Monday, July 27, 2009

Flynn Quilt Frame

I apologize to those of you who were wanting to know more about  how the frame worked.  It's been a busy summer and then lots of computer issues.

Here is a picture of my quilt in the frame at the machine.




[caption id="attachment_527" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flynn Quilt set up"]The Betrayal[/caption]

This piece is still unfinished.   I must continue thread painting on the faces and hands.  But with the other quilting done it is making in very easy to work with.





[caption id="attachment_528" align="aligncenter" width="197" caption="The Betrayal"]The Betrayal[/caption]

The background circles for this piece were quilted on the Flynn frame.  Most machines have between the have from 6 – 9 inches of space between the needle and the back post of the machine.   Although my machine has a smaller amount of room and I only had about 4-41/2" of quilting space it still worked quite well.  I was able to quilt small circles across the width of my quilt and then roll it to the next section and keep going.


Detail of BG free-motion quilted circles


another detail shot of BG circles


I found the frame very easy to adjust and easy to control.   I was very pleased with how flat and nice the back of the quilt was, not puckers at all.


One thing you need to make sure is that your batting is at least two inches more than the quilt top all the way around and that your backing is also around 6 inches longer on each end of the quilt to fit in the frame.


This was definitely a great buy for those of us who are on a low budget.



More Rust Dyes

The following rust dyed pieces were done on PFD fabric. I wrapped the cloth around old horse shoes. Then covered in vinegar and water and let set for a week. I also learned a very important lesson with this set. Never use an aluminum foil tray with this. We were gone for the week and when I came back my tub was coated in black sludge and rust because it had eaten through the pan.Image2Image3Dsc_0046

Rust Dye Pictures

these first two scraps of fabric are from an old white sheet. They where soaked in vinegar and wrapped around a pole on the roof. Next I tea dyed them. After that I put them in a bag wrapped around some small poles and poured vinegar and water on them to soak. After two days I removed them and tea dyed them a second time.

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Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Well, I have finally gotten cloth wrapped around my rusty horseshoes and soaking in water and vinegar. I did another cloth with lots of found objects. For my third experiment I soaked my cloth in vinegar and water and climbed out on the roof. I wrapped it around an old antenna poll and then squished the cloth together. Finally I wrapped a plastic garbage bag around it and tied it with string. We are going to begone several days, so they will have several days to set up. I can't wait to see them.

I wonder what my son will think when he sees the messy experiment in the bathtub and the bag wrap when he looks out the window. we will begone before he gets home.

Monday, July 6, 2009

Quilt Damage

We got back from our week of camping at the Cornerstone Music Festival.  I took along a quilt to do hand quilting on the 8 hour drive to and fro.   I carefully folded my quilt in the front of the van to keep it clean.   Sunday morning I went to get my new shoes out and the laces on one was shreded.  When I  put them back in the car I picked up my quilt.  Low and behold it had mouse droppings on it.  I opened it up and the back has about 6 by 8 inches of damage where the mouse chewed it.  (Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!) I knew I hated rodents.

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