Month Three (March) Ruffled Roses

[Rita C.]

Oh but Dawn is it December ... No wait that's just the weather here! :roll: Seriously though, it's called QT (quilt therapy) I am using it instead of HRT. It has been keeping me occupied and stopping me from wanting to eat my children and do damage to my DH :twisted:

[Margo C.]

:lol: :lol: :lol: Oh Rita!! I SO relate!! :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Jo H.]

Rita, what a beautiful picture to wake up to this morning! I'm loving it.

[Rita C.]

Thanks Jo Jo! Looking forward to seeing your Christmasy one.

[Annis C.]

Very pretty, Rita. I stay stitch 1/8" from the edge on all of my quilt tops. Just make sure your thread tension is good. Sometimes it changes when only sewing through one layer. The machine I'm using now never gives me any trouble but I've had problems in the past with the stitches being too tight and drawing up the outside edge of the quilt.

[Rita C.]

Thanks Annis. That's exactly what was happening - caught it just in time!

[Jo H.]

Very pretty, Rita. I stay stitch 1/8" from the edge on all of my quilt tops. Just make sure your thread tension is good. Sometimes it changes when only sewing through one layer. The machine I'm using now never gives me any trouble but I've had problems in the past with the stitches being too tight and drawing up the outside edge of the quilt.

Annis is very wise in checking the bottom for tension issues. In fact, I think we should all periodically peek under the hood to see how well the stitches are forming. I forgot one time that I had adjusted the pressure on my foot for a specific thread and when I went back to normal sewing, it looked great until I accidentally saw the back of one of the pieces I was sewing and realized that I would have to unsew and resew the units together. Thankfully, it was easy because the back barely caught at all but the funny part was that the top looked fabulous! My machine fooled me. :lol:

[Jo H.]

Wonderful Rita!

[Rita C.]

Thanks Ritzy!

[Pam D.]

Rita, Your quilt is beautiful!!!

[Rita C.]

Thanks Pam Now there is just the terrifying prospect of having to quilt it :? Hand or machine? Both equally exhausting on the hands, shoulders, arms and back. I wish I had one of those snazzy tables with the sewing machine set into it....maybe someday :!:

[Kathryn S.]

Rita, your quilt is beautiful! You must have been working very hard on it, those baskets are not quick to make. I love your outer border. It fits very well with the rest of the quilt. I'm still working on mine- have finished the pieced swag units, only made 2 baskets, and am starting to make 88 circles for the applique blocks ( ). Seeing yours gives me hope!
Kathy

[Rita C.]

Thanks Kathy! Yes all those little circles - I did raw-edged appliqué for mine but I now know that I would prefer to have done needle-turn! So that is one thing I would do differently if ever... It would be great to have one of those Go Baby Dye things.....it's on the list for the someday studio! Good luck with yours. Rita.

[Kathryn S.]

Rita, I'm doing the circles where you baste around the edge and then gather it around a plastic template and press the seam allowances down. Not exactly needle turn, but it gives the turned edge! Lots quicker too, although when I am sewing around the circle it doesn't seem that way. Those GO! cutters make short work of things like this. Remember Alex's quilt with the billions of circles? My mind is boggling at that thought.
Actually, right now I'm making one of those X block quilts (with the X block ruler) for a break from tiny pieces. So progress on Ruffled Roses is not happening this week.
Way to go! If you do the quilting a little at a time, you'll be finished way before the rest of us
Kathy