Bow Ties

It is with great relief that I pronounce my bow tie quilt completed. Begun over two years ago as part of the 100 Day Summer Sewalong, it is hand-pieced, hand-quilted and fully hand-bound. Ever since I learned my maternal grandma made bow tie quilts, I knew I needed to try my hand at one too. And since back in the 1940s or so, she most likely stitched hers by hand, so did I.

It was in May 2021 that I prepped bow tie blocks to hand-piece. It's been so long, I had forgotten I had used a tutorial by Wynn Tan of Zakka Art to cut out the blocks. For background, I used Kona Enchanted, the 2020 Kona Color of the Year. And for the bow ties, I used a custom 6" charm pack I'd purchased from Katie Pedersen @sewkatiedid years ago....a mix of wonderfully varied purple prints that played off the Enchanted nicely. That only got me so far though, so I incorporated a Social by Melody Miller charm pack and some scraps to bring me to 100 unique fabrics. There are a few from the Social charm pack that are the same pattern but different colorways, and I think that worked out ok. I began piecing with Aurifil 50wt, but soon switched to Aurifil 28wt, and it worked great. [ETA: looking back, I realized I began piecing with 50wt, then 40wt, finally realizing that 28wt would be a better choice.]

The quilt's backing is made simply from lengths of Kona Enchanted. I just didn't feel like I needed to deal with hand-piecing a complex back for this one. And I switched up from my normal batt, Warm & White, and purchased a throw-size of Quilter's Dream Request batting that I knew would be great for hand-quilting. And for that stitching, I chose Aurifil 12wt 4093 [Jade], which worked beautifully.

Probably the most tedious of all the hand-stitching was sewing the binding onto the front of the quilt. But once that was done, I was able to stitch the binding to the back in just a couple of evenings.

The quilt finished at 54" square, and is soft and cozy. 

+  +   +  +  +

Some project history....

5/18/21 - 100 Day Sewalong Prep

6/30/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 30

7/20/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 50

8/20/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 80

7/25/22 - Aurifil Artisan Challenge :: On the Go

11/14/22 - Bow Tie Progress

6/28/23 - 2023 Summer Sewalong

#aqtbowtiequilt

Bow Tie Progress

It was in May 2021 that I prepped bow tie blocks to hand-piece during the 100 Day Summer Sewalong. If I remember correctly, I was able to make 100 blocks over the summer, and then promptly set the project aside.

I picked it up again this July for the Aurifil Artisan Challenge, and I focused on it in between a variety of other handwork projects. I wish I could say it was my favorite thing to stitch on, but that wasn't always the case. 

The blocks, yes, were all hand-pieced. But so were the rows and the sashing....

And at long last, I have a quilt top!! It measures about 53" square, and I was beginning to doubt I'd ever see this day.

I've ordered a 60" square throw-size of Quilter's Dream Request batting, and need to piece a backing. Then I hope to be hand-quilting it over the winter months. Not quite sure which thread or design I'll be using yet, but I'm definitely happy to be inching this quilt towards completion.

Aurifil Artisan Challenge :: On the Go

When I saw that the Aurifil Artisan Challenge for July was "On the Go," I immediately thought of the 100 bow tie blocks I had finished - and ultimately stashed away - last August during the 100 Day Summer Sewalong. I had already come up with a layout, so it was easy to pull the project together for portable sewing.

First, I refreshed the ArtBin I'd used with a previous handsewing project. In fact, leftover squares are still there, saved for a possible new project. But for now, I'm ignoring those, and using the other supplies.

It seems to work best for me to mark the sewing lines before stitching any blocks together. So I do that for a row's worth of blocks, then I'm not carrying the entire project with me at any one time.

For piecing, I'm using a spool of 40wt thread that came in my Aurifil Artisan welcome package - #2026 [Chalk]. I'm finding it strong yet fine enough to create the tiny stitches needed as I sew the blocks together.

So I haven't gone too far afield with my project quite yet, but I'm ready! And meanwhile, I'm making good progress. Hoping I can stick with it!

100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 30

Things are plugging right along in the 100 Day Summer Sewalong! I'm thoroughly enjoying piecing my bow tie blocks by hand, and I'll confess, neither size takes me that long. What I'm especially appreciating is that none of my print fabrics are exactly the same - a few of the same design, but a different colorway - so that has kept things interesting.

My background fabric, Kona Enchanted, is a little tricky to photograph sometimes, but the first and third photos here show it most true. It is definitely more green than blue. 

So it's been pretty random whether I stitch a small block (4.5" unfinished) or a larger one (5.5" unfinished) on any particular day - just whatever strikes my fancy when I sit down to stitch. At any rate, it's going good, and it's hard to believe I'm nearly one-third done with my 100 blocks!

