Stash Bash, part 3

So after shopping fun and finishing up my bento, I moved on to the tumbler quilt I am making for my nephew. Now, if you want a project you can do in a few hours, this is the one for you! No lying.  I basically randomly ran tumblers through my machine and it went together very quickly. I just made sure I wasn’t putting two of the same color or theme next to each other, and made pairs, then fours and so on. An hour and a half or so later, and I had run out of tumblers. I hadn’t brought quite enough with me. So I had to stop.

I have actually since finished this top:

 

It is about 45×66.  I am desperately trying to come up with a backing for it so I can get it finished up asap.

My sister had gotten me my walking foot that I wanted for my birthday. So next I went looking for volunteers to teach me how to attach and use it. I don’t know why I was so intimidated by it. It did help a lot to have someone else show me how to attach it, but it isn’t that complicated. Or intimidating. So I made what was meant to be a mug rug, but is more like…. a mini quilt. Oops.

quilting

I have still not bound this one… and I don’t have pictures of the back. But I was rather embarrassed by how easy this was to do. I’ve only ever done straight line quilting with a regular foot. I don’t have too many finishes, see… But I felt confident enough to move on to free motion. I was able to get the foot on without much difficulty, having learned the basics with the walking foot. I was also fortunate enough to be next to Elizabeth of Don’t Call Me Betsy and the Birmingham Crew. Elizabeth answered all my nervous questions and the others were great cheerleaders.  Here is that (much more appropriate sized) mug rug:

FMQ was somewhat invigorating. It was terrifying, hard, fun and exciting all at the same time. You can actually see how I gained more control as I moved across the quilt. I also remembered part way through that I have a needle down on my machine, and that made it immensely easier. I am excited to go again… I’ve just been bogged down by many other things – sewing and non – and haven’t been able to try again. This is what retreats are perfect for, I think, though. I was able to try my first time supervised with others to show me, help me, and answer questions. I think now I will start having more finishes under my belt and less tops folded in my linen closet.

I have bound and completed this mug rug. Here are some action shots (again, forgot to show the back):

I spent Sunday morning doing the cutting for my bloom bloom pow. I didn’t quite finish there, but have since finished cutting and assembling the strips. Apparently, 60 degree triangle rulers are hard to come by in stores (who knew?) and as I am headed out of town in a few days, I am holding off ordering one til I can have it delivered to me there.

Here are some pictures of my progress, both at and after the retreat:

So, that was stash bash! Thanks so much to Chris for dreaming this up and hosting us all. I had a great time and met a lot of great people. I am very excited for next year!

Linking too…

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