Saturday, May 23, 2020

Layered & Basted: Another Step Toward a Finish

Getting the parts and pieces of the Blue and the Gray ready for quilting has been my One Monthly Goal for May. 

Backing prepared?  Yes.  The pattern match is not perfect along the seam but I don't believe it will be noticeable after it's quilted, bound, washed, and dried.  In some places the flowers match exactly, in others, not quite so well.   It seems like the stitching (or maybe it was the pinning) was in line, went out of line a little, then back in line. 

Batting chosen?  Yes.  That was a hard choice.  A while ago I bought a wool/poly 80/20 Mountain Mist bat on sale at JoAnn's.  I've been wanting to try wool batting and when I saw this king size bat for $20.00 I thought I should take it home.  Several people said they loved wool batting, not only for quilting (like butter, they said), but also for lightweight warmth.

But I wasn't sure about wool for this quilt.  I imagine quilts from the 1800s as relatively flat -- cotton flat.  And how would wool wash and dry?  You can see that the package describes this batting as machine washable.  Certainly I would wash a quilt with wool in cool water on a gentle cycle, but when I checked the Mountain Mist website there was no sign of "machine washable" noted for this batting.  Which left me with the question of whether it really is machine washable or not.

I searched online to see if anyone else had experience with this particular batting and found that Kate Klein of Village Quilters had horrible shrinkage and lots of wool on the front of the quilt after a wash.  She used shot cotton on the front (and didn't mention wool coming through the back) and also washed in warm water.

I decided against wool for this quilt and will experiment on a smaller quilt to see how it goes.  If any of you have experience with this batting or other wool batting, I would love to hear about it.

I used the trusted Soft 'n' Crafty 80 cotton/ 20 poly that I've been using for a number of years.  It quilts easily, doesn't have too high a loft, washes and dries well, and is warm.  It seems more similar to a Civil War era batting than wool.

Layered and Basted?  Yes.  I forgot to take a photo when it was on the floor so here is part of it draped over the couch.
One of my concerns using a print fabric for a back is that it will end up askew because I didn't get the quilt aligned well enough.  I was oh-so-careful and measured the edge every few inches the whole way down.  We'll see.

Corners marked?  Done.
The pattern makers put rounded corners on their quilt which are very appealing.  I couldn't decide how big a curve to mark so I used a 12" pizza circle and a 9" cake pan to mark both sizes.  I don't have to decide now so I'll consider these two options as I quilt.  Looking at the instructions in the book just now I see that they suggest a 5" diameter plate for a quilt half this size.  Maybe I'll look for a 10" circle.

Thread color chosen?  Yep.  Black thread was too dark for the light fabrics, natural was too light for the grey and dark blue fabrics, so grey thread it is.  Sadly, I don't have any.  I checked at Hobby Lobby (because it's open) but their spools of cotton were big enough for 5 quilts and I doubt I'll want to use grey again.  I usually use Americana which I buy at JoAnn but couldn't find it online.  They're not open yet here (except for order and pick-up) and I don't remember Americana having grey thread.  Then I checked YLI online but they are out of grey just now.  I went to my nearest quilt shop today (after calling yesterday and being told that yes, they had Gutermann 100% cotton hand quilting thread in four different greys) and found that they had one very dark grey and one very light grey hand quilting threads and four greys in regular sewing cotton.  Sigh.  I even check Walmart thinking they might have Coats or some other brand but they had nearly no thread and most of their fabric shelves were empty.  So I'll begin quilting when I can find thread.

All this to say that I completed my One Monthly Goal for May.

Linking to
> One Monthly Goal May Link-up at Elm Street Quilts
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Put Your Foot Down at For the love of geese
> Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie's blog

We've had so much rain this week that there's been flooding in our city.  In fact, they put up the flood gates a few days ago.  Roads not far from us looked like streams and rivers.  Our house and street are in good shape -- this time.  I hope things are going well for you!  One of these days (or weeks or months) we'll be safely out and about again.

--Nancy.
.

18 comments:

  1. I always love reading your posts, and your batting conversation was interesting to me. I like my quilts to be limp after washing with a little shrinkage. Flannel works great for minis, but nothing larger. Not all "warm and natural" all cotton or 80/20 is created equal. I will be watching for more comments. Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Happy Quilter. My mom made a few quilts and I think she used flannel for the batting. It didn't shrink much and it was quite flat. It's fairly well worn but I still have it!

      I've noticed that each company's batting is different. I've used Warm and Natural but found it hard to quilt. Next I tried Cream Rose and liked it but it was very thin -- I can see the 1/4" on either side of the seams when I told it up to the light. Then I switched to Soft & Crafty 80/20 and have been using it ever since. It has a little loft and nice shrinkage. I think I'm going to have to try the wool/poly myself to see how it comes out.

      (Do you have a blog and do I already read your posts?)

