Woof Woof

 
 
Woof! Woof! Can you hear him now? Barking? The Houndstooth quilt, (quilt design by Justjude-designs.com) is as near a finish as makes no odds. Today I drank copious amounts of coffee, looked outside at the rain, and hand stitched down 240" of black and white spot binding. Mr Pointer, the first finger on my right hand knows every stitch! It is actually throbbing. I am hoping there is no fussy cutting in Scrapbooking tonight. I'll make the tea!





I say it is nearly a finish as I have to just "dicky it up" as our Scrapbooking Tutor  says. Sew in the loose ends. Unpick the quilting lines that were abandoned as they were too un straight for my straightish quilting.
Ta Daah!

I am really happy with the black and white spot binding. I like to use this Rose and Hubble spot for the binding on most of my quilts. It is bright, happy and cheerful. Even in brown. I went with the black as I didn't have enough grey and the purple was a no no for me. The purple would have gone well with the quilt, but purple and white spot is rather bitter sweet for me. When my mum was ill, I bought my little sister a purple midi skirt, with white polka dots and a frill at the bottom. It was in the sale and cost me 75p. When my sister twirled and swirled about the hospital room I could see my mum was delighted to see her enjoy herself, and glad that I was being responsible. Bitter sweet for me as I say. My sister remembers that skirt fondly, it was her twirly skirt. Before we get too maudlin here, I will tell you what she wore it with .... brown school shoes, bright yellow bri nylon knee socks and a big chunky jumper! She always did have a sartorial dress sense, did my sister. And .... who says sewing and indeed blogging can't be theurapeutic! It always amazes me how a scrap of fabric or a smell brings back so many memories.

I am also very pleased with the backing. We went with Art Gallery Hello Bear Buck Forest, from Simply Solids I think from my memory. It is so right and the burgundy fabric first chosen would have been so wrong. I am really pleased with my join in the back of the fabric. As Eric Wise would say about his hairpiece,  "can you see the join?"



Now some stats. I used Kona cotton, all purchased from The Village Haberdashery over a period of time. I used silver, iron, titanium, shale, pewter, steel for the greys. I used magenta and mulberry for the purples. (mulberry as we love Mulberry handbags in this house). And of course Kona white as a background.  I also bought a very dark grey for the centre, (can't remember the name) but my daughter felt it was a bit too intense. I haven't yet washed and tumbled the quilt, but it is about 70" square at the minute. 10 blocks by 10 blocks.

 These were slightly different shades of grey that Judith used in her design, we wanted a lighter colour base. Judith also went with red, we went with purple to tie in with a purple toned artwork in my daughter's room. Her curtains have a zig zag in grey, so the quilt will be perfect without being too matchy matchy.

I have tomorrow to finish the loose ends or do the dicky up. Tomorrow morning anyway, tomorrow afternoon I get my hair done. When someone tells you it is great, the colour is well down your hair to be a natural grey, you know it is time to ring the hairdresser on speed dial. The plus is my hairdresser is near the shop where I am hoping to buy some skull candy fabric to back my I Am Forever Blowing Bubbles quilt.

So, all being well, the quilt will be a finish by Friday. All we need then is the weather to cooperate and I can get some decent photos. If it rains, well, that's ok. It can't rain everyday. There are a few graffiti type places in town that might be good for photos. "He" may be doing a bit of traipsing around holding up quilts!

Helen x
linking up with Lorna and Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Comments

  1. Oh yes, I know the feeling of the throbbing forefinger well! The black and white binding is so worth it though...it's really beautiful. Your straightline quilting looks great too, and I know that doesn't happen quickly. Great finish. :)

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  2. Hi Helen: Thanks for sharing that lovely image of your sister twirling in her purple skirt with the flounce and her chunky sweater , yellow socks and brown school shoes. The quilt is lovely as well and I'm glad it will fit in with the decor without being too matchy, matchy. Our speaker at guild last night kept talking about things not being too matchy matchy so perhaps this is a concept that will stick in my head.

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  3. This quilt is so pretty and I agree with your thoughts on the black spot versus purple. Wonderful read as well, especially reading what exactly your sister wore with the flouncy skirt is priceless!

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  4. What an accomplishment, Helen! 240 inches is a lot of hand binding to sit down and commit to. I hope you have a lovely hair appointment, mending in the loose ends goes well, and you have great weather for photographs. :)

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  5. This turned out beautiful! I love hand stitching bindings on, maybe not in one sitting! The gray hair...a badge of honor?

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  6. Ouch! 240'' of binding. I like the black spot binding.

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  7. Thats a lot of stitching...quilt looks great though!
    Its funny how your memory gets jogged by certain things.

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  8. It's a wonderful finish! I love that dotty binding, so classic. I bet it will wash and dry up beautifully and your daughter will cherish it for years and years to come. I'm looking forward to all the glamour shots around town, especially if you pose it with the graffiti. It's such a modern, edgy design that will look right at home in an industrial photo shoot :)

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  9. A beautiful quilt in stunning colours, especially that binding, definitely worth the pain ;)

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