We talk about the Circles Of Life, well, these circles or bubbles have been taking up too much of my life. I have nearly a finish for now. That's a bit of an oxymoron. I have a finish, bar the sewing in of the ends. And yes, those 3 bottom circles still to hand quilt. I still have these circles in my life for a while yet.
I had plans on how to quilt the quilt. I had the plan I would quilt straight lines leading from the points of the circles. Straight lines at varying angles stretching across to the edges. I knew how it would look in my head.
In my head.
In practice there was too many big areas without quilting, particularly around the centre. I extended these straight lines across the black circles and inwards to the centre.
Some looked ok,
and some looked ..........
Not the way it looked in my head.
In reality, some of the lines aren't straight. My straight eye isn't as straight as I thought.
The white thread over the black circles is .... well ..... horrible.
I decided to quit when I was ahead. I have already spent several afternoons quilting. I bound the edges, machine stitched down the rear of the binding, which I never do.
I left the quilt for several days, well, a whole week.
This morning I took the quilt out, laid it on the floor and took some photographs. It doesn't look as bad as I thought, but still not as it was in my head.
In my head.
I made a cup of tea and read through my favourite blogs, as there I saw the blog post by Cheryl, of Meadow Mist Designs. Cheryl has completed Pop Rocks, a steam punk, broken circle type of quilt and her quilting is as it was in my head! Can Cheryl see in my head? Unfortunately no, or she could have kept me right. Cheryl is a very accomplished quilter, I have always loved her work. Seeing Cheryl's quilt confirmed what I had already decided.
I am sewing the loose ends in this quilt and calling it a finish. Next year, I will steadily unpick all the wobbly seams, all the white on black. I will mark out my quilting lines properly. Neither eyeball it nor try to balance my ruler along the machine foot. I shall lay it out and mark it out.
WITH A PLAN
That's the plan. The plan is I have a plan. And a very good plan it is . I have been in love with this quilt. I have fallen out of love with this quilt. Now I am feeling the love again.
Helen x who is feeling the love
linking up with Beth, at Cooking Up Quilts
I had plans on how to quilt the quilt. I had the plan I would quilt straight lines leading from the points of the circles. Straight lines at varying angles stretching across to the edges. I knew how it would look in my head.
In my head.
In practice there was too many big areas without quilting, particularly around the centre. I extended these straight lines across the black circles and inwards to the centre.
Some looked ok,
and some looked ..........
Not the way it looked in my head.
In reality, some of the lines aren't straight. My straight eye isn't as straight as I thought.
The white thread over the black circles is .... well ..... horrible.
I decided to quit when I was ahead. I have already spent several afternoons quilting. I bound the edges, machine stitched down the rear of the binding, which I never do.
I left the quilt for several days, well, a whole week.
This morning I took the quilt out, laid it on the floor and took some photographs. It doesn't look as bad as I thought, but still not as it was in my head.
In my head.
I made a cup of tea and read through my favourite blogs, as there I saw the blog post by Cheryl, of Meadow Mist Designs. Cheryl has completed Pop Rocks, a steam punk, broken circle type of quilt and her quilting is as it was in my head! Can Cheryl see in my head? Unfortunately no, or she could have kept me right. Cheryl is a very accomplished quilter, I have always loved her work. Seeing Cheryl's quilt confirmed what I had already decided.
I am sewing the loose ends in this quilt and calling it a finish. Next year, I will steadily unpick all the wobbly seams, all the white on black. I will mark out my quilting lines properly. Neither eyeball it nor try to balance my ruler along the machine foot. I shall lay it out and mark it out.
WITH A PLAN
That's the plan. The plan is I have a plan. And a very good plan it is . I have been in love with this quilt. I have fallen out of love with this quilt. Now I am feeling the love again.
Helen x who is feeling the love
linking up with Beth, at Cooking Up Quilts
are you really going to undo it? I'm no quilter but it looks good to me!
ReplyDeleteI love it when I have a plan! And I love that you have one too. :) You know we are our own worst critic, right? I'm so happy you are back in love with your quilt. I adore all those circles! It's a lovely quilt Helen.
ReplyDeleteI think that taking some time to really think about it instead of just continuing on was a wise choice. How neat that the timing worked out for Cheryl's latest finish to speak to you.
ReplyDeleteI love your circles and am glad to hear you are in love with them again. A plan is always a good thing!
ReplyDeleteSometimes you just have to walk away for a bit, but it sounds like you now have a plan. And might I add a great plan. I hate marking, but sometimes it's just a necessary evil. And on a completely different note, I tend to leave your blog with little songs stuck in my head. Today's ear worm is Zombie by the Cranberries :) "In your head. In your head..." only circles instead of zombies.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I like the look of your lines. A bit of wobble doesn't bother me at all. But it has to make YOU happy, so if you must pick a bit, then pick away. Done it a few times myself and while it's tedious, it can be liberating if it leads to what you really want.
ReplyDeleteEveryone has heard the expression, "That will quilt out." Meaning, if your blocks are a bit less than flat, the quilting will squish them down. Around here, you'll heard me muttering, "That will crinkle out." Meaning, lots of wibbles and wobbles completely disappear after washing and drying...
Sorry it didn't turn out the way you had envisioned. Maybe if you let it sit for a bit, you might learn to like the quilting.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely quilt...we all live and learn eh.... perhaps when you have pondered on it a bit longer, you may get more used to it. Have you thought about leaving it as it is and maybe you could mix it up with some hand quilting round the circles in matching colours?
ReplyDeleteBut you must do what you like as you have to be happy with it😘
Hugs xx
I really think that the quilting looks good, but you need to feel pleased and satisfied with it. I did mark the main line of each section of Pop Rocks and then echoed it. If you look closely I have some wiggles and some uneven spacing issues.
ReplyDeleteIt already looks great but I know that when you do it like it is in your head you will be happy and it will be fantastic.
ReplyDelete