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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

A Bloomin' First 3Q Finish

Lately, what I work on in my sewing room depends on which lesson I'm teaching, or which quilt needs to be readied for Quilt Fest of Jacksonville.

I've taught two different binding methods to two different groups of quilters in the past week. The hexagon baby quilt worked perfectly as my demo quilt.

I've been hand-sewing sleeves onto several quilts entered into Quilt Fest.

As I was binding Bloom, I put these pictures on Instagram. It's still my hope to get as many quilters as possible to try this great binding method which happens to be my favorite. It's different because there's no need to make folds in the binding at corners, or figure out how to get the beginning and ending tails cut to the right length. Corners are machine-sewn. (See tutorial link at right.)

When I finished sewing binding on Bloom, for the first time I used Clover Wonder Clips. The clips work great, and you can't beat the Amazon price for them.

My fingers are sore from all this unaccustomed hand work, but... yay! Bloom is finished! As much as I want to take it outdoors for a photo shoot in natural daylight, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. All that white fabric... all the rain we've had lately... entering it into a judged show... Nope. Can't do it.

So for now, here are indoor pictures.
76-1/2" W X 75" H
Bloom looks nice on our king-sized bed, but isn't big enough to stay there.

As many of you already know, I put lots of free motion quilting into this. Around each bloom, I quilted concentric circles, using the same color Aurifil thread as the fabric color. The red flower has red quilting; orange flowers have orange quilting, etc. Throughout the quilt, the bobbin thread was white Bottom Line

Batting is Tuscany Wool by Hobbs. I intentionally selected wool for the dimension is gives to the quilting. 

During the marking, quilting, and washing/blocking of this quilt, I learned a tough lesson about using FriXion pens on fabric. Though marks disappeared when I put heat to them, in a cold water wash in the machine, marks returned! I immediately put the wet quilt to soak in the bathtub, even trying Dawn dishwashing liquid and a toothbrush to try to remove marks... to no avail. After consulting with a friend, I put the wet quilt into the dryer on low temp, thinking the dryer heat would remove the marks. Nope. I resignedly blocked the quilt on the floor - using my new Strait-Line laser level from Home Depot -  and expected the worst.

Surprisingly, a later touchup with a hot iron again removed the marks, but I know chemicals are still in the quilt. I'm glad I marked only in strategic places, not on the entire quilt. In the future, I plan to be much more judicious about when I use FriXion pens.

It's nice to have white furniture that shows off these bright colors.

Quilting show on the back with a natural daylight bulb shining across it. My goal is always to try to quilt designs that make people think quilting has been done on a longarm. The viney, double-veined feathers are my favorite design in this quilt.

Bloom is labeled too (one of the page full of labels I prepared last week), and I'm giving proper credit to a great designer, Emma Jansen of Australia. If you like this pattern, you can buy it as I did through her shop: Ballarat Patchwork. Or check out all her great patterns (including Snowflake Medallion) that happen to be on sale now.

Bloom is the first of four finishes I've challenged myself to complete in Leanne's SheCanQuilt Finish Along, by October 7. I'm tickled to have this one done. Three more to go. Linda

29 comments:

  1. Oh my! Bloom is a winner!! I am in awe of your skills!

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  2. Bloom is beautiful. Your quilting is just fabulous and it really shows up in the photo on the floor. Hope the marks are long gone gone gone now. I still have a mental block about free motion quilting. Really small harp space doesn't help.

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  3. Linda!! Wow, it's just stunning! A winner for sure! I love the kaleidoscope effect on the petals, and the quilting is amazing, of course. : ) I would absolutely think the quilting was done on a long-arm. It's incredible to me that you do all this without one!!

    All my fingers and toes are crossed that those stupid marks are not coming back. I knew you must have been upset, but now that I've seen the quilt, I'm floored by just what a nightmare that must have been! Yikes.

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  4. I love it so much. My address is......

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  5. I love it, love it, love it! It's so colorful, bright, and happy. You are some awesome quilter, Linda. Glad the Frixion pens worked out okay. Beautiful work.

