Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Close-Ups

Over the weekend I basted and machine quilted the 2 children quilts for donation. I'm now sewing on the bindings.  I did a meander on the quilt going to Japan. I just did a stitch in the ditch for the quilt going to the neonatal intensive care unit.  I seem to remember Carolina, the gal who collects these, saying too much stitching or seams can be irritating to these babies. I hope to finish these 2 in the evenings and finish piecing the shoofly this weekend.

I also basted my midnight stars. The more I look at this, the more I love it. I now have it laying on top of our piano so I can admire it as I pass by. I'm so glad Lori shared this with us.
I'm going to hand quilt this one. Do you think I basted it close enough - about 3 1/2" apart? I thought about adding more but I left it like this because I needed to clear the table for dinner!
I'm using a wool batt. It seems to be easier on my hand, wrist and elbow. Needles - I've been using Piecemakers because other brands break on me. However, while the Piecemakers don't break, they do bend and that affects my stitches. I like a small needle - size 12. It just feels more comfortable and I feel like I have more control. Do you have a favorite brand?

Here are some close ups of the hovering hawks quilt. After posting about it last week I thought I should have provided closeups.  I love these calicos. I can't believe I didn't notice the pattern made with the pinks until AFTER posting! The quilter outlined each triangle and also quilted circles in the large diamonds. They are hard to see, I think, because she used a very thin batt.
 This broken dishes unit is 6"


 These units are 2"
I decided to measure the whole quilt and edit my previous post with that information and noticed a triangle has been replaced. I came back to these photos and notice that I just happened to capture it here.  I obviously haven't really looked at this quilt! I'll check it more closely and see what other surprises I can find.


Poor Duke has had a time dealing with this youngun. He gamely plays with Len, but there are times when the look in his eyes say "I've had enough". Duke was innocently standing by the door waiting to be let out when Len walked between his legs and said "me first". Yes, my dogs "talk"!
Len strikes a pose and Duke says "look what I have to put up with".

8 comments:

  1. Lovely colours in this post. Your midnight stars look beautiful and you will have a lovely little quilt to admire for a very long time. Your puppy dogs are delightful.

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  2. Wonderful colors and prints. This quilt will be a treasure for sure.

    Thanks for sharing, Carolyn

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  3. what cute doggie photos!
    I have million packs of needles too - I like them thin, but strong a tough combo.
    your quilt along looks great!

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  4. How do you plan to quilt Lori's Midnight Stars? As per the original? Looks like you've got your needles all ready! :)

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  5. I like wool and #12 needles, John James or Piecemakers. Your Midnight Stars is beautiful and the hand quilting will make it sparkle. Darling dogs!

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  6. One lucky baby and his/her family are going to love your quilt! Thanks!

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  7. Goodness! Your closeup photos of the hovering hawks Q show some totally different fabrics and colors than I expected to see. Such a lovely old quilt.
    I need to get going on quilting my Midnight Stars. I'm not a hand quilter, but I thought this would be a good one to try it on. I'll watch your lead. :)

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  8. I love the close ups of your old quilt! So pretty!!
    Yay! On getting Midnight Stars basted. Your clsoe to getting it finished now!

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