Turn the Dial

Turn the Dial
71" x 71"

I have been working on a new quilt since the beginning of the year, and it's finally finished!

I loved working with the yellow color palette, it was fun and inspired me daily.  This side of the quilt is about applying effort over time to reach a goal. I love how this definition for an Archimedes' Spiral is such a perfect metaphor for life.

I started with a minimal number of pieces for the center.  This is the beginning of one of the biggest mistakes I made while working on this quilt.  I drafted a pattern, and then in an effort to stitch accurately, I decided to mark the seam allowances with pencil.  Great idea, but I should have marked them on the BACK of the fabric, not the front.  Still not that big of a problem, if I had caught it early. But, I did not.  I was not sure how to build this quilt, I just wanted it to be yellow.  So, I cut every single piece and pinned it to the design wall before I started stitching.

That's when I discovered the problem.  I did use an eraser, which helped, but ultimately, I had to scrub the top, in some places, with dilute detergent and toothbrush, and then wash it.  Let's hope I remember this the next time, and do it the right way!

Here's an early shot of building the arcs by stitching one piece at a time.  I also discovered that small errors, multiplied over many pieces, lead to an arc that is not quite the right shape.  It helped to compare what I had stitched to the actual paper pattern I drafted, and making minor corrections as I went along.

Here's a shot of stitching the arcs together.  This I know how to do.  No surprises! Thankful! So thankful!

I decided to quilt this in concentric circles, because it is so perfect for this design (and the one on the back).  Here's a view of the beginning, and a few of the threads that will need to be tucked in.

 I love the way it looks while working on it.

Here's a shot while it is under the needle.  I have just made it around a complete circle here.  I use the quarter inch masking tape to help mark my stitching path.

A problem with quilting in concentric circles is that the quilt can become quite distorted by the time you finish.  The center can hump up like a bell.  The edges can be fluted instead of flat.  It is all about keeping perfect and balanced tension.  And, though I have gotten better, this quilt will still need to be blocked.  This requires getting it wet and pinning it on a flat surface until it dries. I used to block my quilts on the living room floor; it was carpeted with a closed loop carpet.  That floor is now concrete, and it is in cat territory.  My design walls are mobile, so that could have been an option, but after a number of years, they have warped, and do not lie flat anymore.  They are not meant for walking around on either.

Thankfully I have discovered a new foam floor (thanks to a tip from a friend).  I got mine from Home Depot, and it comes in lots of colors. (Yes, I got yellow!) The foam floor is perfect, and I can put it away when not in use! And, it can be built in a number of different sizes, depending on how many squares you buy.

Here's a close up of all the pins I used:

And, just for fun, I thought it would be interesting to show an animation of a few of the steps of the quilt 'growing' on the design wall.  I wish I had taken a few more pictures, but sometimes I get so engaged in my work, I forget to take a photo!

I have now learned how to make a gif file!!  Enjoy!

My New Oliso Smart Iron

My New Oliso Smart Iron!

Hey, where is my new Oliso iron?  Has anyone seen it? Ha!

Oliso with a new quilt and an old one (Development)

Yes, I am at QuiltCon!  However, I am also working like crazy to finish up some quilts for another exhibit.  It is hard doing both at the same time, and sleep is scarce.  Which is why I did not notice, as I was quilting late into the night, that the back side of my quilt was getting folds, lots of folds.  And once the fold starts, it continues and gets worse as the quilting continues.  So it had to be fixed.  I was tired and very frustrated because it was the first time I tried to do a lot of quilting lines without checking the back.  Mistake!

If it had only been this one fold, I probably would have just repaired this section (on multiple lines of quilting).  But there were LOTS of sections that had folds like this.

This is the back side of the quilt.  It is another two sided quilt. So BOTH sides have to look good! The seam ripper is holding up the fold so that you can see where the actual seam is.  It is eating about 1/16 of an inch now, but if left un-repaired, that amount grows.

I am quilting in concentric circles, so I had about 10 lines to rip out.

And, I am not a fast ripper.  It was almost good for me though, because I was already doing my best (or at least I thought I was), and I had no idea how to keep this from happening again. And I am really good at basting, but when sewing in concentric circles, crazy things happen, and I have experienced a few of those disasters as well.  I had a new idea to pin baste, and then on my machine with BIG stitches, quilt some randomly spaced radial lines, taking those out as I go, along with the rest of the safety pins.  You can see below, the brown line of thread and the backs of the safety pins (yes, this is the back side of the quilt).

Unfortunately, all the folds were happening right along the edges of those brown basting threads because I forgot about the rip it out before sewing, and I was sewing over them.  Lesson learned. sigh....

I finished ripping and went to the first day of QuiltCon and found this fabulous new Oliso iron! It is so smart!  You can iron with it, and without lifting it, take your hand off, and it automatically pops out these retractable thingies that lift the iron off the work surface! Magic!! I used it to solve my problem.  I have never ironed a quilt during the quilting, but it worked to ease the fullness in during this giant mess of a problem, and allowed me to continue working.

Now watch as I take my hands off temporarily, and use both hands to smooth out the fullness of this large project. The iron pops up! (I will try to take an actual video of the magic, once my 'assistant' wakes up. I will post it on Instagram). You can also google this and find videos of it happening!

A close up of the magic:

Last, I was careful to press both sides of the quilted sandwich before proceeding with the quilting. And, with the 10 foot long cord, it was easy to get around this big quilt! Here is the front side:

Works like a charm!! So far I love this new Oliso iron!  And, it's yellow!!! (comes in other colors too!). And, if you buy it at QuiltCon, there is a discount. Check it out if you are in the market for a new iron.  I am looking forward to using it on many projects to come! And, because it rests in this position, I can be assured that it won't tip over and crash to an early death.  True confession: I have done that to two irons already.

PS. I do not work for Oliso.  If you have a problem with yours, you should contact the company directly.