End of February, Hello March: One Monthly Goal + Carrie's 2024 Philadelphia Temperatures Quilt Finish

Good morning, my lovelies!  It's the last day of February, time to take stock of what I did and didn't accomplish last month and make plans for the fresh, clean month ahead of me.  First, I'd like to share the quilt that I longarm quilted for my client Carrie.  This is the one I was having issues with thread breaking and shredding, prompting me to spend three days ripping out stitches and then requilt with a different kind of thread and a different quilting design, so I'm extremely relieved that it's done, off my plate, out of my house, and returned to Carrie:

Carrie's 60 x 76 Philadelphia Temperatures Quilt

If you're not familiar with "temperature quilts," the concept is to select fabrics across the color spectrum and assign one fabric color to each temperature range in a particular location, from the coldest temperatures of the year (the blues in Carrie's quilt) to the hottest temperatures (represented by the reds in this example).  Carrie has also used white and a silvery gray to represent snow or rain.  The edge-to-edge quilting design I used on this quilt was Whitney's Pearls Simple, which yields a similar look to the Raindrops On Water design we had originally selected, but without any backtracking quilting stitches that needed to stitch precisely over previously stitched lines of quilting.  Quilters Dream Wool batting is creating that beautiful dimensional texture without weight, making this a soft and snuggly quilt for cuddling despite the density of the quilting.  I used So Fine thread in color Genoa Gray.

Carrie Machine Embroidered Her Temperature Key At the Bottom

Carrie used foundation paper piecing to create the top border titling her quilt and machine embroidered her temperature key on the bottom border.  The many thick, overlapping seam allowances in the FPP top border may have been a contributing factor to the thread breaking constantly, but it wasn't the only culprit as the issue continued throughout the quilt.  I'm going to have my Bernina dealer out to check my hook for burrs before I attempt to quilt anything else.  

A Colonoscopy Quilting Bee For One

In case you were wondering how many hexagon rosettes Rebecca can stitch together in the time it takes a skilled gastroenterologist to perform a routine colonoscopy, the answer is ONE.  Behold, the fruits of my labors:

The Cuteness of the Bunny Rabbit Hexie Rosette!

I will not be sharing the photos of what the GE surgeon accomplished whilst I was stitching, as that would be gross.  😉

I suppose I should clarify that I was not the patient on the receiving end of today's colonoscopy.  I was the wife and designated driver of the patient, forced to endure 3 dreary hours in the hospital waiting room without benefit of any of the fun party drugs they gave to Bernie for his "procedure."  I estimate that it took me somewhere between 1 1/2 to 2 hours to stitch up my bunny rabbit surrounded by stars, and this activity put me in much better spirits than I was in after getting lost in the parking deck and struggling to find my way to the Endoscopy department of the hospital after dropping Bernie off at the front door.  Fun times.  Had I not brought a hand sewing project, I might have bit someone's head off.  Sewing really is a win for everyone.

My collection of hexagon rosettes is growing!  Fourteen completed, 154 more needing to be made.  I keep saying that I should get back to making the blocks for this quilt (or clean the bathroom, or start getting the tax documents ready for our accountant).  And then I decide that I shall definitely do all of those important things... Right after I make just one more cute little rosette.

14 Finished Hexie Rosettes!  154 More to Go

In other news, there is a quilt on my long arm frame.  It is a 2024 temperature quilt top made by one of my favorite clients, and it was impeccably pieced but it has been giving me some grief and forcing me to spend more alone time with my seam ripper than I would like.  😬. 

Spiral Quilting on Carrie's Temperature Quilt

I am experiencing thread breaks and shredding when the quilting direction is traveling up and towards the back left corner of the frame.  I have tried all of the usual remedies, like new needle, larger needle, different type of needle, tension adjustments, looser tension on the quilt sandwich, silicone thread lubricant, changing to a different thread (hence four days of ripping out the first row of quilting using the other thread).  Then today I thought to have Bernie check the positioning of the leveling "dead bar" -- that's the bar in the photo above with the tape measure attached -- and it was mounted too high, but even after adjusting it my thread shredding issues persist.  Super annoying.  It's possible something needs tweaking with my longarm frame after transporting and reassembling it after the move, but when I had issues like this several years ago it was caused by a burr (tiny scratch) on my machine's hook and I needed my Bernina dealer to diagnose that and buff it out for me.  

Happy Valentine's Day! I Love You More...

Happy Valentine's Day!  Y'all, I have been holding onto photos of this quilt for over a year because I wanted to use it for a timely Valentine's Day post, and then I forgot all about it last Valentine's Day.  Then I forgot about it again this year, until I was drinking my coffee this morning and realized that Valentine's Day is already NOW.  No time like the present, no day like today, and here we go --

My friend Marybeth made this sweet 36" x 36" Valentine's Day table topper quilt and I quilted it for her in September of 2024 using Karlee Porter's "I Love You More" edge-to-edge quilting design to really lean into the holiday theme and make the quilt feel like a Valentine.

36 x 36 Valentine's Day Table Topper Quilt Made by Marybeth, Quilted by Moi

This is one of those quilting designs that looks scary busy when you're looking at a black and white line drawing of the design, but as you can see here, the quilting can still be quite subtle if you use the right thread.  I used one of my favorite "supporting actress" quilting threads here, So Fine 50 wt matte polyester thread in color Blizzard from Superior Threads (this blog post contains affiliate links).  Notice in the photo below that even though Blizzard is a bright white matched to Marybeth's white background fabric, the thinness of So Fine thread causes the stitching to "take on" a lot of the color from the other fabrics.  So on those pink triangle patches, the white thread looks like it's the exact same shade of pink, and even where the white thread crosses dark red fabric, the contrast isn't drastic because the white thread looks more pink there than pure white.  

So Fine Thread Disappears Into the Fabrics

So Fine is a matte (not shiny) polyester thread that resembles cotton.  In fact, in lighter colors, the look of So Fine is indistinguishable from cotton in my opinion.  However, polyester is a lot stronger than cotton thread of a comparable weight would be, so even though this is a very fine, skinny thread, it's still plenty strong even for quilts that will be heavily used and frequently laundered.  These qualities would also make So Fine thread a great choice for English paper piecing or for hand or machine appliqué projects.  

And Then There Were Eight: More Hexie Rosettes for Stonefields Quilt Border

Greetings from the Land of the Ice and Snow, formerly the Carolinas!  I've been making the most of my snow days, continuing with the hexie rosettes for my Stonefields Quilt borders.  These little rosettes are addictive because they turn out so differently depending on the fabrics selected and how they are used in the rosettes.  Two alternating fabrics for petals?  Similar or contrasting?  All petals the same fabric?  Cut randomly, or "fussy cut" to capture a specific motif from the fabric print?  Each little rosette has its own personality.  So fun!

8 Hexie Rosettes Finished, 160 to Go

I am enjoying the hexie rosettes so much that I will probably be sad when I have enough for my quilt and stop making them.  It will feel like right after you I've eaten the last Godiva truffle out of the box, and I really REALLY want just one more bite of chocolate but they are all gone...  (Note to self: order Godiva truffles for Valentine's Day.  Note to readers: This blog post will contain affiliate links).  

I did manage to get out to my favorite local quilt shop with my friend Marybeth in between the ice storm and the snow storm, on the one afternoon when the roads were passable.  Several of my neighbors timidly ventured out to stock up on groceries or to fill their prescriptions, but I know how to set PRIORITIES when there's a winter weather advisory.  I drove past at least eight grocery stores on our way to the quilt shop.