It’s Done!!!

                                                       I used white Signature machine quilting thread on the top (which made it hard to see where I had been and where I was going, and try not to cross lines with my meandering), and white Fil-Tec Magna-Glide Bobbins on the back. The magnetic bobbins have become my #1 best friend in machine quilting. I rarely have had any thread problems since I started using them, and the thread is very thin, so I get a lot of quilting out of one bobbin. I used maybe 1 bobbin and a half of a second one to do Louie’s quilt. Click on the photos to enlarge them.                                                             I used a light green sheet I bought from Goodwill for the backing.                                                   There are two fabrics in the quilt that are so light, that you really can’t see them when I take photos. They make the quilt appear like the blocks have sashing, but they don’t.  That was NOT my intent, and I’m not crazy about it, but there’s nothing I can do about it now!                                                       Those two fabrics are the two underneath the black and black and blue blocks in the following picture.                                   In case anyone is interested in how compact my quilting frame is when it is all disassembled, this is it. The wooden pieces hang on bicycle hooks on the wall of the garage, and the poles also hang on bicycle hooks on the wall, so they take up virtually NO space whatsoever. It only takes about 30 minutes to set up the frame, and that includes the carriage, setting the machine on the frame, and plugging in the cruise control, and light I use. It only takes about 5 minutes to take it apart once the machine and everything is off of it. What takes the most time, is getting everything out, and putting it all away, and cleaning up the mess!                                    Here is the binding, cut, sewn together and before I ironed it in half lengthwise. I used this pool ball fabric that Mrs. D bought for Louie a few years ago. It added some nice color to the outside, and brought  the pool ball fabric out in the quilt.                                                               I finally got smart after Louie recessed my Janome in a table, and set one table behind, and one along side my sewing table.  It sure helps with muscle strain from the quilt falling and me ‘pulling it back in’ and wrestling with it to get the binding sewn on.                                   I’ve never used a seam guide before, and today, it’s my new second best friend. It worked wonderfully to sew the binding to the back, and then sew it down on the front. I know, I know, hand sewing down the binding is much nicer, but this was a big quilt, I wanted to get it done, and my wrists hurt when I try to hand sew something this big. My fingers also go to sleep.                                                      Here it is, in all it’s glory! It ended up being roughly 68” x 85”. A weird size, I know, but I really didn’t use a pattern, and I just grabbed fabric until I was happy, so by tripling my coin stacks, that determined the length, and I went from there.                                                      It always feels so good to finish a project. It seems I don’t get much quilting done anymore, but when I get on a roll, get out of my way!

 

Thanks for stopping by, and have a great week!

Be blessed,                                                   Michelle