Conclusion of the Quilt Chronicles

After a very busy day of quilting and embroidering, the quilt is finished! I used the same dark blue of the backing and the middle stripe to add a wide binding, which I top stitched closed using the same light blue quilting thread as the rest of the quilt. Here’s a wide shot of the whole quilt, finished and ready to go.

I then embroidered the Japanese characters for marriage and love into the upper left and lower right corners. Here is marriage:

And love:

And finally here is a picture of it all folded up and ready to go.

I am happy to report that it was very well received, and I think that the extra touch of the embroidery really helped make it special. Surprisingly, just as with the last quilt I did and gave away, I’m a little sad that it’s finished. I really enjoy making these, and to give them away is always a little bittersweet!

The Quilt Chronicles, Continued…

I finally basted the quilt sandwich together, and I’ve started quilting! Hooray! I decided to quilt in the center of each strip, in a straight line to the center diagonal, where I’ve quilted three parallel lines. Each line coming in from the side will meet the outside line on the diagonal…. like this:

I got a little frustrated with it, so I’m taking a tiny break - I really need a long armed quilting machine. All of this bulk gets a little bunched up in my tiny sewing machine. If I’m not careful, I’ll end up sewing a random corner to the back of the quilt!

The quilt chronicles, part III.

The quilt top is done!

It even lined up perfectly in the middle on the first try!

I also put together the back piece and sandwiched it together with the batting and the top. I’ve started basting it all together by hand, so far I have a border around the outside done. Not too bad for a Sunday!

The quilt chronicles, part II.

I’ve made a bit more progress on the quilt. I’ve assembled one complete large panel, and about half of another. Unfortunately, I realized that one of the smaller panels is assembled backwards, and I must take it apart and re-do it. Le sigh. Below, you can see the large panel and the proper small panel lined up together, but not attached. I think it looks pretty cool… you?

The quilt has begun!

I’ve had this quilt on the back burner for a while - too many other things took over. But, last night (with my new rotary blade in hand), I made a comeback on it. I have all of the pieces cut out. The little white squares on them are the labels, I have A-Z and AA-AG, I think. I have to have a strict organizational system for this quilt, or else I think all hell might break loose!

I also was able to get the two smaller sections of the quilt top sewn together. This is what I’m most happy about! It worked out wonderfully, although I did have to do some back calculating to remember what I was going to use for a seam allowance. Finally, I figured it out, and away I went!

Fabric Bonanza!

I bought all of the fabrics for the blue hued quilt, it was so exciting! They are all below, with a close up of the patterned fabrics below that. The solid navy blue will be the center diagonal stripe, along with the backing and binding. I think that they go together pretty well!So far, I have all the pieces of the lightest color cut - it’s a harder task than the last quilt I made - since there isn’t any repetition to the pieces, really.

Grand Ideas in Quilting

It’s about time that I started thinking about a quilt to make for an upcoming wedding. In my head it looks like the drawing below - which is also my makeshift pattern. Wish me luck - I may need all of the next six months!