Comet has landed

I finished my Comet quilt last weekend after a surprising short time of quilting. You may remember that my quilting plan was to quilt radiating straight lines from the center (as seen on Angela Walter's blog). 

I was convinced that the quilting would be a nightmare and drag on forever but the opposite was the case. It took me literally only two longish evenings. My plan to quilt in quadrants with a few guiding lines worked a treat. After I had quilted six or so lines I was able to use these as guides to fill in the remaining lines.

At first I started out each line from the middle of the quilt because I thought it would pucker otherwise but soon changed tack and started from the outset which worked just as well and was somewhat easier. I also changed tack in terms of tidying up threads. First I planned to tidy up each thread by hand later but I realised that the Valdani thread isn't as strong as Gueterman Sulky or Aurifil and often a gentle tuck on the thread to bury it with a knot leads to it breaking. So I changed instead to sewing a few stitches in place by machine and then cut off the thread (my Horizon does this rather neatly).

I used both thread colours throughout the quilt (but did the middle square entirely in 'Vibrant Red' ) to ensure that there were some highlights in the black. I loved the 'Red Eclipse' thread as it really gives the impression of star bursts with the black parts disappearing in the black background and the red parts standing out. 

I also chose not to quilt all lines through from the outside to the centre because I did not want the centre to be overly crowded with quilting lines.Some lines I stopped at the beginning of the red pattern.

Well, and this is the back. Due to popular demand and on special demand by Sarah I chose this pattern. Actually what clinched it was Jennie's comment that it would look like a before and after shot of the comet approaching and exploding (thank you Jennie). I am really, really happy with this choice and sometimes even prefer the back.

The material is all Oakshotts and the list of colours can be found in the first post here; other posts regarding this quilt can be found here and here.

The binding really was a no-brainier. I chose black with two intersections of red to further the impression of the comet coming and exploding.

I made this quilt as a response to the July challenge of the LMQG which was to make something inspired by modern art. The quilt was in the main inspired by Rothko's series in black and red and when I presented it to my lovely fellow LMQG members they all teased me that I was an overachiever....... I guess it was rather disproportionately huge compared to the other pieces in the show and tell...but I could not help myself...once the idea was in my head there was no going back...sorry Ladies and Gentleman :-))

Comet is for sale and the listing can be found here in my on-line shop.  Sold

Blogger's quilt festival - Very Berry -

Last year I thought all the while the great blogger's quilt festival was going on at Amy's Creative Side that I should write an entry but I missed the deadline and decided I would make more of an effort this year. Well, the deadline is looming and before it passes me by yet again I'll quickly add my entry to the wonderful quilts that have already been entered.

Looking back over the year I am surprised how many quilt I have finished and debated a while which one to pick and in the end picked the one that I consider my biggest achievement this year.

The quilt I am referring to is the 'Verry Berry' commission that I got from my friends Mica and Claire. They put faith in me to make them a monster sized quilt that must serve the dual purpose of covering up a very ugly sofa and be big enough to cuddle up under.

They wanted me to make the a quilt the size of  125 x 99 inches (or 3.2 x 2.5 m). At first I hesitated but then thought why not; it will be a challenge. And a challenge it was ! The design was achieved in collaboration with Claire. They wanted a minimalist design with large parts of solid reds and some pattern. This quilt uses a lot of Kaffe Fassett, Philip Jacobs, colourshots from Fasset and Oakshotts and other prints from my stash. The red solids are all Kona and the grey from the back is Kona Coal.

I live in a small Cottage in the UK and the biggest challenge wasn't the sewing of the curves or the piecing (although that got increasingly difficult the more fabric was added), no it was the basting as I had nowhere in the house where I could lay it out flat in its entirety. So I basted it in three stages rolling up the parts that didn't fit on my floor and taping it very tightly to the floor. Surprisingly this worked and I had no problems later when quilting. The quilting is kept fairly simple to keep with the minimalist desig and that I could still do it on my Janome Horizon.

Throughout the process I re-christening it affectionately "The Beast" ...............for good reason.

'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 !!!

A story in red and white - {advice needed}

... is what  I will be calling my Sampler quilt that has been created by the Brit Bee Ladies.

I have now received all blocks and also added my own.

These two blocks are from the lovely Terri who gave them to me when we met at the Festival of Quilts last weeks. Terri forgot to take photos of them so I am doing it for her. Isn't this one utterly cute ?

