Quilters Unite

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
High fives! I just finished pressing the pieced part of the top, which is now complete and very, very busy. It still needs borders, but the daunting part is done. I'm afraid the room it's in--the only empty bed to spread it on--is so small I couldn't back away enough to take a picture.

But don't worry, there's still the borders, the backing, and the tying off. Many more photo ops, right?
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
Okay, progress report.

The very busy pieced top now has borders on all four sides.

The far less busy pieced backing is complete.

They are not quite the same size, because a quarter inch here and another there really adds up. And it's hard to measure them, so maybe they're closer than the inch-and-a-half I fear. In any case, I'll trim back borders as needed to suit the smallest measurement.

My next step involves two big tasks. One, I need to move enough furniture out of the living room to lay the whole thing flat in layers (the backing, the batting, and the top) so I can pin through all layers accurately before folding it into a workable size, and two, finding the damned pins I bought for this purpose--several years ago, when I first cut the basic design. I have the search narrowed down to two rooms.

Maryn, chugging along and hopeful she'll make the deadline
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
Oh, my. This morning I moved furniture and laid out the quilt backing on the floor (filling the living room), measuring exactly where its centerline is, then opened the batting I bought last week, and...

It reeks. The package instructions say it doesn't need to be pre-washed for shrinkage, but no way The Kid and her delicate sensibilities will be okay with this stink, not even packaged between two layers of cotton. The batting is not machine washable, but I took a chance and put it in a large mesh bag and ran it through a delicate cycle, which it survived. It still smells bad, but I am hopeful it will greatly improve once it's dry. Which is going to take approximately forever on low heat with four dryer sheets in there.

Everybody cross your fingers for me, okay?
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
I should have posted an update. Once fully dry, no smell. It’s about a third of the way tied off and going pretty well after some initial difficulty lining up the top and reverse. A long line of hand stitches down the center going both directions made it straight enough to end my ladylike swearing.
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
15,640
Reaction score
6,849
Location
Last Star on the Right
Website
www.jenniferdahl.com
Excellent! I wish I could find the cure for my ladylike swearing. Since I started seriously hand-sewing this cathedral window, my left shoulder has decided it no likey. BenGay, a TENS unit, arthritis strength Tylenol... :sigh:. Gettin' old sucks.

BUT... I do have 64 four-squares done. Bought some more red, white, and blue fabrics. Soldiering on.
 

Maryn

Sees All
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
55,442
Reaction score
25,462
Location
Snow Cave
Things I learned making a quilt

Quarter-inch mistakes, done a handful of times in a project with a finished size of one hundred and eight inches, matter enough that things will not line up when they should.

One hundred and eight inches is a lie when it comes to backing material, which is one hundred and six inches wide and advises pre-laundering because it shrinks.

Some kinds of batting reek and need a pre-wash in a protective bag.

If I had it to do over, I’d pre-wash and iron all the fabrics. As is it, I can only hope nothing shrinks.

I can no longer thread a needle first try every time. Closing one eye and doing it over a contrasting color to the thread—I used my bare foot—helps.

Precision and attention to detail are extremely important. You can’t do a good job without both.

If you are sleep-deprived, you have no business holding scissors. I nearly ruined this quilt.

A quilt big enough for a bed will disrupt your home. The sewing machine and ironing board will be set up for months, and unless you have a quilting frame, your floor is co-opted, too.

If I were smarter, I’d have relearned the craft (not used in forty plus years) on something substantially smaller, like a baby quilt or a lap throw.

Finding and using every cotton print in the theme adds needless busy-ness to the finished product. I’d have been fine with half as many skulls, skeletons, flames, and musical notes.

A simple pattern is your friend. No diagonals or curves, since they add difficulty levels you don’t need until you’re ready for a challenge. Large pieces cut and assembled into squares or rectangles let the cool fabrics star rather than the complex patterns (that starred because quilts used the worn fabric of old clothing).

Red stands out way more than purple of equal color intensity.

Tying off a quilt—a much faster option than actual quilting—will hurt your back, your knees, and lots more.

There will be blood. Especially if you use cheap-ass pins made in China or Pakistan. It’s hard to find good pins in stores now.

If you include a print that must be straight, such as a musical score, it will be printed crooked and look stupid. Both the red- and the white-background ones were off, the white one really a lot.

The creator sees only the flaws; the recipient sees only the love--I hope.

The pictures I just now took are large, so click through to see.

The back, which is rumpled and imperfect.

