Wednesday, May 24, 2017

Preakness to Freakness

We hosted a little horse racing party on Saturday.  I decided to make a hokey cake for the occasion.  It was an exciting race with Cloud Computer stealing it from Classic Empire.
I have been working very hard to finish my son Andrew's quilt.  The backing is finally pieced together.  To be sure everything was the right size, I folded each part into fourths, then layered them.
 When you are making a giant quilt, this is the surest way to avoid mishap.  And Friends, I have run into trouble on several occasions.
I pinned the center of each layer.
 I cover my kitchen table with old cutting mats to protect the crappy finish (ha ha) and get my binder clips and pins out.
I store pins in the open and sprinkle them on the lids and across the quilt - it's works for me.
 I match up the pins when I layer it on the table and in this way know that everything will line up on center.
I marked straight lines 1 1/2" apart.  I like Crayola WASHABLE markers but I always toss out the yellow marker as it is harder to remove.  Also, you have to use Clorox2 when you wash per manufacturer's instructions.
Next I pinned - and I mean PINNED!  I have found that it is really works well for me to use a lot of pins.
Finally... I'm ready to roll.  Wednesday, I quilted for 7 hours with a few breaks.
Okay - here is the Freakness part of the post: We're watching this at my house.
It is confusing, violent, provocative, disturbing.....we love it.  I am listening to a podcast to help me understand what is happening.

While machine quilting, I binge watched this on Netflix.   It is also a bit disturbing, but also fascinating.
To leave you on a upbeat, is this not the funniest card - ever?
It made me belly laugh out loud.  Have a great week and I'll share more on how I'm quilting this king sized quilt.

xo

29 comments:

Chantal said...

Great trick to align the centers of all the layers. I wouldn't have thought of it. And the crayola markers? Wouldn't have done that either. Thanks for sharing your tricks with us. Very useful. ;^)

Thimbleanna said...

You've been a busy girl Barb! I was rooting for that little white horse with the pretty gray mane LOL! And I LOVE that card -- too funny (and perhaps a little too true and disturbing haha).

Janet O. said...

Now I am trying to recall what I was doing Saturday that caused me to miss the Preakness. LOVE the cake. That is great fun.
Good thing you protected that kitchen table so that the finish didn't get any worse. ha ha
Fascinated by your "fold in quarters" method. I've never seen that before, but you can bet I will be trying it.
That card is a hoot!

Outback Crafter - Debra said...

Great tips Barb and that truly is a laugh out loud card.

Cute horse cake too.

Unknown said...

Have you seen The Leftovers? Also very freaky weird and disturbing and yet compelling 😁

Julierose said...

this is going to be one lovely quilt...I am sure he will love it!! Great hints on pinning to get straight and even layers...Happy Memorial Day weekend...(phew--SEVEN hours of sewing straight??)
hugs, Julierose

Janet said...

Great tips. Really like the quilt. I would think your neck and shoulders would be sore after 7 hours. Wow. The cake looked great. You make things such fun. I love your Wizard of Oz tin. Too cute. Thank you for sharing. Have a Happy Memorial Day weekend.

Nann said...

Thanks for showing all the steps of the process. I sprinkle the pins, too! The problem with marking the center with a safety pin is remembering to remove them before you quilt them in. I take it you're pleased with the Crayola markers.

Connie said...

Oh what a joy it was to just now read your post and I love love love the funny at the end. I think you and I would get along quite well IRL I learned some great tips too as I'm a newbie to home machine quilting as I always did my quilting on a longer but I sold it when I moved a year ago and have become a DSM quilter wannabe.
xo connie

Barb said...

Hi Kelly - Yes, I'm watching that too and I also listen to a podcast to help me unravel all the allegories and metaphors. You can change your settings so I can email you direct. Just add your email to your profile and allow emails.

Kevin the Quilter said...

You are so "FUN" Barb! I love the horse race cake! SO clever! Your son's quilt is very masculine looking, and thanks for sharing the way you go about basting for quilting. The card you shared is a sad commentary for today's youth unfortunately......ahhhhhh youth!

Janet said...

Your hokey cake looks fun and yummy :0) I hope your quilting goes well - big quilts seem to take forever to quilt. It will be wonderful when it's done!

Wendy Caton Reed said...

My but you are ambitious! I know I would never tackle anything that size (or even a quarter of that size) in my machine. When it gets that big I quilt with my checkbook. I love your "Preakness" cake. Too cute. I can't believe you are watching Twin Peaks. That was my husband's favorite show when it first aired. We watched it faithfully and still had trouble following some of it. (I'm sure it had nothing to do with evening wine!)

Cathy said...

That cake was just too cute. I love the quilt. Can't wait to see it all quilted. I binge watch while I'm in the sewing room. Hugs

Kyle said...

Your Preakness cake is too sweet. It makes me smile. Your tin of pins looks like mine. No sense keeping them closed. Loved the card!

Angie said...

I'm looking forward to seeing the finished quilt. I'm in awe that you would brave a king-size quilt on your home machine!

Beth French said...

Thank you for the tip about the Crayola washable markers. I just found out about those markers last week. I am marking a queen sized quilt and will use my domestic machine to quilt it. I've done meandering before but have never marked. Thank you so much for your tips!

Barb said...

You're welcome!

Barbara said...

Such a creative cake, Barb! What a fun way to celebrate the Preakness. Thanks for sharing your tips for pinning and marking a large quilt. I often wondered how you decided where the pins go! I've used the Crayola markers ever since you recommended them. We were hooked on the original Twin Peaks series. So weird!

Pinkadot Quilts said...

The cake is so cute! Your guests must have loved it.
I can't imagine quilting a quilt that big, I would need shoulder surgery when it was done!
We watched Twin Peaks back in the day and loved it, very quirky. I will be checking out the other one too!

Lori said...

Great idea to pin the centers! What a fun way to celebrate the horse races!!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

oh the cake is amazing! I used to decorate all of my boys cakes when they were little

Yes that is alot of pinning and work and such a wonderful project for your son / full of love in every stitch!

Ann said...

Fun cake and great tips. I pin on my table, too. Will definitely start putting cutting mats down. Crayola markers with Clorox 2 - I never knew. Thanks.
Very timely card!

CecileD said...

Hello Barb ! Thank you so much for all the tips you gave us ! Basting is not my favourite step but it's very important. ...
The cake is ....wow ! Incredible but I'm sure it was delicious !

Quilter Kathy said...

You are fearless to tackle such a large quilt on a domestic machine!
Way to go!

Rachaeldaisy said...

You are so wonderful at sharing your tips with us. So clever to fold the quilt and backing into quarters, and to use your old cutting mats to protect the table. Happy quilting. I love your horse cake!! I bet you had a fun day.

Ruth said...

Yummy cake and so cute! I base the same way you do by folding the layers and making sure to put them in the very middle of the table (which has a pin taped to the center and both sides). I learned this technique from Cindy Needham's Craftsy class. But it's a great tip to pin the middle and I will start doing that. Thanks!

Dawn said...

Your son will love his quilt!

Dixie Howard said...

Love your son's quilt, and all the tips you shared. Especially love that you are a Twin Peaks fan. So excited that the series resumes after 26 years! My two daughters (33 and 31) watched with me when the first series came out, and I got a little flack for letting them watch. 😂😂. They turned out ok though! Also love watching Fargo, but I think I need to find a tutorial to understand season 3!