Sunrise Quilt Studio

I'm trimming trapunto batting today and my fingers are getting sore :( The pain and suffering of machine trapunto! I'm finding it more difficult to trim the 80/20 batting than the poly batting, but I think I'll get the result I'm looking for. Now to find that box of bandaids so I can cushion my thumb.

Yesterday, I measured the 2 quilts for AAQI to make sure they fit the size requirements, but this quilt with the butterfly and coneflower is 1/2 inch too wide. Rats! I'm debating on whether to take off the binding and cut it down,  or make another quilt. I'm leaning towards making another quilt. I don't have much room to cut this quilt down on the sides without the binding running into the appliques. I have a wholecloth quilt on the machine right now, getting ready for the trapunto step. The top is loaded, but the trapunto bat is not. I've been debating on what batting to use for the trapunto. The poly batting I have in stock is a bit too thin, so I think I'm going to experiment with 2 layers of Hobbs 80/20. The top is cream colored, so the color of the 80/20 won't be a problem. I have used 2 layers of poly batting before, but didn't like the look. I'm hoping the Hobbs will give a firmer trapunto affect. Here's a sneak peak at a portion of the d...

DD#1 has a "Gir" jacket that she has worn out and wanted to replace. The price of a new jacket was more than we wanted to spend, so DD#1 decided to design one of her own. We purchased a hoodie jacket pattern and some polar fleece, added her own touches and now she has a new "Gir" jacket with her own designer touches.

These are the last 2 doilies - at least for awhile. I'm finally feeling well enough to get back to quilting, so crocheting doilies will take a backseat. The doily above started out from a pattern, but I could only get so far and then had problems. I tried 3 times, but could never get the pattern to work out, so I stopped where the problems started and finished it with my own pattern. This poor doily needs blocking, but it didn't turn out too badly. Now this doily took me a week to complete. It isn't a difficult pattern, just a large doily that took almost an entire ball of #20 crochet cotton. I used a #8 crochet hook. The pattern is from Free Vintage Crochet and is Doily Number 7318. My quilting projects will get some attention tomorrow. I have 4 small quilts for the foster child program to complete along with one customer quilt and several tote bags for another customer. My own quilts are waiting in line. I found some 30's repro fabrics at the LQS and am itchi...

Another project from Craftbits . I have no idea what I'm going to do with all these doilies, but I'm having fun making them.

This was a simple doily that gives big impact. I haven't added the final round yet, that will give a picot edge to the piece. This pattern is on Craft Bits , project 168. Ideas for quilting doilies applied to a quilt: I've done this once and it worked out well. I outlined the doilies and did minimal quilting in only some areas of the the doily. Like the doily above - I would quilt around the center wheel-type section just where the pattern changes to the the loop pattern. Another thing you can do is to apply tulle over the doily blocks and then quilt anyway you would like. Just slow down a bit if you are machine quilting since you will be quilting through thicker layers.

Back to quilting today. I made up the January blocks for the Saturday Sampler this afternoon. I braved the cold basement afraid it would be too cold to work, but plugging in the space heater took the chill off the room. So I happily cut and sewed until time to fix dinner tonight. I also finished a customer quilt. It's nice to make some progress in the studio. The January sampler blocks are Album Variation. The one above is in the Black and Bright colorway. This is the original colorway. I am enjoying the comments about the thread crochet doilies. It's nice to know that there are others who appreciate the work involved and the beauty of these little pieces. It's amazing what a piece of thread and a small hook can make. I have 2 more doilies finished and one in progress. The one in progress isn't working out. For some reason I can't get the pattern worked correctly. So after ripping everything out and starting over twice, I decided to stop where I keep mess...

This piece is part of a set of doilies. I've only made 2 of the set so far. This is one of 4 small doilies, and there is a larger doily that I'll post tomorrow. The small doilies are 5 1/2" in diameter. I used #20 crochet cotton thread and a size 8 steel crochet hook. Thank you everyone for the complements on these pieces. I enjoy having some handwork to do in the evenings while DH is watching TV and the kids are doing their crafts. I like to keep busy and I'm usually too tired to quilt on the machine in the evenings - I make too many mistakes quilting when I'm tired. It's much easier to crochet. I have been searching the internet for vintage patterns - ones that remind me of the pieces of crochet lace and doilies that I have of my 2 grandmothers. The pattern for the doily mat and the Pineapple Lace Doily came from Free Vintage Crochet . I've also printed patterns from Craftbits  and I'll post photos of the pieces I've made from those in a few ...

Made with #20 cotton crochet thread and a size 6 (1.8mm) steel crochet hook.

I've been working on some thread crochet pieces in the evenings. This is from a vintage pattern and is an Irish Lace crochet pattern. I made it with #10 cotton crochet thread and a size 2.00mm hook. I tend to crochet with a tight tension and usually have to use a hook 2 sizes larger than what is called for in the pattern in order to get the correct finished size.

I started these placemats as a Christmas gift, but didn't get them completed in time. So now I get to use them on my own table! I kept the design simple with quick background fill quilting. It's easier to see the quilting on the back of the placemats. I floated these placemats along with the 2 AAQI quilts on one piece of backing that was loaded onto my Gammill longarm machine, then quilted them. Tomorrow - vintage crochet!

Today, I finished beading the AAQI quilts. They are ready to be mailed off as soon as they get registered. Only problem is finding a name for them.  I'm open to suggestions. The quilt above is an all fused quilt with thread painting and hand-beading. This quilt has a pieced background with fused applique, thread painting, and hand-beading. The binding is a medium blue color. It isn't showing on this photo because I scanned this quilt and it didn't fit the glass table. I've decided I like scanning these small quilts to store the images on my computer instead of photographing them. They come out much clearer when scanned. Please take some time to visit the AAQI website . Look at the quilts and place a bid, make a monetary donation, or make a donation quilt.