Done Is Good.
First, some quick business to discuss.
I've been "Out of the Office" or the summer equivalent of busier than you-know-what, and far removed from the Blogging World. We are a big family whose lives are very interwoven, and I've been needed elsewhere. Sorry to have abandoned you all, my bloggy and quilty friends, my email and comments. (Is this a form of ghosting? Trust me when I say I feel the guilt.) Summer duties spread us very thin. (Did I mention house guests for the next month?) But the leaves are starting to show signs of change already, the grass is drying, and talk of school starting came up last night. Summer has been a time warp!
Longarming a few minutes here and there has helped me whittle down my own WIP/UFO and PUPs. I've squeezed in a few customer quilts this summer, and have a line up coming next month. It feels good to help other quilters get caught up with their projects too. So, I may not be done with all of my own by the end of summer or even end of the year, but I'm committed to it. The downside is not having anything new and spectacular to show you as I work through old things.
The Ribbon Candy Solution
In the last post I showed you my dilemma with the ribbon candy, and my determination to rip it out. It took over 2.5 hours to rip the quilting and baseline over 94" long. I replaced it with ribbon candy done in a more appropriate scale centered between two baselines and borders. You can see from the backside that my stitching is a bit wobbly here and there, but how much better than before, in my opinion!
Hand-guided quilting does not produce perfect motifs any more than hand-drawn art work. The only way you get perfectly repeated motifs is with a computerized stitcher at a whopping $10k! And if that's the goal, you might just go buy a quilt at the box store much cheaper!
The other issue I was up against was dark brown thread on top, and natural white on the backing. We longarmers stand on our heads to avoid this! We match our top and bottom thread 99% of the time because the tension has to be pretty, darned good not to show on either side. The holes created by the needle above show the fabric on the opposite side, and those are visible until washing. (The zigzag stitching on the left was done in matching thread, and looks similar.) Mine wasn't perfect everywhere, but it was good overall.
Heads Up: If you work this way yourself, be careful not to confuse the opposite fabric color through the needle hole with the thread. Pay attention as you may need to adjust your tension more than once, and also if you are quilting vertical borders vs. horizontal borders. Longarms are funny animals!
This quilt is destined for my guest bedroom because I love the fabrics!
Spread across my pingpong/ironing and cutting table...
...it's big, and quilted, and finally on the binding pile
which is growing fast.
Come on, Doxie girls.
It's back to summer until we can say...
Let's go sew.
Linking up to~
Esther's WOW
I hear you, this summer is going w-a-y faster than my quilting! And now the beans are ready for daily picking/blanching/freezing. Thankfully that takes far less time than canning all the tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteyour quilting looks great and I hear you on the computerized long arm quilting - I know there is more to it then putting your quilt on the frame and selecting a pattern but it seems like it would take the fun out of quilting also if you are not doing the work
ReplyDeleteThe day I can't do hand guided on my long arm anymore, is the day I quit. I love the hand drawn look. I do not want perfect computer work. I have been criticisized for my lack of perfection. And I try always to improve, but I love changing up the stitching by area and free forming it. Your quilt is gorgeous. Hope you get a breather.
ReplyDeleteI smiled when I read you picked out all those stitches. Somehow I knew you'd do that! Especially when it's yours, you'd look at it always and think it just wasn't right. Some things are worth the effort - looks fantastic! Enjoy your guests and summer things. Quilting will wait.
ReplyDeleteHi, Julie,
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to pop in to say that I really enjoy reading your posts whenever you get them written. Even though I leave a comment, I'm not expecting a reply, as I just want to acknowledge your great work and that I appreciate the time you took to tell me about it. So, I hope I've made you smile a bit today and feel that I'm supporting you in your efforts to create and show as often or as little as you can. BTW: Your quilting on that beautiful quilt is....BEAUTIFUL!!!
Summer can be a fun/work filled time of mania. Don't sweat the comments! I so agree about the fact that if you want perfect stitches, go buy a machine quilted quilt. The human touch is far more lovable and meaningful.:) It's funny which quilts resonate the most with us, through the color, fabric usage or maybe the journey itself. They don't have to be the most complicated we've ever finished that's for sure!
ReplyDeleteIt turned out fabulous. You did a great job!
ReplyDeleteNo need to apologize. Life happens. Your quilting looks great.
ReplyDeleteGorgeous quilting, Julie. Love it. Yes, we must make time for family and summer. Don't worry about us. We know you're having fun.
ReplyDeleteThis summer is flying by, isn’t it?! Your latest quilting adventure is just beautiful. I like your solution for quilting the border of this gorgeous quilt. Yay! for another quilt heading to,the binding pile.
ReplyDeleteMy blogging goes mia all the time, family comes first. Your ribbon candy looks good to me.
ReplyDeleteThe quilting turned out beautifully. I think we all have times of MIA. Enjoy the time with family and hope you can eek out a bit of time here and there for more stitching.
ReplyDeleteI know exactly what you mean about being spread thin! Your quilting really id fantastic. I enjoyed seeing all your quilts :)
ReplyDeleteI’m playimg catch up, Julie! I’ve been out of the loop, myself. But not spread thin like you, just......not taking the time, I guess! This quilting turned your pretty top into a beautiful quilt! I wish I had a longarm so I could benefit from all your advice!
ReplyDeleteI love seeing the back, and how the border accentuates and sets off that beautiful texture in the centre. Life is a journey, enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteYou're right that does look a lot better. Well worth the 2 1/2 hours. I would keep that one, too. It's beautiful.
ReplyDelete