Monday, January 6, 2014

Celtic Solstice Link-up

For the past several weeks Bonnie Hunter has hosted a link-up where everyone who is working on her most recent mystery, Celtic Solstice, can link their own blogpost  to Bonnie's and we can all share our progress.     I am amazed at the number of quilters who have been able to keep up with the mystery steps and have finished their quilts!  

I, for one, am way behind.... and I know there are others who may or may not link up.  This holiday season has just been to busy for me to barely begin working on this king size quilt, much less finish it. But, I am happy with the progress I have accomplished  thus far.  Progress is progress... no matter how much or little you have made.

I quit cutting those blue triangle pairs when I lost count, somewhere after 300.  I began stitching the 3.5 inch blocks together, but added a little twist to the challenge for myself...   



I am using my 1921 Singer Red-Eye treadle to sew this project!  I've had her for a while, sitting and looking beautiful in my quilting room; but I have never sewn on her.  I've watched Bonnie treadle away on Quiltcam and decided it was time to put her to work.

I used Bonnie's seam guide and a hotel key card to mark my quarter inch and got started.  I've had a few problems lining up the triangles properly to make the blocks end up the correct size.   I discovered that the flannel shirts I used are fraying a bit on the edges and that little nick on the blue triangle that is to be used to line up the fabrics is a bit fuzzy and difficult to line up with some of the fabrics.  I also discovered that some of these flannels are a bit stretchy and don't sew as nicely as I would like.  

I'm glad I didn't jump in and just sew through the whole stack, sewing all 300 on one side then the next.  I did a few at a time and checked them for size.  I had to do a lot of frogging  and restitching at first, but now I believe I have figured out how to line these things up and am making some progress. 



I've completed 100 of them so far... half white and half orange.  Now that the quilt has been revealed and I know the white ones are for the block and the orange are for the border, I've decided to sew just the white ones for now so that I can move on to the next step and work toward getting some blocks made.  I'll finish the orange ones later when I am ready to add the border on the quilt.  

I am really enjoying sewing on my treadle.  There's a rhythm to working on her and I love the sound of her beat.   I've got the added bonus of a bit of exercise as a treadle along.... maybe I will treadle away a few extra pounds this year as I complete my projects!

Be sure to check out the other bloggers and their progess here on Bonnie's blog:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

6 comments:

  1. I admire anyone who can stitch on a treadle. I can't even walk and chew gum at the same time! In the end it's going to be worth your effort.

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  2. I am happy to hear you are enjoying sewing with your treadle. I am not sure I could manage, but I would like to try some day. You are making progress for sure and it is good that you worked out the 'bugs' in the beginning. Happy stitching.

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  3. I haven't tried accurate piecing on my treadle yet, I've been using it for crumbs and strings where the seam allowance doesn't matter. Maybe once I get more rhythm.

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  4. hope this works now .....Thanks for sharing your use the Treadle and your flannel My oh My scary to use that fabric........ looks like my choices..... cool I use recycled shirts also is so great and so much cheaper I got shirts for 1.00 piece before Christmas for this project and future ones .....columbia, tommy Hilfinger couldn't believe it and others to come 15 for 15.00 . so cool really hate to cut them up but nice batik fabric amazing!!!! Debbie Kelly

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  5. Hi Helen Marie,
    I've visiting over from Esther's Blog. I had to check out your treadle. I have a Red Eye too! I was inspired to sew on it after getting feedback on my post about it. It is a lot of fun and there is a rhythm to it. Enjoy it!

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  6. I think your awesome for using your treadle!! I had one for years but gave it to a friend bc I was scared of it and couldn't figure out the bobbin assembly. Did you finish it on the treadle?? Amie :0)

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