Thursday, January 7, 2021

The Quilt That Wouldn't Let Me Sleep In

This quilt woke me a few Saturdays ago at about 5:30 in the morning.  (I'm not a morning person so it was a bit of a rough start to my day.)  The day before I'd spent time quilting two leaves.  I chose modified Baptist Fans, beginning and ending the fans with the borders of each block.  The first arc is in the corner with the stem.   

maple leaf quilt in autumn colors

That morning, my first thought was that the arcs were too close together and there were too many of them.  My next thought was that the fans turning every which way would look awful.  I tried to go back to sleep but ended up mulling over what to do. 

Later in the morning I pulled out the quilt and looked at the quilting again.  Maybe the arcs in those first two blocks were a little close together, but they didn't all have to be that way.  I decided to continue quilting the fans, just to see.

And this is what I see now.  It's a poor photo but you can clearly see the quilting lines.

maple leaf quilt in autumn colors

The fans are not of equal distance from each other, which doesn't bother me at all because the arcs are smooth curves, which pleases me a lot and was my goal in the first place.  And I found that some curves can meet at the edges of blocks and continue the smooth curve into the adjacent block.  Who knows but what I might not be thrilled by the time the quilt is finished, but for now I'm happily satisfied that the quilting reminds me of wind swirling the leaves into the air.

As of today I have quilted 14 of 80 blocks, about a sixth of the quilt.  My One Monthly Goal for January is to quilt another 15 blocks for a total of 29 quilted. 

I'm linking this post to One Monthly Goal January Link-up at Elm Street Quilts.  Thanks for hosting, Patty.

--Nancy.

16 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Perfect--I can see the autumn wind, swirling the leaves so happily. I love this project and the quilting is the final just-right touch.

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    1. Thanks so much for your comment, Lizzy.  I appreciate the encouragement.

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  2. Just lovely quilting on this beautiful quilt...nice work--Hugs Julierose

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  3. I like the quilting and don’t find myself analyzing directions when I look at it. Just nice soft curves. How do you mark your blocks and do you use a template for the fans?

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    1. Thanks for telling me what you see when you look at this quilt, Jennie.  When I'm making a quilt I know I'm too close to it to see objectively. 
      I don't mark the blocks for quilting.  I just free-hand by sight.  Sometimes it works and sometimes not.  Haha.  And when it doesn't, I unquilt a few stitches and change the curve.

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  4. The fan quilting looks wonderful and I agree--the movement of the fans make the leaves look like they are carried on a breeze!

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    1. Thank you, Karen.  I'm so pleased to hear that you see what I see when I look at these blocks.

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  5. Great goal! I like the swirly look it gives them. I'm glad you are continuing. =)

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    1. Thanks, Susan.  Continuing, though slow progress.  Hand quilting just takes time but is so satisfying.

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  6. I love how this is coming together. You are making good progress.

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    1. Thank you, Robin.  It seems like slow progress but even slow progress is good progress, right?

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  7. Very pretty! I really love the arcs.

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  8. I think the quilting looks lovely, Nancy!

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    1. Thank you, Joyful!  It's fun quilting, too.

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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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