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  6. Amazing quilting, as always, Linda. A sure winner! Just wait for my "I told you so" after the judging!

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  7. Wow Linda it looks amazing! Hope it's a winner for you.
    Great pics and a lovely long post full of info m

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  8. It looks great Linda, such a pretty quilt, and your quilting skills are amazing. Best of luck and do let us all know how you get on in the show.

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  9. Bloom is stunning. Congratulations on a beautiful finish.

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  10. I love the happiness this quilt just radiates. You can't help but feel a little touch of summer when you look at it. I have experimented with those Pens and like you had the lines come back. Now I just you General's marking pencils...it's a chalk and they come right out in the wash.

    As always, I am inspired by your quilts. I did not know you do that beautiful quilting on a regular machine. Now I am doubly impressed!

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  11. I love Bloom it is a gorgeous quilt and the colors are so beautiful.your quilting is so awsome Linda I can hardly believe you do that on your machine. Oh why don't I live closer? Howell at 70. I probably could not concentrate to learn, ihave to look up things now that I have done for years but I am going to try out your binding tutorial on my next quilt. Blessingssandra

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  12. Oh, Linda, this is as gorgeous as I knew it would be! I so wish that I could see it in person! It certainly brightens up your rainy days!!

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  13. Wow, your Bloom quilt turned out amazing! I can't believe how fast you made this quilt. It took you just over one month from start to finish (I checked) not to mention all those other projects you've worked on in between. The FMQ is out of this world and I like the picture of the quilt on the floor to be squared up the best, as it shows the quilting perfectly. I'm in awe (again). I'm going to be the first member of your fan club ;)!!!

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  14. Words fail me Linda. Your quilting is so brilliant! This is just so beautiful. It's crisp and so bright. I love it.

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  15. This is a stunning quilt Linda! It is so fresh and bright and looks perfect in your Florida home! And the quilting is a triumph! You are one talented woman!

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  16. You should be so proudto have produced this quilt. Beautiful quilt, and stunning quilting.

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  17. Planning to attend the Jacksonville show and look forward to seeing Bloom in person- all that lovely quilting! It looks great on a bed. Interesting to know about your experience with the Frixion. I had read a review somewhere and the author said the blue pen is more likely to do this than the black one. I guess the quest for the perfect marking tool is still on.

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  18. Linda, Bloom is BEAUTIFUL :D I just love how you've quilted her, and yes, it's so pretty on the white rocker. The wool loft looks fabulous. And what a bummer about the pens. I'm glad the iron makes it disappear for the show and all. I'm always freaked when I use the disappearing inks to mark quilts, but there's nothing really magically perfect, is there? It's such a trade-off between marks you can actually see and marks that don't fall off before you're finished. THis is going to look marvelous in the show!!

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  19. Bloom is as beautiful as I thought it would be. Would love to see this one in person. Great job!

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  20. Your Bloom Quilt is heavenly Linda. Your quilting is amazing....I think I'm repeating myself but I can't help it. The quilt is gorgeous and should be a winner!

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  21. WOW! Linda, your quilt is just gorgeous! Oh, those pens and all marking pens make me a little nervous. HOpefully the marks will not pop out again.
    Off to see your binding tutorial.

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  22. Bloom has an amazingly impact on us who see it...wow...
    It is gorgeous..love the pic on the chair

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  23. Wow!! Spectacular quilt, Linda! Beautiful colors, amazing quilting. Sorry to hear about your headaches with the pens, glad it came out in the end!

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  24. Another beautiful quilt Linda, and I'm pretty sure this one will be one of my favorites. I love the quilting and the bright colors. blessings, marlene

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  25. It is amazing! I love the pattern, quilting, fabrics, everything! Wonderful work!

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  26. This is a wonderful quilt Linda! I love all the bright colors with the white! Good to know about the pens. I never thought about those marks coming back with a cold wash. Your quilting is amazing! I am curious about which machine you use. Thanks for sharing!

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  27. I am so in awe of your quilting abilities. Having seen a couple of your quilts in person I know this is even more stunning than what I see on a computer screen.

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