Skip to main content

Finally Basting


After a big delay I've finally started basting my big quilt.  Since I machine quilt I always pin baste.  Everyone assumes that I hand quilt.  But since I enjoy different types of embroidery I save my hands for that and quilt on the machine.

 I've been going to the local quilt store and using their tables to baste but my wrists, shoulders and back are not looking forward to an all-day session.  I'd rather do it a little at a time over weeks instead of hours.


 

I dug the table out of storage and set up in an out of the way area.  In the first week I have 3 rows basted and another 7 left to go.  Doing it a little at a time sure beats doing it all at once even if its going to take longer.

This is the final smoothing out of the quilt.  As it was pieced, the fabric was continually being ironed flat.  Now, I'm going to great lengths to get all 3 layers, backing, batting and quilt top, as smooth as possible.  Once this basting is complete and it is taken off the table it will never be this smooth again, but I would like it to lay flat without any puckers.
I'll be bunching it up to get it under the sewing machine and wrestling it into position.  Once it is fully quilted it will go into the washing machine.  A quilt isn't a quilt until its been washed.

However, that's a long way off.  I traditionally wait a month or so after a quilt is basted to start quilting.  Part of it is mental.  It's a big task and I have to start when I'm ready.  I'm really not looking forward to it, but to make a quilt you have to quilt it.  Also, it's hard quilting in the summer when it's hot.  Most of the quilt ends up bunched in my lap and it gets uncomfortable.

So, as part of my stalling process I've made 2 mini quilt tops.  I will quilt them first, as practice.  Then I'll quilt the big one.  The tops were made using some half charm squares (5 inch squares cut to 2 1/2 x 5) that I got during the recent quilt shop hop.  Here's the first one:


And here's the second one.


These two mini quilts will be the motivation to get me through basting the big one.  I'll write more about them when they are finished.  I shouldn't have any more quilt related posts until then.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's about time - the big reveal

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures.  Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did.  I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer.  After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners?  That was a challenge.  I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some.  After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress.  But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows.  I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying.   I just noticed - all of the baskets are
Post a Comment
Read more

More Wildflowers of America

Since I have framed the stitched Bleeding Heart from Curtis Boehringer's Wildflowers of America I decided to track down the other 3 wildflowers that had I stiched earlier.  I chose these flowers because they reminded me of the forests of Ohio where I grew up - Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Wake Robin and Bloodroot. The Jack-in-the-Pulpit and Wake Robin where both finished with fabric frames.  This was a favorite finishing technique of mine for a long time.  On the back they are dated 1999 - that was a while ago.  I remember the quilt store where I purchased the fabric, but not its name.  It's gone now but it was in an old Victorian house in Old Colorado City.  The turrets where lined with bolts of fabric and hey had a great selection of plaids. I had never heard name Wake Robin before and it means nothing to me, but the flower is definitely a Trillium.  Back then, I dutifully followed the pattern.  Now I would have used the name Trillium or omitted the letters altogether. I do miss
2 comments
Read more

Diverted by Dorset Buttons

I learned how to make Dorset Buttons yesterday at our monthly EGA meeting . These little buttons are so much fun to make!  We only got three rings so that's how many I made.  If I would have gotten more I'd probably be still making them.  One nice thing is that they are very forgiving.  I made countless mistakes on my first one and you can't tell. A quick google revealed lots of websites with historical information and tutorials on how to make them so I'm not even going to try to describe the process. Some people made their buttons with yarn, others used perle cotton.  One of the examples had beads on it, so once I got home I had to find some beads to sew on. That's it for now.  I'm going to be keeping my eye's open rings to use.  I'm also going to have to go through my yarn stash.  Using yarn gives a totally different result and I want to try some yarn ones too.
4 comments
Read more