Tag Archives: hand quilting

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Rings Quilt Finished

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I started this quilt last summer and got back to it this year.  I finished the top on April 22 (see that post here)

I started quilting it on May 5 (see that post here) and I did a short video of the quilting (see that here)

I use about 400 yards of thread on this quilt,   and the quilting took about 10 days (between a few other projects).

I decided to piece the binding with black and white fabric to match the inner border.    The fabric was sewed together in strips

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then cut at 2 1/2 ” and joined together.  I cut it 2 1/2″ wide and folded it in half….then machine sewed it to the front, folded it to the back and hand stitched it to the backing.

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I used muslin for the backing

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The “puffiness” comes from the poly batting.  I felt that if it had been finished back in the year that it was started the original maker would have used poly.

Here are more pictures (click to enlarge)

It was dark when I took the pictures but It just came out of the dryer and I couldn’t wait until morning to take pictures.

Now back to work on the whole cloth quilt.

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Free Form Fans

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Yesterday I worked on some of the border on the Rings quilt.  I decided to do free form fans. With this quilt  I just quilted and let it happen because I did not want to do any marking.   I am happy with how it is turning out. The poly batting is making for a rather “puffy” quilt, and in this case I like that.

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I have 8 more rings to hand quilt and 3 borders.

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More pictures (click to enlarge)

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Progress Report

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I am making some progress on the Ring Quilt.

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You can see the quilting better from the back

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It is going pretty fast

The Garden is growing…here are a few update pictures (click to enlarge)

I am working on flowers for a wedding today….I will post some pictures soon

Happy Spring

Tim

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More on Big Stitch Quilting and a video

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I have been working on the Single Wedding ring quilt, and using big stitch quilting.

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As always Teddy is anxious to help.

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I made a short Video of how I do it ( I have been gardening so ignore how dirty my fingernails are :)   )

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Happy Quilting

Tim

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Ring Quilting

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I started some quilting on the Red Single Wedding Ring quilt top. (click here for the pattern  rings pattern )     ( pleas note that I made a mistake in the pattern …the center circle should be 10 inches in diameter….please make that adjustment)

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Since the vintage fabrics are so varied and many are very thick I can’t do very delicate quilting.  I decided to do big stitches on this one using blue thread (Aurifil 12 weight)

I am not being fussy about the quilting…..I feel like this is better suited to a less formal treatment.  I am not marking anything, just quilting.

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Swirls in the circle.

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and simple outlining in the setting pieces.

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The backing is simple muslin

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Since I think the fabrics are from the 60′s and 70′s I felt like the batting would have been poly…so that is what I am using.   It is a rather simple quilting design so this one should go relatively fast.   More pictures soon….and maybe a video of big stitches.

Yesterday I posted a song “Seeing Nelly Home”  Here is another version by Johnny Cash

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Back to traditional

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For those of you who have begun to wonder if I would ever get back to traditional quilting I thought an update was in order.   I have been working on the whole cloth quilt again.

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I put it back in the stand last night

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I almost have that section finished tonight

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here are some more pictures (click to enlarge)

I have a lot more to do on this…it is the most quilting I have ever done on one quilt….about 2000 yards of thread so far.  I need to be in the right mod to work on it because I need to be precise and sometimes I just don’t feel like that…sometimes I need to just be free to do whatever comes to me….that is why I did the tie dye quilt.  I had no pattern, I just cut it up and made it up as I went along….there is a lot of freedom in that.  Sometimes however I really enjoy the precise traditional work.  It is good for me to have several projects going on at once!

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Tie Dye Quilt Finished

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I finished the tie dye quilt today.

I started this quilt with a tie dyed panel of fabric that I  purchased last year at an AQS show.

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I cut the panel into strips and added gray strip of fabric between the strips

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I cut the finished piece in strips the opposite direction and sewed them together with the grey strips again…creating the grid…..Teddy was a big help.

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The finished top was bigger than the starting panel because of the addition of the strips.

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That extra panel will be another quilt some time soon.

here is the finished top.

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The quilting is done by hand.  I used cotton batting ( Quilters Dream Cotton Select)  and Aurifil 12 weight thread and an embroidery needle.

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I did all the quilting in my standing hoop.

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with some careful supervision from Teddy

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I didn’t want to add a separate binding because it really didn’t need another visual element.  To bind the quilt I cut all three layers, top, batting and backing, even with a large ruler and rotary cutter.  Next I folded back the top layer and cut the batting 1/2″ shorter.  I then turned in the top 1/4″ and the backing 1/4″ and pinned them together , and then top stitched them together close to the edge. I should have taken pictures of this step but I guess I was too excited to get it finished.  Anyway here is a picture of the finished edge. (and how I signed this one)

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Here is the edge from the back

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The quilt finished at 56″ square after it was washed and dried.   I always wash and dry them when finished because I like the look I get from the shrinkage of the batting.

Here is the back of the quilt

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And here are some pictures of the finished quilt (click to enlarge)

Now its time to get back to work on one of the many other projects that I have in progress.

Happy Quilting

Tim

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A quilt with buttons

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Lately I have been drawn to quilts that don’t fit into a specific pattern.   They aren’t as impressive as the intricately pieced quilts but something about them really draws me in.

I recently purchased a quilt top from eBay that I really find interesting

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I looks like it was made up of recycled clothing.  I can see old seam lines in the fabrics

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I think the overall design is very pleasing.  I like the colors and the rather modern feel.

Teddy was taking a nap….but he came to see what I was doing…

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here he is with bed face.

the simple design calls for simple quilting…I will hand quilt this in a random pattern (unless I change my mind with is NOT uncommon)

For now it will be added to the pile of tops that need to be cataloged and stored

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There is no chance I will ever run out of quilts to work on!!

I am also in the drafting stage for a small whole cloth quilt….It is hard to see the lines in the pictures but I will post about it when I get the design set.

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I am also adding new pictures to the Timquilts Facebook page.  I am always fascinated by quilt patterns so I am starting a series of them and adding to the Facebook page …here is a sample

suspension bridge layout

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Trapunto Video

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As Promised here is a video of how I a doing the trapunto on the whole cloth quilt.  I am using Bulky 5 (at least that is what the packaging says ) Roving Yarn and a very large needle.  They sell Trapunto needles but they basically are just really big needles so I am using one I bought in the Upholstery section of the store…they use them for tufting buttons.

I think you can see in the video what I am doing.  The needle goes in from the back and you want it to be between the backing fabric and the batting (this makes the front side smoother)  I go in one side of the area to be stuffed and out the other, cut off the yarn…and then pull the tails in , sometimes it is harder than others but the needle works to get the tails inside the layers.  as I add more yarn I try to align the yarns and push them into place with my thumb. Keep going until the area is filled.  there will be some visible little holes in the backing fabric…these will close up once the quilt is washed.

Here is the video.

Happy Quilting

Tim

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Trapunto Update

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I made some progress on adding trapunto to the whole cloth quilt.   It has been suggested that I make a short video of the process, and I will do that in the next few days.  Teddy is not very good at holding the camera still

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But he is good at supervising.

Here is how much I have done

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One side of this border…from the heart at the bottom right and moving to the curve at the left side.

It is hard to see on the back because of the pattern on the fabric

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I am anxious to see how it will look in the center …these really should be more defined once they are stuffed

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I took a lot of pictures…here are a few (click to enlarge)

Happy Quilting

Tim