Monday, August 18, 2014

Spin FINALLY finished!!

It's a wrap for spin :) I can't get that song out of my head. . . "You spin me right round baby right round like record baby. . . " Here, just for you so you can have it stuck in your head too, it's the Chipmunks version so it will be more likely to stick!  I know, I'm totally dating myself but hey, the clock keeps ticking. . . and ticking. . . and ticking haha

Anyway back to Spin. I quite honestly never thought this 'it is finished' post would ever come for this problem child quilt!! It is the traditional Dutchman's Puzzle block put together with my own little modern twist.  I was researching different ways to make Flying Geese and stumbled upon the Dutchman's Puzzle block made in horrifically awful fabric (IMHO) but I was able to look past that and see that this is one very cool block!  I took it to EQ7 and started playing. That's how Spin was hatched. Here she is in all of her glory. As usual, pictures first!


Front (said Captain Obvious LOL)

Loving the back as much as the front.
And now for some close ups. There are several. . . I did not put in all of the pictures I took. . . really!
I just love how quilting just transforms a quilt into textured goodness!

Some might remember that I thought about adding more quilting to this star to tame the poof.... It has grown on me :)

I am however most likely going to add some quilting to the stars in the negative space. . . they are looking pretty loosey goosey to me. . . What do you think?

I added on line of quilting to this star but I'm thinking either a square in the middle with a flower in it or a line point to point intersecting in the middle. . . At least if I hate it, it's not much ripping ;)
More close ups, this time of the back :)
Seriously in love with Carol Friedlander's Widescreen backing! Quilting sings and it is busy enough that a magnifying glass is needed to see any stops/starts or oopsies :) What's not to love?? 

Last one. Ahh, feels SO good to be at the finish line with this one!!
Quilt Stats:
Size 61" x 60"
Fabric: All of the fabric is Modern Basics by In The Beginning. Backing is Widescreen by Carol Friedlander (quickly becoming my absolutely all time favorite backing fabric!!).
Batting: I used a double bat, Quilter's Dream Wool and Quilter's Dream Select
Thread: Aurifil Wine, Grey Smoke (front) and Light Grey (entire back) and various colors of blue and black Isocord.
Technique that was new to me: Paper piecing!!

Here's the low down on this quilt in terms of what I learned:

1. Paper piecing flying geese was the best way to make consistently accurate flying geese for me. Although, I'm not a fan of ripping paper off after all the sewing is done. 

2. There is not a lot of difference between the more expensive specifically made for paper piecing paper and newspaper print paper that is WAY cheaper. A quick search on Amazon will provide several options for buying.

3. I washed and blocked the quilt PRIOR to binding. I did not have any disasters as a result. I'm sure you noticed that this quilt is heavily quilted - that saved me, if it hadn't been, zigzagging around the edges would have been a must. I probably will not wash before binding again. . . it was a technique I had seen several times and wanted to give it a try. I did. Now I know :)

4. Binding can make or break a quilt (and the quilt maker LOL)! I had a flat quilt, put the binding on and had ripply ends. I hand sewed the binding down for the first time on this quilt. I was not a happy camper. I took it off. I decided to try to use the same binding. Sprayed it with water and set it out in the 115 degree heat to dry (drying time 1.5 minutes LOL). Sewed it back on, started hand sewing the binding down. All is looking good. . .Got half way around and realized I had sewn the binding onto the BACK of the quilt and was hand sewing it to the front. I won't even go into the words that flew out of my mouth.... Again, took the binding off the quilt. Ordered new fabric as I knew, if I used the same binding, there was no way that the third time was going to be charming in this case. Then I remembered I had some of the fabric left over. Holy wow, I had JUST enough (like there was not even 1/2 inch left on either side of the fabric after I finished cutting!! 

5. I love Sharon Schambers and her willingness to share her methods! I don't know her. But I found this tutorial on binding and it saved my life sanity! It's long, but SO worth it!! I did absolutely EVERYTHING she said. The gluing made it so I was not fighting the quilt AT ALL in the machine sewing to the front OR the hand sewing to the back. The mitered corners on this sucker are perfect. I cannot even tell you how pleased I am with the results! I'm going to buy stock in Elmer's! ;) Oh and this is the reason I won't be washing my quilt before binding - I am going to have to wash this one again to get the glue out. Washing it again is not a big deal but I'm not going to wash first in the future knowing it will have to be washed again.

So in the end, third time was the charm in putting the binding on this quilt. . . I do NOT recommend making three attempts at binding the same quilt. Quite honestly, there were times I had serious doubts as to whether I would ever finish this quilt! 

The Making of Spin saga is over and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! Now I am off to continue the quilting on Off Course. Yes, I have taken it out of time out. I sent a picture to Kathleen over at Kathleen Quilts and she worked her magic with quilting ideas! Seriously people, she will do the same for your quilt, she does a different one every Friday. Check it out! Her quilting is amazing. Seeing her design ideas broke me out of the box and provided me with the inspiration I needed to ultimately start quilting! If you are feeling stuck as to how to quilt something, she does a great job of breaking the "I don't know what to quiltitis" . . . that's a word really it is!

