First Finish for 2014
There is just nothing better than the feeling of finishing a big project.
My first finish for 2014! (Okay, it still needs a little hand-stitching, but close enough to count.)
This quilt started out to be given to a county home for teen-age boy runaways. I wanted it to be modern and masculine, and it started out as a disappearing nine-patch with all shirting fabrics.
In my last post I was contemplating what fabric to use for borders – I had plenty of a tone-on-tone smoky blue that I had not used anywhere else in the quilt, and I thought it might call too much attention to itself.
I had some gorgeous brown and gold material that I was saving to make something for myself – it reminded me of men’s ties, so I thought it would go with all that shirting fabric. It was what the quilt needed, so I cut it up and used it for borders. I hope I can find it again.
Then after searching some more, I found one yard of the smoky blue/gray fabric that was already in the quilt, so I cut that up for the binding.
I had just enough of this smoky blue fabric to use for the binding.
I have done one other single-size quilt with free motion quilting, but on that one I used the walking foot, and I did two crib-sized pieces and then put them together. This is the first time I have quilted a single-size quilt all in one piece, and the first time I used a free motion foot.
I tried a Super Slider too, to see if it would help me move the quilt around more smoothly. The results were so-so for me. I felt like the quilt would hang up just a little on the edges of the Super Slider, and I didn’t like having to untape it to put a new bobbin in.
About halfway through, I bought some Gorilla Grip gloves in the gardening section (only $5), and they worked like magic! They are very lightweight and flexible – I can even thread the needle with them on. I don’t want to say they adhere to the quilt because that sounds like they would make the quilt itself sticky – it was more like they helped me levitate the quilt. I felt like I was pushing the quilt around on a surface of ice instead of metal, and I had even removed the Super Slider. This was the first time I felt like I could just “think at” the quilt and it would go where I wanted it to. It’s nice to feel like I have found the combination of quilting variables that works for me.
When I took the quilt up to the barn to photograph, I noticed the beautiful shadow of the oak tree – inspiration for a new quilt!
I think too much color has slipped in to make this acceptable to any teen-age boy, so I don’t think I will be giving it to the county. I’m not sure what I’ll do with it, but I am so happy it’s done!
It shows beauty, patience, and everything else. Thanks for sharing. Blessings Always, Mtetar
Thank you, Mtetar!
oh I think it’s perfect for any young man, not “too colorful.” Very handsome, and good job and working through the FMQ problems. Thanks for the tip to use the gorilla gloves. Seems like many of our best solutions are found in office supplies, hardware, gardening, and kitchen stuff! We find them there, someone repackages them for quilters, and then sells them for twice as much!
Good job. Thanks for sharing.
Back in November, I went to International Quilt Festival, and couldn’t find any gloves, and I also haven’t been able to find any at the usual fabric/craft stores, so I am glad these worked out too! I think I will buy several pair while they are in the stores for spring gardening.
And thank you for the nice comments!
I think the quilt is beautiful. You always do such nice work. My first thought when I saw it (and before I read your post) was that it had a masculine feel to it – a “should be in a cabin” vibe. I hope you find just the right place for it.
Thank you! I really need a giant mansion, just so I can decorate the rooms in different styles and put different quilts out in each room. 🙂
Ah the joy of finishing! But I have to laugh, just as you photograph a finished quilt, you see the inspiration for the next one!
And I have so many more on my mental list of the “Next Ones”! But I do think the tree one will move ahead of some of my other plans. 🙂
The quilt is beautiful! It reminds me of the ones my grandmother used to make. The picture you took of it between the barns is perfect for a calendar. You look at it and your breathing becomes more regular and your mind wanders into lovely thoughts of the peaceful countryside.
It does remind me of hers now that you mention it, because she made so many out of menswear fabrics. Maybe I was inspired by her style without knowing it!
Next time you quilt, buy a can of Diamond Silicone Spray and spray across the bed of the machine. This will make your fabric slide easier when you do your FMQ. You can also tape your supreme slider down and then spray this same spray on it too and it will also improve the slide on top of the supreme slider (hope that makes sense). This spray can usually be found at Hancock. I like your quilt and I think that any young man would be pleased to have it.
Thank you, that is a tip I have not heard before. I will try it!
I am hesitant to give this quilt to a guy, because the ones I know like things that are so plain. I think I will try again, and really stick to a traditional look this time. Just neutral colors. I mean it! I can stick to those! 🙂
It looks fantastic. I’m sure it will be appreciated.
Thank you!
Well done. I don’t have a 2014 finish yet.
Well, I did the bulk of the work in 2013 – but I am counting it as a finish for this year! Hope that’s legal! 🙂
The corrugated building is the perfect setting for this quilt. Love it! I really like the comment that it is fit for a calendar.
Everything looks good with an old barn! 🙂 I was just following the Spring Clean Your Blog hints from WordPress and saw that I had not categorized or tagged that post – I hate to fix mistakes like that and hit “update” because then it sends it out like a new post. But I couldn’t leave it uncategorized either!
I knew it was an older post. I am just woefully behind in following my friends. I hadn’t visited you in awhile and when you commented on my post from yesterday I thought it was the perfect time to see what you have been up to. 🙂
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That disappearing 9 patch has so many colour ‘lives’! A woman in our group has made so many with scraps and each one SO different 🙂 Nice tip re Gorilla gloves, will pass that one on.
This quilt is great, YES, giant mansion 🙂
I have another one started (from a few years ago) that is totally different, rainbow colors with black. But I ran out of black. Melanie McNeill suggested using gray instead and I have some beautiful gray, so I am hoping to finish that one this year too. I do love all the possibilities of that pattern.
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