Here's the back....

I am back to quilting, it's been a hectic time just lately and still is???

I'll soon be able to show you the front of this quilt......meanwhile this is a mirrored reflextion of the quilt while it was still on my frame.....

Did you Quilt?

So, did you manage to find time to do any piecing or quilting for 'International Quilting Day' over the weekend?
I just love the back of quilts, this view won't be seen when these quilted pieces are finished, this is the view from down under....

Now you'll have to wait a while to see the fronts!

How big is your machine?

That's a question that many Longarm Quilter's get asked....I think what's meant is 'what is the biggest quilt you can quilt on your longarm?'
Well, the frame on which my longarm machine glides has 12 ft rails so that means that one side of the quilt could comfortably be up to 130 inches (maybe slightly bigger), but the other measurement can be longer as the quilt is wound on the rails as you advance.....I don't know who would want a quilt bigger than 130" x 130".....but it could be done!


But today's more relevant question is 'how many quilts can you quilt on your longarm....lol...?

Answer for today is 'Eleven!'

Well...that's five on the first row....(the tops of two pillow shams, the tops of two cushions and a cushion back at this end).

And that's another six on the second row.....(two Christmas wallhangings, two Christmas table mats, a cushion top and another white cushion back at the far end). Of course if my piece of backing fabric had been a little bit bigger, I could have also quilted another cushion back to finish off .....maybe next time!

I'm having a bit of a tidy up using up some orphan blocks that you may recognise and finishing up some small projects, some of which belong to my GKids.  These small quilts are all loaded on the same cream backing fabric although I am using some smaller offcuts of batting that have been lying around waiting for just the right project.

It takes a while to load all of those little quilts but it would have taken alot longer if they were all on seperate backings.

Feather Fans!

I've really enjoyed quilting my bought in quilt tops, it's given me the opportunity to experiment on a variety of styles and designs of quilts but also the quality of the piecing has thrown up lots of shall I say 'educational opportunities'.....I've needed to work my way around a few problems and find out how to enhance the piecers work to the best of my abilities.

Before quilting

I have to say that this top didn't really have any issues.....I did re-arrange the borders a little but that's all....I used this top as one of my 'what if' quilts, 'What if I try this and what if I try that'.
I tried a few new to me techniques including Ronda Beyers "S" shaped rulers .....only I would choose to use the largest of her rulers for my first try, those things are huge and a little difficult to manage....imagine it, ruler in one had, longarm in the other?

This is all freemotion, handguided and ruler work!

 

Everyone knows I'm a 'fan of feathers'....so this is 'Feathered Fans'.

It finished at 88"x66", I used white Glide thread on top, Bottomline in the bobbin, Super Poly batting/wadding gave lots of definition. When I spied it I just couldn't resist this fabric for the backing....it's Rosalee from Ikea, the colours were perfect for this top!

I've noticed a few new followers are stopping by, I'd like to say welcome to you all!


Greenfairy Giveaway

The Greenfairy  at http://greenfairyquilts.blogspot.com/  is having an awesome giveaway....well, Clint is really busy while Judy is away learning lots of new quilty stuff....why don't you pop on over to 'The Green Fairy' and take part in the fun...you never know you may be a winner??

Liberty Hunter's Star......

This quilt is made from Tana Lawn cotton fabric by Liberty of London, this is a very fine soft cotton with a high thread count. The pattern is a scrappy Hunter's Star using samples of lots of different fabrics from this very famous range.

It's amazing the difference a border fabric can make, there was really only one choice but I wanted to see which fabrics jumped out against these colour options.

I would have liked a real red but the blue fabric is the Tana Lawn, so we now have a blue quilt, that's what happens, see how the border fabric dominates and makes this a blue quilt.

I chose a white on white backing fabric and used Superior Bottom Line in white for the needle and bobbin. This is a fine thread, the white has a translucent quality which seems to mix with all colours and doesn't shout out against any of them, so the thread blended into the top of the quilt really well, I also changed down from an 18 to a size 16 needle. This quilt finished at 95" x 95", I used Quilters Dream wool batting/wadding as I love wool, but also because wool has a lovely soft drape to it, I was looking to keep the soft quality of the Tana Lawn cotton fabric.

Now quilting wise, I had many options, lots of custom designs came to mind, but in the end I chose a pantograph, 'Wildflower' by Willow Leaf Studio, it's an open design which keeps that soft flowing feel, and although it's a wool quilt it's going to be perfect for summer or an extra quilt for the bottom of the bed in winter.

Best to be on the safe side.....

What do they put in those colour catchers??? Synthrapol???

The colours of this batik wide back are perfect for this pieced top....I washed it when I bought it last year but thought I had better wash it again...threw in a colour catcher, washed it again and again and again...The first time was probably without a colour catcher, the next three times with a colour catchers....Then once with a piece of cotton muslin that came out tinged with turquoise and once with a colour catcher and cotton muslin, the muslin came out white this time but still lots of colour on the catcher.....well, proves that the catchers work. I think this backing has been washed six times in all...there's a lot of white in my top....wonder if I should wash it again????

I think enough is enough???