Tag: hand quilting

A Quilt for Malcolm

Marie HaighLeave a comment

This is the quilt I had hoped to finish before Malcolm was born in September 2014. Then, I was certain it would be finished in time to be wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree. 2 months later, I finally quilted the last stitch.

Thankfully, Malcom neither understands nor cares that the quilt was 5 months late. He is mighty impressed about his toes though.

This quilt was made not just by me. Two other talented women helped.

The quilt was started by my neighbor’s mother, Janet Hunter. It was the last quilt she has cross-stitched. She passed away before she could finish it. My neighbor was unable to throw it out. Knowing how much I loved to sew, she gave it to me.

It took me some time before I decided how I wanted to complete it. After a few minutes of trying to cross-stitch, I knew I wouldn’t be doing that! Yet, I wanted to keep the original design of a moon. One day when I was digging through unfinished projects, I spotted the quilt next to a torn shirt of Dan’s. It looked like the perfect moon.

After appliqueing the moon and hat, I added another layer of batting and a back fabric.

Then, my favorite part began: hand quilting. It took me several months to quilt all the layers together.

I couldn’t be happier with the final result.

To always remember how and why I made the quilt, I had Judi of JDK Wallets make a quilt label by hand. She outdid herself by adding the cute touches of the moon, boy and stars.

Though I already picked out the fabric for my next quilt, I am going to take a small knitting design break. After I submit my latest design to a magazine, I will pull the ironing board off the wall and set to work.

The Quilt is Finished!

Marie HaighLeave a comment

I finished it one day before we left for Jodi’s and Matt’s wedding in San Francisco.

There were moments I wasn’t sure I would finish it at all.

The marathon quilting that occurred during the last week took a toll on my fingers. Not even the quilter’s callous could save them. They throbbed and even bled. A little bit of blood dripped onto the quilt in my haste. One finger has still not healed a week later. Yet, it was worth it.

It is not your typical wedding quilt, but a traditional wedding quilt didn’t seem right for Jodi and Matt. So, I went a bit retro on the front.

and a bit modern on the back.

a close up of all the quilting

Pictures were shot in my neighbor’s backyard on Friday before I stuffed it in our luggage. Thankfully, the airline did not lose our luggage.

Even though gifts are rarely opened at weddings, I insisted that the newlywed couple open the quilt. I was dying to see their reaction. Happily, they both loved it.

One Circle Quilted

Marie HaighLeave a comment

All 24 sections of the Dresden plate as well as the flowers surrounding the fisherman have been quilted.

Rather than transfer a quilting design and following it, I used the fabric as my guide. Any motif that looked simple enough to follow was outlined in black quilting stitches.

The Dresden plate

Close up of fisherman

In order to accomplish all this quilting, I drug this quilt all over Pottstown. It has been worked on at McDonalds, my neighbor’s house, MOMS club activities and local playgrounds. Basically, any spare moment has been spent quilting.

3 more circles to go. Expect to see the quilt if you see me.

Hand Quilting while Elly Slept

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Every night after Elly went to sleep and every morning before she woke up, I snuck in a little quilting.

(Elly cuddling with her younger cousin). 

The 14″ hoop I bought from Amazon was just perfect for snapping around a section of the quilt and popping it onto my lap.

The stitches are not tiny and perfect.

It was difficult getting the needle to sail through the typical 3 layers of a quilt plus the extra layer of the Dresden plate applique. I could only load 3 stitches at a time.

Each piece of the Dresden plate is quilted differently. Some pieces have almost no quilting as the fabric seemed too busy so I just quilted along the joining seam. Other pieces had a simply motif in the fabric that I quilted around the outline of.

Other pieces had a repeating diagonal running through the fabric that I happily followed.

Though I had originally planned to quilt each piece of the Dresden plate the same with a 1/4″ outline inside the stitching seam, it was more fun to base the quilting design on the fabric.

As before, quilting by hand was a joy. I just might start quilting more often than my current once-a-year pace.

A Quilt for Me

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Every single quilt I have ever made has been given away as a gift, mostly to expectant moms or to my own daughter.

This time, I am keeping a quilt for me. It is to hang in our bedroom once Dan nails a short board to our wall.

The quilt started as a cloth calendar that I purchased because I loved the picture.

Not needing a calendar of 1978, I cut the calendar section off and went about saving the picture. Two borders that highlighted the blue and orange color scheme of the picture, which happens to be the color scheme of our bedroom, were added.

Then, I hand quilted around the trees, clouds and shrubs. I learned that a good needle and a good leather thimble are worth their weight in gold.

Finally, I added a black border to make it blend in with the rest of the pictures hanging on our walls. The end result looks like this.

I sewed velcro on the back of the quilt as that is how the quilt will be adhered to the board on the bedroom wall.

 

Though Dan has never been a fan of the bright orange accents I like to add around our bedroom, he does like this quilt, which is a good thing because I’m giddy to see it hanging in our bedroom.

Quilting while Sick

Marie HaighLeave a comment

Elly was sick the week before her birthday party. Two days after her birthday party, she was sick again. This time, I got sick with her. Misery does love company.

No progress has been made on my Fearless February project. I’m too sick to mount the energy required for it.

Instead I put together a mini quilt.

The winter picture is from an old 1978 calendar.

To turn it into a quilt, I just cut the picture out, tossed the calendar section in the trash and added two borders.

The fabrics were picked out from the huge selection at Generations Quilt Shop. Gosh, I love that store. The fabric is divided by color so it’s like walking into a rainbow. But the main reason I love the store is because they always have just what I want. I have never walked out empty handed.

But back to the quilt, I used fusible quilt batting to secure the quilt sandwich together. Then, I stitched in the ditch along the border seams. The rest of the quilting will be done by hand.

While watching the now memorized movie of Tinkerbell and Periwinkle, otherwise known as the Secret of the Wings, I squeeze in a little hand quilting while listening to Elly as she excitedly tells me what is going to happen before it does.