Friday, September 15, 2017

Roundabout--A Finish


Where to start with this quite unexpected finish?  This little quilt is a UFO from a little ways back, basted and forgotten, until now.  There is a whole bunch of things that leave me scratching my head as to the existence of the quilt at all.  Like why did I buy this charm pack?  A good sale maybe?  I couldn't even remember the name of it.  After an image search of the fabric turned up nothing on google, I turned to Pinterest with the words "Moda Fabric whale tales," and low and behold the third image was from this charm pack.  That lead me to the words Sea Salt.  Then back to google with "Moda Fabric Sea Salt" and bam, this picture and the fabric line name...Salt Air.


How is that for blind luck?  I'm guessing this fabric line came out in 2012 (based on finding a pattern featuring the fabric on Moda Bake Shop).  I probably pieced the quilt top around 2013/2014 after purchasing the book 101 Fabulous Small Quilts by The Patchwork Place.



No clue why, but I decided to piece this little charm pack into a relatively quick and easy pattern called, Roundabout.


There appeared to be some sloppy seams as I quilted it, and I vaguely remember there being some partial seams involved i the quilt's construction.  But hey, we all have to start somewhere.  And so the story of this quilt pretty much goes into a coma after being pieced.

After making a list of UFO's at the end of last year, I was feeling super pumped and decided to baste several quilts in the early spring.  If it's basted you have to quilt it, right?  Wrong.  It's still just been hanging out in a pile waiting.  I have had zero and I mean ZERO quilting inspiration when it comes to this quilt.  Is it bad that I felt nothing...yikes, that sounds harsh. 



Let's skip to last weekend.  David had just enjoyed yet another quilt top finish, while I was starting to feel a bit overwhelmed by quilting the Butterfly Meadow Mystery quilt.  So as I was stitching, this little fellow popped into my head.  Figuring he could use some practice quilting, why not pawn it off  offer it to him to practice quilting on.  (More like I'm quilting for you, you can quilt for me)

To my surprise on Sunday, he presented me with this drawing as a quilting option.


Well, now, isn't this interesting.  I kind of liked it.  It's different.  He offered to quilt it, pointing out it would take him longer than it would me to accomplish it, but since is was getting late I wanted to think on it.

By the next morning, as much as I loved the drawing (wouldn't this make a great mini quilt too!), I wasn't sold on all those lines with the "o" shapes.  So I messaged Sandra at mmm!quilts with all the information and she had the same reaction I did, it needs curves or swirls or something.  Taking into consideration we share a brain, I had to ask myself, are we right?   I like to preach, "there is no wrong way to quilt a quilt."  So was I being a bit of a hypocrite, even though I wasn't feeling it?

I came up with a second test, Julie at Pink Doxies.  I've found that she and David share similar tastes when it comes to quilting.  I texted the same information to see what her thoughts were.  I decided if she likes it, I'm going for it (I needed a break from the Butterfly Quilt and decided this little project might be a great recharger).  If she said, eh, back to the drawing board.  Guess what?  She loved it.

So Monday evening, quilting commenced.  David's design required absolutely no marking and could easily be achieved using quilting rulers.  My thread choice was Aurifil 2021 Natural White.  I could tell you I chose this thread because, as a white, it is a wonderful neutral and would play nicely across the quilt (which it does), but the fact that my machines (piecing and quilting) where already threaded with this colored helped too.  I could have just as easily chose 2908 Spearmint or even 2405 Oyster.  My point there are always lots of choices.


After a few laps around the quilt with my walking foot I headed to my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen to finish up.  After I had the bottom section finished, I pulled it off to have a look.


Not bad at all, though it's really hard to see some of the details.  Several interruptions later I had a finished quilt top.  A quick trip to the quilt shop at lunch and I was able to find a solid fabric that matched the quilt pretty nicely.  After dragging myself in after the homecoming parade and pep rally, a quick stop at the Dollar General (non quilting related) and five 2 1/2" strips later, I had myself a bound mini quilt and one item crossed off a list of many.






This finish feels GOOD.  I really didn't have any expectations for this little project, but I absolutely love how it turned out.  If you are having trouble figuring out how to quilt something, don't be afraid to ask a quilting buddy for help.  Most importantly, don't be afraid to step outside your comfort zone.  Sometimes the vision of someone else isn't as clear to us in the beginning.

This little 20 minute photo shoot happened right after getting off of work and rushing to my friend's house for a little evening out.  Last night she and I went to a live production of The Rocky Horror Picture show performed by our local theater group.  The same group that preformed the musical Quilters two years ago.  Talk about two very different shows, but one AMAZING group of performers.


Needless to say, a good time was had by all.  We knew many of the performers in the show and virgins that were drug to the stage.  If you have ever seen a live performance you will understand that last reference.  Sometimes you just need an evening to let go and have fun.  Thank you Lori for dragging me out of the house and making me be social.  When left to my own devices, I would have chose my sewing machine.



15 comments:

Alycia~Quiltygirl said...

What a great finish!

somethingrosemade14@blogspot.com said...

I love reading our post today. And the quilt is just gorgeous. I had several quilts lately that I pulled from my black hole had me figuring out the origins of my thought process. Glad you finished your quilt to share.

Yvonne from Quilting Jetgirl said...

Quilting friends and help for the win! I think it finished beautifully and adds detail that will be fun to inspect up close. Hooray for marking an item of the list, too. :)

Ariane said...

Your quilt turned out beautifully!!

Nancy J said...

Lovely quilting lines, a super choice, and the back view shows them so well.A truly shared and combined finish.

Lisa J. said...

This quilt looks great and I love David's design.

Stitchin At Home said...

like you and Sandra I would have been thinking curves, but I like the lines. You and David make one heck of a great team.

KaHolly said...

No one can debate that this finish is quite delightful! At first, I typed 'little finish', but while it's a small quilt, there's nothing 'little' about its finish! Well done! Great post, too! Glad you enjoyed your night out.

Jayne said...

Just having a finish after such a long time is great! I think the quilting turned out great and really love how you and Dave collaborated on it. Wonderful finish Tish!

Vicki in MN said...

I would have chose lines too;) Although I was thinking of following the print so it looked kinda woven-hard to describe in words! But I sure like what you guys came up with:)

Cheryl said...

I loved that collection of fabric, what a great finish!

Sue said...

I really like this quilt - it's simple and sweet and best yet inspiration for me on my search to pin every scrappy quilt on the interwebs. Love the simple quilting on this as well!

Preeti said...

That is a beautiful quilt, Tish. Do I detect partial seams? Love the backing fabric. As always, your quilting is so pretty - curves or lines. Who gets this one? One lucky baby, I am sure.

Julie said...

I am so grateful for all the behind the scenes chatting that happens with quilting friends, and sometimes neglect to actually read their blogs! (red cheeks) I do think the simple design worked well with this pattern--high five, Dave, and kept it a little more on the less fussy, modern side of things. I also have the same book, and your're tempting me. Not a good thing these days. Glad I got to see all the pictures here, Tish!

Sandra Walker said...

You make such a good point about getting and AWAY from one's sewing machine (gasp). I don't do enough of that. We need to remember to live our lives too right? It's not always about the finish, although this finish I particularly love! Colours, size (it would make a perfect take-to-yoga-class sit-upon and cover-my-torso-in-savasana quilt! Have to admit I do like David's design on it, but I still think swirls would've been awesome too. As you said there is no wrong way to quilt a quilt.

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