#100daysummersewalong

100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 10

Well the 100 Day Summer Sewalong is underway and it's time to report in! Not very many days into the sewalong, I realized that the thread I'd intended to use for piecing my blocks was a better choice for hand-quilting than hand-piecing. I don't know what I was thinking. It was working, but thicker than needed, so I've switched to Aurifil 28wt, which feels much better.

Also, in my prep post, I said I would be making two sizes of blocks, 2.5" and 3", where in reality, those were the sizes of pieces I prepped. The actual block sizes, once pieced, are 4.5" and 5.5", pretty good sized, I think. I've been randomly choosing which block size to sew each day, depending on what else is going on. The variety of printed fabrics definitely keeps things interesting!

#100daysummersewalong

Sometimes It Takes A While

This poor little project got neglected more times than I can count, but finally, irrevocably, I'm calling it done. Just 9" x 12", it was begun in September of last year, on a touring bus, somewhere between Paris and Beaune, France. It had seemed such a good idea to take a little handwork on our trip to Europe, and it was. It's just that the project rarely called to me, and in fact, a sense of obligation and a few fond memories are what finally convinced me to finish it at all.

The fabric came from my scrap basket, and also from little sample packs from Brooklyn Haberdashery that I'd picked up at my last two QuiltCons. And I really did like all of it. Every little block was hand-pieced, and by the time I got home, I had a nice handful.

Then it was time to puzzle them together, and that was tricky. Considering they were all hand-pieced, I couldn't just trim anywhere without risking releasing a seamline. But eventually they were all pieced into a rectangle and it was time to quilt.

I stitched-in-the-ditch along some of the major seamlines, and then started in on some boro-style stitching. This is definitely an area where I'm no expert, but my goal was to try and try I did. For the first time, I used Aurifloss, #2311 [Muslin], so that was cool, though for this kind of stitching, I think I'd use two strands next time, rather than three. But it all worked well enough.

The binding was cut skinnier than usual (1 1/2" to finish at 1/4"), and I did machine-stitch it around the quilt before finishing by hand. And with that this little piece is done. Not my favorite, but that's totally ok. There's some travel stitched in, some exploring, and a fondness for those bits of fabric and those wary stitches. I think all that's enough.

The Teeny Tiny Trip

Just shy of two years ago this week, I took a Small Hand Piecing class from Chawne Kimber at QuiltCon in Pasadena. Made completely and utterly by hand, what began with 1 1/2" unfinished squares, is now a 38" square quilt.

Obviously, I took my time, and honestly my love for this project experienced a serious ebb and flow. Due to the nature of the hand-piecing, every single square required hand-drawn stitching lines, which I can't say I loved, but it worked well. Probably my absolute least favorite part of the process was the swirling and pressing on the back side. I would do that every round or maybe two. Any more than that and things got seriously depressing.

When I started, I had in mind this thing would be indefinite and huge! But when the time between rounds turned into months at a time, I decided that wasn't the best idea, and that finished was better than size. I made quick work of the quilt back, piecing some coordinating lengths from stash.

As far as quilting, doing it by hand was the obvious tack. And considering I had plenty of that in my quilting history, it actually felt very good to be doing it again. Can't say I ever got really proficient at it, but I was comfortable with doing it at least. That in itself felt pretty good, though it still took me a few months, even on this small size. For thread, I used what I had on hand - Aurifil 40wt #2024 [White] - and paired with some Sew Fine thread gloss, it worked wonderfully.

SO when I finally was ready to bind, I machine-pieced a length of binding strips without even thinking, just out of habit. Then it dawned on me that there wasn't a machine-stitch in this thing, and questioned why I should start as I was finishing it. The main reason was I had never done that before! Was it even a thing? I couldn't help mention my dilemma to Chawne, and she eventually confessed that yes, she does bindings completely by hand all the time. I considered for a bit, and came up with a few reasons why I decided to do the same, including removing the machine stitches I'd already put in the binding seams:

• Even hubby(!) said, "Well, you've done the rest of it by hand."
• The texture of the little quilt was amazing due to the handwork, and I didn't want to risk jeopardizing that.
• After nearly two years of fits and starts, now I wasn't in a rush for it to be done!

Gotta say, it worked ok and I'm super happy that this one was created by hand, right down to the last stitch. Considering how much I tend to rush through projects, it's nice to know I can occasionally just slow down. The texture, you guys, is indeed a delight. Yeah, I wish it was at least a little larger but oh well. Thinking another hand project might be in order.

This project was on my 2020 Finish-A-Long Q1 List!
Linking up with TGIFF!

