Saturday, December 15, 2018

UFO Busting #40


Oh my goodness, y'all, the linky party just turned older than me, but I'm not letting that slow me or it down.  I've been trying desperately to get a photo shoot with the second Fireburst Quilt but the sunshine is not cooperating with me.  So all I can give you for now is a sneak peak of the quilt folded kind of funny.


It's finished and bound and just waiting for its day to shine.

One of the things I love about #2 is the subtle texture the black thread on black fabric gave this quilt.  What I didn't love was actually stitching it.  There was no good lighting to see what I was quilting.  What's a girl to do??  I decided to go to the preverbal drawing board.  An LED light for the throat of my machine would be ideal, however, things are a bit tight in the budget and running to the store wasn't an option. Making Jenny hold a flash light seemed like a funny option but I let that go.  Then I remembered, I have an LED light!  Where?

After some digging I unearthed it in a cabinet.  I originally bought it to make a light box for tracing motifs onto quilt tops, but for the life of me I'm not sure why I abandoned that project.  But a few Velcro Command Strips later and I have a working light.


This is a HUGE improvement.  Why didn't I do this sooner?  Plus the Velcro allows for the light to be removed, if the light box idea comes back around.


Another thing that I am trying with this quilt, is using threads that slightly contrast with my fabrics instead of blending completely in; show those motifs off a little better.  Let me tell you it's a scary thing to try, even for someone who's been quilting for a while.


Like seriously, I feel like I just stripped down to a thread string bikini and I'm strolling down the beach for better or worse.  I'm just going to go on a limb here and say in the end I'll be my own worse critic.  Life is short, wear the swimsuit...stitch with contrasting threads.

So swimsuit stitching pretty much sums up my sewing week.  Let's see what you guys were up to last week.  Keeping with the Fireburst party, today I'd like to high light my friend Lisa over at Sunlight in Winter Quilts and her Fireburst Quilt top finish.


I just love how those bright colors pop against that dark blue back ground.  If you haven't popped over there to show her some love make sure you take some time to go visit.  Also I am accepting entries for the display of Fireburst Quilts on New Years Day.  You can email me a picture of your quilt or quilt top to tishnwonderlandqal(at)gmail(dot)com.  I will be accepting entries until noon on December 31st.  You can read about our list of sponsors here.

Now let's see what you've been up to this week.  Link up below and tell us how your sewing week has gone.  Are you a good elf or a distracted one?  Santa is watching you know.




This is me hanging out last weekend with my good friend Meredith.  Since it's been so cold, we thought we would surprise her with a new hat for winter.  We talked that hat right off a stuffed teddy bear's head.  Who knew that not everyone appreciates hat weather....or hats??



9 comments:

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Sewing with contrasting thread does take a leap of faith, but I'm sure it's going to be stunning when you are done!!!

chrisknits said...

You are both adorable in your hats!! Love it.

Lisa J. said...

Aw Tish, thanks for the shout out. I think that you are an amazing quilter and that you are at the perfect stage for using contrasting thread. I like that the thread is just a bit contrasting.It's enough of a contrast that you can see it but not so much of a contrast that it overwhelms the quilt. You and the kitty look great in your hats.

piecefulwendy said...

I can't tell you how much I wish I would've used a dark background on my Fireburst; I really like that look! Working with contrast thread sounds interesting, and just a bit intimidating. Haha. I'm sure yours will look great! No UFO to link up; I've been doing new projects lately!

Louise said...

Oo, I love what I'm seeing of your second Fireburst so far! And I'm here to tell you that you definitely should wear the string bikini NOW, because it doesn't get better with the passing decades, LOL! At least our quilting improves with age, right? :)

Sue said...

Very funny comment above but sadly true. Im loving seeing all these variations on the fireburst quilt and i thought your LED light solution was brilliant. I have some in my cupboard too. I might just have to drag them out.

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

Can't wait to see the quilting. Do you have any plans for the big birthday?

Emily said...

Both these versions are beautiful! I really like version 3 and am proud of you for looking for quilt that SHOWS OFF your amazing quilting skills instead of hiding them!

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

linked up, not because it was a UFO but it because it wasn't even begun. It had been in the planning though for a year! Love the quilting on your starburst, you have excelled yourself.

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