Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Giving new meaning to "You can quilt that out" - Christmas Quilt Show 2012


It's Christmas Quilt Show time!
 
I would like to thank Michelle Hester for taking over Sew Cal Gal's annual "Christmas Quilt Show" this year. Had she not done so, I have no doubt the project I am about to show would still, two years after I started it, be languishing forlornly on my UFO apple ladder, perhaps indefinitely.



Back in August, I decided to finish this project 1. For the 2012 Christmas season, 2. Because I was tired of feeling guilty about it being 75% done, and 3. For SewCalGal's show, since I didn't have anything else Christmas-y to show this year. Imagine my panic when I heard she was looking for someone else to take over. If there was no CQS, what reason would I have to finish it? Ever?

Finish it I did, about 20 minutes ago. I thank you all for not mentioning that I am late to the party. Here is my excuse: It may have been 75% done, but it still took me ALL of yesterday to finish quilting. Why?

Because I am famous for quilting the hell out of things.

More on that in a moment. For now, the particulars. This is a Sue Pelland design called "Christmas Ribbons" which I started two years ago when Sue came to my guild and taught her "Leaves Galore" quick curved applique shapes method with her cool rulers. The top was almost finished in class (I think I still had the flowers to do, but finished those the next day) and was so quick because it is a whole cloth applique design, no piecing required.

For the machine applique, I played with some of the fun stitches my machine will allow. Even the most basic machines usually have a few fun decorative stitches, and I am always encouraging my students to try new things with what they have and add some fun threads to boot; I'm also good at walking the walk.

Some sort of funky stitch along the edge of the leaves using variegated dark green thread.



Another funky stitch along the ribbons, this time using a light pink metallic thread, and more than  likely some foul language while doing so. It was a while ago so I don't remember for sure, but I'm going on historical norms.

Satin stitch with hot pink thread for the poinsettias. There is no "t" in the first syllable of poinsettia. If you find my pointing that out obnoxious, be glad you are not FB friends with my sister the editor, who has been known to post a pre-Christmas card grammar lesson about the misuse of " 's " when signing your family's name. Not that I don't applaud it. 


So all of that decorative stitching was fun and adds a lot to the project. As you can see in the poinsettia photo, I also added a gathered tulle ribbon to the center. This serves to not only add some cool dimension and shimmer, but also covers up the awkwardness where all the petal points came together. I may or may not eventually add some jewels to this piece. Right now I really just am enjoying the fact that it is done enough to hang up.

The crowning glory of this piece is the quilting. I may or may not have gone completely insane, but in sandwiching the quilt, which was my first "wholecloth" style project, it was apparent to me that the whole thing was not going to lay flat unless I quilted it into submission. Fantastic. Let me just block off 35 hours to do so.

This photo shows my quilting, which is best described as "that crinkly look you get after you wash a quilt which has been quilted by a normal human being." It is as close as I will ever come to those crazy insane quilts in shows where people stand in front of them and go "LOOK AT THAT QUILTING! That must have taken her years!"

It did. Bow low to those ladies, hotties. This is about 32" x 46" and took me for. ever. The resulting quilt also weighs about 45 pounds and probably has enough thread on it to reach to the state line and back 6 times, and I am not even exaggerating. Keep in mind I am about 1 mile from the state line, but still.

I'm very proud of this finished project and I hope you enjoyed it. I invite you to let me know what you think, and also to make sure to check out all the other lovely entries in Christmas Quilt Show 2012!









31 comments:

LethargicLass said...

lovely quilt, and a good grammar lesson lol... btw, you are linked twice to the quilt show and the first one doesn't work :)

whistlebet57 said...

Great Job. I love the ribbons down the side. Elizabeth

A.G. Lindsay said...

Yeah, but Mass. is that large a state...

Good job on the quilt, though. It's turned out great.

A.G.Lindsay said...

(oops, should have been "Mass is NOT that large a state!)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

I think we all have projects that have sat and waited their 'turn'. Very lovely project and thank you for sharing with us.

Amy's Crafty Shenanigans said...

This is really lovely :)

Barbara said...

Beautifully done.

Needled Mom said...

That is beautiful and I love the fabrics you used.

Lesley said...

Your quilt is beautiful! So glad you decided to finish it for the show!

Lynette said...

Hey, you're not late to the party! There's still today and tomorrow for folks to get in on it. :D This is a really neat quilt. I love the touches of tulle and fancy stitches. And yeah - if you ever feel bad about UFOs, just take a gander at my insane list. I'm working on it, though! And I'm crazy-curious about this "UFO apple ladder" of yours!

sew.darn.quilt said...

Very nice work

Anonymous said...

Just lovely,

Nanbon44 said...

so very pretty, great job

Lisa Chin said...

You should be proud! It is gorgeous!

Hilachas said...

Gorgeous. It looks like it was so hard to sew and you did a beautiful job.

Eileen said...

How pretty it is! Love the colors. Fun to play with stitches, eh!! Thanks for sharing and have a great day

Eileen said...

Beautiful (though time consuming) quilting!

Sheila said...

It is a lovely quilt and was certainly worth your efforts to finish it , beautiful!

Nina Marie said...

so glad you finished! Its pretty and love the flowers - I used it the show as an excuse to finish mine too!

Eunique said...

Love, love, love the colors! Thanks for the spelling shout out! A pet peeve for me, too. Tell you sister to keep up with the grammar lessons.

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

Beautiful project! I enjoy your writing style too BTW. Some days I would love to have an editor/grammar expert in the family!

Christine M said...

A lovely quilt.

BillieBee (billiemick) said...

Wonderful quilt.

Anonymous said...

JUST LOVELY! LOVE THE RIBBONS TOO!

msstitcher1948@yahoo.com

Rose Prairie Quilts and Farm said...

Very pretty

In stitches and seams said...

lovely quilt, lots of details, would be great to see it in person.
in stitches

Judy B said...

Beautiful quilt! Thank you for sharing.
jbechosend at sbcglobal dot net

Anonymous said...

very nice,well done.xx

Patricia said...

It's always fun to play with the fancy stitches!

Carolyn said...

Beautiful quilt! Love all the stitching that you did around it.

And this would be . . . . said...

Love all the greens.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...