Monday, November 20, 2017

Love Me Do

Don't hate me, but I just finished another quilt. Yep, a true, blue finish with binding and everything. All it needs is a label and I'm gifting this baby sometime over the holiday weekend. It's been at my longarm friend's since early this spring and I was just sorta inquiring about an ETA a couple weeks ago.
Love Me Do
 Agghh!! She totally panicked--lots going on, no time for quilting etc.--so I backed off immediately and told her 'no pressure'. And then figured I wouldn't get it until sometime next year. Imagine my shock when she called up last week and said, 'Hey, do you want this now so you can start working on the binding?' Yes!!

I started this quilt back in 2015, wanting to play with some bright fabrics and also, wondering if I had what it takes to make a lone star. Turns out the diamond piecing is a little more than I want to work with, but overall, it's been a very fun project. So challenging as it's out of my normal comfort zone and that makes for lots of twists and turns of course. But that's the way I most love to work.
Adding another finish to the 2017 list!
I handed this quilt top off to my friend for longarm quilting thinking it would be easier than doing hand quilting. It's just so busy, I figured the hand quilting wouldn't really show up well enough to make it worth the effort. About that. I'm starting to realize that my friend and I have a bit of a communication issue when it comes to what we each like and expect out of machine quilting!

I tend to want very loose, open style quilting and she loves very tight, compressed looking stitching. As you can see from the picture below, she did a little of both and so of course, the star poofs quite a bit in comparison to the tighter stitching. It's so funny because we always talk about what I want and then I turn to her and say, 'well, whatever you think will work best'. Maybe not the best way to handle things because I do want what I want and am sometimes surprised by the end result. Overall though, I trust her with my quilts and know she will do the best job she can. That means a lot.
Can you see the difference in quilting?
And as always, I took advantage of the opportunity to include some hand quilting. It was practically begging for more stitching in the very center blue/green area of the lone star and also the letters--they looked too simple without. So it was a great way to add more 'personal touches' to the quilt and make it a little more mine again. Honestly, I'm one that prefers to say the entire quilt was pieced and quilted by me! And it's tempting to go back and add more stitching through every diamond area as well, but I'm telling myself to just quit with the perfectionist tendencies. This really is a fun looking quilt, it should survive some 'unequal' quilting areas!
Love Me Do in the stairway
Overall, I'm fairly happy with this quilt and loving the happy, cheerful vibe. I'll be gifting it to one of my nephews and his lovely new wife over the coming weekend. This will be the second 'marriage quilt' in what will now probably turn out to be a years long project. Big families are funny about things like that.
Such a sweet quilt
Oh, almost forgot to mention. This lovely finish had a bit of red bleeding when I washed it up. Thankfully it wasn't horrible and another wash with some extra color catchers and some Biz took away the worst of it. I always prewash my fabrics so it annoys me to see the colors bleed. Guess I have to do a 12 hour soak with all my red fabrics to make 100% sure it never happens though and that's just not going to happen. Thankfully, this one wasn't ruined and the little bit of pale pink left in the quilt doesn't even show to those who don't know! Best get going--lots to do for the Thanksgiving holiday. The family think the food is the most important part....

20 comments:

  1. I love the colors of this quilt! And, yes, you have what it takes to make a Lone Star.

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  2. Lovely finish, Audrey! The colors and whimsical letters are uniquely you.

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  3. it looks great-is there always such a long wait for a quilt from a long armer? that seems a bit excessive of a wait to me

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  4. I have just caught up with all your posts from the last few weeks (life just keeps getting in the way) all your quilts look fantastic. Thanks for sharing your thoughts & progress of your quilts.

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  5. This quilt is wonderful. All the work that went into that Lone Star? Maybe that's why the quilter thought it should 'pop'. Funny how everyone has their own ideas, but the end result here is hard to argue with. Well done.

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  6. Um, food? - Thanksgiving? - I thought I'd paint the dining room on Wednesday! Guess I'd best at least think about the 3 pies and the cranberry salsa? What a fun, bright, cheerful quilt, and one I totally don't recall ever seeing before! Your added handquilting touches will make it even more special. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

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  7. Love it!!! I can see what you mean by the tight stitching from your quilter, I prefer less rather than more quilting on my quilts, but your added hand quilting in the star was a real good idea. The lucky recipient of this quilt will be over the moon!!

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  8. I think it's interesting to see words, a cool Beatles quote!, on a quilt from 2015, when you have only recently been musing about adding words. You were ahead of the idea.
    My quilter always tries very hard to follow my vision and I am very detailed on what I want, which seems to work, because I am always pleased with the results. My only quilt where I was not 100% pleased was my fault, where I asked for brown thread and it looks harsher than the dainty stars should have had. My mistake not hers.

    lizzy at gone to the beach

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  9. This is such a happy quilt with the bright colors, the flowers, and the star taking center stage. In my mind I imagine communicating how I want a quilt machine quilted with telling a hairdresser how to cut my hair: epic fail! But to be honest, I've never taken a quilt to be long-arm quilted so I don't really know. Just how I imagine it....

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  10. What a happy quilt! I love your added hand quilting texture. It really makes the quilt. I suppose bleeding isn't quite as bad with such busy fabrics, but I am with you in that it really burns me when that happens. Are they telling us they cannot make a colorfast red in the 21st century?? Happy Thanksgiving!

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  11. Happy, happy quilt! Love it right down to your choice of binding. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm so grateful for my blogging friends!

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  12. What a super sweet quilt! I've learned to communicate to my quilter (I have several) and then sometimes when there is a boo-boo or miscommunication my friendship with her means more than the quilt so I don't say anything.

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  13. It's lovely! I'm sure your nephew and his wife will love it :)

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  14. It turned out beautifully! I think your list of finishes this year is going to be very impressive!

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  15. What a lovely wedding gift. Expectations will be up in your family.
    I love the busy background fabric and the applique at top with words at bottom. Plus, I think I have your border fabric in another color way.
    Happy Thanksgiving.

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  16. You made another happy quilt and were able to add your special touch to finish it in a lovely way. I love the bright colors and the fabulous floral background. It gives it a free and charming style. Enjoy your holiday. Happy Thanksgivng.

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  17. Wonderful quilt!! I love the colors and your special touches. The baby's parents will be singing, "Love, love me do.." overtime they see that quilt.

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  18. Another finish! I think the quilting will look fine to everyone else - only you know what you had pictured originally - and this is such a bright happy quilt, perfect for newlyweds.

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  19. It took a while to finish it, but oh so worth it. This quilt is so pretty.
    Happy Quilting!
    Connie :)

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