Brit Bee block from Terri

2nd Brit Bee block from Terri

The next two bocks are my own.  These were very much driven by scraps as I wanted to make good use of all the scraps and left over fabric the Ladies returned to me. Also I felt the quilt needed another good dollop of red.
This first block is actually a collaboration between Terri and me, though unintentionally. Terri returned eight HSTs and I thought I  could make these into diamonds surround by more red.

 

 And this second block is actually my first paper pieced block !!! I used the 'Rocky Road to Kansas' block from the Summer Sampler Series.  Isn't this gorgeous !

What I learned about paper piecing is that it wastes a lot of fabric which is something really hate and that you get the most accurate piecing done which is something I absolutely love.  Not sure how I am going to merry these two......

 

Then I did another layout test and wasn't happy at all as I find it way way to long.

So I made another block. This time with some leftovers from Trudi  and some scraps.

 

And then changed the layout to square which I think works much much better.

Now it's decision time. I need to decide which sashing to use (I think no sashing is not an option as the quilt will look to busy). The above layout images show one in white sashing and the other in red. I really would appreciate your input and there is also the question of the back. Normally I am never lost for ideas but in this case I am somewhat. I kind of want to stick to the red/white scheme and was thinking to just do a four-patch of very large white and red squares with the siggy blocks scattered around. But maybe I am wearing red and white glasses at the moment. Any ideas ?

Previous post can be found here and here.

And before I close I'd like to show you the two blocks I made for our lovely August Queen Bee who is Sarah from Narcoleptic in a cupboard. Sarah send us stunning fabric in all sorts of blues and some rather daring black plus chocolate, music and a super sweet pulverised drink. And after consuming all of that I was ready for some improve style blocks. She didn't want anything traditional so I went for the wonky and modern instead.

Very Berry - part 2-

Well before I get stuck into this post properly I have to announce that I have reached .and missed my 100th post...... because it was last Sunday! I know traditionally this calls for a give-away and it will come but you guys have to hang in there until the end of the month...but I promise will be worth it.

You may remember a post some weeks ago (here)  where I spoke about a new commission I was given by friends of mine, Claire and Mica. Their brief was to make them a quilt that is large enough to snuggle up under AND to cover up their ugly sofa. The sofa is unfortunatley of the VERY large size hence the quilt is going to be 2.5 x 3.2 m that is 98 x 126 inches. In other words a monster size quilt.

I collaborated on the design with Claire and we came up with a minialist design that has large areas of solids and some areas that burst with colour and pattern. Claire wants this quilt to be dominated by a variety of reds. We picked the colours using my Kona colour card and because the reds remind me of berries, I named the quilt "Very Berry". And now that fabric and name are chosen there really is no time to waste anymore.

Over the coming weeks I am going to report regularly on the progress  to show you how this venture goes (or not !!) as this is the largest quilt I have ever attempted. And upfront I have got to apologize for the somewhat bad quality of the photos. Red as is almost as difficult to photograph as white which is why the same red will appear different in as many pictures.

 Last week I started to pull out patterned fabrics to start the left corner area. I am keeping the design of the corners simple as I am concious of the amount of colour in this quilt. I think an elaborate quilt pattern would overburden the quilt. I also included some fabric with lighter areas to balance against the large amount of dark reds. I added texture by using some K.F shot cottons and some trusted Oakshott.
 



I cut out 5 1/2 inch squares and lay them out on the floor of my studio but quickly realised that I should be doing this on top of a template because of the curve I am cutting along the right edge.

 So I took an old newspaper, taped together a rectangle of 40 x 50 inches and cut out the curve I wanted for this shape; this left me with two templates (basically the positive and negative part of the curve).

I then proceeded to lay out the squares again on top of the template (and the bed as one doesn't have to bend down quite as low.....) until  I had a layout with which I was happy.

 I sewed all squares together (to what is essentially the size of a baby quilt) and cut the curve along the newspaper template.

Now we are back on the floor as I had to start to assemble the large blocks of solids. I moved them around and around a bit more until I was pleased with the arrangement once again.

After I sewed the large pieces together I  moved on to cut the negative part of the curve. Notice that my newspaper template features Snoop Dog....I reckon he won't be to happy about featuring in a template used for a quilt.......

 And here is the finished part of that weekends work - 1/3 of the quilt is done. To complete the picture you have to imagine another middle part of solids with a small pieced patterned part and  basically another part like this but turned around (with a patterned right corner).

I was really apprehensive about sewing and cutting such a large curve but I must say it was a breeze and the seams are flat as a pancake but I think that is entirely down to using a paper template and Snoop Dog obviously.

Close-up of the vibrant corner part.