Last Hurrah for High Five for Brenna

Now that Brenna's High Five is completely finished, I wanted to post details about it.

The quilt took 7 months from start to finish.  (Am I slow or what?!!)  I began making blocks in September, 2012, and bound, washed, and dried it on April 1, 2013.

The blocks are cut at 5" and are 4 1/2" finished.  There are 16 x 20 rows equaling 320 blocks.  Each block has 5 pieces of fabric and four seams.  All fabric was pre-washed.

The backing is a tone-on-tone natural/creamy print.  (Brenna said she liked plain backs best.)

The batting is a Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton bat.  Shrinkage was about 9%.  It was hand quilted with an all-over arching pattern that, if it had been more orderly, might have been a clamshell or Baptist Fan pattern.  The arches are about 1" - 1 1/4" apart.    I used Connecting Threads all cotton "Cream" and a size 7 needle.  The stitches are 4-6/inch.  (I'm still a beginner but improving.)

Measurements:
before quilting:  72" x 90"
after quilting:  71" x 88 7/8"
after binding:  71" x 88 7/8"
after washing and drying:  68 3/4" x 85"

Reminders to self:

• When choosing quilt size, make the quilt larger to account for shrinkage, especially if using a cotton bat.
• Everything takes longer than you think it will.
• If you haven't quilted recently, it will take a while to build up quilting callouses.

I don't think any photo will show the richness of this quilt (at least not any photo I take!).  I love it.  I love looking at individual blocks and seeing what fabrics worked together to make an aqua or a tan or a red or a blue block.  It's such fun.  Some of the fabrics were scraps that were left over from someone else's project and I have no more of them.  Some, I wonder where they came from because when I look at them they I can't remember ever seeing them before.  Part of me wants to keep this quilt for reference. . .  but I suppose I should give it to my daughter, huh?  Especially considering that I made it for her.


I'm linking this post to the April 5 edition of Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, hosted by Amanda Jean.  Thanks so much, Amanda Jean.

--Nancy.
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Procrastinating a Binding

Brenna was home over the weekend and chose the above fabrics for a scrappy binding on her High Five.  On Saturday I cut and stitched the fabrics into one long strip but didn't get any further.  I don't sew on Sunday so Monday was the day to get the binding onto the quilt and get it finished.

On Saturday night I had a dream about the binding.  There it was all cut and ready to be sewn on the quilt.  I picked up the quilt, sat at the machine, laid the binding along the edge of the quilt and began to sew.  Great progress, almost done.  I awoke with a start.  Oh, no!  That's not how to sew a binding on a quilt!  (I know because I've tried that before and ended up with a ruffly-edged quilt.)  Whew!  I'm glad it was only a dream.  When I came downstairs the next morning, there was the quilt on the floor exactly where I'd left it.

Bindings are my least favorite part of quilting.  I think a binding can make or break (or at least enhance or detract  from) a quilt.  A fabulous quilt will look less than its best with a poorly measured and sewn binding.  Thus, my trepidation.  Even though my goal was to completely finish the quilt (binding sewn and stitched) on Monday, I found myself coming up with ways to avoid it.

• Better check on Airedale Hannah.  She might be out in the yard digging.
• Oh!  That load of laundry's finished.  Better go change the washer.  (Repeated every half hour or so, at least four times.)
• Look at all those threads on the floor!  Gotta vacuum.  (You know it's bad when I choose cleaning over quilting.)
• Look at all those crumbs.  Someone forgot to clean off the counter after breakfast....
• Breakfast.  I forgot to eat breakfast!  I need to eat so I'll have energy to do that binding.
• Gosh, I'm sleepy.  Maybe a nap will help.
• Etc., etc.  

Determined to meet this goal and be finished with this quilt, I measured the binding, laid it on the quilt, measured again, pinned, and sewed each side.  By late afternoon the binding had been machine stitched in place and I spent the rest of the evening folding it over and blind-stitching it on the back.  I think I got it right.  I don't think there are any ruffles but we'll see after it comes out of the dryer.

The label on the the Mountain Mist Cream Rose batting bags says, "Washable with care, when quilted properly".  What care, exactly?  Regular wash, gentle wash?  Dryer, no dryer?  The quilt is going through a regular wash cycle, and will dry on moderate heat.  If I were a superstitious person, I might cross my fingers....

I'm linking this post to Small Blog Meet, a link-up for bloggers with fewer than fifty follows.  It is hosted at the beginning of every month by Lynne at Lily's Quilts.  If you're a blogger with only a few followers and would like to meet more, please link with the rest of us.

I'm also linking this post to Let's Get Acquainted! Monday Link Up by Plum and June which is hosted this week by Taryn at from Pixels to Patchwork.