The front, suitable for a metal girl/professor who loves purple and her musician/professor husband-to-be, assuming they never want to sleep again, because man, this is busy!

Maryn, who still doesn't have a dress for the wedding but can always wrap herself in the quilt
 

Orianna2000

Freelance Writer
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 15, 2011
Messages
3,434
Reaction score
234
Location
USA
Wow, Maryn! That's a huge quilt! Good for you, finishing it on time! I'm sure they'll love it. :Thumbs:

I tried to make a baby quilt one time. Had NO CLUE what I was doing. Didn't read up on how to make a quilt or anything. I wasn't even an expert on regular sewing yet. I just cut out a bunch of pink flannel squares and pink floral flannel squares. A couple years later, after I knew more about sewing in general, I pulled out the project and realized seam allowances, duh. The squares were way too small to actually do anything with, so I ended up tossing the entire thing. Lesson learned!
 

Ol' Fashioned Girl

Hand? What hand?
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
May 31, 2005
Messages
15,640
Reaction score
6,849
Location
Last Star on the Right
Website
www.jenniferdahl.com
Maryn's words are very much worth repeating!

And, Maryn, that is one beautiful quilt. Seriously. The first thing I saw was the love... and then I loved what I saw!



Things I learned making a quilt

Quarter-inch mistakes, done a handful of times in a project with a finished size of one hundred and eight inches, matter enough that things will not line up when they should.

One hundred and eight inches is a lie when it comes to backing material, which is one hundred and six inches wide and advises pre-laundering because it shrinks.

Some kinds of batting reek and need a pre-wash in a protective bag.

If I had it to do over, I’d pre-wash and iron all the fabrics. As is it, I can only hope nothing shrinks.

I can no longer thread a needle first try every time. Closing one eye and doing it over a contrasting color to the thread—I used my bare foot—helps.

Precision and attention to detail are extremely important. You can’t do a good job without both.

If you are sleep-deprived, you have no business holding scissors. I nearly ruined this quilt.

A quilt big enough for a bed will disrupt your home. The sewing machine and ironing board will be set up for months, and unless you have a quilting frame, your floor is co-opted, too.

If I were smarter, I’d have relearned the craft (not used in forty plus years) on something substantially smaller, like a baby quilt or a lap throw.

Finding and using every cotton print in the theme adds needless busy-ness to the finished product. I’d have been fine with half as many skulls, skeletons, flames, and musical notes.

A simple pattern is your friend. No diagonals or curves, since they add difficulty levels you don’t need until you’re ready for a challenge. Large pieces cut and assembled into squares or rectangles let the cool fabrics star rather than the complex patterns (that starred because quilts used the worn fabric of old clothing).

Red stands out way more than purple of equal color intensity.

Tying off a quilt—a much faster option than actual quilting—will hurt your back, your knees, and lots more.

There will be blood. Especially if you use cheap-ass pins made in China or Pakistan. It’s hard to find good pins in stores now.

If you include a print that must be straight, such as a musical score, it will be printed crooked and look stupid. Both the red- and the white-background ones were off, the white one really a lot.

The creator sees only the flaws; the recipient sees only the love--I hope.

The pictures I just now took are large, so click through to see.

The back, which is rumpled and imperfect.

The front, suitable for a metal girl/professor who loves purple and her musician/professor husband-to-be, assuming they never want to sleep again, because man, this is busy!

Maryn, who still doesn't have a dress for the wedding but can always wrap herself in the quilt
 

Filigree

Mildly Disturbing
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 16, 2010
Messages
16,441
Reaction score
1,529
Location
between rising apes and falling angels
Website
www.cranehanabooks.com
Maryn, that quilt is GORGEOUS. You might have been able to settle for fewer patterns, but I love the balance of what you have. Go bold or go home...

I crowed about it on other forums, but two of my fiber art books just sold to a museum in the Pacific NW.
 

Chase

It Takes All of Us to End Racism
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 13, 2008
Messages
9,239
Reaction score
2,316
Location
Oregon, USA
Not a quilter am I nor Kay, yet our home is draped with quilts of every shape and design thanks to Kay's daughter who tirelessly quilts and even works in a quilt shop.

When we moved our quilted queen to the guest room in favor of a king articulated bed, by that Christmas, we were blessed by a quilt the size of our front lawn to over the expanse. Both quilts are surely worth more than the beds themselves.

Older and smaller quilts hang on a wood rack I needed to buy Kay for Mother's Day. Still others are stored for winter TV watching in a special ottoman for the purpose.

All the wonderful benefits without lifting a needle. :greenie