Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Free Fall Finish


It's done! It's finished!  Free Fall!  This quilt was so much fun to make, from picking out the fabrics, right down to piecing it together.  Then came the quilting...I decided on good ol' straight lines with my walking foot.  Simple.  Easy.

Well, it should have been simple and easy.  For starters, I decided to put a small black border (like 1.5") around it to make sure I didn't loose any of my points to squaring up or binding (hindsight, probably should have used the gray).  I picked out a lovely white backing with large clusters of flowers in colors that match the floating leaves on the front.  At the point I was basting it together, I realized you would probably be able to see the dark prints on the front through the thin batting and backing.  I had plenty of the cotton batting and decided why not double layer it??  So I went for it, doubling the layer of batting to two, pinning and then baste stitching around the edge of the quilt.  Go me!!


I started stitching in the middle of the quilt using Aurifil #2610 Light Blue Grey 50wt and used the edge of my walking foot to space my lines, so they ended up about a 1/2"(ish) apart.  I knew the close stitching and extra batting would make this quilt a bit more stiffer, but that's okay, it's a wall hanging.  Things were going well until I was reaching the end of the quilt.


As you can see, I was ending up with quite a pucker...URGH!!!  I worked it out as best I could and stopped stitching when I reached the edge of the black.  I pulled her away from the machine and regrouped.  I would not abandon this project.


Over all it wasn't bad, but that pucker was FRUSTRATING.  What to do???  Instead of focusing on the panic of the pucker, I turned her around and started quilting the other side to buy myself some time before dealing with the problem, problem procrastination. 

Unfortunately, I just ended up with a pucker on that side as well.  My solution?  I'm sure there were much better ones to pick from, but I picked out the remaining basting stitches and quilted on.  I assume it was the extra layer of batting that was causing things to pull more and contort.  Maybe not, but that's the story I'm sticking with.


Here it is all finished on the floor.  Part of me thought about leaving it just like this and not trying to trim and square it up.  Call it a new type of quit finishing...really raw edge binding maybe?  Add a little more soft poof to your quilts? 

Figuring my new trend didn't stand a chance of catching on, I trimmed away and squared as best I could.  I didn't get a picture to share of what that first trimming looked like.  Trust me, somethings shouldn't be seen.  You are welcome (it was bad). 

So I sucked it up and trimmed some more, put a smile on my face and bound this quilt.  Wonky Donkey or not, I love it!


I love the pattern, I love the designer, I love my fabrics, I had a ton of fun creating it and created it with a bunch of really great online friends!!!  This quilt made memories and I will love her forever, bobbles, wobbles, puckers and all.  Best of all...she's finished.


A huge thank you to Sandra at mmm!quilts for hosting this QAL for us.  She did an amazing job writing the pattern and walking us through the steps to create it.  Sandra, I'm so proud of you and the success you have had with your first QAL!  Did you make the Free Fall Quilt?  Don't forget to hop over to mmm!quilts tomorrow to link up for Sandra's finished (quilted or pieced) linky party.  I can't wait to see what everyone made. 



26 comments:

Margaret said...

It looks great and no one will notice a pucker or two when it's being used. (I have been known to ignore the odd imperfection in my own quilts!) Love the colours.

SandraC said...

I love it! I started this one, but it's stalled. I have a Guild Retreat in July and this one will be the main focus that day!

Goofin' Off Around the Block said...

It really is a delightful finish. The puckers are probably most noticeable to you. If you don't say anything, no one else probably notice. I'm glad you stuck with it because it turned out wonderful. --Andrea

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

I think it turned out great, Tish. I have not tried a full quilt with double batting yet myself, but I have always wondered about extra shifting. I think you did all the right things to recover and I think the finish is fabulous. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's link up! :)

Nancy J said...

Stickability, that's the only way to go when this happens. Mine is quilted, I did diagonal lines 3/4 inch apart, now to trim and bind. I like your dark border, like a picture frame, and great photo settings. Finished is such a wonderful feeling.

Susan said...

Looks great Tish! There always has to be a problem child to deal with. Thanks for sharing this week on Midweek Makers

Vicki in MN said...

I don't see anything wrong with it in the final pic. I too would have ripped the basting and carried on if I had done it on the domestic. Pretty quilt.

Lori said...

this came out really pretty. good for you for sticking with it. it is so worth all the headaches it caused. job well done.

Stitchin At Home said...

The double batting may have led to the puckers you encountered, it looks great and I think you tamed them just fine.

Melva said...

I am glad I am not alone in struggling with puckers. One of my recent quilts had puckers too... I use 80/20 batting and thankfully many of the puckers just "wrinkled" in after I washed the quilt. I knew they were there, but unless you were a judge for a show or another experienced quilter, they were not glaringly noticeable. Good job Tish.

KaHolly said...

Oh, tish, you are just so funny! I love the way you write and express yourself. It was almost like being there. It came out looking terrific despite all the trouble you had.

piecefulwendy said...

It doesn't look wonky to me at all. It's really nice and I like that straight line quilting! Wonkey Donkey -- I've never heard that, but I'll be using it often in my quilt cave :-)

Lisa J. said...

You did an awesome job on the Tish. I love it!

Sandra Walker said...

Aw thank you THANK YOU!!! Tish it is WONDERFUL, and had you not 'fessed up about the puckers that you had to deal with--and tame them you did; it looks stunning--no one would have been any the wiser as it is no 'wonky donkey' (is that a WV saying? definitely not in my Canuck lingo, ha)...nope, it is a 'tout fini beauty'!! Thanks for being one of my intrepid testers; the pattern would not have been as clear without your input.

Sue said...

This quilt has turned out so well, Tish! Love the quilting and the wavy look of the quilt just adds to the effect of motion!

Julie said...

So real. So Tish. So beautiful! I love your honesty and sharing the whole adventure with us--warts and all.

Pamela Arbour said...

I think you did a beautiful job with your quilt and I know how much work it was to do all of that quilting. It looks simple but it is very time consuming.

somethingrosemade14@blogspot.com said...

Your quilt is beautiful especially with the straight line quilting. I've had experiences with straight line quilting where I had to re-baste the ends and I was happy with the results. Great finish!

Kathleen said...

Love your version. Sorry about the puckering but it seems you did conquer it. I bet the two layers of batting were part of the problem.

Cheryl said...

The quilt looks great. I think that your fixed the puckers very well.

kupton52 said...

Very pretty....mine isn't fnished yet....too many projects going on at once. I wanted to see your backing fabric, though.

works4me said...

It looks amazing.

Anja @ Anja Quilts said...

You did a great job. Beautiful. I fell behind with the QAL, but hope to get caught up soon.

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Well the finished quilt looks wonderful, so whatever went wrong you sure fixed it! I think it saw Tish coming and said, "Whoa, I better start behaving!" Lovely quilt and so glad it holds so many good memories.

Kate @ Smiles From Kate said...

Your quilt is lovely, and I wouldn't have spotted it on the finished quilt, as they say in my quilt group, 'blind men and galloping horses'. I've never used a double batting, I will definitely avoid it now, I'm having enough problems spray basting, so thank you for that. Now I'm off for a good giggle about the 'wonky donkey' hehe, never heard that one before.

FlourishingPalms said...

Not sure if you've ever approached quilting this way... but quilt lines across the whole quilt, at much wider intervals. Say, start with them three inches apart, across the whole quilt. Then go back in and quilt between those lines, so they're an inch-and-a-half apart. And then, if you want more quilting with lines closer together, go back in and quilt between the lines to make them three-fourths inch apart... and so on. You'll end up with the lines spaced as you wish, and few, if any puckers. Hope this helps for the next time!

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