Saturday, December 31, 2011

What I did on my Christmas vacation



I finished Ann's quilt!  It took a long time to quilt, but that was my choice Ann, so don't feel guilty.   I used two cones of Superior Bottom Line thread - that's 6000 yards and a lot of that ended up in the garbage can.  I swear I ripped out more stitches than I put in. 
 







This is the first time I have used two batts, a thin cotton and Hobbs wool. I like the way it looks but it sure makes for a heavy quilt.








The cross hatching in the center took especially long.  I drew the design first and didn't have a ruler that exactly matched the curve I needed.  I had read about someone who made their own templates using three layers of kiddie craft foam that are glued together.  That sounded like a great idea so I bought some and cut a template - I could cut it with scissors and it was like cutting through butter.  Unfortunately, it was about as useful as a template made out of butter; it was so soft that the foot kept mooshing up against it making a wobbly line.


I was afraid I was going to have to do something different in the center and it was really my favorite part so I hated to change it.  Peter suggested trying 1/4 inch balsa wood so we tried that.  It also was soft and easy to cut with a craft knife but held up a little better when I used it to quilt.  Still, I killed a few but it was for a good cause.  (I named them too)  It's not a technique I recommend!







The quilt is so heavily quilted that from the back it looks like a wholecloth quilt.






16 comments:

  1. Speechless..............This is one beautiful quilt!
    I would like to work out how to do the curved cross hatching too. I don't have any rulers as I think it would be fiddly trying to use them while doing my quilting on a domestic machine, maybe I will just measure and mark...I haven't as yet tried.

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  2. Wow, that is absolutely gorgeous!

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  3. marvelous! The centre medallion is stunning - I am so glad you persevered and were able to get it done. Thank you for sharing!

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  4. You have outdone yourself..... WOW!!!!!

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  5. I love this quilt and I love your quilting. I'm doing some curved crosshatch and it is difficult to make it right. Curves are funny, but I don't have the ripping out patience like you do, so I'm coming up with other ideas for it.
    Beautiful. Thanks for sharing.

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  6. Oh. My. Goodness. Absolutely breathtaking. I can only imagine how outstanding your workmanship is in person.

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  7. Katie from UniqueQuiltDesigns said. . .I'm so thankful to see this, it is way over the top in so many artistic ways! Thanks for sharing! I wish I could see you in action, do you have any videos?

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  8. We. Want. Video. You could have Peter find some wacky music for the background, or, better yet, music with a beat in time with the swirls and swoops of your machine head.

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  9. Beautiful work! Absolutely gorgeous!!

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  10. Stunning!! My God, your work is spectacular! Congratulations to you both!

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  11. OMG, this is amazing. I hope she puts it in some shows for others to enjoy close up! Outstanding job!

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  12. This is so inspiring! Congratulations on a beautiful job!

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  13. This is absolutely stunning! I pinned it to Pinterest too...WoW! :-)

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