Stacks :: A Finish

I finally managed to get Spooky off this one long enough to finish it. Doesn't she look sweet?

Here it is all quilted, bound and labeled.

I have to hang it sideways to photograph it on my fence because it is 73" by 81". I love that I had enough left over from the print fat quarters to make most of the binding. The other fabric used for the binding is the backing fabric.

To read the two previous posts about this project click the following links: post 1 and post 2. 

This is Getting Serious

I just finished sewing the handles to my newest clothesline tote.

For this one I used the 200 ft. package of clothesline I ordered last week. Here are some photos of the package. I ordered this from Amazon because I couldn't find 200 ft. packages of clothesline locally.

The finished tote measures 8" by 17" by 11.5" tall. I used pre-made handles for this one rather than making handles from the clothesline as I did for my first one. Click here to see the first tote I made. The thread I used for this one is Aurifil 50 wt. color 2000 and YLI 40 wt. color "Sunset 22V."

This clothesline is very similar to the 100 ft. packages I have been purchasing from my local Ace Hardware. Here is a photo of it.

Both brands are 7/32" in diameter. The Ace brand package has a 12 lb. load limit while the Koch brand has a 13 lb. load limit. Both make nice, sturdy items but aren't overly stiff.

The first package I used (and I wish I took a photo of the packaging before throwing it away but I had no idea how addicted to this process I would become at the time) was 3/16" in diameter and if I remember correctly had a 10 lb. load limit. I found it to be a bit too "floppy" for my tastes. 

This tote bag took me about four hours to sew. I'm guessing because I rarely get to sew continuously for that long. Sewing on the pre-made handles took longer than the clothesline ones I made and used for the first tote. I like them both. I may try fabric handles for my next one.

Scrap Vortex QAL :: A Finish

I used a combination of scraps and orphan blocks. I titled it "Tiger in the Scraps." It finishes at about 40" square. I find it interesting that it ended up square. This was not planned. Well, not much about this quilt was really what you'd call "planned."

This was fun to do, sort of like a jigsaw puzzle with scraps. The binding is from my roll of scrap binding, left over bindings from other projects all sewn together.

This QAL was hosted by Amanda of Crazy Mom Quilts. If you like working with scraps you should go check out her blog. She does beautiful work.

I took lots of photos as I worked, mainly for myself to see if things were working. In looking through them it was fun to see the quilt come together so I thought I'd share them below. If you aren't interested in the process photos (there are quite a few) then stop reading now, you won't miss anything else.

Here is how it looked on June 15th. These are the scraps I'd sewn together as Amanda instructed.

Then I raided my orphan block basket and pulled out some improv economy blocks I made a few years ago. 

I put them up on the design wall and started filling in the white areas with scraps and more orphan blocks.

Bits that were similar in size were sewn together.

Things moved around a lot and not everything I put up on the design wall ended up being used in the quilt.

For a while I had resigned myself to having to use at least one partial seam, but if you look closely at the above photo you can see that I managed to avoid partial seams in the end.

Above is the finished top. I quilted it with straight-ish lines. I did the lines free motion as I find that to be faster for me than a walking foot. By doing them free motion I can use my HQ Sweet 16.

And here it is again all finished.

Guess I'll Work on Something Else Today

She's been like this for hours.

On the Edge of Addiction

I don't seem to be able to stop making things with clothesline. Here are two more items. Previous projects can viewed by following these links: first project post and second projects post.

The first is a large bowl made with an entire 100 ft. package, Aurifil 50 wt. color number 2000 thread and YLI 40 wt. "Teals 07V" threads.

It measures 11.5" in diameter at the top and 5.25" tall.

The second is a small tote bag made with an entire 100 ft. package of clothesline plus two 24" pieces of leftover clothesline from previous projects. Again I used Aurifil 50 wt. color 2000 thread but this time I switched the color to YLI 40 wt. "Cream to Brown 02V."

The tote measures 8" by 14.25" by 7" tall. For the handles I doubled the two 24" pieces of clothesline and sewed them together to make a single piece for each handle. The handles are attached to the tote by machine with the same method used to make the tote.

I wanted a larger tote but this is as large as I could make it with only 100 ft. without having to splice two packages together. I decided I'd prefer to use a longer package rather than splice two packages together since I am not covering the clothesline with fabric. My local hardware store only sells 100 ft. packages, but I found a 200 ft. package on Amazon. It has been ordered and will be here on Monday.

More Clothesline Projects

Last Friday I posted my first bowl made from clothesline. Click here to read that post if you missed it or need a refresher.

Over the weekend I made a few more things with clothesline. The first bowl I made used a whole 100 foot package of clothesline. It was a little thinner than the packages I got from my local Ace Hardware. The first package was 3/16" in diameter. The ones from Ace are 7/32" in diameter. You wouldn't think 1/32nd of an inch would make much difference, but it does. The first one was a bit floppy, these aren't.

First I made these two smaller bowls.

The oval one fits a pair of glasses. It is sitting on a little bookshelf by our front door and has become a home for my husband's sunglasses.

The above bowls were made from one package of clothesline. I have no idea how much each took. I had some left over so I made an even smaller bowl.

Oh my! It sure is cute! So I made a few more tiny bowls and a couple of coasters.

I still have some of that 100 foot package of clothesline left after making two small bowls, three tiny bowls and two coasters. I will probably make coasters until I've used it all up.

My husband thinks these bowls are really neat. He kept coming in and watching me sewing them. It is fun to see them forming.

I took the photo below for scale.

I put the tiny bowls inside my first bowl. So I put the small bowls inside the first bowl too so you can get a better idea of their size.

I have since purchased even more packages of clothesline and plan to make some placemats and a tote bag next.

Stacks Top Done

This top went together quickly. It uses the method of strip piecing.

It is pretty big at 73" by 81" - a generous twin size. It is too long to hang properly from my clothesline in the vertical orientation, so I turned it sideways. Then the wind took over.

I need to decide if I want a single fabric backing or if I want to do a pieced back. I will think about that for a bit before proceeding.

To read my first post about this project which includes the reason for making it, click here.