The Next {hand-sewing} Adventure

It's been a couple of weeks of very slim sewing here, between a nasty cold, travel, holidays and all, I've sewn and blogged less in November than all year. I'm hoping that's about to change. On Saturday, I had the time and finally, the energy, to refocus, evaluate the projects in the works, and make at least a little progress on several. Some of that was gathering supplies or printing a pattern, but it was also getting started on quilting, which I'll share later this week, and most surprising of all, make a backing and pin-basting my Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World. Do you even remember it?

Below is a view of the finished top, hand-pieced 1" finished squares, measuring 38" square overall. I was able to press out those ripples, and I think I now have a relatively flat quilt sandwich all ready for hand-quilting. It's been a while, so I hope I get into it as much as I currently want to. Time will tell, but for now, it's at least one big step in the right direction.

Singular

As satisfying as last month's Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World progress was, this month was a bit tedious. No real reason. I guess I just wasn't feeling it.

But that doesn't mean I didn't add 104 more little 1 1/2" squares! And with a 'double' row of that dark purple, I'm thinking it's a nice accent and maybe I'll add just a few more rounds to finish things up.

But that's how I feel today, and things can change. For now, I'll just keep sewing.

21 Rounds and Counting

Another month, another Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World check-in, and I'm feeling pretty good about my progress. As I worked on pressing the row I was working on, fully planning on taking progress pics, I got inspired, and an evening in front of the tv motivated me to finish up that row - some 30 or so squares, which is alot for me to do in a day. But yay, I get to share a completed round, and am now debating what color I should do next.

What made the last couple of rounds more interesting for me was to do a mixed-color round as I ran out of one solid, and I also introduced a new Karen Lewis print, which is subtle but I like it!

Folks keep asking how big I'm going to make this thing, and I honestly don't know. Let's just say I'm not ready to be done, so I'll leave it at that for now. Here's to another round!

Very Slow Sewing

Keeping true to my word, today I'm sharing progress on my Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World. After June's road trip sewing, things have slowed down a bit. I was gung-ho for a couple of weeks (thank goodness!) but then plain let it sit due to other demands.

Pressing it last night actually made me really happy, and I'm hoping to make time for it again. I bought I few more Karen Lewis prints since I'd run out of what I started with, so let's take that as a sign that the end is not yet in sight. Once this round is done, it'll measure 28" square.

Road Trip Sewing

So hubby, mom, & I took a little road-trip last week and it afforded me some concentrated - or at least frequent - car sewing time. After binding my recent do.Good Stitches quilt, I settled in on my Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World and made very good progress!

As I posted on Instagram, I needed a little change of pace and decided to mix things up a bit and combine colors in a single round. Well that didn't go quite as planned, so rather than a very ordered sequence, things turned out a little more random, "original" as mom would say, and honestly, I'm just fine with it.



It's kinda weird how the 'passion' for these projects ebb and flow but during our week away, I couldn't get enough of it. Swirling and pressing several rounds once I got home was rather taxing, but it's done now, so nice and neat, and I'm ready to continue stitching on.

Carrying On

Progress on my Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World has been slow but sure!



I still haven't gotten into the habit of taking it everywhere I go, so it's usually just the occasional tv-time project, but at least it's still growing, now 20" square.



With the piece larger now, it's much easier to press the back - which in itself is a bit of a reward for all this hand-piecing, don't you think?

Going Round

I'm a little late reporting in but at least I've made some progress on my Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World. Last report, I had ten rounds beyond the center; now I have just 12, and a start on the next. Obviously the 'trips' take longer than they did at first!



A variety of reasons - prepping for a trip out of town, publishing a newsletter, sewing on hanging sleeves, and pulling together an entry for the Pantone challenge - all kept me preoccupied otherwise. Though I did take it with me to Texas, the days were full, and I didn't find myself very drawn to work on it.



Maybe things will slow down a bit and I'll be newly inspired to continue on. One can hope.

Teeny Tiny Trip Around the World

Remember the hand-piecing project I started at QuiltCon? Well I'm still working on it! Can't say I work on it every night, especially when there's a quilt to bind or a newsletter to work on, but I am making progress, and I'm good with that!

Yesterday I spent a little time with my iron and tailor's clapper spinning all the seams on the back. It's fiddly and time-consuming, but it really seems to help the piece lay flat and neat... Ie. worth the effort.



I did get an ArtBin in which to store all of my fabric squares and hand-sewing supplies, and that inspired me to cut up all the fabric in the bundle I started this project with. I need to decide if I'll use just these fabrics or add more in the mix. Hmmmm....

I'm hoping by posting monthly I'll stay accountable and moving forward on this project. People have asked, "How big are you going to make it?" And there's no answer other than, "I'll know when I'm done." I have no real expectation to make it a full-sized quilt, but I'm hoping I don't lose interest anytime soon.