Q4 - 3rd Finish

Happy Friday!! Goal #3 on my Q4 FAL list is done! I had a few fights with this quilt. A few fights with my machine. . . UGH! And a few fights with myself - just get it done!!! :) This quilt was commissioned by a dad, to gift to his daughter for Christmas. The only input into design was, her favorite color is pink, she loves lambs and sprinkle in a few chickens, pigs and horses for good measure. . . pink! To read about fabric, pattern and the making of the top, go here. When I was coming up with a quilting plan, I kept saying to myself, keep it simple, just keep it simple. . . grin Well, it looked simple originally and then once I did a few blocks I realized just how long all of the marking was going to take. . . like a lot longer than the actual quilting! OK, I know, pictures, we need pictures to see what in the heck are you rambling on about!! :) I'm going to tell the tale in pictures :)

Simple right? ;) LOTS of marking. . . Ruler work. . . Did I mention marking?

I made a template for the heart, so yes, each was drawn out and every one is pretty much exactly the same. And I measured for placement for each one. . . the marking took longer than the quilting!

For the triangles, I marked a line across the height of each and a line down the middle so I'd know the placement of the points. Every one measured and marked. So they should be mostly identical. Again, marking took longer than quilting!

I didn't want to do much for the center animal blocks so I just outlined them and used my curved ruler to go around the block again. . . more ruler work. . . but no marking :)

The dark pink frames got more ruler work, marked the inside of the frame for 1 inch circles and free handed it from there. Frames are the same size. . . circles may or may not be ;) The horses got a design found in Angela Walter's book, Shape by Shape. More ruler work. . . Seeing a theme here?

Corners and setting triangles were all free handed, free willed, free form, just free!! I needed to let go a little and just quilt!! :) For the feathers in the larger corners, I drew the spine in using my curved ruler as the 'template' and then just filled that bad boy in - FUN!! :D

The back!! LOVE!!! It is a fluffy heavy flannel quilt back. The quilting just POPS!

I wish you could feel this!! It is SO soft and fluffy! The thread isn't real obvious on the back but oh man, the design is definitely there!

I don't usually add this many pictures of the back but I just had to include this one :)

On the side setting triangles, I did spirals, paisleys and feathers. Went a little wild ;) In the smaller triangles I did a single heart and echoed it.

I didn't try to make the two larger corners exactly the same. I might have been sick of consistency by the time I got to them ;)

Final picture :) I'm kind of digging how it looks like those horses are galloping across the quilt!

Quilt stats:
Pre-wash the quilt was 67.5 x 78". After wash: 66" x 76.5" - not bad on the shrinkage huh? I was shocked. Why? Because I did not pre-wash the flannel backing. . . gasp! I think this is the least amount of shrinkage I have ever had with a quilt.
Batting: Quilter's Dream Wool. My client asked if this quilt was going to keep his daughter warm. . . yes, yes it will ;)
Thread: Aurifil Poly in Mango in the bobbin. Aurifil 12 wt (Yup, I FMQed with it and had no issues) for the frames around the animal prints, Aurifil 50 wt for the horses and Aurifil Poly for the dark pink frames and the hearts and triangles. The setting triangles and corners were quilted with YLI 40 wt cotton variegated thread.
See my last post for fabric and pattern link (FQ Shop Welded pattern was the hopping off point but I did tweak it. . . almost beyond recognition! LOL)

My machine decided to be a PITA during the quilting of this quilt. It started making an odd noise and then it would deposit a nasty mess of thread on the back of the quilt. Thanks for the warning . . . I guess. So I did a good amount of stopping and ripping. About half way through I decided I had had enough and took everything apart (no, not literally!! LOL), vacuumed it out (Ummm, no lint from the thread because at that point I was only using poly but holy wow!! I had forgotten how much lint flannel produces!!) and put it all back together again. Pretty sure it was the lint build up. I didn't have the issue again! Note to self, flannel backings are going to require several bobbin area cleanings!

My patience ran a little thin towards the end of the quilting. . . marking got really old, really fast. In the end, definitely worth it but slogging through it was not much fun. Will need to consider that next time I come up with a brilliant design ;) It took me a full two weeks to quilt this one. Yes, it was time intensive but it was more about making myself sit down and just do it! Oh, and in case you are wondering, I used a purple air erasable marker. I wasn't going to take a chance with anything else. That also meant that I marked only as much as I quilt quilt in about an hour - that's about how long I get before those marks are GONE at my house.

OK, I think enough has been said ;) I'll be linking up this post with Adrienne's linky party at the end of the quarter for the Q4 FAL. Three down. Two to go. . . I know I'll get one more finished. Yup, Renee, yours is next! I can't wait! Free form free motion quilting! It will be a nice break from the restraints of this one!! ;)

Linking up with Finish It Up Friday too. If you are in need of inspiration, you might want to head over there!

Until next time, keep on quilting!!