--Nancy.
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The Quilting's Done!

I'm sorry I can't show you the whole quilt but it's too dark for a good photo.  You'll just have to trust me that it's quilted to every edge and corner (which feels like a huge accomplishment!).  Not only is the quilting finished but the edges are also trimmed, the corners squared, and the binding cut.  I'm ready to sew on the binding tomorrow.  Then I'll measure, photograph, wash & dry it, then measure it again and photograph again.  When I can get good photos I'll post them along with all the details about the quilt such as size, etc. 

Our Easter has been very grey.  I hope you had a Happy Easter if you celebrate Easter.  If you don't, I hope you had a good day being alive!

Linking to March:  A Lovely Year of Finishes at Fiber of All Sorts.  (My original post committing to this goal was here.)


--Nancy.
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One Corner and a Binding - W.i.P. Wednesday

I have just the little corner that's folded over to quilt, about 3 hoop's worth, and a binding to cut, sew, and stitch for this quilt to be finished.  But I have just a few days left in the month to do it if I'm going to accomplish my goal of finishing this quilt in March.  I'm sure I can finish the quilting but I'm not so sure about the binding.  Maybe I can modify my goal....

This quilt is larger than it looks in the photo above.  It's folded into 6ths and is a large twin size quilt.

Speaking of binding....  I'll have to lay it out and audition some fabrics for binding, but in the meantime, I'm considering possibilities.  I think the best option will be to use just one color but the questions are:

1. A scrappy binding or a non-scrappy binding?  Maybe the quilt is already too scrappy (read busy) for a scrappy binding?  Maybe it needs a "quiet" binding?
2. Which color?  Use a color and/or fabric that's already in the quilt or choose a neutral?

I can hardly wait to finish this quilt.  And I will never, ever set a goal to hand quilt a quilt in such a short time!  Never!  (But I may need to remind myself of that.)

I'm linking this post to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks for hosting, Lee.


--Nancy.

P.S.  This is the last time you will see this quilt as a work in progress.  (Hooray!) 

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Progress on High Five for Brenna - W.i.P. Wednesday

I am sad to report that only one corner of High Five for Brenna is completely quilted.

I'm happy to report that parts of the edges of two sides are completely finished.  Narrow edges on the rest of those two sides plus one more side, along with a wider edge on one side, and 3 corners are awaiting needle and thread.  Quilt, quilt, quilt!

My quilting hoop is 14" across which means I can generally quilt about 12" of that.  It takes me between 1 1/2 and 2 hours to quilt that 12" diameter.  I spend between 4 and 8 hours quilting every day.  It seems like I should be finishing it faster than I am....  Sometimes I stop to try to figure out how many more circles I have to quilt but then I tell myself that I'm wasting time.  Just put the hoop on and keep working.  Still, it's hard on my fingers to quilt so many hours.

Note to self:  over-estimate the time it will take to do any (& every!) project. 

I've noticed that I often under-estimate how long things will take and then find that I'm late for appointments and late getting projects finished.  Maybe age is slowing me down....

I'm linking to
- W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks for hosting, Lee.
- A Lovely Year of Finishes mid-month check-in at Fiber of All Sorts.  Thanks, Shanna.


Thanks for visiting.
--Nancy.

Four Corners & Four Sides - W.i.P. Wednesday

It may not look or sound like there's much left to quilt when I say I have four corners and four sides.  But when I lay the quilt out to place the hoop for the next round of quilting it seems like I've only finished a third of the quilt! 

I've been watching videos as I quilt.  No, wait, that's not exactly true.  I've been listening to the dialog in videos as I quilt and glancing up as I pull the needle through the fabric.  It's not the best way to watch videos but so far, I haven't watched one that draws my attention completely away from the quilt.  If I do I'll stop it and watch it when I can give it more attention.  Do you do other things while you do handwork?

When I sometimes see items at the thrift store that I think are overpriced I occasionally comment to whoever's with me, "I think this store has an overinflated estimation of the value of some of their items."  Now I'm thinking:  I had an overinflated estimation of my quilting speed!  I'm pushing myself to quilt, quilt, quilt with the continued hope of finishing the quilting by the end of March.  I don't think I realized how long it really takes to quilt by hand.

I'm linking this post to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thanks, Lee.

I hope you're making good progress on whatever your project is.

--Nancy.
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Ideas, Please?

Last week my daughter asked me if I could find a quilt at a thrift store for her husband to use at the Children's Garden where he's the horticulturist. I told her I'd look, but I haven't found one.  I haven't been quilting long enough to have a supply on hand to give away but I thought maybe I could make one.  (It doesn't help that he could use it now, but he'll use a quilt whenever he gets one.)  I rummaged around and found these blocks that I made 10 years ago.  The flowers were my first efforts in applique so I could join the Airedale Rescue Quilting Bee.  The others were leftovers from another quilt (which is still waiting to be quilted).

