Sunday 11 September 2011

'Very Berry' aka the Beast in finished

Well here it is at last ! It's been a journey, not an epic one but a long one nonetheless. Starting with a quickly drawn design during dinner with friends to the finished and now photographed piece.

Thank you to everybody who commented on the last progress report; all the comments really helped as I was struggling at bit at the point. I love Archie the wonder dog's comment about the 'Beauty and the Beast'. I really should have named it this rather than 'Very Berry'. Well, since this comment the quilt is called lovingly 'The Beast' amongst my friends and colleagues.


I am not going to repeat the whole story (you can read it here, here and here)  but just want summaries that my friends Claire and Mica commissioned me to make an oversized quilt for them it's dual purpose being to cover up an ugly sofa and cover both of them ! Well at 3.2 x 2.5 m (98 x 126 inches)  this thing will certainly do both.

I quilted with Gueterman Sulky in no 1045 which is a wonderfully variegated  thread in purple and green. I wanted to offset the quilting a little bit from the base colour on the front of the quilt but also didn't want to large a contrast on the back which is largely done in Kona coal and Kaffee Fasset prints.


The quilting is done in wonky/straight double lines following the lines of the patterned areas. I added a couple of double lines on the vertical to create large rectangles. Of course one could have quilted a lot denser or even involved a longarmer but the agreement for the commission was that I quilt it on my Janome Horizon 7700. I wanted to keep the quilting within the realms of the overall pattern which I hope I have achieved. My machine coped wonderfully with the quilt thanks to its longer arm.


I photographed 'The Beast' around the corner where I work as the space is much larger there than around my little cottages. I laid it out on this bench which is outside a huge office building in city and people kept coming and going and one woman actually stopped and commented that she loved it which really gave me a huge lift.



I used Quilter's Dream batting but in this case I used a thinner than normal batting as I thought it important to reduce weight wherever I can. I think it makes a large difference to the quilt as it is not as bulky as it could have been if I used my usual Hobbs Heirloom or Quilter Dream Select Weight.


These two images here are the best I can give you in terms of showing the size. My colleges were kind enough to dangle it down this wall but it really is to large to photograph properly without using a wide angle lens at which point one loses to much detail.


The binding is done with the wonderful Kona Pepper which is almost black but not quite with a few bits of red leftovers thrown in between. I really love this effect.


And here all folded up and ready to be handed over to its new owners !!!

18 comments:

  1. Wow - that is one amazing quilt! I expect you are looking forward to working on something really small...like a mug rug after that mammoth marathon!

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  2. This is really lovely, gorgeous quilt! Can't believe you quilted all that yourself, super job :-)

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  3. Wow that is an amazingly giant quilt! Looks beautiful :)

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  4. Stunning Judith! V.well done! I'm sure you have Popeye sized bicceps now! Jxo

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  5. wow, this quilt is huge and very very lovely. Your recipients are very lucky people

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  6. wow! It's a whopper! and a beautiful one at that!

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  7. It's stunning - I love it! I really can't imagine quilting something that size on my sewing machine, you're much braver than me! Well done on completing a wonderful commission!

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  8. Its stunning :-) Glad you managed to get some good pics, for your own records too! Clever to use a lighter batting though :-)

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  9. What an incredible accomplishment! I'm amazed you were able to quilt it on your own machine. Congratulations!

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  10. Congratulations on finishing this amazingly beautiful quilt. I really like how you photographed it. The colour just pops against the gray background.

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  11. Whoa, you did it!! You can lighten up on the spinach now Popeye! Great job.

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  12. Visiting from Flickr - I LOVE this quilt. So vibrant and looks like a quilt I'd like to cuddle up with. Thank you for sharing.

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  13. Judith, super toller quilt!! what a great pattern and the fabric/color choices are wonderful! btw: you really should post in a bigger picture size to show off the beauty of your quilts, this small size is kind of a waste :-) (no offence of course, just deep admiration for your work!!)
    Claudia

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  14. Love the colours you've used together, they complement each other beautifully. If only my machine could handle large quilts. Well done.

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  15. Wow what an amazing quilt! I love the fabrics you've pulled together. How did you mange the size on your machine? Any tips and tricks?

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  16. Love those rich berry colours!! Beautiful quilt.

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  17. I feel like I'm just repeating all the other comments now, but...wow! Stunning! Amazing! Brilliant!

    I love the different ways you have photographed it as well. Such a fabulous blend of colors and fabrics!

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Thank you for your comments! I love reading them and will answer every question you have on my projects. But I have a very busy daytime job and am therefore not able to thank each and every comment. Please don't be offended if I won't reply.