Friday, November 20, 2015

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!!
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16 comments:

  1. A labor of love with the pink hearts!!! It will keep her warm and warm her heart too!!!

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  2. Wow, that would be a lot of marking, but the end result is so worth it! The quilt is gorgeous!

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  3. I saw the hearts and knew immediately that the marking of them had to take so much longer than the quilting. I think the texture you created on the back of the quilt is awesome. The quilt is definitely going to keep her warm, and I am so glad you figured out what was causing the problems with the quilting.

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  4. The end result is great--I would have gone nuts with all that marking.

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  5. Oh man those hearts and flying geese! They turned out amazing, but yeah the marking...ugh!! My machine gets so bitchy when there is a bunch of lint, and I clean it every 2ish weeks. I finally made a small amount of progress on your swap quilt, but won't be able to do any more until after the 30th (quiltcon deadline, eeeeek)!

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  6. Sorry you had so many struggles with it, I know it takes the fun out of it :-( But your end result is wonderful and now you can move on. Big sigh of relief!

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  7. Beautiful finish, sorry you had struggles with it, but it turned out great. I really like the hearts you formed in the quilting by quilting the background and leaving them unquilted.

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  8. So much work with all of that marking. I like when someone asks if I'm going to do straight lines or "those fancy designs" for the quilting and I tell that that free-motion is much faster! I had some trouble with the last one I quilted too, as the Steam-A-Seam under my appliqué kept breaking my thread. It feels good to be done those tricky ones.

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  9. This quilt is a testament to your determination and resourcefulness - it turned out beautifully! (How is it that we look for a "quick" solution, but inevitably it takes far longer than anticipated?) I love how thoughtfully you approach projects, and how the quilting always enhances the quilts. I hope your client appreciates everything you did to make this perfect for his little girl!

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    1. Oops! Young woman!!! Just followed the thread to the rest of the story! :-)
      (She's still Daddy's little girl, I'm sure!)

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  10. Beautiful quilting! Let's not talk about the marking and PITA stage, lol.

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  11. This turned out SO beautifully Judy! I love those galloping horses, too, but most of all I love how the hearts and triangles just LEAP off the quilt! I wish I could see this in person, as that back is fantabulous too, and flannel? Right up my alley. Lucky girl. Lucky client to have YOU.

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  12. Another wonderful finish! The quilting detail is yummy!

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  13. Beautiful job quilting. I've heard people talk about lint buildup affecting the quilting, so I've been really careful never to let mine build up. I clean my whole machine out after each bobbin, which I know is probably overkill, and there is never very much lint in there - maybe like the size of a pea after I consolidate it all. I'm wondering, how much lint needs to be down there before you start having this problem? Maybe I don't have to do this so often.

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  14. This turned out beautiful. Besides your amazing quilting, the horses are my favorite part. The ruler work adds a lot, making it perfect for the recipient.

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  15. There is Everything to love about this quilt Judy. It is going to be a big hit! It really was labor intensive to have quilted it like that, but wow does it look perfect. I love the dark grey around the sides, the hearts and triangles, the asymmetry and the way the plaid fabric takes the animal prints from cute to Wow! You did a fabulous job with your commission and they are going to love it!

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