Hi and welcome 😎 Spring is here 🌺! It was hot yesterday but very reasonable today. I'm sure that some people want it to stay hot but it'll get here soon enough. Today I worked outside in the yard and inside in my studio. It was both a long time coming.
Baby Quilt Coming Along
When I searched my blog, it looks like I hadn't worked on the baby quilt since January. The pattern is called Square Dance from the Modern Baby book by Martingale. I had made a rough plan but a lot of info was missing, so I redid that and I'm good to go.
This is as far as I got yesterday. Can you spot the mistake that unfortunately can't just be called a creative anything.... It was too late to fix it, so it'll be there the next time I start up.
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| Two full rows and an oops! |
Here's a progress photo since I took it! 😀
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| Progress on the baby quilt |
I've drawn out the entire quilt and took out the fabric as I was making decisions. It's not the way I usually do it but I needed to know what colours are in the next row to make the corresponding HST (half square triangles). At least I get to decide on the novelty fabric when I'm making the block 😊.
Getting Ready for a Retreat
On Saturday and Sunday I'll be at an intown retreat. It's with a new group to me. I've only met the leader but I'm really looking forward to it. I've become pretty isolated in my studio. Other than doing groceries and meeting a friend for coffee or a meal every once in a while, I've been avoiding almost all social interactions in groups. Hopefully this will get me back in the groove.
Several years ago I bought a Featherweight sewing machine. I was told that it worked, but I hadn't tried it out yet. So last weekend, I took it out of its case and gave it a go. It does work and using the original manual (in French!) I was able to sew a bit. However, I didn't want to do much since it needed maintenance. I found an amazing video that went through pretty much everything I needed to do.
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| My featherweight sewing machine - older than me! |
I wasn't able to locally find the grease they recommend so I found an alternative at Canadian Tire. It was quite the job greasing and oiling it but it was less intimidating than I expected. It does work but I think that it's noisier than the one on the video. I'm going to see if anyone at the retreat uses a Featherweight and compare notes. I did take out my trusty Kenmore so I'll have no problems sewing either way.
As for projects, I don't want to bring anything too difficult, so I went through some of my scraps and cut 2.5" squares. I've also started playing with scraps to make a sewing machine cover for my Jag. I found this cute one that just has ties, so the fit will be more forgiving.
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| To make - a scrappy cover for my Jag |
I'm also going to bring fabric for my orange house for the Quilter's Cove QAL. As well, I bought some fabric to convert my houses into a QAYG (Quilt as you go) project. That would require thinking - so we'll see how my brain is working. I did find a pattern and made notes, so I may be able to mock one up. Since the retreat is only a 10 minute ride from home, I can always come back if I'm missing anything.
I also usually bring a hand stitching project to work on if I need a break. I'll remember to pack it.
What I learned
- I did learn an important lesson about making the row of HSTs for the baby quilt:
- Make the blocks but only trim them once the row is done and ready to be sewn together. I obviously didn't trim them all properly, so I had a couple of blocks that were quite smaller.
- I guess I should mention double checking that all of the HSTs are in the correct spot but it seems to be a recurring lesson that I have to learn over and over!
- I think I've figured out how to extend my design wall for these larger quilts. Hopefully it'll work.
- I hope that the Featherweight will work well but at least I'll have my other machine with me.
- Two days feels like a lot of time but it usually isn't. If I can play, meet new quilters and have some fun, that would be wonderful, although a new scrappy cover for my jag would be lovely 😊
Related links
- Getting stuff done and I Quilted This! (First Baby Quilt in the making), January 22, 2026
- Sewing Machine Rehab, Featherweight Maintenance Grease and Oil
- Sewing Machine Rehab, The Ultimate Singer Featherweight Guide
- A Quilting Life Pattern by Sherri McConnell Patchwork Sewing Machine Cover
Linking parties
I'll be linking up to many fun linking parties. You may want to check some out, after you've linked up below. Monday Musings, Design Wall Monday, Sew & Tell, Put your foot down, Off The Wall Friday, Finished (Or Not) Friday, Patchwork & Quilts, 15 Minutes to Stitch 2026, Oh Scrap!,
I Quilted This!
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Welcome to the I Quilted This! linking party that celebrates quilting on a domestic machine or custom quilting on a long-arm. Feel free to link up and share any recent project, even if you're not quilting it!
Here are the posts that included FMQ, ruler work and walking foot quilting last week. Thanks for linking up 😊 and consider grabbing the button.
