Tuesday, June 12, 2012

W.I.P. Wednesday

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

This week, I started and finished a small project and made a lot of progress on a large project.  The small finished project is this pencil case from "I Love Patchwork" by Rashida Coleman-Hale (also the author of the very popular "Zakka Style").  This was a bit of a challenging project, and you can read more about it {here}.


And the large project ~ Frankie.  Last Wednesday I had this quilt basted, and this week I'm starting to hand-stitch the binding to the back.  I feel like it's gone so fast, which is not like me.  I usually get hung up either at purchasing backing, or at getting projects basted, but not this time!  


I tried something different this time, which you might notice in the photo.  It drives me bananas how much the edges of the quilt and binding strips fray while I'm hand-stitching, so for the first time I zigzagged around the whole perimeter to hopefully control the fraying as much as possible.   Will let you know if it ends up being worth it.  You might also notice some Crayola marking on the quilt top, though they're not too noticeable in this photo.  Here's hoping they wash out in a couple of days when I finish the binding.  Fingers crossed!  OH, and I was going to ask - has anyone else ever had a squeaky walking foot?  I've used my walking foot a lot and it is still working perfectly fine but it squeaks and it's driving me crazy!  I'm thinking a drop of oil somewhere might help but I don't know where to put it.  Any help?

Nothing else in the works at the moment, especially with summer fast approaching and probably not as much sewing/quilting time in my immediate future, I'm not planning a whole bunch of stuff.  I do hope to try a few more smaller, quicker projects though. That said, I'm a little bit in love with the Supernova quilt from "Quilting Modern"....

Have a good rest of the week, and I look forward to peeking at what the rest of you are up to as well.

18 comments:

Suz J said...

No help but mine squeaks too.

Debbie said...

What a fun little zakka project! And love the stitching on Frankie! Great job on the super progress.
RE: the walking foot - I've heard about folks oiling theirs, but I never had...hopefully you'll get some helpful comments. Or is it worth calling your machine shop??

Kristy QP said...

Your Zakka project looks great! Lovely hexies!

Loving the quilting on your Frankie quilt too. Can't help with the crayon marks - but I do know sour milk takes pen ink out of cotton fabric! I just have to share that fact every chance I get because I'm still amazed that it works lol.

tartankiwi said...

Aaah! What a cute wee pencil case!

Being a newbie to quilting, I'm always interested in any hints that I can pick up so I'll be really interested to hear how you get on with your binding- sounds like a great idea to me!

CityHouseStudio said...

Mine squeaks, too! It drives my husband crazy because my sewing area is right next to his computer desk!
I wonder where it should be oiled? ? ?
Love Frankie - can't wait to see more!

Jessica Kelly said...

Mine is a little squeaky too! Super cute pencil case, love those hexies!

Kate said...

My squeaks, but it also clanks, squeals and falls apart on a regular basis. Mine might need to be replaced. Can't wait to see the finished Frankie! I've thought about zig-zagging my binding, because the loose threads drive me nuts too...but I'm just so ready to be done by then that I skip steps.

Teresa F. said...

I think it must be the "walking foot Squeaking disease", mine has caught it,too.
Love the hexie pencil case.

Svetlana said...

lovely projects, Heather. I stitch all around the perimeter of my quilts, too. It seems to make the quilt sandwich more stable and less fraying, definitely.

twelfthzodiac said...

I am stalking the comments to find out about that walking foot...mine drives me crazy with squeaking too! Never occured to me to oil it, I might just try a few places & see what happens!

Rachel said...

Very cute pencil case!

Debbie said...

Well I don't have a squeaky walking foot but I think if you add a drop of oil where it hinges, that would work. On my machine you press a lever and it drops off so I think it depends on the machine and the type of pressor foot.

I love the quilt and can't wait to see it finished.

Patti said...

Can hardly wait to see Frankie finished! Sorry, no help with the squeaking, Heather!

felicity said...

Nice projects! Did you use fusible thread in the bobbin when you zig zagged? ;)

LuLu said...

Oh, I loooove that pencil case! I think you did a beautiful job! I have serged the edges of my quilt if I don't have plans to bind it immediately. I'm a fan myself. And I'm digging your clips for your binding. I'm going to have to try that sometime :-)

Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts said...

Yep mine squeaks too! No idea how to fix it - massively irritating!

Heidi Grohs said...

Was the zig zag worth it? I found when I did a close 1/4 inch stitch on my longarm that it seems to help me too, but I adore the zig zag idea!

And yes, my old walking foot squeaked like crazy!!!

And I think I might invest in binding clips because, frankly, they are just too darn cute!!!!

Unknown said...

haha! I was looking at your picture (before reading the whole thing) and was thinking Holy Toledo! how does she keep her edges so neat? I am always fighting the edges :) good idea!