Wednesday, May 31, 2017

Welcome to Canada!

So glad that the quilt finally read red (lol get it?) in these outside pics! This is my second finish in the new sewing space, second Hands2Help finish.  Let's toss it over a bush, shall we?
I am SO excited to tell you that this quilt was pieced entirely on my Featherweight girls.  They shared it.  đź’• The backing was pieced together on them as well.  It went from a pretty cool flimsy to a perfectly cuddly finished quilt!  Love the texture.

Probably the most accurate colour for the rich red/burgundy

I quilted it with an all-over design of Christina Cameli's called "Cherish".  It kind of just happened as I made my first swoop on the quilt top.  I really like this one, and it is just a small step up from meandering, so a good 'next quilt' for Avril and I to get back in sync.
Quilting detail. As I quilt, I think flower, maybe peacock or rooster comb, and then add a couple echoes. Can you spot the mistake?  I left it as is; the stitches were so tiny there that they won't come out, and once it's washed, you'll get nothing but texture.

The back:
You can see the design a bit better here.  Yes it's a cobbled together backing again, my favourite kind! The vibrant orange, purple and red leaves fabric is from a favourite quilt of mine, "Autumn Glory", that I appliquĂ©d over many many coffee time get-togethers with my Dad. You can see it here on a Throwback Thursday post.  The jewels fabric at the bottom is from the backing of a kaleidoscope I did in a class with Deb Tilley years ago. She is a portĂ©gĂ© of Paula Nadelstern's. Neither piece was big enough, so I found another purpley fat quarter to add to each end which is old too, but oddly it reminds me of a Sarah Watts design for Cotton & Steel.  Finally the strip in the middle is a piece off a 4-yard cut I snagged for a potential backing last Fall when we were in Ohio at Pink Doxies Julie's Fall Retreat and, of course, went shopping in Amish Country.
Notice the strip of Kaffe fabric there?! Left over from the Three-Quarter Patch Tote I made for a Craftsy review. I use that bag 4X/week to take my yoga stuff to classes I teach!
I bound it with 5 strips that were already cut for a different project and then not used (how convenient) of an RJR Handspray.  I've used it for bindings on a few quilts, love.

After washing, snuggly central, ha:

Here is the back after washing:
You can see the design again here.

I quilted two words and two symbols in the bottom row of the quilt:
Welcome with a heart

and
Peace with a maple leaf

I had troubles with the thread for the last row of the quilt, and it started when I ran out of my own self-wound bobbin and just threw in a pre-wound one I'd got in a sampler from Superior Threads.  I love their thread.  I think I just needed to monkey around more with the tension, but this bobbin thread switch wreaked havoc with that final row.  I ended up going over the words on my Bernina with the Fufus thread, a GĂĽterman in the bobbin, because I was unhappy with the AvantĂ© tension. But I didn't rip out the AvantĂ© one.  As you can see, it did sink in fine after washing.

I will be dropping it off at the Mosque School of Ehlul Bayt, who is accepting all the basics for setting up a household, after yoga on Friday. The City of Windsor has taken in just under 1400 refugees see info here, and I hope that this quilt will be the beginning of me helping out however I can.  I plan to swing by the Sexual Assault Centre that same day and take them Kringle Trees.  And now I have a couple of my own family quilts plus one more refugee quilt, a Canada one, to get cracking on!

Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  original design based on a photo, somewhere...
Size:  50" square; after quilting and washing: "47.75 X 47.25"!
Fabric: scraps; the red is stash bought for a different project, but never used
Batting: thin polyester bought at Zinck's in Ohio
Quilted: on Avril the Avanté
Threads:  pieced with GĂĽtermann; quilted with Floriani Fufus rayon thread, Bottom Line in the bobbin

Linking up:
Sew Fresh Quilts
Quilt Fabrication


20 comments:

  1. I love the sentiments you quilted in, and I hope this quilt goes a long way toward making someone feel welcome and at peace in their new home. Thank you, Sandra, and beautiful finish!

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  2. Yes, really beautiful, and words in a corner or two, extra special. Super colours together, and a quilting finish that suits the pattern perfectly.

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  3. A sneaky fix for small quilting mistakes where light thread shows on dark backgrounds is to darken the stitches with a black permanent fabric marking pen. It's especially useful for bobbles while quilting in the ditch. Don't tell the quilt police!

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  4. Looks marvelous! And, no, didn't notice the quilting boo-boo. Thanks for sharing on Midweek Makers!

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  5. I love your original design. A great way to use up some scraps. I am always looking for cool designs to use up scraps but are not overly seam heavy. This one fills the bill. Your quilting is wonderful.

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  6. Lovely quilt and great use of scraps! Love the sentiments you quilted in, and I'm sure that this quilt will be loved.

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  7. Congrats on another beautiful finish-I am sure it will be very loved at the center. An awesome quilting design, I think flower when I do this one. You are on a roll again:)

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  8. Beautiful finish! Love all the scrappy goodness in here, and the quilting is perfect. If you don't point out the mistakes, no one will ever notice. It looks great on the bushes, too!

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  9. Fabulous. Knowing it will go to a refugee family makes the words so special. What a wonderful and thoughtful touch.

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  10. It's a wonderful quilt and a heartfelt gesture! You're the best!

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  11. What a pretty finish Sandra. This quilt will surely be loved. The colors are wonderful and the quilting is lovely. :-)

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  12. Thanks for sharing such great photos of your quilting (including the boo boo). I've tried that motif and didn't care for it, but I realize after studying yours that I was doing too many echoes. Or too few initial rounded lobe-y rooster comb thingies. I also like that you describe it as a small step up from the stipple, which inspires me to try it again. I hope mine turns out as nicely as yours. It's guaranteed that I will reproduce the boo boo quite successfully several times!

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  13. In LOVE! This quilt looks so snuggly! And I really, really love the motif you quilted all over it. Is it from one of her classes or books? Methinks I need to learn it. How, bout I will be up on Saturday and you just teach me? Wishful thinking I know :(

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  14. It looks soooooo much better in the sunshine. The dark brown is really a russet color and imparts such richness to the quilt. The reason you made it both warms my heart and splits my soul. As far as mistakes are concerned, I remind myself of this saying - There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them or how we will.
    Hugs,
    Preeti.

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  15. Love, Love, Love this quilt, Sandra! The dark red as a background is just wonderful as a complement to the scrappy brights. The quilting pattern piqued my interest as I would really like to learn something that's a step up from stippling. Washing covers a multitude of boo-boos--isn't that a freeing notion? The boo-boos are just character, and I bet we quilters only mention them because we are showing them to other quilters. Non-quilters would never notice! This caring quilt will certainly wrap a family in such a tangible sense of love and acceptance in their new home.

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  16. I love it, Sandra!!! Such a beautiful quilt, and a worthy cause. I particularly like your words quilted in!!

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  17. Beautifully done! The quilting turned out beautifully. Love the quilted in sentiments.

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