Flower Market Finish

Finally finish the quilting on Flower Market. Its such a nice feeling when you put the last quilting stitch in a quilt. Its a feeling of joy, accomplishment, and relief. I really enjoy seeing the difference the quilting makes.

Before quilting.

After quilting. So pretty. Wish I could figure out how to put the pictures side by side.

And now the back before,

and after.

Now just to show you that I am not "perfect" I thought I would show you my mistakes. Pantographs are not easy for me,  I tend to get off track here and there.

What the heck happened on this one? Its like I was drunk.

Flower Market and Thread

Yesterday I showed you a new quilt that I started called Flower Market.  I am loving working on this quilt as the weather outside is frightful.

Today I thought I would talk about thread. Sounds exciting I know. But choosing the "right" thread can make a world of difference in the final product. Do you chose thread that is matchy matchy or thread that shouts out to be heard. Do you use the same thread on the top as the bottom or do you switch things up? Do you use one thread for the whole quilt or several different threads. Decisions decisions.

For this quilt I chose to use a light blue thread for the bobbin as it would blend in with the backing and not be to noticeable.

Blends beautifully.

Now for the top I was going to use a bright red variegated but then felt it would just be to much on this busy quilt. Instead I chose to use this pale purple variegated as it would just blend in with the top and not take anything away from all these bright fabrics.

This thread just is a subtle addition.  It doesn't compete and it doesn't demand attention.

Because I love the change quilting makes, here is a before picture....

and after some quilting.

Intro to Pantograph

After finishing the Nine Patch Quilt I was excited to get another top onto Lola. My Mystery Quilt is still a long way from being ready to quilt however I know what I want to quilt on it and its a shock to me. I plan to quilt it with a pantograph and that is not really something I am comfortable with but because of all the pieces it will help calm the quilt and make it not so busy.  (I will explain what a pantograph is as we go along in this post.)

I have a closet in my studio that I store finished tops and I looked through and found this lovely busy top "Flower Market".  I made this from just a bunch of floral fabrics that I had been collecting. My sister M gave me some of the fabrics for my birthday one year. Its just an explosion of floral and I love it! My only problem was I couldn't decide what to quilt on it as its really busy.

This is the backing I had for this quilt. While the top is loud and in your face, the backing compliments the top but is soothing and calm but still wild.

I didn't have enough backing and so I had to add another fabric to get me to the desired size. I like to add a little something different, something unexpected to my backs and this is what I came up with for this one.

Now for the pantograph. Lola has two sides to her personality. The front side is her carefree creative side and the one I always use. What comes out of the front is all me. I decide where the stitches go and how they flow on the top. Lola's back side is controlled and a follower. From the back I can place a pattern down on the table and use a stylus or a laser light to follow a pattern. Its a different skill and one I just haven't explored.

For the floral quilt I chose to use a pattern with large leaves.

Then after much set up that I won't bore you with I just follow that pattern with this laser light.  See that tiny red dot?

This is what the top looks like after just one pass of the pantograph. I have to say I really like the way it is looking! Sometimes I surprise myself.

Finish in Sight

I started the day with just a little more to quilt on the Nine Patch Quilt. So nice to be this close to done.

Finished!

Fun to see what it looked like before I had done any quilting and then seeing what it looks like finished.

 Big change. This is why I love quilting so very much. You take a top (some people call it a "flimsy") and then all quilting to give it life. So pretty.

Now I just need to add the binding and wash it and then I will be able to sleep under this beauty.

On the Home Stretch

I think I have mentioned that the Nine Patch quilt is king sized 108" square. I am finally seeing the end...sort of. I have the LARGE 9 patch squares left to quilt. There are 25 of these bad boys.

They are 13" square.

But since they are set on point they are 19" front to back. Thank goodness my long arm is JUST able to accommodate this block.

I already decided that this quilt would just be done with mostly feathers so I found a circle template that worked with this block. (I use painters tape to help the template not move around. Just sticky enough.)

I still need to hold onto the stencil as I move the needle around the template.

I can only go so far around before I need to readjust my hand.

This is not very comfortable and even less so when I am trying to take a picture.

And we are done.

Perfect circle, every time.

I needed to do a whole row of just the circles as I have to put an extended base on Lola to give the template some stability. However these blocks are so large that with the extended base I can't stitch the blocks as it limits how far forward I can quilt. I need every inch.

Also, this is the bottom of the quilt. I worked my way down the quilt doing everything except these large blocks because I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with them. Now I will work my way back up to the top.

Having taken the extend base off I can now stitch feathers around the circle.

Once the outside is done I need to do the inside.

One row done! 20 more to go!

I had trouble with the lighting today. It was to overcast to get really good photos. I will take more tomorrow if the lighting is better. I am excited to be getting this quilt done.

Moving Along

This blog is meant to be inspiring and informative, I have to step outside of those bounds and say that if it wasn't for my amazing loving husband none of what I do would be possible. He is my biggest and loudest cheerleader. He calls me an artist. This week my husband had a medical emergency that took us on an unexpected path but one we took together. In all things we are together and that makes us stronger and able to handle what comes our way. I love the man!

Moving along...

I have been working on my Nine Patch quilt and I an designing as I go along on this quilt. Sometimes I skip over parts until an idea comes to me and that happened on these little funky side pieces that run all along the inside edge of the quilt.

What the heck am I going to do with this shape??  Then it hit me. This quilt is going to all sorts of feathers on it. So that is the theme. Feathers. Okay so first things first this will need a spine for the feathers.

Hard to see on the floral fabric so lets switch over to the other side of the quilt which has a more plain fabric.

Each spine ends with a teardrop which is actually a feather. Pretty smart huh?!? Next I need to add feathers along the back of the spine.

Just keep going. (Have I mentioned how hard it is to quilt and take pictures?) Just keep going and then do the other side of the spine. Apparently I didn't get a good picture of this but ta da its done.

 This fits in nicely with the shape of the block and it adds a lot of texture.

Oh and here is what the side with the flowers looks like.

Circle Templates

Yesterday I talked about designing the quilting for the border and the small blue and white nine patches.  As I work my way down the quilt stitching in the ditch between some of the squares my mind is spinning with ideas on what more I want to add to the quilt. As a side note...I stitch in the ditch to stabilize the quilt as I am working my way down the quilt, this way I can skip quilting the spaces I don't have a clue as to how or what I want to do in them.

So as I am working I finally decided what I want to do in these brown squares.

Feather wreaths!!   I need to start with my center circle. I try out a few circle templates to see what will fit best in the squares. The one I  choose is 1.5". I place a small piece of painters tape on the back to make it just a little sticky just to help me with any shifting as I move the needle around the circle.

Next I need to tack my thread down.

Then stitch around the template. Moving my fingers as I need to keep them out of the way. (Its really hard to take a picture and sew.)

Tada! Circle done. This will become the spine for my feathers.

Now I just fill it the outside of the circle with feathers, think of them like half hearts.

When the outside is finished, fill in the middle.

Hate when my bobbin thread runs out while I am in the middle of a design.

Here is how the two blocks look together.

One row done and several more to go! I just love how quilting transforms a top.