      Delete
  2. Well, you are set to go--as soon as you find your thread. I wish I knew just the shade of grey you needed--our JoAnn and our quilt shops are open. Most of them never closed, deemed as essential businesses for mask and gown making supplies.
    Impressive matching of your backing fabric. I would have been too lazy to try. I struggled to find where the seam is--looks really good!
    I do like rounded corners. Haven't done them in a long time, but I like the effect.
    You are hand quilting, right? I think back to the 30+ quilts my Mom hand quilted and realize she only ever used a cream colored thread, no matter the color of the quilt. But I think her stitches were so tiny that you couldn't tell what color they were--or maybe it just didn't matter to her. :) I'd never thought about that before. And the quilt I have in my hoop is being quilted with 4 different colors of hand quilting threads--maybe 5 by the time I am finished (which will be years from now).
    Hope you can locate a good thread very soon. This is a great quilt!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Janet.  I opted for a medium grey which I found at JoAnn because it was open on Monday.  I put a few stitches in tonight and will look at them in the light tomorrow.  I think it will work okay.
      Your mom's quilting is amazing and I'm sure she could have used cream thread on black and the stitches would have been barely noticeable!   I'm eager to see your quilting with 4 or 5 different colors of thread.  I sometimes think about doing that but then wonder how it will look on the back and opt for just one color.

      I think this is the first time I've made rounded corners.  I hope they aren't too hard to bind!

      Delete
  3. Your Blue and Gray quilt is going to be so beautiful with your hand quilting. I have used Hobbs brand of wool batting, except I don't remember which one, they have a Tuscany and an Heirloom. It washed and dried beautifully. If I come across which one I used I will let you know. Machine quilted though. Have you tried Red Rock Threads? They have a large selection and excellent service. Here is a link https://redrockthreads.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Rebecca, especially for the link to Red Rock Threads.  JoAnn was open on Monday so I bought thread there but I love the selection at Red Rock and will order from them when I have a little more time between buying and wanting to us it.

      I'd love to know which wool batting you used if you happen to find the information. 

      Delete
  4. Oh, I hope you're still safe. Mother Nature can sure change life in an instant. Like this morning when I got up and noticed it was 37 degrees. Good grief! This quilt is going to be so beautiful. I have ordered thread from Red Rock Threads in Nevada and had wonderful fast service.
    https://redrockthreads.com/colors/googlemerchant.asp?qry=4288a
    How frustrating to be ready to start and have to wait.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Robin.  Yes the rain quit and the water flowed away.  The rivers and streams seem to be back to normal now, though rain is predicted for tonight and tomorrow, again.  That's crazy that you had 37 degrees in May!  Did it warm up later in the day or the next day?
      I think this quilt will be one of those warm, cozy-looking ones.  Thank you for mentioning Red Rock Threads and including the link.  I checked out their selection and found two greys that I thought would work.  On Monday JoAnn was open and I bought thread there so I could begin sooner.  But I will probably order from Red Rock another time when I have a little lead time and I'm not ready to begin quilting.

      Delete
  5. Thanks for the thoughts on batting. I was just thinking the other day about the old Mountain Mist my grandma used to use. I don't know about wool. I feel like I've used it before, but can't remember. I wash and dry all my quilts. I'd love to find a truly very thin lightweight batting. Maybe Quilter's Dream lowest loft. I'm sorry you've gone the extra mile again and then again to try to find the thread you like! Hopefully you will find that soon! Everything is complicated now isn't it? And on top of everything your area is experiencing flooding! I hope that abates real soon.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Cynthia.  The rain stopped and the water flowed away, for which I'm so grateful!  More rain predicted for tonight and tomorrow but I don't think we'll get as much this time.
      The thinnest, lightest bat I've ever used was Cream Rose.  It's so thin that when a finished quilt it held to the light you can see the 1/4 inch on either side of the seam.  I like it a lot for some quilts.
      I found thread on Monday at JoAnn.  I tried a few stitches tonight and look look at them tomorrow to be sure the color is okay.  (Or maybe I'll just settle for it, if necessary, know I would have to wait another week or two to start if I don't.)

      Delete
  6. Great work on getting it to this stage! It’s a lovely quilt, and I love that backing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Karrin.  I think I can start quilting tomorrow!

      Delete
  7. Oh yay!! You have gotten it so far!! and I have used wool before - but I used the Hobbs wool - After quilting it didn't seem to shrink - but I had quilted it rather densley...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the mention of Hobbs wool, Alycia.  If this batting I bought turns out a mess I'll try Hobbs.  You're the second person who mentioned it.  Do you remember if it was Tuscany or Heirloom?

      Delete
  8. I could share a complete disaster for my first and only background with a design. Notice I said only, because I'm committed on never trying again. I love your quilt. Thank you so much for linking up to Put your foot down. Good luck on the quilting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, For the love of geese.  I'm so sorry your pieced background fabric with a design didn't work out.  It's frustrating when that happens.  I don't think I've tried to match large scale prints and still find the small prints challenging.  Sometimes it's just easier to use a solid fabric or buy wide backing fabric. 

      Delete
  9. Great progress! Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

    ReplyDelete

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

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...