Quilting has made me much more observant. I notice things now that I never used to. I notice how the windows in the Habitat ReStore near our house make the most fascinating, asymmetrical log cabin quilt blocks. I notice colors and shapes in the landscape....and I notice public places where I could take some great quilt photos! I spotted this old truck in a parking lot behind the Eagles Lodge where we basically live during the Fish Fry/Lenten season. I thought it would be a great place to get a good shot of this quilt. I was wrong.
It turned out to be a great place to get a photo of my husband! I've held up my fair share of quilts and I know how sore it makes my shoulders, so I try to be mindful of his arms when he holds for me. I had my shot ready when he had to take a break. I think I'll frame this one.
My own arms got pretty tired when I quilted this one. I started quilting a radiating square in the center of the focal point. I did it with my walking foot, so every time I got to a corner I had to shove the quilt around in my machine to turn it. It was a pain, but I am happy with the result.
I did have *some* fun with the quilting. There aren't a lot of perfectly straight lines in the piecing, so I tried to echo that idea when I quilted it. Every once in awhile I purposely put a giant wiggle in the lines. I tried to do it often enough so that everyone would know it was on purpose and that I hadn't just sneezed. The result is organic and interesting. I quilted this with Aurifil #2452 (dusty rose) on the top and Aurifil #5011 (rope beige) for the back.
The back is pieced with the scraps I had left from making the quilt top. Lately I have been thinking of more efficient ways to store my scraps and I've come to the realization that one of the best solutions is to use them. I am full of other profound insights, should anyone require them.
Here is my original post, back when From Hell to Breakfast was a quilt top entry to the Pantone Quilt Challenge.
Linking up to Amy's Creative Side.
Love your quilt! Beautiful front and back. Hope you don't mind, I shared your post on my A Quilter's Table facebook page...
ReplyDeleteOf course not, Debbie. I follow you on Facebook and jumped when I saw my own quilt in my news feed. It was a happy surprise. I am glad you like the back of it too!
DeleteI don't know, that first photo of the quilt with the truck is pretty darn spectacular (although the photo of your husband is swell, too). :) You say your arms got tired quilting this one; were you able to do it in one session or did you break up the work?
ReplyDeleteA better woman than I *maybe* could have gotten it done in a day. I added in a few sanity and Tylenol breaks so it took me about a week of work (and more than a few prayers of "please let me run out of bobbin thread soon so I can knot and STOP!!!").
DeleteJust fabulous!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Linda! I appreciate your comment!
DeleteFabulous! And I can SOOO identify with the turning and shoving an entire quilt through a tiny space. over and over again... )
ReplyDeleteI love your profound insight ~ you make me laugh :-)
Happy sewing ~ Tracy
Thanks, Tracy. I'm glad you laugh at my dumb jokes. So far that makes two of us. Believe it or not, I actually ripped out the center rows for the pleasure of stitching them again. Actually because of all the bulk I was shoving in the beginning, I would get this annoying bobble in the stitches after I turned the corner. The bobble drove me nuts, but it was so much easier to do right the second time because a lot of the bulk had been quilted down. Profound insight #2: pre-quilted quilts are easier to quilt. :-)
DeleteI really like it--lots of lovely colour and uneven quilting. It's my kind of quilt!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Margaret! Working with color (and let's be honest...collecting fabric) is one of my favorite parts of the process!
DeleteSuch a great quilt. Love the improv. look so much.:)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Audrey! I am liking improv quilting more and more. I love the unique results!
DeleteWhat a great, great quilt! I read the post about its title, I did not understand everything but I know that I love this improv' quilt ;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love doing improv piecing! I am glad that you like it and that quilts don't need to be translated. :-)
DeleteYour quilt is great--such richness of colors. And I love the back--as well as your philosophy of scrap usage--much easier to use them than to store them!
ReplyDeleteAmen, Donna! Thank you. This is a color range I keep coming back to. I love the warm tones. You should see our living room!
DeleteI just exclaimed "Wow Wee!" really loud and scared the dogs. Jill your quilt is so awesome, as is your photography! I really love everything about it, from the exuberance of shape and colors you used, to the way you explained your quilting. I am going to take with me two of your ideas: to use scraps on the back more often instead of storing them and to purposely get wiggly in the quilting so people will know I didn't sneeze. (That cracked me up.)
ReplyDeleteHa ha! I guess I like wavy "straight" line quilting for the same reason I like improv piecing. There is beauty in imperfection. Having too much says "I'm a slob," but just enough says "It's beautiful and I meant to do it like that." Thanks, Lara.
DeleteLove your quilt! In which category did you enter it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival? I ended up here because I followed the link to the Lovely Woods quilt. Now I'm having a hard time deciding which one to vote for! Good luck!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Beatrice! This is entered in the small quilt category. When I get by a computer I'll be sure to edit my post to say what category it is in!
DeleteThis is a great colourful quilt- I love the back too!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Karen. I usually believe that more is better and I kept throwing more fabrics at this quilt. It's fun to use your stash!
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