Friday, April 27, 2018

A Finish!

I am always so pleased when I put that last stitch in the binding of a quilt.  There's such a sense of satisfaction.

Scrappy quilt with Uneven Stars or Morning Stars or stars in the sashing

Next, I lay it on the floor and measure it, then toss it in the washer, then into the dryer, then measure it one last time.  Truly done then!

I started this quilt in mid-January both because I didn't have anything else in the works and because I was on color overload.  Maybe it was the brightness of Christmas, or maybe it was seeing quilts with a jumble of colors.  Whatever the reason, I wanted to make a calm, soothing quilt--and prove to myself that it could be just as beautiful, though in a different way, than quilts with lots of colors.

This has been a hard quilt to photograph.  The photo above was taken inside with a flash; the ones below outside.

Scrappy quilt with Uneven Stars or Morning Stars or stars in the sashing

I used JoAnn Soft 'n' Crafty batting, 3/8" thick, 80% cotton/20% poly.  I used thread I had on hand--it was probably rayon--then ran out and bought a spool of cotton.  I put pins in the blocks that had cotton thread but couldn't tell any difference between those and the others after the quilt came out of the dryer.  Whew!  That could have been close.  I should probably be more careful about thread from now on. 

The measurements of this quilt were crazy.  And how about square?  How is it one starts with square blocks and ends up (after quilting) with a quilt that is off by 1/4" to 5/8"?  I squared the corners as much as I dared but I suspect the quilt does not yet have precise measurements.  No matter:  it will never be in a quilt show to be evaluated.  After wash and dry it measures 60¾" x 78½".

Scrappy quilt with Uneven Stars or Morning Stars or stars in the sashing

At one point during the quilting it occurred to me that this quilt looked like it could have been mass-produced and sold in a big box store, probably because of the plain diagonal rows of stitching in the center of the blocks.  I convinced myself that no, it couldn't, because of all its imperfections. 

Scrappy quilt with Uneven Stars or Morning Stars or stars in the sashing

I love the texture these lines created and the puffiness between the stitching.  Those should create lots of air pockets to keep the warmth in on a cold night.  I used masking tape from corner to corner for the first stitching lines, then quilted the other diagonals "free-hand," so to speak.

You can't really tell it from any of the photos but the binding is about ½" wide.  I thought about an even wider binding but decided this was the best width.  You can read about my wide binding woes here.

And here it is with the early cherry blossoms.  It will have to wait for use till next fall unless it becomes a picnic blanket this summer.

Scrappy quilt with Uneven Stars or Morning Stars or stars in the sashing

Finishing this quilt was my goal for April so I'm linking to One Monthly Goal - April Finish Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

I'm also linking this post to
> finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
> Finished or Not Friday at Busy Hands Quilts
> Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday (TGIFF) at Celtic Stitches
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

I hope you have a great weekend!

--Nancy.
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40 comments:

  1. Congrats on a beautiful, calming finish, Nancy!
    I don't know how you assemble and hand quilt something that size in so short a time. Maybe I just have a short attention span.
    The texture on this is wonderful! Kudos to you for a job well done!

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    1. Thanks so much, Janet. I don't know about finishing it in a short time ..... When I'm in the midst of quilting it always seems to go slowly and take a long time, and when I look at what I've finished at the end of a year, it seems so little.

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  2. Beautiful, timeless quilt. It speaks to me of summer sand and blue ocean, blue sky. Wonderful.

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    1. Hi, Lizzy. Thanks for your kind words about this quilt. I hadn't thought of sand, sea, and sky, but now that you'd mentioned it, that's what I see!

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  3. I just love this quilt! Sometimes a quiet color scheme is just the right answer.

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    1. Thank you so much. I think it's true that the energy of bright fabrics is just right and other times we want to see calm, restful, quiet fabrics.

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  4. I love this beautiful quilt with it's subtle texture...and I can't imagine it as a massed produced product. It's very calming with its little pops of stars.

