Friday, April 20, 2018

Giant Rose Star Quilt Finish


Good Kite Weather!


What a blustery week we've had! Snow, thunder, rain, and even barefoot days. The weather blew in with heavy winds each time, and I was lucky to have a day with both sun and calm skies to get a picture outside. I wanted you to see the true colors of this quilt at least once. I was shocked at how hard it was to photograph the color violet inside, and this quilt has the full range.




At the flimsy stage it was 55.5" x 65.5", and I'm sure it's an inch or two smaller with the quilting as is typical. 


On Your Mark...

I learned a big lesson last summer about marking quilts. Do it. That sounds very basic, but I have had a tendency to mark parts of a repeated design thinking I would remember it as I went. I was caught off guard at how monotonous long arming can be, and how it's very hard to remember details of little lines. It's best for me to mark in the beginning when I can see the whole quilt, and save grief later on. Even little hints as to what filler I'm using with a circle or swirl for pebbles or curlicues.



Once it's loaded on the long arm, this is the limited space you can see. Visually, it's best to work in order, and mechanically also. Most longarmers work from left to right as the machine is designed to provide the best stitch in that direction because of the orientation of the bobbin turn.



Double Batting


I had a moderate amount of detailed quilting planned as this quilt was headed for a charity auction*. I started with Hobb's Premium 80/20 cotton/poly, and layered a Fairfield polyester batting in the thinnest thickness available on top. This was new for me. I used So Fine by Superior Threads in top and bobbin.

*The Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale is held the first weekend in August each year in Wooster, Ohio. You may know it as the Kidron Auction, but it's now held at the Wayne Co. Fairgrounds. 


I started to make the planned swirls, but my arm said, "Curlicue branches!" instead.


As a new longarmer, I learned to break up my designs so I could use my ruler in sections as the quilt advanced. See how some ruler work is awkwardly caught between? Often there is a bit of unrolling and re-rolling to get it all it.



When you come toward the last rolls, though, there is a sense of relief. I worked on this quilting over a period of 3 days for hours at a time. A few in the morning, again in the afternoon, and sometimes again after supper. It is beautiful when it's done, but the process is tedious to be accurate as well.


The first good look when I pull a quilt off can be exciting, but also pops up a question or two. Did I quilt one area to match another? Does the amount of quilting overall seem balanced? Any accidental whoopsies anywhere? There are always lots of threads that need attention, but that's on my final last look I take care of those. The hub of the hexagon wheel in the center had my attention here. 



I had not added a lot of quilting to that surrounding area as I wanted it to frame the center. From this perspective, it was puffy, but the green areas were quilted with even a bit more puffiness left in them. I decided it was evenly matched, and not to put it back on the frame.


One window in the house gets the best late afternoon sun, and I had to snap a few shots inside.


The birds and the print border were from Alexander Henry 2011, and long out of print, if you're wondering.




I pieced the backing, but the seam blends very well with this Lotta Jasdotter print.



Even the center strip is pieced using up all that I had.


Tagged and bagged, as they say. Yes, I need to snip a few threads yet, but this quilt is a wrap.

Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.


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14 comments:

Linda Swanekamp said...

It is a beautiful quilt. The quilting so fits the quilt and is just super. I love your description of the process. I find thinking the designs through a hard and exacting time. I can tell the care and thought that went into this. Thank you for sharing all the photos.

Sandra Walker said...

Yay! Love all the photos of this beauty Julie! and YES do I hear you on the forgetting what you quilted before--I use my phone for that, and make notes/do drawings now too! Still sometimes find myself rolling back to check what the heck... :-) I also hear you on the crazy mix of weather we've had here a few hours north of you... I love how you quilted it! Just gives it that extra layer IMHO. It should bring in a good amount! Funny but I took shots of Postcard in the setting sun yesterday from inside too, and talked about light and angles a bit in my post. Same wavelength right?

Janice Holton said...

This quilt is an allaround winner! Interesting pattern, fun fabrics (love those birds), textural quilting and great photography! Wish I could go to that auction. I LOVE auctions! And auctions of quilts is even better!

KaHolly said...

Julie, honey, you’ve done an amazing job! As with all your fantastic creations, you’ve documented your process beautifully from it’s conception, and kept us all on 'needles and pins' as we’ve watched it grow. You’ve nailed the quilting, my dear. New longarmer? Looks like it was quilted by a pro!

Barb Neiwert said...

LOL, when I first started quilting I would forget what I did in the upper right-hand corner, and have to roll the entire quilt (usually a l-a-r-g-e quilt) back up to visually remember. Only have to do that one (or twice) to learn to use the cell phone camera to snap a pic, lol. Live and learn. Your quilt is a winner!

ShirleyC said...

Incredibly gorgeous!

https://prayersformymom.blogspot.com/

Kate said...

Congrats on a gorgeous finish! It should do really well at the auction.

Izzy said...

This is a beautiful finish and your quilting is stunning! Great job and thank you for linking up at TGIFF!

PaulaB quilts said...

Your label is wonderful!

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

The quilting is amazing. The colours are wonderful. How do you print your labels?

Susan said...

Absolutely beautiful! Love your quilting - I probably would have done it very similar!

Rachel said...

Very pretty!

Sandy Panagos said...

A beautiful finish! The solid you chose make the prints really stand out. Love it!

Christina said...

Your quilting looks awesome! Thank you for explaining what you did for each section and some helpful hints when you are doing custom quilting. Congrats on a finish!