DQS7

*GASP* I know... I've been gone a while. I got distracted by a writing project, quitting my job, finding and starting a new one, being sick twice in the last two months.

I finished my quilt for DQS7. Quite pleased with it, though I didn't get to do as much to it as I would have liked. The entire quilt was a learning process for me, from designing a circle quilt from scratch, in Adobe Illustrator, to the applique, to binding a quilt with irregular edging. I even used my new sewing machine to quilt it, with the walking foot, rather than the big beast.

This little quilt went through three sewing machines. My Brother CS-6000i decided to have tension issues. I love that particular machine so much, but when we took it into the local sewing machine shop, it would cost $75 to service it because it's computerized. The machine only cost me $150 :( Then, a friend of mine loaned me his Brother machine, not computerized, but with the capability to do a satin stitch (I've not figured out how to shorten the zig-zag stitch on my CS-6000i to do such thing). I appliqued the bird on using that machine.

Then, my mother-in-law generously offered to purchase a new sewing machine for me, as I was waffling about spending $75 to repair a machine that only cost twice that. I eagerly agreed, and took the opportunity to upgrade. I again went with a Brother, this time the PC-210, the Project Runway edition. I am in love. This machine is wonderful! I'll post pics later, in another post, and move on with the story. Phoenix Unbound was quilted on this new machine, using a couple of decorative stitches (a first), a metallic thread (another first for me!), and my walking foot (owned for two years and never used until this quilt).

I'm very glad I made this quilt, but very disappointed in myself that I forgot to take a quality photograph of it before I sent the quiltie out. My hubbie took a quick pic with his cellphone, which I am very glad for.

Pardon the grainy-ness and the weird tones... I tried to color-correct this in Photoshop as the original photo was very yellow.
You can kind of make out the wavy stitch I used to do the rays in the white circle. Unfortunately, you can't make out the variety of aquas and reds that I used in the inner circle or outer border. I really love how the yellow actually manages to tie the whole quilt together.
The 'phoenix' didn't come out quite as fiery as I'd hoped... It looks more like a loon, but I'll take it! I used fusible to get it to sit in the right place, and pretty much winged the machine satin stitching to get it to stay down.

DQS 7 Progress

I feel like a slacker... I have a month before my swap quilts are due in the mail, but I haven't gotten nearly as much work done on them as I've wanted to. It's just been so incredibly hectic, as I've been stupidly busy building furniture for my mother-in-law, helping her get more of her stuff moved in, and getting my own home in order. We've got a new bed arriving this Friday and have been trying to get the whole house reorganized and clean in anticipation of this.

Above is the sketch I came up with for the DQS 7 quilt. The inner yellow circle will be echoed with a yellow binding. Below is the image of the top in progress:

The outer border evolved from simple wedges into paper-pieced triangle-thingies. The yellow isn't nearly as distracting as I thought it would be. I'm very glad for that - I just wanted the yellow as a "zinger" fabric. I'm pleased as punched so far :) It's turning out better than I expected.

Tomorrow, I'll finalize the outline for the phoenix that will be going on this. On Friday, I'll pick up fusible webbing, so that I can attach the bird to the top. I'll also get some red thread, to satin stitch the bird down. I seriously debating doing some beaded embellishment.

Well, I should say I hope to be able to satin stitch it. My sewing machine is sick, and the top tension is way too tight no matter what I do. I've changed the needle, re-threaded the thing at least a dozen times... Nothing.

If my machine doesn't get fixed in a timely manner, I might have to reconsider my plans for this quilt... Maybe do some embroidery in the white area. Let's just say that I really, really pray that my machine gets fixed. If the repairs will cost more than $75 though, I'm just going to junk the thing and look for a new machine. The Brother CS-6000i got me through almost three years without a problem, and I love it, but it only cost $150. I can't see spending almost half the purchase price to get it fixed.