I don't really have time to make a quilt from scratch because of the High Five for Brenna that I'm determined to finish by the end of March, but I thought I might be able to work with one of the sets of blocks above and turn them into a small quilt.  But what to do with them and how?!  It has to be simple, of course.  Alternate plain and pieced or plain and appliqued blocks?  Set them in sashing?  What kind of sashing?  What colors would work for either of these sets of blocks?

The flower blocks will finish at 8 1/2", the churn dash blocks at 7 1/2".  The final quilt can be about baby size.  It's going on a wall so the children won't be bundling themselves up in it or putting it on the ground for a play picnic, but dirty hands will touch it so white/very light may not be the best option.

All ideas appreciated!

By the way, I'm making good progress on the High Five but I'm going to have to push myself to get it finished by the end of March, especially when there are two weeks I won't be able to work on it much (because my daughter will be home one week and I'll be working again the other).  Quilt, quilt, quilt...!

I'm linking this to W.i.P. Wednesday hosted on Freshly Pieced by Claire from Sewing Over Pins.  Thank you, Claire and Lee.

Thanks and take care,
Nancy.
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High Five for Brenna

I'm making good progress on this High Five quilt, though maybe not good enough to have the quilting and binding finished by the end of March.  I think I have to quilt faster or spend more time at quilting!

I don't know if you can see where the pins are or not....  I still have to quilt the pinned part.  I have the center finished and have about 4-5 rows of blocks around the outside yet to quilt. I've adjusted to the thinner Connecting Threads thread and I actually think I like it better.  Since my quilting abilities are not fabulous yet it's nice that the thinner thread doesn't show so much.  (Please forgive the inaccurate shading in the photo below.  The flash made the near side of the quilt lighter and the far side darker than in real life.)

When I'm not with this quilt, working on it -- when it's folded up and put away -- I'm not sure how much I like it.  I tell myself it's awful and that I overdid it with the fabrics and colors.  But when I'm working on it, I decide I love, love, love it.  It's a bright, happy quilt.  I think of it as a compendium of many of the fabrics I have or had in my supply.

I wish you good progress with your stitching.

I'm linking to
W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.  Thank you, Lee.
Amy's Creative Side.  Thanks, Amy.
Small Blog Meet at Lily's Quilts.  Thanks, Lynne.
March:  A Lovely Year of Finishes ~ Goal Setting Party at Fiber of All Sorts.  Thank you, Shanna.

--Nancy.
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Boring Photo, Exciting Progress - W.i.P. Wednesday

This is the pale back of the High Five quilt (which has a highly colorful front).  It's hard to photograph light on light but you might be able to see the quilting lines if you look closely.  This was the best I could do in the afternoon sun.  I'll try to show a photo of the front when I post the next W.i.P. Wednesday but the quilting seems to disappear on both front and back.

In the past two weeks since I started I've finished about 3 square feet of quilting, so I'm probably about one twelfth finished.  In those two weeks I was quilting without callouses.  Now that I have my quilting fingers back I should be able to stitch for longer than 20 minutes at a time once a day.  Unfortunately I'm working at the candy store again through Valentine's Day so that cuts down on my quilting time.  I'm going to have to devote more time to quilting if I want to finish this by the end of March!

This would have been quilted with a Baptist Fan but I felt the need to begin in the middle, mostly because I didn't have a lot of extra batting or backing on three edges, so I'm working outward in fan/semi-circle shapes.  I was wondering the other day if this might be a hand quilter's version of free motion quilting.

I'm linking to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced which is being hosted by Jenelle of Echinops and Aster this week.  Thank you, Jenelle.  And Lee, too.

Hand Quilting Threads and High Five - W.i.P.

I'm relatively new to hand quilting.  Really, I have very little experience.  Maybe 2 baby quilts and 2 medium-sized quilts.  My stitching is less than perfect.  But that's okay:  beginners are rarely perfect.

I'm happy to improvise the pattern.  I thought to do a Baptist Fan but I wanted to start in the center and work out.  I finally decided to start with a circular shape and work outward from there.  It looks a little like a flower but it will only look that way at the center.  I think once a quilt is finished and in use on a bed or couch, no one really looks at the quilting (unless it's another quilter), especially if the front of the quilt is bright with colors and patterns. 

I'm comparing quilting threads.  The threads I've used in the past are

• DMC skeins.  They shrank a lot when the quilt was washed.  I mean a LOT!  I expect a quilt to shrink in the wash but this was surprising.

