Monday, October 5, 2015

Wings...takes flight!


Prewashing, in the sun to show off that lovely texture, mmm!
The quilt sat for an entire week while I hemmed and hawed about binding.  Consulted my three J's.... Julie. ... Judy.  Thought some more.  Mentioned it to Jasmine.  Ha!  There are FOUR J's......
Even dragged J...., er MacGyver, downstairs to ask him his thoughts.  (I'm not allowed to use his name or his photo, except for the one shot where you see his hooves in his proverbial flipflops as he holds Blue Ribbon Stars).

Jasmine's random comment, "Have you considered...?" (which I had, but dismissed, thinking it would take too long and be too fiddly) ended up being the binding decision:  scrappy rainbow binding using fabrics in the quilt.  I'm so glad I did do the extra work for this!

I might have gone a little cut-happy on the 2.5" strips...yep they're more than half the height of the Isacord spool!
Oh well, the way I see it, I have the makings of yet another scrap quilt!  This is Cynthia's Scrap-a-Palooza quilt #16 from July.  I loved the effect I got when I rotated the top two blocks in the set of 4: the spots became wings.  You can see the spots layout in this post.  I really really like that layout too, so you never know...another may just happen in my future!

This gazebo is in the park that is on one side of our lane.  I've thought it would make a good spot for a quilt shoot for some time, so decided to try it out tonight in the setting sun.


I realize just how important it is to get sunlight on the quilt to show the quilting and the texture.  Here you don't see much at all, but the colours are true.
Can you see evidence of the squirrels' busyness, stashing walnuts (there are no less than 3 visible) in various safe places?!!  Ha, much like we quilters do with favourite fabrics...
I changed threads a lot.  Remember Avril was not a happy camper with the Sulky Blendables in 12 weight?  My Bernina loves it.  Avril was also not really a fan of the Sulky Blendables in 30 weight, but she grumpily did what I asked.  She loves Isacord, Aurifil, So Fine, YLI, Coats and Clark variegated.
I used The Bottom Line in the bobbin in ivory for all of these thread changes.  I was really really pleased with the tension (the Bernina was used for the majority of the Blendables)
I had taken the quilt off the Avanté with two echoes of the cloud-like swoop-dee-swoops in the wings, and then I thought, nope, too much unstable fabric, too much poof...

so I went back in with my Bernina, and did a third echo of the outside swoop-dee-swoops, and then a wavy line in the inside ones to flatten things down a bit.  It really wasn't that much more work, well it kind of was, but it was totally worth it.


I used one of the ratty chairs in the gazebo for draping the quilt.  I noticed there are nails in the top face boards(?) of the gazebo, so maybe I can get some rope, grab some clothespegs, and make myself a better hanging line for my quilts.  Never mind what the neighbours will think of me now...

Here is the back, that delicious paisley-sculptured Minky Cuddle I got at Miller's Dry Goods this summer.  I'm so glad I treated myself to some of this!
Cloud-like quilting, cloud-like backing, mmm!
Bella is in love with this quilt.  She cracks me up; as SOON as I lay a quilt down to either look at it, decide on batting (in this case) or a backing or whatever, she does this:
Mademoiselle Twinkle Toes
She has tried to burrow under it, lie on it, à la Tish's Oliver, while I was quilting it and binding it...sigh.  Cats just have to be a PART of every stage.

Oh, I did a loose loopy and simple flowers meander in the background.  The shot below also shows the third echo and wavy line I added a little better.  This extra quilting didn't detract from the plushness of the Minky one bit.
Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Scrap A Palooza #16
Size: 69 3/4"X 53 1/4"
Fabric: scraps for the top and the binding (note, there are about 550 fabrics in this top, as I repeated only a few of them, 576 total pieces) Minky Cuddle for the backing
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Avanté (approximately 80 000 stitches), and added some echoing on my Bernina
Threads: pieced with Gütermann, quilted with Isacord 4421, 5210 and 5450, Sulky Blendables 12 wt 4007 and 30 wt 4117, Coats and Clark 40 wt variegated blues, YLI 40wt variegated plum, So Fine 40 wt 403; The Bottom Line in the bobbin

Linking up with Oh Scrap! At Quilting is More Fun Than Housework. Lots of scrappy ideas over there!

