"I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service.
I acted and behold, service was joy."
~ Rabindranath Tagore
Tethys Waves needs a back but this is much too short so I pulled out other quilt tops. According to my calculations it was just enough for the back of Square Deal but once pinned it came up an inch short. Grr. Fortunately there's loads of width left so I matched the design as best as I could, pinned and then glued it in place, then took the whole mess to the machine to sew the seam. Crazy but it worked {if you don't look at the birds closely because they are different angles.}
Large scale Tula Pink Free Fall fabric back |
SID the sashing and borders was my first task {Hey, I remembered!} then I stitched the edge of the quilt to keep it from pleating during the FMQ.
SID sashing, borders and sides of quilt |
The dreaded thread color decision was next. I could use red to match the large HSTs, light blue to blend with the Coins, or nylon monofilament to cover it all. The blue looked terrible on the HSTs while the red wasn't quite as bad on the Coins {probably because of their variety} so that was the choice. You might have to enlarge the photo to see the threads crossing it. Let that be a lesson to us all; sometimes we create a bigger deal out of things than is called for. {I do this almost every time I choose thread. Sigh.}
Red or light blue quilting thread? |
Because the back is light blue I tested that color in the bobbin. No threads are peaking through from the other side this time. Yea.
The quilting designs came from Angela Walters YouTube videos. While the wishbones are easier, I can't make the quilting travel easily so I'm going with the echoed lines although it involves more quilting and more time.
Three variations of a quilting design from Angela Walters |
OTOH ribbon candy might look nice on the sashing and straight lines here will add good contrast. That's my story for now. We'll see what emerges.
Merry Christmas to all!
Enjoy the day, Ann
16 comments:
Merry Christmas to you, too -- and happy stitching!!
haha the dreaded color decisions. It's so true.
Ah! I looked up the fabric and see that the birds are part of the print. Yes, grapefruit-sized dots would not make a very flattering garment. (Maybe this model could manage it: https://thevintagetraveler.wordpress.com/2019/12/04/update-on-key-west-hand-print-fabrics/)
But I would look at the too-short piece as an opportunity for a pieced back, which I've done since before they were popular......Meanwhile, Merry Happy to you and your family!
Merry Christmas to you Ann.
I enjoy your decision making adventure, it is an adventure isn't it?
Great quote, wow.
I can't wear dot fabric. No matter the size of the dot, they always wound up at exactly the right place to make me uncomfortable. The smaller dots probably are not as noticeable but since I am on the lookout for them, I always see them. I am glad you were able to find the right quilt for that backing, even though it required some piecing.
Oh my goodness what an issue with that polka dot fabric. It sounds like you handled it along with the thread color and kept moving forward. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas!
Thanks, Julie. Enjoy the season.
It's amazing how much I worry about this minor decision.
I pieced the back. It just bugs me that half a yard more would have made it enough for either of the tops without any fuss. Oh, well. It's not my first mistake. Enjoy the season, Nann.
Thanks, Janie. It's good to share all the steps - even those that are tougher for us. Quilting is a great adventure. I'm glad you noticed the quote; it makes a strong point if we'd just try to live in that manner.
You know, I don't wear polka dots often although I don't look out for them. And I'm glad this could be made into a back. It annoys me to have purchased the wrong size. Sigh.
Who'd have thought they would change the scale like that? I'll know better next time. Funny how you can like a fabric at one scale but not another. Rather like the speed of a song. Wasn't that the point of that Tom Hanks movie, That Thing You Do?
I hope you have a happy holiday season, Patty.
Looking forward to seeing which way you go with the quilting design!
Even when I measure, sometimes my backing comes up short. Good job on fixing the problem! Love this large polka dot fabric and like you, will choose not to buy rather than buy enormously too much or be short an irritating amount. Having the choice to hunt it down on the Internet later just makes our life more interesting though!
Thanks, Maureen. I am, too.
I'm annoyed that I bought this fabric only to make it a pieced back. Still,it's good to move it along
Post a Comment