savoy019

These are very poor quality pictures that I took late last night before going to bed following a long afternoon and evening of hand quilting.  I thought I would show you where I am in the process of quilting my "Contentment" quilt top. I am outline quilting every little piece, then echo quilting as a background fill. The quilt just seemed too busy to me to try and do anything more organized like background gridding or lines. It will look better after a good pressing...I am quilting on a hoop and have the top all wadded up in my lap as I make progress. I tried stretching it out on top of the TV table I am using to take these poor pictures. I started with the big 16-inch center block then proceeded into the twelve 10-inch surrounding blocks, heading  toward the borders. It is a lot of stitches!  I have almost burned through my first spool of YLI hand quilting thread (#002 Ecru) and several layers of skin on my right thumb and left index and middle fingers. It is pretty bor...

More recycling...I used up the rest of 3+ spools (and one white bobbin!) of my Mom's old polyester thread to baste my "Contentment" quilt.  She used to keep her spools of thread in a clear, large pickle jar on a sunny window shelf...over time, all the spools were naturally variegated!  I think this is the most I have ever basted any quilt top of any size...I don't want this sucker to shift while I am hand-quilting with a hoop!   There is a lot of turning that hoop while outline quilting around all these shapes! I watched my new Season One DVD of PBS's "Victoria" and re-watched Seasons Two and Three of "The Big Bang Theory" while doing all this basting. As I start hand quilting, I am enjoying a "Harry Potter" home film festival! Basting threads are pink, orange, teal and white... I have started to quilt the center, largest block.  I am outlining, then I am doing a close echo/fill.  It is the first time I have quilted like this, and...

I had an email question from Tammy in Canada about how I do my hand applique letters on my quilts.  I thought I would take a few moments and do a quick, sort of crude tutorial. Letters can be a fun addition to a quilt where you want to add your name and/or historical info.  I love looking at antique quilts where the maker put her/his name, initials and/or a date.  It makes the quilt so much more personal to me.  Of course, they may not be appropriate on all tops. I used them A LOT in my "Contentment" anniversary quilt top, which has a folksy, whimsical content. I don't have an art background, but I will share what I do.  There may be alphabets commercially available out there to use, but I just construct my own. I work with tracing paper, a ruler, a pencil, an ultra-thin Sharpie marker and a good eraser. You can make your letters any size you want.  First, I will show you how I make 2-1/2 inch tall letters.  I draw two parallel lines, 2-1/2 inches ap...

"Contentment" is a flimsy!   Now to sew a seam on the backing and get this thing basted for hand quilting.  I don't see how I can do much more than outline and echo quilt...it is soooo busy already.  I will study it as I baste and see what comes to mind... It is a hair over 59-inches square, which I hope makes it legally a wall hanging. In stitches ( and doing a happy dance! ), Teresa  :o)

The final, longest border is finished for my "Contentment" anniversary quilt... happy feet, happy dance! It will go across the top.  The left and the right border ends are more or less mirror images of each other, with different fabrics. Here are some closer pictures, from left to right. I decided not to put our names or the wedding date around the wedding rings due to the fact that those little tidbits are already incorporated into some of the individual blocks. I really hunkered down this week to get this finished as my email and housework lanquished!  Due to the way I designed the outer borders, they have gotten progressively longer as I have stitched them...I should have started with this one first! It will be nice to get my work area straightened up after having over 1000 tiny bits at loose ends during the process of getting the four borders prepped and finished. I hope to work on top assembly this afternoon and evening.  Now we will see how accurate my math was as I...