Hand quilting is the easiest thing for me to put off. I usually quilt
when I'm watching--or half-watching--TV or a movie. There are programs I
watch several days during the week, but not every day. I need to make
the commitment to quilt six days a week whether I'm watching something on TV
or not.
The photo above has truer colors than the one below, but it's harder to see the hand quilting. The photo below shows the quilting lines better.
I am somewhere between halfway and two-thirds finished with the quilting. My One Monthly Goal for April is to finish the outline quilting on the tulip block in the upper left corner and quilt the diagonal lines through that block and the sashing to where the morning glories are.
I quilted lines through the vases and I think I need to reconsider that. Maybe they would be better quilted some other way.
You wouldn't think straight diagonal lines would take so long but they seem to!
I'm linking this post to
April One Monthly Goal at Elm Street Quilts. Thanks for hosting, Patty.
--Nancy.
Gorgeous quilting Nancy, honestly, hand quilting is my favourite thing!
ReplyDelete*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)
Thanks, Tazzie. You're generous, especially when I see my quilting up close and see so much room for improvement!
DeleteI enjoy hand quilting, too. It's just not one of those things that I think to sit and do without something else to do at the same time!
I love seeing the texture of the hand quilting. Just beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Janet. I love that texture, too. It seems to me that hand quilting stitches just meld into the quilt and add such subtle detail (usually). In this case, the batting is thicker/fluffier than I realized so the stitching stands out more.
DeleteGood luck with your goal. I admire all you quilters who can hand quilt.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne-Marie. I know hand quilting is not for everyone. it's so slow!
DeleteYour hand quilting looks so nice. I rather like the diagonal line quilted in the vase or bowl. I'm sure it's not very easy to quilt through all those layers but it looks good. Hand quilting takes so long but it is so worth it. I'm only on block 5 on the Love Letters quilt but I keep making progress. I tend to get more done when I quilt with the TV on because I loose track of the time. Since my son and family have moved in I had to move the quilting hoop up to the living room where there is no TV. So, I listen to conference or music. A conference talk only lasts 15 min. so I don't last as long. Your flowers quilt is such a pretty quilt.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Robin. If you saw my hand quilting up close you might have different thought about it. Improving is a work in progress. I cut out behind most of the applique so I'm not stitching through the extra layers except when a quilting line crosses a seam (either stitched or applique), so it's not as bad as it could be. I need to take my phone with me and listen to conference, too. I could do that during the day....
DeleteGreat quilting Nancy! I think anytime you have to quilt through seam allowances or applique it is slow going.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Pat. Yes, stitching through seams slows me down and also makes the stitches larger. I haven't mastered tiny stitches yet but the ones around seams are even larger! Sometimes I have to put the needle through from the top, pull it out the underside, and then push it back up again, a half-stitch at a time until I'm past the seam! But, I should make good progress this month since I've set it as a goal.
DeleteI love your hand quilting. Yes to the lines thru the vases, so in keeping with mid-19th century applique quilts. The texture is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteCould you listen to audio books sometimes to pass the quilting hours? I don't myself, but it's often mentioned. Kindle has free audio and Im sure your library does too.
Thank you, LIzzy. Several agreed with you about leaving the lines through the vases. I haven't looked closely at the quilt to make a decision but it sure would be easier to leave them than take them out!
DeleteI could listen to audio books. I'd just have to figure out how to do it. I can manage to blog but phone tech is something I've avoided as much as possible. My daughter listens to book and I'm sure she could recommend a read and several books. I'll have to look into it. Thanks for the suggestion.
It's coming along nicely, and it looks wonderful. I, too, like the lines through the vases/bowls, but I imagine you need to push a little harder and can get sore fingers with the extra fabric layer. 15-minutes a day quilted my son's Freedom quilt way long time ago. Slow, but steady always wins!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Susan. Slow by steady makes me think of the tortoise and the hare. Probably, consistent would help, too, in my case. I've managed to quilt almost every day for at least an hour. I'm making progress.
DeleteI've cut away behind the appliqued pieces but there are still seams--lots of seams--which make it a little slow going.