ color pencil.  Now to go see how difficult the EZ color water erasable pencil marks are to remove.

  I have 1 border yet to complete the quilting on. There still remains some hand stitching and embroidery along with beadwork before the whole quilt is assembled using a technique Leah taught us in an earlier quilt along # 7, connecting the pieces.

Update photo on momma Robin in our silk flower grapevine wreath outside my studio window.  Here on day 15 (counting from the first egg layed in the nest), you see my firstborn grandson viewing the babies in their soft downy feathers. Love my grandsons ~ they are my joy!  Thank you Lord for them.

* Update on the EZ blue water washable pencil.... The marks are very difficult to remove!  I had applied one layer of starch before marking, quilted the piece over two days, and then soaked for an hour in clear cool water.  Even scrubbing with a soft brush still has not removed some of the marks.  So I will let it soak longer and update later.

Onto the next border, this time I used heavy starch, making the border quite stiff before marking.  The EZ blue pencil does not apply very well on this surface, as the starch seems to create a surface where the pencil slides on top of, which hopefully translates into easier to remove marks later :)  

Enjoy ~

Godspeed,

mary