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Monday, October 14, 2013

Quilt show entries, First one- "Tweet Camping"

Thank goodness our local quilt show isn't a judged show, otherwise most of my entries would have been shown to the door.  And no, I am not kidding!   Our show has many ribbons that people can win and people with all kinds of areas, expertise and backgrounds are asked to pick their favorite.  Of course some picks are spectacularly done quilts, well deserving of their awards while some others are nice quilts, but not as great as some that are just as well deserving IMHO.    The show kept taking my breath away with the many and varietied quilts shown.   I also would be remiss not to  mention that a good friend, Michele won a well deserved ribbon for her New York Beauty Quilt entry (Talk about Gorgeous!!!) and my granddaughter won a ribbon for her first Doll Quilt. 
Well done Michele, McKenna and fellow members of CVQG of NY!
 
I did the bare minimum for quilting because I procrastinated way too long.  
When I registered them in June, I figured they  would be done for the show.   
I had 5, Yep,  I said 5 UFOS that I entered. 
I figured that by committing them to be there, I'd get them done.  ROTFLOL!!!!
 
But I swear
I will never,
EVER!
I mean NEVER EVER!!  do this to myself again!!!
 
So this post will share the parts about
 
"Tweet Camping"
 
This quilt came to be  because I found this Bird fabric at my LQS and fell in Love with it.   The pattern design was inspired by a connecting threads kit I saw in their catolog but the dimensions wouldn't work because it was a baby quilt and the much smaller blocks wouldn't play well with this fabric so  I played with lots of math to make my own.  With the pattern, I really like the fact that all of those rectangles were being stacked and packed so to speak (a much needed choir when it comes to camping) so it seemed a perfect fit especially with the wobbliness of those stacks tottering.  Shopping my stash first,  then shopping for  a few more batiks to throw in for good measure gives this quilt a bit of color and punch.  I find projects made from different fabric lines is very appealing.  Quickly,  I even envisioned having shipping peanuts (circular shaped packing protectors) quilted in the white background areas with much more quilting done for the boxes, sashings and borders. So off it went.
 
 
 
What I was able to get done was quilt a "linking squares" meander  in the outside blue borders 
with the "peanut packing" for the white areas. 
Running out of time, I had to leave the rest of the quilting for when I have more time after the show. 
Thankfully it hung well enough at the show not to be too huge of an embarrassment.   A vanilla cream, minkee dot was used for this back which makes it a very cuddly and drapable quilt.  
 

 
Close up shots of the quilting in the border, white spacings while I was auditioning bindings.  
Quilting was done with a Universal needle without any problems
using the minkee dot backing, as for the threads, many were used. 
 
In the borders a Superior Lava Thread called KuKui Nut (soft browns) was used for the top and bobbin.
In the white background a Superior's Kimono white silk(color 373) for the top and
 Superior's White Bottom Line in the bobbin.
I'm thinking of dong a back and forth motion in the sashings and perhaps cross haches in the stacked boxes but am unsure what to do in the bird focal fabric.  Any and all ideas or suggestions are welcome.  What would you do? 
 
 
 
 
I love having piping or flanges on many of my projects, but elected not to on this one and just finished it simply by using the striped fabric that went with this fabric line called  "Love Lives Here" by P. Carter Carpin by P&B textiles.    I love this bird print and it fit the bill nicely for the For the Birds hop I participated in earlier this year.  Another tidbit to share is how a different label was made for it.  I folded 2 blocks with some sashing from that row I took off the quilt since it was really too long before borders and turned them into a label.  If there is any damage in the years to come, that label can help with many of the fabrics contained within.  Also a strip of the selvage from that fabric line was used too as to document more of the information and who wouldn't like the motto "love lives here".
Here's how it looks:
 
 
 
To the left of those stacked blocks is the date, quilt name, place done and maker's name documented centered with more brown and blue fabrics.
 This is the largest label I've ever made, it's huge 14"x 12".
 

 Finally I'll share a shot of "Herman" the weeping cedar bush near the pool deck, showing Tweet Camping in the backyard where love lives here.

Tweet Camping
88" x 88"
 
I'll share more of the quilts that were entered by me bit by bit. Sorry this was photo heavy but I wanted documentation for  future reference.  First item on my agenda this week will be to quilt the sashings on this quilt and read the book The Saving Graces which our club meets on Wednesday to discuss.  I totally slid on my reading while focusing on getting ready for the show.  Enjoy your Holiday. 

Jane    8^)

1 comment:

Carol said...

Your quilt is coming along beautifully, Jane--what a fun fabric that birdy material is!! I know you'll finish it up soon and it will look even more lovely. Congratulations to your granddaughter--you've taught her well :)