22 comments:

  1. Sandra, Wings turned out beautifully! The scrappy binding is perfect :) Your quilting is fabulous as usual and that backing!!!! Congrats on a fabulous finish!

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  2. Walnuts??? Honestly, I cannot see anything else except the blinding beauty of your gorgeous quilt. Awesome job, Sandra!!! Still drooling over it.
    Sew Preeti Quilts

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  3. Wow. I love it even more now that it's all quilted up. Good call on the scrappy binding.

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  4. Beautiful ... and Bella is ham and a hoot.

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  5. This is one beautiful quilt. It looks great in the outside shots. Wonderful job on the quilting.

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  6. This is one beautiful quilt. It looks great in the outside shots. Wonderful job on the quilting.

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  7. Oh this is just beautiful! What a ton of work!

    The gazebo is a perfect setting!

    Oh Bella! ❤❤

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  8. Sandra, I LOVE LOVE LOVE how this one turned out. That binding probably did add some extra work, but I think it just gave it the finish it needed. So should we call this Bella's quilt? Oliver has named all of my quilts...Oliver's quilt 1, Oliver's quilt 2, etc.

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  9. The scrappy binding was the perfect call to finish out this quilt, Sandra. I love how it turned out - the swoops in the wings really does give it a cloud like feel and finish. And my goodness, the texture from the quilting on the back looks divine, but the soft and cuddly fabric makes me wish I could hold it and snuggle against it! I admire Miss Twinkle-toes - she has the right idea!

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  10. It looks gorgeous! Great finish, I love your cat! Kat @ katandcatquilts.blogspot.com

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  11. Wings turned out so gorgeous Sandra! The quilting you did really does make the quilt take flight! :)
    Scrappy binding looks perfect too, I love the shot with the sunset! LOL- yes, with a rope and your might just have your own gazebo quilt stand for suture photo shoots. Do you write down which threads work with each machine? I could never keep track of all that. Love the way the paisley minky backing looks with all that quilting!
    My favorite shot is of course that little scamp Bella!

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  12. Sandra, I am so glad to visit the finish. Wings is most definitely a beauty, but I so admire you sticking with it until you felt good about it. Lots of thread changes and multi color binding, too! Too often we get to the point of "what now?" and put it away somewhere never to return to it. Bravo for you!

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  13. Your quilt is lovely Sandra! Great job on the quilting. I want to make another quilt using this block. It is such a great scrap buster. Thanks for linking up with Oh Scrap!

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  14. I love the swoop Dee swoop pattern in the wings. And definitely a beautiful venu for quilty photos.

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  15. beautiful quilt and gorgeous quilting. The band stand is the perfect setting with the lake in the background too. Lucky you~! I have a question. What does Palooza mean? I have seen palooza purses, and now a palooza quilt. That can be my word of the day. My thing to learn of the day.

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  16. Wings is a beautiful quilt, I love it. The scrappy binding is a perfect finish.

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  17. Beautiful,Sandra Love all the colors

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  18. Oh it came out just wonderfully gorgeous!! Love your pic at the gazebo, but sure glad you took a different approach on the last pic so we got to see your gorgeous quilting! I have to put that scrap buster on my list-who knows what year that will be though!

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  19. It is gorgeous, Sandra! And I am so glad I could help as one of your four Js. :) I especially love how the quilting emphasizes the wings in the piecing. The scrappy binding really was the perfect choice. I totally love it! And your photos show it off very well. Bella cracks me up, and that is Monkey's favorite picture.

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  20. Beautiful quilt! And Miss Kitty too!

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  21. I love, love how Wings turned out! You did an Awesome job, and thanks so much for getting it quilted in time for my birthday. If you hurry, you can still post to get here by my birthday next week....I will understand if it is a few days late. LoL Just kidding, but can not blame a gal for trying. I so wish I had not cleaned out some of unused scraps from my stash 2 years ago. You keep turning out such lovely quilts from your stash. Hugs, love you!

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  22. It's a beauty! Good decision on the scrappy binding and the quilting is fab. Thanks for linking up to #scraptastictuesday

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