Sunday, December 27, 2015

Giant Blue Star - Quilt Finish

So excited to share this finish with you!! This quilt cinched it for me. I'm seriously addicted to dense quilting! I'm seriously NOT taking on any more commissions without this understanding up front, quilting will be dense, it will take more time, and it will cost more. That's just the deal. I quilt because I love it, it is not my business nor do I ever envision that it will become a business. That would just suck the fun right out of it for me. So you have heard it here first, I am officially going to be way more picky about what I agree to make and my prices have gone up. ;) There, I've said it publicly so now I have to stick to it, right? haha Oh, and never again will I agree to make TWO quilts in three weeks. That can be taken to the bank (does anyone say that anymore, my dad used to say it all the time! LOL). OK, I'm done with that little rant, let's see how this baby came together shall we? :)
I contemplated many designs for the star on this quilt. In the end I knew this - I could spend a bajillion hours doing intricate ruler work and it wouldn't be seen, or I could figure out some kind of funky all over design. As you can see, I chose a funky all over design :) Inspiration for this design came from Yvonne's quilt. Her's is a little LOT more consistent. . . mine is a little haphazard. . . I used blue thread, I seriously could not see where I had been. It was a constant guess and as I got started, I decided to go with it - texture is what we are after here right? :)
Uh, yeah, this was my husband's idea. . . Remember the border on Shockwaves? I remember doing that border. . . it took a LONG time. Time is not on my side. . . So I decided that I wouldn't do the inner circles and would mash down the outside with some back and forth lines. . . How long could that take?? . . . you guessed it, a good amount of time. I drew all of the circles onto the quilt using an architectural circle template that had a bunch of different sized circles. Then I got to quilting. . . And I made a decision - NO WAY was all of the background going to be done with these circles. Just the triangles. . . 'just'. . . .
And then this happened.... I was trying to figure out what to do in those corners. And I ran across this video. . . I almost fell down the stairs when I went to show my husband. I was more than a little excited. He looked at it and said "Oh yeah!". . . I ran back upstairs and started marking out the squares and immediately started quilting. . . after the first square (there are 6 squares quilted in the picture above) I thought "What in the hell are you doing???" And then I thought, how can I not??? :)
At this point I send a picture to my #1 Fan. Text comes back "Kind of tight don't you think?" What?? He doesn't like it?? How could you not like it?? So I asked him and he says "No, just thought you weren't going to get carried away with it." . . . LMAO, he should know by now!!

This picture was taken Tuesday morning. . . I was supposed to deliver the quilts on Tuesday morning.... I had half of the background quilted at this point and still no idea what in the heck I was going to do for the borders. . .
Tuesday late afternoon. Decision time for the blue borders. . . I knew this, the quilting was not going to show, I've used this fabric many times on the back of quilts. The quilting doesn't show, texture yes, quilting, not so much. But then I decided to extend that AW Dot to dot design done on the outside of the fans in the squares to the borders. . . LOTS of marking.
What I have not mentioned is that through the entire process of quilting this quilt, I was having thread breakage and my machine was making a horrendous noise that was coming from the bobbin case. I was using the exact same black Isacord thread I had used on the purple star. . . I decided that since we had to run some errands Tuesday morning, I would stop at the shop and buy a new bobbin case. When I was there, I happened to see the repair guy. I asked him if I had the right bobbin case to which he responded "Why do you need that??" . . . I told him what was going on and he said, you don't need a new bobbin case, just take the bobbin case out and put a drop of oil in that center 'thingy' (totally a technical term if it came from the repair guy right??? LOL) and you will be good to go. . . I didn't believe him and bought the bobbin case anyway - I didn't have time to mess around! Anyway, he then asked one of the women who sells the machine about my thread breaking issues. . . People, I love this shop. I do NOT love this woman. Customer service is not her deal. I was told that it doesn't matter what your machine liked with the last quilt, now it doesn't like that thread. You are using the wrong needle (I change my needles constantly, I do use different sized needles depending on the wt of the thread), your machine does not like those needles. . . I could go on but I see this paragraph is getting long. I'll spare you. Let's just say I left the shop seeing red. . . blood red! LOL

I'll shorten this story by a lot by telling you that the drop of oil in the center 'thingy' worked!! We won't talk about the fact that it took me several hours of tearing apart the house to find the sewing machine oil. . . which was in the most obvious place ever. . . NOT ;) OK, back to the quilt!

TADA!!! This picture was taken Wed. morning. . . it had just come out of the wash and I was leaving in minutes to deliver it ;) BUT, it was finished!!!
I woke up at 3 am Wed. morning and finished ironing the binding and sewed it onto the quilt. Threw it in the wash, dried it and lint brushed it. Then we went out for a bike ride. . . we came home, had a very quick photo shoot and I ran out the door for a hair appointment (hey, we all have priorities right? LOL), took the quilts with me as I would be dropping them off right after the appointment. Whew! But wait, I have more pictures ;)
This quilt makes me smile! :)
I used the stripy fabric from the outside star points for the binding. I considered doing a bias cut binding. . . but I have never done it before and I didn't have time to deal with any potential mistakes ;)
The back, a perfect dark blue flannel :) I used gray thread and in person, you really can see the stitches on this one :) Happy dance :D
Those fans!! Seriously my new favorite. . . I am going to be playing with this concept - I think the possibilities are endless!
The border quilting shows on the back! :)
And not so much on the front. If you really look, you can see it.
And one more picture of the whole quilt. Because I just can't get enough!! ;)
I am happy to report that I received a text on Christmas Eve from my client. He sent a picture with all three of the 'kids' (all young adults but when they are our kids they are always kids right?) holding up their quilts with the biggest smiles! :D and this message "Success!!" WOOT! WOOT! Oh, and the text also said "I'll need those pillows" LOL He had asked if I could make pillows like I had for his daughter. Yup, but they are not going to be finished for Christmas! Make some pillow IOUs for the boys. . . in other words, Ho, Ho, Ho, NO! At least not for gifting on Christmas Eve.

