I decided to use my little red work quilting girl blocks that had been languishing for about 9 years so it's a long-overdue UFO for me too. I'm happy that they were right for the theme and are now made into a quilt. The swag borders are pre-printed yardage. I added hand applique bows at the corners. It took a lot of calculating to make the pre-printed borders fit along the block edges evenly. Thankfully trimming the blocks to a smaller size and choosing a good sashing width made it all fit together.
I did custom quilting on this quilt and it seemed to take half-of-forever (a total of about 62 hours). I love quilting feathers and meandering, but struggle with ruler work, so was glad when that part was finished. I put in some really long days getting this done on time - not what I want to repeat anytime soon. We had been having our great grandson here so much, that I didn't think I'd ever be able to get enough time to finish it by the deadline, but it finally got finished.
Getting the marking out turned out to be a challenge. I used Sewline pencil with pink lead and Bohin colored chalk, the purple. I thought I had pre-tested them but not good enough I guess. I'm going to have to be more careful in the future.
I plan to give the back a little bit more attention before I call this quilt completely finished. It seems that when I was changing thread colors my longarm came unthreaded and I struggled getting it to sew evenly after I re-threaded. The stitching looks okay on the front but there are some loops around some of the curved feather tips on the back. I think I'll come up with an applique idea and do some back art to cover those "loopies". I'll post some pictures when I get the back art finished.
All in all, I'm pleased with the way it turned out, but I prefer a more leisurely experience when I'm quilting. It's done though so now I can switch to doing a little bit of handwork - something I really enjoy. A much slower pace too.
Here are a few close-ups so you can see the quilting.
Here's the back art:
. . .and a close-up
3 comments:
It looks beautiful! When I come in Feb I will help you with those tension issues........I have them too and there are some things that might help you in the future. I just finished ripping many, many, many hours on a customer quilt and requilting so I feel your pain.
I love red work too and your work is absolutely beautiful! The quilting theme--how special!
Thanks Ami and Lynn. I was so happy that these blocks, that had been in my drawer for so long, worked for the theme of this challenge. I'm glad you like it. Thank you for your encouraging comments. Linda
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