Linking up with Design Wall Mondays, Let's Bee Social, WIP, NTT and Finish It Up Friday. . . and any other place I can think of LOL If you haven't already, hop over to any of these lovely blogs and be inspired!!

Until next time, keep on quilting!!
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30 comments:

  1. I am *so* glad that you got the binding on and are happy with Spin! It looks fantastic! Sorry that there was so much trouble at the end of this project, but I just love how it turned out. Yay!

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  2. I was wondering about the washing then binding as that was what I was told to do in my LQS but of course I've been doing it the other way all along! Fabulous quilting as always!

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  3. WOW! Amazind and just beautiful!!!!
    Greetings, Rike

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  4. This was a gasp-out-loud post. Wow.

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  5. Wow, this definitely would have tested my patience! Glad you stuck with it--it's beautiful!

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  6. Whoa! that is some very awesome quilting Judy! Look at all those perfect little swirls! I don't know how you knew which direction you were going in. No wonder you have that song stuck in your head... which is stuck in my head now too, thank you very much. LOL
    Thank you for writing about your process and for sharing your spell binding saga with binding. I need help in that area too!

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  7. What an amazing finish, Judy! I absolutely adore the quilting. I have some Widescreen backing on order and now I can hardly wait!

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  8. Great quilt and quilting! Thanks for shearing all of your lessons learned - it is nice to hear about them. I am off to check out Kathleen and share one of my quilts with her!

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  9. I don't know which I like better - front or back :) Congrats on getting it done despite the frustrations.

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  10. Love your quilt and your quilting is gorgeous. Thank you for sharing your beautiful quilt.

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  11. Thanks for sharing the process. It is like-- getting to know someone! It seems to me Spin has been that testy child pushing on your last
    nerve-- however you never gave up--you persevered and reaping the the rewards. It is fabulous--your blood, sweat and tears produced a Wonder--Amazing piece. I Love it! You must be Proud!!!

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  12. I am so happy you managed to work past the problems and got her finished! Problem child off your back :-)

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  13. Your quilt is wonderful! I love the quilted in details and all of the swirls. I am glad your binding came out the way you were hoping on the third try.

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  14. Now that's quite a story. You tried so many new an different ideas. Double batting has given you a wonderful loft and I love all your quilting - so many different styles. Love the finished effect!

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  15. Very very cool! I love the texture of it! Great work!

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  16. That is some quilting! The backing reminds me of a whole cloth quilt, lovely!

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  17. What a fabulous quilting! I'm in awe.

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  18. Love this quilt; good for you for finishing it, especially having the perseverance (holy WOW back at you) to redo the binding THREE times!! I love the basket weave sections and love the spirals. As for quilting down a little inside the stars and pinwheels, I agree, they need something. I like the echo you did in the one. Not sure on the flower idea as it seems to conflict with the idea of spin...what about a circle ("spin me right round, baby right round") get it?! I'm serious though, or maybe an 8 or 10-sided shape that's easier to stitch and circle-like?

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  19. Congratulations! It looks amazing. I love, love the quilting.

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  20. Congrats on getting it finished! I know how frustrating it is when you have to finish a quilt more than once. But you did better than me. When I had to re-do the binding, I put it away for a few years. ;)

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  21. I've been gluing my binding now for a bit over a year! I don't know how I ever quilted without glue and glue sticks! I used to think the clover clips were the rats ass until I tried Elmer's! Makes the quilt so much easier to bind and it's much more sturdy for portability (I never HANDSTITCHING at home, only when it's my only option!).
    Your quilting looks great. I agree about the stars being too puffy! I thnk one large swirl would look great in the middle of them...keeping it more open of course. As always, the finish is beautiful. Can't wait to see the next project!

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  22. Absolutely fabulous quilting and a wonderful quilt/design.

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  23. I, too, think this is a wonderful design, and your quilting takes my breath away!

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  24. This is amazing. What incredible free motion quilting

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  25. Looking good! I'm not a huge fan of those shadows shapes as they kind of distracting me from the pretty colors and pattern but I like the look of those on back side. Binding sometimes sucks and people don't talk about binding too much. I pull it tiny bit while sewing it on otherwise it gets all wonky and I hate that.

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  26. I'm always inspired to try new quilting techniques whenever I stop by Vicki! What a beautiful and fun finish!!

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  27. That's a stunning piece! I absolutely love your quilting and the loosey goosey stars. Those add so much texture to the quilt, front and back alike. I love how they stand out!

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  28. Can I just say that the quilting really makes a statement! It is wonderful. I also like the way you quilted the flying geese blocks because the curves in them give them such a different effect.

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  29. The quilting is impressive. The poof is a nice texture on a quilt so dense.

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  30. OMG, I love the modern "spin" you put on the layout, the quilting and the trapunto effect!

    My favorite FG method is Eleanor Burns' "Triangle Pieced Rectangle" method (I call it the "Two Squares" method). You don't necessarily need her rulers to trim them up (she used a regular ruler in her early demonstrations of it) but I will say they speed the process up that much more. For paper piecing paper, I love to sue drawing pads from the dollar store. they're a comparable weight to newsprint and a bargain.

    Thanks for sharing at Val's!

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