Anyway, let's head back to last year as I still need to show you the quilts I was making for my friends' new twin boys. Last time I showed you one of the completed quilt tops:
Well, next up was the backing. I splashed out a little and picked up a whole 2 metres of the gorgeous blue dragonfly fabric. It's so pretty! I may have wrapped myself up in it when I got it home and pretended it was a dress. May have.
Anyone who reads this blog won't be surprised at what came next - appliqué! The twins are named Obadiah and Elijah, which thankfully they shorten to Obi and Eli - much more achievable!
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Next up - quilting. And boy, did this not go well! The main reasons were poor basting (despite my best efforts, sob!), trying too many new things at once (stitch-in-the-ditch quilting, and using different colour threads on the top and the bottom) and my walking foot not yet being useable. All this resulted in failed attempts to stay in the ditch, bunched up backing, and, most upsettingly, the straight lines of the quilt being dragged along by my normal machine foot until they were approximately a bazillion miles from being straight. Add to this that I accidentally cut a hole in one of the quilt blocks, and I was seriously wondering whether I should give up quilting. Gah!
The hole :(
But somehow I persevered. I emailed Moira for advice and replaced the holey block. I rebasted with help from the hubby. I redid a couple of lines where my stitches definitely weren't in the ditch. I fixed the worst straight-line-which-would-make-a-ruler-cry, and took lots of deep breaths and decided no-one would notice the other ones.
And so, the quilting was done. Phew.
Next up - binding. But I'll leave it that for another time. Hope you're all enjoying the new year!
I'll be linking up to Work in Progress Wednesday when it comes around :)
emma, your quilts look amazing. Well done. Hope the house is feeling like home x
ReplyDeleteThey are so cute! Stitch-in-the-ditch is deceptively tricky, I think. I tried it for my first quilt because I thought it sounded like it would be pretty easy! It is not.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I like about quilts is once they're all finished and washed, most mistakes don't really show. :)
Also, those are some hard core Old Testament names! Wow! I'm especially impressed with "Obadiah." :)
DeleteI love your colour choices, they look like lovely quilts! Well done for persevering! I usually find that chocolate helps ;)
ReplyDeleteThose are just way too cute.
ReplyDeleteThose look really great -- what lucky little boys! And the quilting looks good from here! It'll be less visible once they're bound and washed, and I'm sure the parents will be far to happy to have such lovely quilts to nitpick tiny little things. :)
ReplyDeletegreat job hanging in there and finishing it in a way you were happy with! It looks beautiful! I am stopping from the WIP hop, I would love to have you drop by my post: http://domesticdeficitdisorder.blogspot.com/2013/01/its-wednesday-wip.html
ReplyDeleteThose quilts are sooooo cute! I love your embroidery! Don't you dare give up on quilting..they are so awesome! I can't tell you how many oopsies I have daily!!!!
ReplyDeleteway too cute!
ReplyDeleteI love the colours and the names, and I know what you mean about those times when you feel like giving up. Well done figuring out a solution. They look amazing.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite colors! I always have a hard time with stitching in the ditch. Quilts look lovely
ReplyDeleteLove your quilts. Don't knock yourself out about the quilting. Stitch in the ditch... well, it is a (insert something that rhymes with ditch) - especially without the correct tools.
ReplyDelete