Oh my goodness, my last blog post was October last year. Does anyone remember me? Will anyone read this? I can't believe it was so long. Firstly the busyness of Christmas and family all home. Then not feeling well in January, sort of exhausted, possibly related to the last sentence. And then, well, every weekend I said, I must blog. And every weekend I missed the self imposed deadline. This weekend I felt a strong urge to reach out. We all are becoming more insular all of a sudden and I felt a need to reconnect with the blogosphere. Is anybody out there? And so I have a quilt to blog about.
I have of course been sewing away. A squirrel moment was when I saw Sandra, mmmquilts, was calling for test quilters. How could I not? This is Sandra's quilt, reproduced with her permission.
I loved making Sandra's "grace heart quilt" and I loved testing it for her. Sandra is so precise and accomplished, and she had such an excellent tech editor too, so there was no real testing to do. I made the quilt and any imperfections are my own.
I wanted to make this without buying any more fabric. The holy grail of most of us who have drawers full of fabric. I pretty much succeeded, except I was a bit short of the purple for the shadow heart. I solved this by mixing in another purple, I think it gave it a scrappy look. The kona snow for the background was from the cupboard, but I fear a little kona not known as snow may have crept into the mix.
Sandra's prototype quilt had a vintage vibe, soft washed pinks. I decided to go with a rainbow of bright strong colours. I don't quite have all the rainbow, but I made a good stab at it.
The piecing of the quilt was a pleasure. One change I did make, which Sandra had allowed for in her options, was I didn't go for the broken heart. On the original the left column was half triangles of the background and shadow, giving a broken jagged effect. I decided I was full of love and the joys of spring, so went for the solid half heart. I actually did toy with making another in reverse, to complete the heart, but there are two many quilts to make.
My background is meterage I have had for zonks. A cream background with lilace drawn hearts. I also had meterage of a bright green with tiny red hearts, but the cream won the day.
And so began the bit I enjoy least. The quilting. To be honest, I do find the actual quilting a little of a trial. When it works, it works, I am rather hit and miss. I tried to FMQ the hearts with hearts,
with squiggles,
with lines.
Some of them worked better than others, I have all the large hearts finished, the smaller ones still have some left to do.
This is where the crux comes in.
The bit where I think, Oh Helen. When I started quilting the background, I found the fabric was gathering up and clumping around the big yellow heart. I think not only did I not baste the quilt tight enough, but I should have done the background first, leaving the detail in the hearts until last. When I take the final photos, I might just sit on the yellow heart!
I also have a query about the quilting threads. The hearts are mostly aurifil, which works like a dream for me in straight quilting and as good as I get in FMQ. The cream background is ok, I have just used a variety of Guttermann cotton threads. Although I am building up a collection of aurifil, none of my colours were suitable for the shadow heart. I did have a variegated lilac grey Guttermann thread, but I didn't think it was right. In London the other week, I bought 2 more variegated Guttermann threads. You guessed it, I bought exactly the same colour. I feel it is a little too strong in depth, but I have to use it now, I have bought it and it is very hard to get quilting thread locally.
That's why I have no full photos of the quilting in progress! It is at the stage where I hate the quilting. I know it will be alright when it is finished, and I will take photos then. I am sorry Sandra I missed finishing the entire quilt by your publication date (I did have it pieced). I am sorry Sister that your new birthday quilt will be after your birthday. They say good things come to those who wait.
so, thank you for reading, and keep well
Helen x
I have of course been sewing away. A squirrel moment was when I saw Sandra, mmmquilts, was calling for test quilters. How could I not? This is Sandra's quilt, reproduced with her permission.
I loved making Sandra's "grace heart quilt" and I loved testing it for her. Sandra is so precise and accomplished, and she had such an excellent tech editor too, so there was no real testing to do. I made the quilt and any imperfections are my own.
I wanted to make this without buying any more fabric. The holy grail of most of us who have drawers full of fabric. I pretty much succeeded, except I was a bit short of the purple for the shadow heart. I solved this by mixing in another purple, I think it gave it a scrappy look. The kona snow for the background was from the cupboard, but I fear a little kona not known as snow may have crept into the mix.
