Monday, November 29, 2021

Gail Pan - Bring Me Flowers quilt top

 I finished the quilt top for the Gail Pan Block of the Month - Bring Me Flowers.  I added a flange in the border, the first time I have tried this and I do like the look it gives.  I made the flange 3/8" and wish I had just done a 1/4" flange, but its done now.  I hope to do a mixture of machine and hand quilting which I have done on other quilts and liked the look.  The embroidered blocks will be hand quilted and the remainder of the quilt machine quilted.  Can't wait to start on it, but need to finish the quilting on the Brimfield first.




Friday, November 26, 2021

Brimfield - quilting

 I have started quilting my Brimfield quilt.  I have had more trouble deciding on thread choice and pattern for this quilt than any other I have done.  I started out with just regular hand quilting thread (40wt) and the dark green just did not look dark enough on the back of the quilt.  So I ordered Bold (25wt) Coats and Clark hand quilting thread from Sewing Parts on-line.  It is almost impossible to find local sources of C&C thread other than Michaels and they have a very limited selection. This is odd being that the C&C threads are headquarted in Charlotte. I can drive to Charlotte to Joanns and they have it, but once again a limited selection.  Once I had my thread, I then debated on the pattern to use.  It took me quilting three blocks and ripping out the stitches twice to finally get what I am satisfied with.  Now I can really enjoy the process.

These are pictures of the quilting on the front.  The area in the dark green sections are done with Forest Green thread.  I use a white chalk pencil for marking and left it on for the picture just so the quilting would show up better.  The actual EPP blocks are quilted in white bold thread.  I did not like the way the dark green thread looked against these blocks.



And here are a couple pictures of the back side of the quilt.  The white thread does not have a strong contrast against the backing, which is a golden yellow.  In person you can see it better, but in a photo it is hard to see.

To me there is nothing more relaxing than hand quilting and I am thoroughly enjoying quiet times in the morning and afternoon, listening to a book on Audible and doing my quilting.




Tuesday, November 23, 2021

Spikes and Specks - Katrina Hadjimichael

Here is my finished Spikes and Specks quilt, designed by Katrina Hadjimichael (https://katrinahadjimichael.com.au/ ).   I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt. It will be a gift to my special niece, Cindy, and right in time for her wedding :)  My dear friend, Donna K, quilted it for my on her long arm.   I will give it to Cindy on Thanksgiving Day when she and her future husband will be here.




My sweet niece Cindy with her quilt