Iceblossom

I can't guarantee that I will get this quilted before the next mystery, but this past week I laid out and spray basted 3 quilts including both Grassy Creek and Frolic mysteries.

I often complain about having a small house -- so now I have moved quilting on out to the back yard. Our yard is always dead in the summer and comes back in the winter, but this year is a hotter/drier summer than usual. One of my most highly desired quilting tools has been a ping pong table and a month or so ago, I got a free one.

So here is Grassy Creek -- almost ready to quilt!

Stitches23

Beautiful!

Carol in WI

Iceblossom I love your finished mystery quilt! It is so fun to look at the variations - I love your borders. Each year I struggle with deciding if I will jump into the next one or not - it is so addicting! How will you quilt it - do you have a long arm machine?

suern3

Your Grassy Creek is beautiful. Love your color choices. That ping pong table will be great for you! Such a good size and I imagine it can be folded up when not in use. The price was right, for sure.

tallchick

Yay, congratulations on a beautiful finish, your colors are so pretty and I love all the grays. You’ve been on a mission these past few weeks.

audsgirl

It looks fabulous, Iceblossom! I'm still trying to get Allietare! quilted. That's a great way to baste your quilts. And free? Even better.

Leslie

Iceblossom

Thanks for the positive thoughts and comments The ping pong table does fold up -- not as small as you would think/old style ones, but I will be able to store it inside during the wet winter months (or will be once I clear the laundry room out). For now it gets tarps in case of rain or overnight dew. It has a modern laminate top, not paint. It is quite lightweight but awkward on the grass, next free one I'll be fussier about the wheels.

Ping pong table is 108"/3 yards long which is just about perfect for me, usually it's the size I cut/order backs, my tops are typically just under 100". It is 60" wide -- which is the width of my queen bed. Has a handy line right down the middle too to help layout the tops. The height of the table is better than bed height which is what I have been using as my largest work space -- no way I physically could have spray basted a quilt a day for three days and still be able to walk upright! Plus my bed has four-posters which really get in the way.

I have a Bernina with a huge throat and the other big thing I've done this summer is I bought a sewing table from an auction site I like. Is funny how one purchase for one specific use and room can impact the rest of the house... anyway, we are doing a bunch or reorganization stuff. Here's the before and after of the sewing room:
What are we organizing today 2021

I'm going to be warming up with these Bonnie Hunter quilts and doing basic serpentine grid quilting, figuring Bonnie's design is so strong that the quilting can just be functional. Or within my skill set. Or something like that... I have so many tops to finish and had to figure out ways to get that done within my budget and space. I used to have better access to things like conference/lunch rooms with big tables. I'm hoping being able to have my machine at table top level, with that extra space will be a big help to both my technical skills and my physical ability.

The third quilt I basted is a gift for my husband's Aunt Debbie. I want to do a little fancier work on that one and the goal is to have it done by this year's mystery. Still think that if I can, I'll use my box of solids this year.

joe'smom

That's gorgeous, Iceblossom, and looks like a great set-up for you!

Iceblossom

Rargle Snargle! Things were going so well, I decided to start with Grassy Creek instead of Frolic, got 90% done -- and Bernie decided to break again. Thread sensor issues again, but this time a little wire/part fell out of the innards. Will be heading out to the shop in a bit.

I don't have a home for this top yet, so I wanted to just make sure it was well secured, and as I mentioned before that the design was so strong I wasn't sure how to enhance it, I just didn't want to detract. I'm doing a wide serpentine grid along the block and sashing divisions, so they will be about 3" finished. I debated for a bit for threads, white, light grey or medium -- went with medium gray on the top and medium-dark on the back.

It doesn't show well, but you might be able to see the grid on this shot of the back. With the big serpentine I'm using (I first put it down the center of the inner border), it makes almost the puzzle piece shape.

I'm super happy with how nice and smooth the back was. And, even after a day of quilting and I know I need a few more tweaks to my table height, but I am in much better shape than I would have been before with my old set-up.

sewingpup

Looking good. I like how you are quilting it....will have to think about that one. I have a long arm....but also have feet problems so I am think more about doing at least some of my quilts on the DSM....which by the way, after I had all the problems with my 570 I finally traded in for the Bernina 590 (which so far, has been wonderful), I also got a new for me Viking topaz 40, which along with my simple Bernina red machine (a 215). Well...that makes 3 machines I can stitch on....I think it is less frustrating to have Back-up machines these days....I guess I was panicking, hence all the fairly new machines as all the old ones just finally quit