Sandra's prototype quilt had a vintage vibe, soft washed pinks. I decided to go with a rainbow of bright strong colours. I don't quite have all the rainbow, but I made a good stab at it.
The piecing of the quilt was a pleasure. One change I did make, which Sandra had allowed for in her options, was I didn't go for the broken heart. On the original the left column was half triangles of the background and shadow, giving a broken jagged effect. I decided I was full of love and the joys of spring, so went for the solid half heart. I actually did toy with making another in reverse, to complete the heart, but there are two many quilts to make.
My background is meterage I have had for zonks. A cream background with lilace drawn hearts. I also had meterage of a bright green with tiny red hearts, but the cream won the day.
And so began the bit I enjoy least. The quilting. To be honest, I do find the actual quilting a little of a trial. When it works, it works, I am rather hit and miss. I tried to FMQ the hearts with hearts,
with squiggles,
with lines.
Some of them worked better than others, I have all the large hearts finished, the smaller ones still have some left to do.
This is where the crux comes in.
The bit where I think, Oh Helen. When I started quilting the background, I found the fabric was gathering up and clumping around the big yellow heart. I think not only did I not baste the quilt tight enough, but I should have done the background first, leaving the detail in the hearts until last. When I take the final photos, I might just sit on the yellow heart!
I also have a query about the quilting threads. The hearts are mostly aurifil, which works like a dream for me in straight quilting and as good as I get in FMQ. The cream background is ok, I have just used a variety of Guttermann cotton threads. Although I am building up a collection of aurifil, none of my colours were suitable for the shadow heart. I did have a variegated lilac grey Guttermann thread, but I didn't think it was right. In London the other week, I bought 2 more variegated Guttermann threads. You guessed it, I bought exactly the same colour. I feel it is a little too strong in depth, but I have to use it now, I have bought it and it is very hard to get quilting thread locally.
That's why I have no full photos of the quilting in progress! It is at the stage where I hate the quilting. I know it will be alright when it is finished, and I will take photos then. I am sorry Sandra I missed finishing the entire quilt by your publication date (I did have it pieced). I am sorry Sister that your new birthday quilt will be after your birthday. They say good things come to those who wait.
so, thank you for reading, and keep well
Helen x
Well, with no quilting knowledge let alone expertise, I think it looks amazing! I suspect the experts will also deem it amazing.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! It looks great.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am reading and welcome back! I honestly think that a slightly darker or "off" thread color is hard to tell when things are all said and done. As far as quilting - I waiver back and forth about doing the background first or the detail first. Mostly I have the best success working from the cent out of quilt which can sometimes mean going back and forth. I love your rainbow version!
ReplyDeleteWelcome back! I find stitching in the ditch first helps stabilize the quilt before I fmq.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Cindy a million percent. It really does help stabilize everything. But it will all be ab-fab as you well know when it is all done and washed and snuggly crinkly. Secret? Almost every single quilt I have made over the last 25 years I have that ‘Oh Sandra’ moment you speak of where you doubt: myself my skills etc. However once you get your nose more than 6 inches away from the quilt and step back you see it is all just glorious in the end and it will be. Thank you again so much for taking the time to write your blog, but taking the time to test the pattern for me too and making such a beautiful happy quilt.
ReplyDeleteHi lovely lady, good to see you back.in blogland. Your quilt is fabulous, you have done a brilliant job. I too,always find quilting the hardest part but as Sandra says, once washed ..all those lovely wrinkles will become part of your quilt.hugs my friend..xx
ReplyDeleteJust want to see if I can comment
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is gorgeous and I can't wait to wave pompoms for it! When choosing thread, it is always better to go darker rather than lighter if you can't get an exact match, if that helps? I don't do fmq so admire anyone who does but will definitely 'third' the 'quilt in the ditch first' recommendation as it really does help pin things down, so to speak. Having said that, I think you've done a smashing job of the whole thing! Thanks for furtling and welcome back!
ReplyDelete