Gretchen from Gretchen's Little Corner has started her Spring quilting. This turquoise patchwork quilt was the first one. It got some in-the-ditch quilting, diagonal lines in the white blocks, straight lines in the white border and then Baptist fans in the border. What a simple beauty. You might want to go read her post.
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| Gretchen's turquoise patchwork quilt |
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| Gretchen's Baptist fans in the border |
Terry of On Going Projects quilted her Beyond the Surface quilt. It started by quilting-in-the-ditch, followed by adding ghost flying geese and finally jazzing all of them up. It really looks great! To read more about Terry's process, check out her post.
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| Beyond the Surface quilt by Terry |
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| Terry added more sunshine and shadows with quilting |
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| Terry added some almost continuous curves within the geese |
Kat from Scrapbox Quilts is on week 5 of her 6 Quilts in 6 Weeks Challenge. This one is a lovely colourful flannel quilt.
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| Kat's fifth Villa Rosa quilt |
Sally from Crafts, Caves and Cooking made this amazing lone star quilt called Supernova (all lone start quilts are amazing!!!) Sally created lovely corner designs to make her lone star quilt stand out. Check out her post for more info.
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| Sally's Supernova quilt |
Gwyned Trefethen has finished quilting her Secret Mission. Have a look at the FMQ from the back of the quilt!
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| Gwyned's Secret Mission quilt - FMQ from the back |
It's now your turn 😍
Try placing a drop of oil to oil the hook in your bobbin case. Sometimes, that makes a difference in how your featherweight sounds. Each machine sounds a little different. I think that is what is part of the draw to them! You are making awesome progress on your baby quilt. Thank you for sharing photos of my Beyond the Surface project!--TerryK@OnGoingProjects
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your tip Terry. It worked well. I was also lucky that another lady had her Featherweight there with her. I also got a few tips from her, including you the bobbin case oiling! It took me a while to get the tension correct, since it looked great on the top and I didn't notice the back :-) After adjusting, it was perfect. Thanks again and have a great week.
DeleteI LOVE my featherweight ... but sometimes I miss the needle down and the thread cutter ... I always take 2 machines to a retreat! Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteThanks for your suggestion Gail. I brought two machines but didn't really need my Kenmore. I did take it out though since it hadn't been used for a couple of years. Both machines did great :-)
DeleteI hope you have a great time at the retreat :)
ReplyDeleteThank you - it was awesome. I really needed that!
DeleteI've never owned a featherweight ... mainly because they require maintenance and I'm afraid I'll mess it up, though I'm pretty handy with stuff like that. Maybe one day...we'll see. Your baby quilt is going to be really cute. Great progress in one day. Enjoy your retreat and meeting a new group of sewing buddies. I tend to isolate myself in my studio pretty much, but mainly because right now I'm working on the embroidered quilt and can't carry a 40 pound machine to our Wednesday sew days with friends. Have a great week. Thanks for sharing with us at Monday Musings.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brenda. It was really good to meet a lovely group of ladies. I really needed that. Tomorrow I'll get back to the baby quilt. It would be nice to finish it this week. Thanks for linking up - your cow is soooooo cute!
DeleteHi Brenda, I'm sure that you'd be fine with a Featherweight. Yes there is some maintenance but it's not that bad. I was seriously intimidated which is why it took me so long to take it out for a spin. I was very pleasantly surprised and I'm no longer intimidated. There is something about knowing how your machine works that connects you to it! There'll be more on my next post.
DeleteHope the retreat was really fun and you got a lot done. Those quilts that you assemble as you go really take some planning. Hopefully that's the last error you make.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Kate - it was awesome. I didn't get tons done but I did finish piecing a scrappy improv sewing machine cover. When I got home I layered it and started FMQ. It's going to be awesome. I'll share on Thursday. I hope that the baby quilt will be error free but that is asking a lot. I'm getting used to re-doing....I'm becoming more Zen about it - at least on my best days lol Have a great week
DeleteSquare Dance va être super, et tant pis pour la pièce qui n'est pas sensée être là où elle est ;)) J'aime beaucoup ces petites machines antiques, la tienne va fonctionner encore longtemps ! Bises
ReplyDeleteMerci Frédérique - oui, ma machine antique sera là longtemps après moi! Elle a trés bien performée. Je suis bien impressionnèe. Je vais arranger la pièce de Square Dance et continuer. C'est incroyable que le mois est presque fini! Bonne longue fin de semaine! Bises
DeleteGlad you could see the boo boo before moving too far along
ReplyDelete