I decided to quilt diagonally across every single row of quilt squares, like this (you can just barely see the stitching):
The end result of the quilting itself is smaller squares than the quilt squares. It looks really cool despite various machine and machine operator snafus which I will have to remedy before next time. :)
Now I'll bombard you with long views so you can see the effects of the overall quiltiness:
and of course another cat test just for good measure:
I did have a shot of Lucy on the quilt but it came out blurry. You'll have to take my word for its having passed muster with her.
Anyway isn't it looking fluffy and quilty? I now just have to do the binding. Usually people handstitch the binding but I found one book that explained how to machine stitch it. Partly this will ensure my actually finishing it by my August 1 deadline and partly it just seemed it would be so hot to have a quilt draped over me for the hours it would take to stitch the binding. I will admit, however, that having done half the binding stitching I see quite clearly why people usually handstitch them (the binding is pretty bulky which makes for potentially bunchy machine stitching - much smoother final appearance when handstitched) so next time I'll opt for that I'm sure. The next one I want to focus more on fine-tuning some of the steps I kind of just muddled thru this time anyway. Mind you, I don't think the next one will happen for a year or more. Poor you! No quilt pix for a year!!
I'll finish the binding tonight with any luck, then I get to wash it (aka de-cat hair it) and it should look fluffier yet. Of course pix will be forthcoming, which you may peruse or ignore at your leisure. :)
3 commentaires:
yay for your quilt!
didn't get why august 1, unless it's school/job related. or giftly.
i want to know what to do about an older quilt (it's under 30) that is getting all frayed and rotted at the edges. like from human contact. is this the fate of all cottons? this probably was in the pre-acid-free days of textiles, the chemical 70s/80s. i want to bind around it, but it's a white background with cross-stitched embroidery everywhere that even goes to the edge. . .quandry.
and a laundry challenge for now.
Double yay for your quilt. I love it, it is the bestest. Much better than the half built on I made. I can hardly wait to see it in person! Back from CT will try to call you tomorrow night. the cell phone is not working here at my parents. boo.
thank you thank you! I will post pics from the office in the next couple of days so you can see the post-washed version (very puffy and quilty!! plus very soft but you won't be able to see that part :)
older quilts... yes, from my experience with family quilts plus stuff I've read this summer in my obsession unfortunately it is the fate of all cottons, and virtually all fabrics. If it's just the binding and it's not an heirloom you could do a new binding if it's something you want to continue to use. Otherwise there are numerous ways to protect/store/display old quilts to varying degrees of impactfulness/wear - I have a couple of books or I bet you can find stuff on the internet - let me know if not.
as for washing it in the meantime, again depending on wear, you can either handwash in a bathtub, then lay out in a yard (which i know you don't have so big help there) or hang on a line. if necessary due to logistical limitations in one's abode and/or if the quilt can take it, use a front load machine if possible rather than one with an agitator (again according to my quilt books - I didn't know this til last week when I started thinking of washing the new one) and dry it on gentle or maybe try half-machine drying and then hang somewhere if possible. I guess dry-cleaning is an option too but I can't remember what the books said about that :) - let me know if you want me to check!
as for Aug. 1 it was really a pre-emptive deadline... school starts Aug 16, and I need to start looking at class planning crap in the next few days, so I thought if I aimed for Aug 1, hopefully I'd really be done by Aug 6 or 7, in plenty of time to decompress/clean and start school stuff. who knew I'd finish early??!! crazy!
Jess did you try to call this morning? there was a weird number so I didn't answer - you would have left a message tho so I doubt it was you. I went and put the box of stuff I had for you (adding over the months - nothing that exciting honestly) into the storage locker the other day. all is well there. :)
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