Tuesday, May 24, 2011

QFOLS

Hurrah, I can finally post the triumphant Quilt Flapping On Line Shot!
The weather has been cruddy (which does not excuse that grass). Sorry, pics are not very bright'n'cheery.
And the back view! At one stage I was liking the back more than the front.
I washed it, for that crinkled effect (er, very) and to remove dust and marks after it had been dragged around for so long being hand-quilted. You can see the shape in the middle where I hung it over the drying rack by the fire. Attractive, non?

What have I learned from making my very first quilt?

1. It's addictive. Yes, I was warned. I can't see squillions of the things in my future but I did happen to fall hard for this fabric line and have some on its way, to make a quilt for my frog-loving ten year old.

2. I might be officially 'over' this hand quilting thing. I'll wait for the callouses on my fingers to go away and then we'll see.

3. Hand quilting is especially difficult where a couple of linen blend or home dec weight fabrics are joined together, and even more so if the same thing is happening on the back side too.

4. Contrariwise, voile is delicious to hand-quilt and I could sometimes get three entire stitches on the needle in one go. This is exciting, folks.

5. I should not read hand-quilting tutorials that suggest we're aiming for around six stitches per inch. In fairyland, perhaps.

Anyway, the froggy quilt can wait a while. I might even get Charlie involved in the making of it. What I am itching to do now is make some clothes. On the machine. For ME. It's been a while.

- Jane x

9 comments:

  1. I regularly love the backs of my quilts more than the front! I think I spend so much time staring at/analysing/quilting the front (and then seeing it on beds, of course!), that it kind of loses some magic, whereas the back is still a bit of a surprise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Ahhh!! I love it! Looks lovely!

    Six stitches an inch? HA.

    Give yourself some time. It's more like having a baby than a bag of potato chips, for me. I need some time for amnesia to set in. And then I start thinking crazy thoughts like, "But I like the LOOK of hand quilting so much better ..."

    I could've warned you about the home dec fabrics. There's a reason most quilters quilt with uh, quilting cotton. This holds even more true when you are hand-quilting. Also, as I always remember too late, the direction you press those dang seam allowances on the other side REALLY matters! Sigh.

    Anyway, very nicely done, my (internet) friend. Well done.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I still can't believe that you handquilted that whole thing! That is amazing!
    Jane, it looks so great! I love all the wonky blocks! So beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, thank you my bloggy friends!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! I can't believe that is your first quilt! Amazing!!! I feel you on the desire to make clothes for yourself, after making a bunch of things for my little one I'm itching to do some selfish sewing!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It looks terrific. I haven't embarked on quilting myself - don't have the patience but admire those that do. And hand quilting...my,my....lovely

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great triumphant Quilt, very good color variations and also fabrics. just awesome.
    Fabrics USA Inc | African Wax Print Fabric

    ReplyDelete
  8. awesome bed sheet. looks great. We have a great collection of African fabrics. Good quality at lowest price. For whole sell price Visit us hope you guys love them.
    Sequin Fabrics

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete

Hey, I would really love to know what you think. Go on!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...