As you can see I went for some basic straight line quilting on the diagonal. This was a tough quilt to decide on quilting - I went the minimalist approach. Glad I did because it turns out I don't actually enjoy the quilting process. I love piecing and coming up with ideas, but basting and quilting... not so much. I don't think I'm very good at it either. Is it meant to be all wavy like that in the lines? It really didn't look that wavy while I was working on it.
Anyways it is finished and that batting is not going anywhere! So I'll call the quilting mildly successful - as in its doing its job but it's not fantastically pretty. It was also a lot to shove through the machine. Final measurements are 150cm square. Not even sure how much that is in inches/feet. Lots for a throw for the lounge (which this is) but not enough for a single bed. There, that's precise now isn't it. Good thing I'm not a carpenter or engineer.
This quilt is ever changing in its greenness. It looks different in every photo. Bit of a chameleon quilt I think! The colours are more a foresty green in real life.
And for reference, here's some forest.
Okay not really forest. It's true Aussie bush. That's my backyard. Nope, not kidding. This is what it looks like at the end of my (unfenced) yard. Needless to say my wild monkey children would love to take a long walk off into the middle of that. Furtherly needlessly (yes I love making up words, why do you ask?) my children do not go out there unsupervised. Ever. Ever. Ever. Does that sound like I don't trust them? You're right, I don't.
End tangent.Back to quilting.
This quilt felt like it took awhile, sorting out a pieced back, and the binding etc. That's possibly because a lot of the time, my sewing machine looked like this:
It was cute for the first five minutes - hence taking a photo for posterity. After that, well let's just say there was a lot of "Would you please just let Mummy do it? It's Mummy's turn. It's not fair! It's my machine! It's my turn! I don't play with your toys so stop playing with mine!". You get the picture right?
So I was quite pleased to get the backing done without sewing it upside down, inside out or sewing Lulu's and my hands together.
I think I am finally getting the hang of this machine sewn binding thing. And I like it! I took a photo to show you how both the front and back of the binding look in case you're interested.
The top is the front of the quilt, the bottom is the back. You can see there's an extra row of stitching around the edge of the quilt but it's not very noticeable. I really love this machine sewn binding look. I learnt how to do it from this tutorial at Crazy Mom Quilts and it revolutionised my quilting life.
So there you have it. A Friday Finish. And I am feeling a little less frazzled as I can now tick off one big WiP as finished. Yay!
Linking up with TGIFF over at Quilt Monster in my Closet to celebrate!
Well done on a great finish. I must check out that machine binding, I could with revolutionising (see you are not the only one who can make up words!!) my quilting life :)
ReplyDeleteOh I'm like you - not such a fan of the basting/quilting part. You've done a great job though, especially as there are no little hands stitched to your quilt!
ReplyDeleteGreat finish! I don;t know many people who like basting! Ugh! And the wavy lines you refer to in the first and second photos are perfectly acceptable! They will disappear after some use and even a wash and tumble dry! Enjoy your new quilt!
ReplyDeleteBy golly this Mystery Quilt is now such a stunner! From strips to a finish in 6 days - legendary effort. And I love that pic with little hands helping.
ReplyDeleteI love the greens. Great finish.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful finish! I absolutely love all the variety that block creates on the quilt top! Basting and quilting isn't my favorite part either. I was worried about the waviness between my quilting lines also, but one of the quilting forums says that is just the stretching from quilting on the bias. The quilts in the Boo Davis all have the same effect. It is completely unnoticeable when you wash it!
ReplyDelete152cm = 5 foot nothing - my height! It's a lovely quilt, the greens work togther so well. Congrats on the big finish.
ReplyDeleteYay for a beautiful finish, Kristy! Love those greens! While I love my backyard, I'm totally jealous of yours. Gorgeous! The waviness is pretty common and normal. There are a couple things you can do to minimize it -- make sure you aren't pulling or pushing the quilt quicker than your walking foot is moving the quilt and check the pressure of your walking foot. I find if you loosen it a little, that helps feed the quilt through with less pulling. Thanks for linking up to TGIFF!
ReplyDeleteWow you got that finished really quickly! Even with all the talking you seemed to be doing during the class! =D
ReplyDeleteYour quilt looks fab - I love the pattern :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a BEAUTY!!! Thanks for linking up with TGIFF! I love it!!!
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely quilt! (BTW, I came in from TGIFF).
ReplyDeleteI don't think I would let my children out there either; with all the rain we've been having on the east coast, snakes and spiders are very narky!
You were so fast! Good job!
ReplyDelete