A president doesn't have to be brilliant.
He doesn't have to be clever. You can hire clever.
But you can't buy courage and decency, and you can't rent a strong moral sense.
A president must bring those things with him.
~Peggy Noonan
Quilting
My second String Tulips has more yellows in the border. {I learned that from the Electric Socket.}
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| String Tulips on Blue baby quilt |
That let me choose tulip petals that are lighter in value than the first. More yellows here, too. I can see more yellow will be useful in future quilts as well. It certainly adds light and excitement.
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| Detail of crossed tulips |
After all the difficulties quilting the previous String Tulips this one is quilted in the same manner. I'd like to get those ideas down pat.
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I really, really, really wanted to use this blue and white stripe for the background but it was a bit short in one direction. Even after cutting the extra from the height to add to the width, there wasn't quite enough to fill the space. So I just turned the final scrap ninety degrees. It adds to the charm. Right?
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| Detail of String Tulips border |
The back uses a blue stripe enlarged by an insert of green.
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| Back of String Tulips on Blue quilt |
As always quilting visibility improves on the back. Is it because we have fewer different fabrics? The zigzagging of the border quilting is easily seen here. I stitched diagonally across each block around the inner round of the border then moved to the outer round to complete the design. The zigzags roughly parallel the strings.
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| Detail of back of String Tulips on Blue quilt |
The border is the final remnant of a pillowcase made for a grandchild. Not even enough to capture the entire height of the swans but the color was a good value and I love the scale variation it adds.
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| Folded String Tulips on Blue quilt |
The binding caused me to pull out all my fabric {which is greatly reduced from the beginning of the year. Hooray.} This fun print was in the purples but the blue undertones {is it periwinkle?} and the sprinkling of dark blue ovals made it work very well here. I love finding unexpected solutions, don't you?
Quilt Specifics
Size: 47" x 47"
Design: String tulips and string block border
Batting: Mountain Mist Cream Rose cotton
Thread: Gutermann 50/3 light and dark blue cotton thread
Quilting: SID and FMQ
Approximate yardage: 6.5 yds
Previous posts:
1. Stringing along - the original plan
Reading
A friend recommended Reading with Patrick {The Atlantic's comprehensive review} to me and I'm glad I took her suggestion. The memoir by Michelle Kuo focuses on a two-year stint with Teach for America in Arkansas and her seven-month return to the Delta a few years later when she discovers one of her students has been arrested for murder. Michelle, who currently works for an Oakland CA non-profit, says her writing is an act of contrition. The New York Times published a conversation with her that illuminates her motives and hopes for the book.
Enjoy the day, Ann
33 comments:
It turned out stunning! Thanks for sharing all the pics and info. I have been wondering how to quilt my string quilt (it is not as impressive as yours). I think you gave me some ideas.
Your quilting on this one is amazing!! What a beautiful finish..I do love the pop of yellows..
It's great to find solutions to those quirky things that always seem to pop up...
Hugs, Julierose
Another fabulous quilt completed! I do love the change in direction of the blue and white striped fabric. It does add character! The quilting looks great and that binding adds just a unusual pop of color.
Your quote is spot on for these times.
Wow, that is a gorgeous quilt! Love it!!
Your Tulip Quilts are delightful. Well done for using all those scraps up! Lots of scraps turned magically into super quilts.
decisions are so much a part of the process aren't they? both large and small ones and look what you made! It's gorgeous with the blending of colors, like an impressionist painting using dabs of color and line
I agree that yellow adds brightness and a certain uplifting quality - a reassurance of sorts that no matter how dark/long the night is the morning will come. Your tulips are joyful be they dark or bright :-) The center looks like seersucker. Who/What is the Electric Socket?
I love the little piece of stripe turned the other way. I think you see the quilting better on the back because it is more like a plain color where the front is very printy and busy.
I didn't realize the tulip background was a stripe from earlier pictures I love it! Yellow used to be my least favorite color but when I realized how it enhances everything else, I'm never without it. This turned out great!
Nice finish! You're the boss of the tulips.
I love that you’ve included Ms. Noonan piece. It’s not just Covid fatigue that we’re experiencing.
I like the quote by Peggy Noonan. We definitely need morality, courage and decency right now. Thanks!
What a great baby quilt, Ithat is one lucky little tike! I really like the quilt pattern on the back too. It has great texture!
Oooolala! Elegant Tulips! Elegant quilting!
String quilts can be tough to determine how to quilt because very little shows up on them. Have fun with yours.
Don't we have fun determining our path. I'm finding yellow adds such life to quilts.
That quote was timely. I was uncertain whether the direction change of the stripe would work but decided I like it. This was more fun than the previous tulip quilt and it went together much more easily.
Thanks.
Scraps make the best quilts, don't they? I love the unexpected combinations we find.
How kind of you, LeeAnna. I think we both like making our own designs because we enjoy the decision making process. It's hard for me to realize not everyone does. This quilt turned out very well.
A perfect point about yellow, Preeti. You have such a way with words.
The center does look like seersucker but that's a result of the meander quilting.
Electric Socket is the name someone gave my first attempt at these angled strings. It was wild so the name fit.
That turned stripe has become one of my favorite little surprises on this quilt. Good point about the back. Even when it's not solid, the minimum number of fabrics allows the stitching to show. But I sometimes wonder if it's the slight variation of tension from front to back. You know, it's easier to unsew from the back than the front.
Thanks, Robin. I've never thought yellow looked good on me so rarely bought it even for quilting. There's not much left in my stash so I need to replace it soon.
Thanks, Janie, but Audrey is the Tulip Queen. I'm just glad I started making some of my own.
Isn't that the truth. So many things get me down these days and I have more trouble concentrating every day. We'll get through this, though.
Such old-fashioned values and still so important. I hope we never forget again.
Thanks, Claire. It's always fun when a scrap quilt comes together so well.
It was much easier to quilt this little one than some of my larger quilts. I usually choose something simple on a baby quilt but it was fun to try more designs here.
Yes! Love the yellow too! and that pic of the back of your quilt, delightful quilting. Our elections are over here in NZ, all good, but now more covid +ves... it's all ongoing... but we will get through it.
I’m sorry to hear Covid is rearing its head in NZ again but I’m sure you will all work together to snuff it out again.
Thanks for writing.
I have really enjoyed watching your string quilts grow! These tulips are the best yet, and I love that little corner stripey bit going its own way!
Many thanks for the Noonan quote - I feel like it should be my screen-saver these days.
The yellow definitely lights up the quilt, I love it in the tulip petals and beautifully quilted. I see Linda has mentioned Covid, luckily the positives are actually in the quarantine facilities apart from, I think, one confirmed within the community, hoping there are no close contacts!
Thanks for writing, Maureen. I join many Americans in admiration of your country's united response to the global pandemic. Hooray for people who acknowledge scientific developments and follow the advice they offer.
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