Not A Lot of Sewing

 I haven't sewn much in the last week.  I made another log cabin block and that project will probably just be a couple blocks a week until I finish a couple things.  I also tried my new accuquilt Glorified Nine Patch die and started a new mandala.

I love the new die.  I only made one block and will probably make a few more blocks to perfect the techniques but I think it is pretty and once I am caught up on projects I'd love to make a quilt.

I also practiced quilting for the Mandala Club and have started a new one.

quilting practice

 I have tried the mandala practice a couple times.  I am struggling with quilting small motifs.  I asked for suggestions in a longarm facebook group and received some ideas.  People suggested microdrive handles (I have some but took them off the machine a long time ago so I need to figure out where they are), higher stitches per inch for smoother curves and stitching in manual mode.

I am starting to feel a little better but progress is slow.  2 pics below both pieces are about 14 inches square.  The brown was the first.  It was so wobbly I knew it was going to succeed as a mandala and I just added practice to it.  The red I tried stitching in manual mode and I can see lines are smoother for the most part.  Still knew early on it was not going to be a mandala I would be showing anyone, so continued practicing.  I am not sure if I will repeat this design or go on to another lesson.  I am improving although slowly

Not Your Daddy's Log Cabin

 On Friday I took a zoom class through Mancuso .  David Sirota teaching his log cabin class https://www.quiltmavendave.com/copy-of-not-your-daddy-s-log-cabin-1  

David is a good teacher and it was a fun class.  I am still trying to catch up and keep up with other projects but I had been wanting to take this class.  I need 36 blocks.  I used Bella Super Black, the green is a shot cotton and the beige a linen.  Picture of one of  mine below:

Dresden Mini Quilt Finished

 I decided to leave some dresdens hanging over the edge and some wrapped around.  Overall happy with it.  

Dresden Pattern by Susan K Cleveland

 I wanted to try something new and settled on Ripples pattern from Susan K Cleveland's book Dynamic Dresdens  It went together pretty quickly. 

I still have commitment to my Mandala Club so I wanted something fast.  I used a Laura Heine fabric for the background quilting it with simple waves.  I made the 3 dresdens in a day of sewing with friends.  

2nd picture I have added 2 sided binding.  I wanted a pop of blue in front.  I have added one ring of dresdens.  I will hand stitch the binding down before adding the others, then wrap the parts of dresdens that over hang the binding to the back and applique them down.  

If all goes well I will have it finished and turned into Quilter's Guild of Plano this week for the Silent Auction at the August Quilt Show.  It's 18 inches square.

Brown Mandala

 I travelled last week and got to see 4 of my grandies.  Lots of fun.  But I haven't made much progress with my quilting.

I did complete the brown mandala.  I was backing it with a fat quarter (to make a small bag) and ran into some trouble because the edge of the backing with pins was so close to the little quilt that I would bump my rulers into pins and wobble.  So I took it off and added more backing.

As I stated before I really need to practice small motifs.  Some of my cross hatching was still off but instead of removing the stitching I opted to just add small feathers for practice.

Below is a pic of the mandala and the backing.  I started with an 18 inch square and it will be trimmed down to 10 x 16 for the bag - another reason I dodge removing and improving stitches.   The quilting won't show on the back which will be the front of the bag.