Quilting Part 3 (2020 Survival Sewing).

So I have decided to call these quilts my "2020 Survival Quilts" .  I don't know about everyone else, but everything that has gone on this year is taking its toll on me mentally.

So sewing has become my therapy.  I've been averaging a quilt top every 2 weeks or so.  Ive been doing this since about September timeframe.

I call this part 3 but this is actually my 6th quilt top.  The first 3 were lap quilts.  But for some reason I just don't feel like that size is very usable for me.   I tend to do quilts that are queen/full size. These latest quilts are 80 inches in size or larger.  I like for my quilts to be "used" by the people that received them.  I learned that I am a "UTILITY" quilter; meaning that I like for my quilts to be "utilitized".  (Don't you love the sound of that 😀).

My husband asked me what were we going to do with all of these quilts.  I told him I haven't thought that far yet!  However, I do think I've just about got him convinced that he needs to invest in a Long Arm quilting machine for me.  My husband even mentioned that it could be an investment towards retirement.  Plus with as many quilts I'm making, its cost well over the monthly note for a long arm quilting machine.

Now onto quilt #3: 

I saw this pattern on a stroll thru instagram, and fell in love with the pattern.  It's called "Bright Hope" from Blue Bear Quilts": 

Image from www.bluebearquilts.com

Althought the quilt design looks very involved is based on one block.

Image from www.bluebearquilts.com

I did some "reverse engineering" (The engineer in me creeps out every once in a while). I entered the design into Electic Quilt 8 (Quilt design software). Then I added images of my fabric and was able to get a preview of what the finished quilt would look like. This is my variation of the design from my Electric Quilt software..

During my 2020 survival journey I've had a couple of goals in mind: 

1. Learn to use my Electric Quilt 8 software
2. Use my Accuquilt cutter to cut out my design as much as possible (I own all of the qube sets, so I can create just about any block design.
3. Use as many of my exsting fabric stash as possible.

I used my Accuquilt quilt dies to cut out the block pieces.  This reduced my cutting time tremendously!

If you want something that looks complicated, but is simple to put together definitly visit Blue Bear Patterns and give this pattern a go.  They have some really interesting quilt designs.

This quilt along with the previous one, will be going to the quilter by next week.

Maybe by Christmas I'll get that long arm quilting machine 😉

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Fabric Friday: AccuQuilt GO!

I hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Although I haven't done much posting, I have been sewing.

For the holidays, I went to Omaha, NE to visit my boys.  As we were driving down I-80, I saw the AccuQuilt sign.

Its the main headquarters! So I called the number from the Quilters Traveler Companion (Yes, I own one of those thick books!) And they offer tours! So you know what I did right.
I took the AccuQuilt Tour!  Even though it was rainy that day; I've never been known to let a little rain get in the way of me and something sewing related!

It was a quick tour of their Quilt Exhibit (which changes regularly) and the Design Center.  The folks there were beyond friendly.  I got an opportunity to meet the owner and CEO!  As I went on the tour, they allowed me to take pictures!

The theme for the current quilt exhibit is "Quilts of Valor" (Go to http://www.qovf.org for more information)  Behind sliding glass doors is a mini-exhibit hall!

Here are some of the quilts that were displayed in the mini-exhibit:

After that I was taken to the Design Center.  All I can say is, I fell in love with this part of the tour.
There were multiple sewing machines: Bernina, Janome, etc.  And of course there was the AccuQuilt machines.  Every machine that AccuQuilt makes was in the room and hundreds of cutting dies!

Needless to say this was my favorite room!

I got an opportunity to visit the warehouse, and in the main entrance you see samples of quilts made using the AccuQuilt dies.
I thoroughly enjoyed the short tour.  I of course came home with the AccuQuilt Go!. I love the design and portability of the machine. I'm familiar with AccuQuilt from my scrapbooking.  They have a machine called AccuCut that is used for paper scrapbooking.  I used the AccuCut machines at my Local Scrapbook store, prior to their closing.  When they closed, I purchased a Sizzix and Cricut Original to use at home.  I'm expanding these to use in my sewing.

Picture from AccuQuilt.com

And when I spotted the two dies for Sunbonnet Sue and Overall Sam, I had to get those.  These were my grandmother's most used quilting patterns. 

This will definitely be greatly used in my quilting; as I am currently working on quilts for my kids and to "spruce" up my house.

As we were making our trip back, I discovered a cute quilt shop in Ogallala, NE; which will now become a regular stop on our trips to Nebraska.I bought a couple of pieces of fabric, etc.  I'll post about that later.