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    1. Thank you, Lisa. You're so kind to tell me the quilt looks like it wasn't mass produced.

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  5. Love the blue stars and binding. It is too lovely to use for a picnic blanket.

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth. Yes, I agree, perfect for a picnic. Not so precious that a spill or a little dirt would ruin it.

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  6. Oh lawd, no one would mistake that as a mass-produced quilt! I am totally and completely in love. I call those low key creations "wallflower quilts." Cross-hatching is my current fav quilting style and have finished my last two that way.

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    1. Thank you, Tami. Several people have said it doesn't look like a mass-produced quilt, so I'm glad of that. It would be awful to spend all the time on something that someone could go buy at a store. Wallflower quilt seems like the perfect description for quilts like this. They don't draw attention to themselves but they'll do the job when asked. I think this is the second quilt I've cross-hatched. Gwen Marston said in one of her books that it's easier to quilt on the bias that with the grain. I'm not sure if she's right but I do like the look of the diagonal lines.

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  7. It's beautiful, Nancy. Like a gentle hug on a chilly evening.

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    1. Thank you, Gayle. What a lovely thought about this quilt.

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  8. I love this quilt! Congrats on a lovely finish--it looks perfect from here!

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  9. Beautiful quilt, pretty colors! I love your quilting too

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  10. That's a beautiful, low-volume quilt! Very calming!

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    1. Thank you, Loretta. A good one to sleep under.

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  11. I agree, this is a lovely calming quilt. Beautiful in it's simplicity. I really, really like it~

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  12. So very nice! I love the picture in the dappled sunlight. Serenity is what I feel when I look at this quilt.

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    1. Thanks so much, Robin. I don't have many places to hang a quilt for photographs around here. That straight tree branch, though a little low, works but getting good light is a bit of a challenge. It was hit and miss with the clouds/sun/wind the day I had the quilt out there. I took lots of photos and decided to include the one with the cherry tree branch and shadows just for the fun of it. Glad you liked it.

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  13. I really love the serenity of this wonderful quilt!! One of my faves.

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  14. Wonderful quilt! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish!

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    1. Thank you, Patty. And thanks for hosting One Monthly Goal.

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  15. It turned out beautifully! You found the perfect place to pose it.

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    1. Thanks so much, Brenna. Yes, that straight branch sometimes works if the sun, clouds, and wind will cooperate.

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  16. This is so beautiful! It has a really calm, gentle feel to it, and is far too lovely to look mass produced.

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    1. Thanks so much for your kind comments, Kaja. Several others have said it doesn't look mass produced, too. I'm glad of that. It would be awful to spend so much time on a quilt then go to a store and find a nearly-identical one!

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  17. I'm with Kaja...this is beautiful and calming! The hand quilting is the finishing touch and so worth the effort.
    As always Nancy, so happy to read your decision making along the way.
    The photo with the cherry blossoms is just lovely.

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    1. Thanks so much, Jocelyn. I appreciate your generous comments.

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  18. Gorgeous! I just love this quilt. Nicely done!!

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    1. Thanks so much, Wendy. I'm glad to have it finished.

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  19. That is one of the prettiest quilts I've ever seen. You didn't need to detail the little faults you see, because it is just perfect as it is! I love the quilting, I love the calm, I love the spots of blue - there's nothing not to love about this quilt!

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    1. Thank you, Susan. You are very generous with your praise of this quilt. It's very encouraging and I appreciate it.

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  20. Oh, it's utter perfection, Nancy! No one would ever mistake that for a store bought quilt! I love the various shades of creams and tans you used in the background and the wonky stars are very sweet. You have such a gift for designing and creating beautiful quilts and this one is very soothing.

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    1. Thank you for your generous comments, Karin. I was going for soothing, serene, etc., so I'm happy to hear you and others suggest that I accomplished that goal.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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