 Elizabeth & her sister, Nancy, are planning to come to the cabin in July to experience longarming first hand using this quilt. Alas, that did not work out. And all my original quilt top photos are upside down. May 09: Quilt arrived. This is the best day of the year--my birthday! Jun 01: Elizabeth wants Willowy Weeds again just like before. Jun 24: Just received a check from Elizabeth with a note that she would call from the road. When I emailed that I need as much notice as possible, I learned she will be here tomorrow. Hmmm. Jun 25: It just did not work out for Elizabeth to come as planned since mid February. I will finish her quilt as usual as soon as I can. Jul 07: Did the layout. Jul 08: Elizabeth selected Bottom Line #608 Periwinkle for thread. Jul 13: Preparing for loading. After squaring the backing, I realized I had no idea which way was up on the top. Of course I have it upside down in my pictures. THAT, my friends, is why I do not choose patterns or thread colors. The final choice/answer is most often not what I would have guessed. Loaded ready to baste and & quilt. Jul 14: Quilted. Will try for front and back bed photos tomorrow if the sun/rain cooperates. Jul 15: Final pictures are poor with the overcast conditions.
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 We call this Elizabeth's art quilt. It will be before we are finished. She had plans way back when to do something different so when I asked if this was her art quilt, she said yes. Hmmm. Apr 06: Quilt parts arrived - 98% plain white top & small red on white floral-ish backing. Apr 07: We talked about using one of the modern mazes...just not sure how yet. Apr 30: Hoping I might get this one done before starting on the custom DWR project. We'll see. May 01: Nope but we now have a plan. And a new name: the Red Weeds Quilt. May 02: Even though we had a plan, I kept sending Elizabeth options. She stuck to her plan. LOL. I am however going to use off-white thread on the back. The red did not look good. If a bit of red from the front shows through, it won't matter with this fabric. She prefers a loose density. May 03: Quilting. I am being plagued with thread breaks so I am getting nowhere fast. I spent over 4 hours trying to get our thread choice to sew without breaking. I finally gave up and substituted a Bottom Line Red for the King Tut Rony Red--both the same color. Sorry Elizabeth. Quilted.  Elizabeth has made two French Rose quilts, one for each granddaughter. This applique style leaves the 1/4" edges raw so they will fray. The challenge for computerized longarming is how to prevent the rapidly moving hopper foot from getting caught on those loose edges. Elizabeth found some sticky paper that dissolves in water. Each flower will have to be covered with paper to hold down the edges, stitched over and then the paper removed. I have tested it and it should be fine but removal is a bit of work. Instructions say it is best to trim as much as possible & then wash off the rest. I am definitely leaving the paper removal to Elizabeth who pulled a fast one on me. All along we explored how to do one of these quilts. At the last minute, I found out we were really dealing with twins. Yikes!! Hmmm. So beautiful & vibrant in person. Mack's Quilt - Pink - Finished 09/05/2012 Jun 26: Received pictures from Elizabeth. Aug 08: The quilts arrived today & I have re-dated the post. Sept 03: Working with Elizabeth on an IQ pattern. We have a plan, a modified version of Bramble border where I removed the leaves & left just the flower. I will quilt it as large as possible with whole rows (6) and up to 3" between the petals. I will be using Dream Orient batting which is a blend of silk & bamboo. Sept 04: Time to prepare & load the backing. Next I will press the top and apply the cover over the flowers. Once the top is loaded on the longarm, it will take very little time to do the actual quilting. Nice way to spend a very rainy day in the Blue Ridge. Okay, backing is loaded, batting is loaded, quilt top is pressed and Sulky is applied. I'm too tired to load the top and quilt. Maybe later. After a nap, I loaded the top and started quilting. The first picture don't show the pattern well but perhaps the next row will. Purple Sept 25: Elizabeth has been thinking for some time that a custom touch on this one would be nice. Something in the blocks and something different for the sashing and borders. Hmmmm. I get to play until we come up with a plan Elizabeth likes. Email, phone calls, now go to work. Sept 26: I programmed the layout in IQ and added a few poor ideas so Elizabeth can see her options. Sept 29: Finalized the plans. Oct 01: Backing is ready to load. Top is ironed and ready for me to apply Sticky Fabri-Solvy by Sulky. I am short one 8.5x11 sheet but can use what I trim from the other 19 sheets. Tweaked the IQ design a bit too. Oct 02: Rainy day. Great day to finish getting the top ready and the quilt loaded. The quilt is loaded & basted. Now I am reading and studying how to accomplish this plan. I think I know how but since I have never done what I am about to try, I am reading everything I can find. Oct 03: Quilting. Finished all but the side borders. I will unload and reload turned sideways to do them. Oct 04: I have reloaded the quilt sideways to do the side borders. And finished. |
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