This ends my saga of two quilts in three weeks :) In the post of the finish of the purple star, Yvonne commented that she hoped this little venture didn't burn me out too much. Until I read her comment, I had not really thought about it. It may have. I haven't touched my machine since I finished this quilt! That will change today ;)

A reminder, my 2 year blogiversary is coming in four days! I think I will be combining my Best of 2015 post and the thank you followers giveaway post. Seems fitting don't you think? ;) So make sure you come back and enter to win. . . what? Oh, it will be something(s) good I promise!!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for her Monday addition of Finish it Up Friday and with Beth for MCM! I can't wait to sit down with a cup of coffee tomorrow and check out what everyone has finished and is crushing on! AND DWM, I haven't linked up with Patchwork times all month (I think... I didn't look but it's been far too long! :)

Until next time, keep on quilting!
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23 comments:

  1. Oh this one is definitely my favorite one! Wonderful quilting!! OK you left me wondering about the 'oil the center thingy', can you post a pic with an arrow to it-trying to figure out if I am doing what you are saying! BTW Merry Christmas!

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  2. Oh we all need to be oiling our center th tie! I oil my machine daily when I'm using it and once a week, I take off all the covers and give it a good lube! Even "oilers" machines need this. Judy, your work is beautiful as always. I've done that swirling squares thing on several quilts and it's awesome what you can do by changing up the clockwise/counterclockwise rhythm. I like the squares better than the triangles. I'm sure you are due for a nice little rest after all this. I told you one day you'd be leaving us all in your dust(lint)....heeheehee

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  3. Your quilting is insane! I love those pretty circles especially! Well done!

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  4. The quilting is beautiful, Judy! I just love the Twisted fan motif - it is stunning! I think your opening paragraph deserves a standing ovation. The right folks will definitely come along who will value your work and time and it will work out again. But hopefully after you've had some fun doing what you want for a bit! Although, I think you clearly enjoyed and loved making this quilt, but I think you know what I mean. :)

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  5. I want it ;-) That is really gorgeous - and they should be really really pleased!!!

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  6. I love those circles - snowballs. I was going to ask you how you quilted them without going from one to another - I couldn't believe that you'd take the time to tie off each one when the quilt had to be done like yesterday. Then I did a close-up. Oh my! Wow!

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  7. Stunning! You have been one busy elf this Christmas. I love how you explain the pro's and the con's with each quilt. You have done amazing work with the quilting over the past year or two! Don't you love the Quilt Journal?

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    1. I completely agree with Helen! See ya in a few days for your top 5. :)

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  8. Another great finish! Both of the star quilts and quilting are great.

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  9. I hopped to you from another blog,love the photos and the entertaining words, I have had a smile or two, and am adding you to my blog list. Super blue, but the purple, one of my fav colours.

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  10. Amazing quilting and I'm so glad to hear they were a big hit. Well done for deciding to quilt how you enjoy and those who value what you do will still come along.

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  11. I like the use of the gray fabric and OMG look at all that quilting! I am put to shame *grins*

    Visiting you from the Crazy Mom Quilts linkup.

    www.thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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  12. Thanks for the reminder of CMQ Finish It Up Friday on Monday! The quilting on this quilt is not done justice by your post pics; you have to at LEAST click on them to enlarge them and THEN, oh my, Judy! I gazed for some time at each one. Wow. I did not see that border design until I enlarged photos. The circles design is just all kinds of fabulous, really, but those fans, well you do know how much I love them. I can't get over how fabulous both quilts are, well all 3, and done so quickly. nvm 2 quilts in 3 weeks, count in the daughter's quilt and how many in how many weeks does that make?

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  13. Oh Wow!! The star is beautiful and the quilting is incredible!!

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  14. Oh man this quilt is even more gorgeous! I love all the quilting you did, I bet it was such fun. And it looks amazing! I'm always burnt out after a marathon of quilting. But you could also just blame it on the holidays--I haven't touched my machine in a week, but I did have a house guest for half of that. I sure hope you made bank on these last minute, crazy rushed quilts!

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  15. Congratulations on getting both quilts done. The quilting is fantastic!

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  16. Magnificent! Totally magnificent and the quilting if out of this world. Love your whole story of the process.

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  17. I love the texture you created with your quilting. Those interlocking scallops in the corners are fantastic.

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  18. The quilt is gorgeous, but that quilting! Wow!!!

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  19. Absolutely amazing!!! And I think it is always good to know your own style. Make what makes you happy and learn to say, "no."

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  20. You crack me up Judy! Two quilts in three weeks, tight deadline, just do them quick and easy - and look at all that FAB-U-LOUS quilting!! It's a disease - "quiltitis". :) I'm so glad you made the decision to only do the type of quilting you like and charge for your work. I love all the different designs you did on this quilt, it looks so good! Thanks for linking up to MCM!

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  21. My mind is officially boggled Judy! But then, you do that to me all the time, LOL. The quilting you've done here, especially THOSE FANS... Gasp... sigh.... swoon! Well it is just completely awesome! Your client and his "kids" are all very blessed to have you make them quilts!
    Happy New Year!

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  22. Pretty pretty! Of course you couldn't go easy on the quilting. After all, that would require a quilting personality transplant. Judy just does dense, but amazing, quilting. Period. You just keep doing what you do, but on your own schedule -I don't want to be dprived of eye candy because of burnout!

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