Red and Green GO Real Fast Quilt

Two years ago I decided to invest in the GO Baby cutter (half price) and later the GO cutter (60% off). But when I discovered the scalloped swag die a year ago, I was totally in to get lots more applique dies and see if I could make a full sized sampler quilt in a weekend.

I bought the rest of the bolt of the background fabric at the Quilt Farm in Boston, New York at a retreat last April.
Then, I spent an entire day in May preshrinking, ironing on heat-n-bond-lite fusible web (half price at Fabricland) and cutting out all the background blocks, borders, backing blocks and batting in preparation for making this 16 block applique sampler quilt with borders in a hurry.
In July I researched designs for antique Red and Green quilts in the 35 books on antique quilts I have on my shelf. Well, I bought a few after reading some blogs about antique quilts in June.
I took a month (19 days) off from quilting in Aug.
In Sept I got some custom dies made up for cutting just leaves so I can cut lots without having to work around all the other shapes that are crammed onto most of the dies. Pricey, but I an SO happy with them.  

This week I finally got going on the Red and Green GO Real Fast Quilt.

 

I finally figured out that I needed the iron pad/cutting mat with the grid and circles so I could pin the background, center and lay out the pieces and then iron on the pre-fused applique shapes after running them through the GO cutter. I find that a dressmaker pin is perfect to reposition and hold those little bits before ironing them in place.

 

Last week I took my Bernina in for a cleaning and even took along the zigzag foot, #80 metallic needles and the invisible thread to make sure everything was going to work right. I was told to drop my top tension down to 0. Then I prepped the first 2 blocks and finally took the plunge and started appliqueing by machine using monofilament thread and . . .
                                         . . .  that was a disaster . . . The polyester thread is so fine it breaks too often. So I switched to a different one that was heavier but it leaves a thick rough ridge. Sigh.
So I switched to silk since I have so  much on hand that I never got around to use way back when I bought it for something else. 

Yesterday I spray glued the backing and batting together for all the squares. For the backing fabric I bought the whole 15 yard bolt for $2.50/yard a few years ago. For the batting, I bought the whole bolt of warm and natural king size at half price. Never know when I might impulsively finish a quilt and need some batting to quilt it. Well, almost if I didn't actually quilt the thing until later.

However, I decided to quilt as I go and then connect the blocks with strips later when I figure out how. I was planning on using painters tape to mark the 1 inch lines but it kept tearing as I tried to unroll it. So I switched to plan B and had to locate the blue marking pen bought back in the fall. It took almost as long to draw the cross-hatching grid onto the square as it did to quilt it.

I love sewing with my Brother machine. This quilted up so quickly, then I spritzed it with water after I found a spray bottle with a straw inside that actually worked. And then after all this, I realized that I had  missed several lines and had to wait until it dried to remark the lines so I could finish it.

 

So, the quilt in a weekend project is still in the developmental stages and I will keep posting my progress. And Dear Jane has been patiently pinned on the design wall wonder when I will get around to spending some quality time completing her.

Blessings,
Chris