• Americana Quilting Thread, 100% glaced cotton.  (On left in the photo above.)  I was surprised at how stiff it was, almost wiry, but it stitched fine.  I bought it at JoAnn Fabrics.
• a spool of thread from John C. Meyer & Co.:  Meyer Hub D24.  (In the center, above.)  I found this at our local recycle center.  It didn't say 100% cotton on the spool but I tested it and found that it's all natural fiber.  It was thicker than the Americana thread but I liked it a lot.  It felt substantial, like it could withstand a lot of use, and it stitched pretty easily.
• Essentials cotton thread by Connecting Threads.  (On the right, above.)  Others have used this thread and reported online that they liked it a lot.  When I opened the package I was surprised at how thin it was.  I think it's a 50 weight.  Somehow it just doesn't seem like quilting thread to me.  

Of the three threads above, can you see the difference in thickness?   Does the Connecting Threads on the right look like the thinnest?  Did I get it wrong when I chose any one of them?  Is it quilter's choice and anything goes or are there some threads that are better than others?  I'm wondering if the Connecting Threads thread is for machine sewing and not hand quilting.

If you hand quilt, please share your favorite thread and what you like/don't like about any threads you've used.  Please also tell me what threads you wouldn't use for hand quilting.  Thanks.

This is a W.i.P. (Work in Progress) post and I'm linking to W.i.P. Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Happy stitching,
--Nancy.

P.S.  I don't have anything to do with any of these companies other than buying their threads.
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Layering a Quilt

A softly printed off-white fabric for the back, plus

a Mountain Mist Cream Rose double sized bat

plus a 72" x 90" Sunday Morning quilt top

will become my younger daughter's quilt when finished.

She liked this pattern and wanted a cotton bat.

I stitched the pieces for the back together tonight.  I hope to layer and baste the quilt tomorrow.  My husband wonders how I will do it.  I wonder, too.  My  layout area is my living room floor.

I had foot surgery in October which was mostly healed.  But two weeks ago I started having a different pain in my foot.  The doctor tells me that if I don't rest and elevate my foot, I will have a stress fracture.   Nearly three months of rest with an elevated foot has been a long time.  I've read books and blogs, researched on the internet (all sitting with my foot elevated), stitched at the sewing machine a little, watched a few movies and when the doctor finally said I could go out, very carefully went to the thrift store and the grocery store.  Can I tell you that I'm bored?  I want my body and my mobility back!

I believe I could have had this quilt quilted if I'd been able to get it layered and basted before the surgery.  Now that I have to rest for 3 more weeks, I know I could get a good start on quilting it -- if I can only get it basted.  How much do you think my husband will help me with it tomorrow?  He will probably -- very kindly and generously -- help me smooth the layers out on the floor.  But I know he will not pin.  Do you think I can sit on the floor and pin-baste it?  Or can I bend over and do it?  We'll see. 

I'm looking forward to hand-quilting with this Cream Rose bat after reading a review at The Tulip Patch.  She says it shrinks more than some other cotton bats but, to be honest, I was concerned that this quilt was a little too large.  I hope it will be the perfect size after it's washed.  Lucy at Quilting with the Past said Cream Rose is very easy to quilt, which is just what I need as a newish hand quilter.  I'll report back later.

Happy stitching!
 --Nancy.
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The High Five Top is Finished

I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have this quilt top stitched together.  (Okay, so the whole quilt isn't finished but I finish in bits and pieces.)  I'm showing only a small part of it and I'll tell you why in a minute.  The squares are 4 1/2" finished and the top is 16 squares by 20 squares (a total of 320 squares), making the finished quilt a generous single bed size of approximately 72" x 90".   This quilt is for my daughter who loved the small one I made for her nephew/my grandson.

I originally thought I would make it 15 x 19 squares but when I laid it out it just seemed too small.  So I found myself stitching more squares to make it larger.  I needed to have the top sewn together by last Wednesday evening and I was still making squares on Tuesday.  You wouldn't think they'd take very long but because each square uses five fabrics, I couldn't push them through the machine as quickly as if they'd been all the same.  I was hoping to get the quilt layered before last Thursday but it didn't happen.

I plan to hand quilt it with a fan variation.  The quilt pattern is Amanda Jean Nyberg's "High Five" from the book, Sunday Morning Quilts.

The push to finish?  I had foot surgery last Thursday and am limited to whatever I can do with my foot elevated -- for six long weeks.  I could have quilted it if I'd gotten it layered.  I will lay or hang the quilt top so I can photograph it or maybe wait till it's quilted and then post it.  Whichever I do, it will be a while before I can take a good photo.

I'm linking this post to

• TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday) which is being hosted this week by LynCC at What a Hoot! and 
• finish it up Friday (IF I'm not too late.)

Happy quilting!

--Nancy.