Row By Row

We've already had a flurry of Rowers from Row By Row through the shop this week!

If you're planning to visit quilt shops during your summer travels, head south to Sunday Best Quiltworks in Ellerslie, Georgia. We loved being a part of Row by Row last year! Meeting so many folks from across the country, even as far away as Alaska and Canada, was a huge treat for us.

This year's 'Home Sweet Home' theme really gave us a creative kick. We had so many ideas about "home" that we wound up designing three different rows and it was really tough to narrow it down to just two choices.

We decided to go with "Mobile Home Park", a row that features some of our favorite southern critters (we love snails!) that are always at home wherever they go

and "Movin' on Up', a row that reminds me of the sweet little bluebird family that just moved into a birdhouse we have hanging up inside our greenhouse next to the fern baskets.

Our fabric license plates say GYPSY QUILTER, which we think describes our free-spirited creative process pretty well.

We have coordination Row By Row bag kits, and fabrics available that are perfect for backing or binding your finished quilts.

If you're passing through Georgia this summer, don't let the heat and humidity keep you from stopping by... We have the air conditioning cranked up and cold drinks available!

Come on by and see us and don't forget to tell us where you're from!

-Linda

What do You do with crazy shaped leftovers?

Making the Twist & Turn quilt leaves some really oddly shaped pieces.  I'd rather not waste the pretty bits, so I've been playing on the floor again.  I went to the shop and auditioned the scraps on several bolts, until I found one I liked.  Now with 1-1/4 yds of background and a little appliqué.....I'll have something I like!

Fixing the problem

This is what I worked on yesterday.  The blocks were seen together, 1/4" was folded in on all the raw edges and basted in place.  Then the row was basted to the quilt to cover the incorrectly placed blocks.  I needed to know their perimeter so that I would know where to stop and start stitching to replicate the quilting.  I used pins on the back of the quilt outline the area.  Then I slowly stitched over the existing quilting lines (locking stitches at every stop and start).  The quilting on the front looks a little wobbly, but it's better than the whole bottom row being out of order.  Tedious, but I just couldn't stand not fixing such an obvious mistake

Fixed, it is!

Tedious work.  The blocks were seen together, 1/4"  was folded in on all the raw edges and hand appliquéd in place.

I would be flipping the quilt over and sewing over the existing quilting design, so I used pins on the back of the quilt to outline the area that had to be re-quilted.Then I stitched carefully and slowly over the quilting lines, locking the stitches with every stop and start. Mission accomplished!  The quilting looks a little wobbly on the front, but the embarrassment of incorrectly placed blocks has been disguised.  Did I mention how much I hate making such an obvious mistake?  

Fixing the problem

Can't stand making such obvious mistakes

Row #1 - wrong, wrong, wrong!

Row #2 - new blocks ready to be sewn 

                together and be appliquéd on 

                top of the old ones

Here's the 2016 Lucky 7 Quilt we'll be fixing the border on!

Big Ol' OOPS!

During the last couple of weeks we have been feverishly working to fix a mistake.  During the construction of our next Lucky 7 quilt,  Beth switched sewing machines and the slight difference in seam allowances caused the log cabin blocks in the center and borders to be a little too big.  We removed and disassembled the log cabin blocks.  Beth sewed steadily to get  the blocks back together before she left town to spend Thanksgiving with her family.  Enter Linda, who really wanted to get this quilt ready ASP.  Unfortunately, as she re-stitched those now perfect log cabin blocks into the borders with perfect seam allowances, she sewed a couple of blocks into the wrong position. OOPS! Right?  Well, double OOPS.  She didn't notice as she quilted and bound the quilt!!!!!

Now that's really humiliating!!!!  So what will Linda do now?

Just you watch!  Over the holidays 

She will make some more perfect log cabin blocks.  She will unsew  a section of binding and appliqué those blocks over the "mistake ".  She will replicate the quilting and restitch the binding.  She will blog with pictures as she literally hides her mistake .....she will show you how to save a smidge of dignity after public humiliation, and maybe how you can fix your own someday OOPS .