Monday, March 21, 2011

Back in the hoop

The advantage of having many projects on the go is that as soon as you finish one you have something else you can pick up and continue on with (that's my justification anyway:) ).
The other day I finished the blocks from the last post and while I wait for some clear-thinking time to calculate sashing yardage, I pulled out this project which has been waiting patiently all winter. I still have a couple of months before it becomes too hot to quilt this woolen quilt.

I am making up the quilting patterns as I go, playing with styles and discovering what I like and don't like. I have discovered that I am not crazy about the quarter inch outline quilting and will replace it - perhaps with a single line down the centre of each diamond? I love the circles but couldn't for the life of me remember what I had used to mark them, so the above photo is also a pro-memoria. I only mark a small section at a time as I the pencil tends to fade or rub off and needs to be redone. I use a sharp HB or 2B pencil, depending on how dark I need the lines to be. I raided my girls' toy boxes for the marking tools. The cardboard templates were traced from applique patterns. I love how they look quilted. These patterned fabrics are difficult to quilt on and make me wish I had included more white muslin.
I have only just noticed how irregularly I marked the diagonal lines on the plaid fabric. Iwill leave it until later and decide if I can live with that. Probably not, but I want to move on a bit with the quilting before I do it over.
Time can give a different perspective to things, which I guess is the advantage of working slowly. Janet has found a solution to something that has been bothering her about this quilt that she has been working on for a long time. Her thoughts on batting are quite interesting.

5 comments:

  1. It looks lovely. I love the different shapes you've got going on too.

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  2. looks very nice.I know what ya mean about having different projects in different stages of completion.I have more in the not cut,deciding pattern stage.thanks for sharing,Amy

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  3. It's wonderful, Alice. The mix of quilting patterns adds a lot of interest. I actually think the 1/4" outline on the diamonds looks really good, and I wonder why you don't like it.

    I've always loved this quilt pattern, and the colors and prints you selected are perfect!

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  4. I like quarter inch outline quilting on other people's quilts but I just don't enjoy doing it.
    The hands all round block is one of my favourites - would love to do a whole quilt in that pattern one day.
    Thanks everyone for your comments.

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  5. What a beautiful quilt you are working on! I love seeing the different quilting designs you are using and what you are using to mark with.

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