Autumn in Winter

Remember this quilt top from the Autumn Abundance Blog Hop that Bernie from Needle and Foot hosted last October? You can read about it here and on any of my posts labeled Autumn Abundance (on the right side bar). 

I finally got to the quilting this week. It's been five months since I've machine quilted, and I was eager to see how it would go. I had some down time with my other current project this week while waiting for some batting to come in the mail, so I figured it was a good time to test out quilting to see if my healing shoulder could handle it. I'm still recovering from a shoulder fracture and going to therapy twice a week to build muscle strength. I can do quite a bit now, but I still have trouble reaching out or up and holding my arm in those positions. I wanted to see what I could do with actual quilting, and this little project was perfect before tackling a larger quilt. 

At first, I was going to do an all-over minimal design, but I wanted to push the limits for my arm, and I think the quilt--with it's traditional fabrics--wanted more, too. So I chose to do a combination of walking foot and detailed free motion quilting. Using the walking foot was easiest, and free-motion worked best with small movements. I can't keep up large scale free-motion movements for very long. (Yet.)

My goal was to quilt pretty densely in the scenery and background areas so that the window frame and geese would stand out the most. In person, they do. Maybe not so much in pictures. 

Last night I put on the binding, and even though this post is on Saturday, it was a Friday Finish. Just barely. I lost a needle at one point and spent a good half hour looking for it. (I live in fear of a grandchild or my husband finding my lost needles in a painful way.) I couldn't find it and finally went back to quilting, promising myself I'd look more today. Then, just before I went to bed, I brushed my hand over a little pillow that sits on my recliner, and sticking up just 1/16 of an inch was my needle! Whew! I have no idea how it got there.

We had a bit of sunshine here this morning, so I popped outside to get some pictures that I hope show the quilting. It was really cold, so I didn't spend time trying to get artsy. The quilt top pictures from my previous post will have to do for that. 

So, anyway, here it is:

And the back:

I used a single piece of backing to reduce bulk because there were so many seams on the front to quilt through. 

Close up of the center block:

Do you see where I FMQ'd my initials/date? (I need some practice, but at least it's there.)

I used a single layer binding on this quilt. I don't usually do that, but I had only a scrap of the yellow fabric left. I found it more tedious to hand sew to the back than with folded binding, but that might be because I was in a hurry and didn't take time to press the fold back before stitching it down. 

Here's a view of a clash of the seasons:

And how I envisioned the quilt on the front door from the street:

But you know what? Now that the quilt is done, I'm thinking it won't ever be displayed there. I have other mini quilts that I hang on the front door lately. They are simple one-block quilts that I made years ago, and it seemed like a good use of them rather than having them jammed into a closet. But boy, do they fade!. So maybe I'll hang this quilt on the inside of the door instead come next autumn--or somewhere else in the house--and make something simpler for the door. I do like how the picture looks from the street, though. 

Here's a recap of some of the stats with additions about the quilting:

Center Block: Autumn Harvest pattern, designed by Soma of Whims and Fancies

Border design: My own, using Quiltography app.

Fabric: Front fabrics were provided by Paintbrush Studios (Into the Woods collection plus selected solids from Painters Pallete--details are on my blog hop post). The back is Moda Bella Solids in Fog--seemed appropriate for the flip side of sunny autumn days,

Finished size after quilting: About 20 3/8 inches square.

Batting: Scrap of Quilter's Dream Select in white.

Quilting thread: Superior Masterpiece in Granite in the bobbin for all quilting and in the top for the light areas. Assorted all-purpose sewing threads (mostly Coats and Clark) in gray, green, gold and rust in the darker areas.

Quilted on my 100+ year old Singer 115 Treadle machine.

Now I'm celebrating because I can quilt again. I may continue to do a combination of walking foot and free-motion until I'm fully functional again, but we'll see. What I learned from this is that quilting is definitely therapeutic, both mentally and--especially right now--physically. 

I'm linking up today with Crazy Mom Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and Summer Lee Quilts (TGIFF). Because, you know, I have a finish!! I hope you're having a good weekend. I think the rest of mine will be spent seeing what the rest of you have finished. 

Fall on the wall

Now that there's a tinge of color on our burning bushes and crapapple trees, it's time to put up my fall quilt. I made this quilt in February 2013--it seems I always  make seasonal quilts at very off times--using a pattern in Ruth B. McDowell's Piecing Workshop. She is one of my favorite quilt artists. I had designed and made quilts using her techniques before, but decided that it would be a good idea to make one directly from her pattern to practice a variety of techniques (Y seams, curved seams, insets, teeny slices, etc). I challenged myself to use only fabrics, batting and thread from my stash. Here's the result:

It's about 24 1/2 by 30 inches, all scraps, with a polyester batting--I think maybe Quilt Light by Mountain Mist. I used very old cotton thread that I've been hoarding for hand quilting. It's Suisse Quilting by the American Thread Company that I bought when I first started quilting many years ago. Sadly, it's no longer made. The back is leftover yardage from another project--nothing special. 

 But here's the cool part: Last fall my husband and I took a trip to Vermont to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary. One day we met a couple in a parking lot while we were getting ready to hike a bit of the Long Trail. They invited us to hike a side trail that we would never have known about to a beautiful little lake. As we were hiking Sandra introduced herself as a ceramic artist and we talked a bit about her work. That night I found her website on the internet and found out that she lived just a little way from the cabin we were staying at. I contacted her about buying some of her work, and she invited us to see her studio. While we were there, she mentioned that she was closing out her line of buttons, and I ended up buying what she had left. Anyway, some of those buttons were just the right color and texture to embellish my quilt, so now my fall quilt has become a memory quilt of our trip and the gracious couple who invited us to see a hidden gem on a hike. I used seven of the buttons on the quilt, and have lots more to use. Lately, I've been making quilts for babies who can't have buttons on them, but I have some quilts started that will be perfect for some embellishment. 

If you are interested in seeing some of Sandra's beautiful work click here. She also has an Etsy site with whimsical ornaments. 

Today I'm linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday.