Shift - Finished!

Woot! Woot! And in time for a Friday finish to boot!  This is one goal #2 on my Q4 List, so I will be linking this up come the end of December/early January with Adrianne at On the Windy Side.  Numbers 3, 4 and 5 are all done, and yesterday I started #7, Brady's stocking.

I have wanted to photograph a finished quilt at Kingsville Harbour, Lake Erie, which is a block from my house, for a long time.  Wanting a setting with a masculine feel for this quilt for my nephew, I figured now was the time.

Who launders a freshly finished quilt, and then spreads it out on the road for pictures?  Uh, that would be moi...

I had to stand on the bottom ends in that picture as the wind kept lifting it, and I could just see it becoming airborne and landing in the harbour... Since I went down about 3 pm, all the fishing boats were in. I love those diesel-slurping, chugging girls.

The west wind was a-blowin' but the huge barge that was in unloading aggregate was a definite bonus.

Think I nailed the masculine feel, no?!  The barge even complemented the colours of the quilt, as did the rocks and the grey waters on this mostly overcast day.

Back to the quilt, which is the star of this post!

This is the quilt before I washed it.  Because the day was mostly overcast, the colour here is so true.  I am so pleased with how it turned out! I love how my eyes roam over it, and the blocks shift from 4-patch in a small "box" to 4-patch in a large "box".

I wrote about the flimsy finish here.  My nephew, Callum, is an avid mountain biker, and shifting gears is his game, (are you getting the name of the quilt?!) hence the hunt for bike-themed fabrics, and guy-themed ones.  I had originally purchased a set of fat quarters in seafoam shades as a starting point about a year ago, and then last Spring found out, through iMessaging with him, that those colours were not really in his wheelhouse.  So I went back to the drawing board and hunted down rich greens and gold with a few grey additions, all based on the beautiful job he was in the process of doing completely by himself:  finishing the basement in his new house.  I had been collecting the black and white fabrics for the past year.  :-)

The sun started to peek out a little!  A little texture is now apparent.  Just look at that vibrant gold Peppered Cotton (adore these!) of the cursive writing swirl print (love that fabric too)!

I didn't prewash any of the fabrics; I never do and have only had a slight problem once with a red, but I washed that quilt with a colour-catcher, and it did the trick.  I had heard that the peppered cottons shrink more, but after washing and half an hour in the dryer, they came out just beautifully alongside the regular cottons.  I did starch and press each of the fabrics, so maybe that helped?

I did a simple jigsaw-shaped meander over the entire quilt surface.  This is and always has been, a favourite motif of mine; I find it totally relaxing, like watching fish in a tank.  It helped that the new thread I purchased in Florida at the Bernina dealer (right near my house, heavenly!! and oh yes, they have fabric), Exquisite is the brand, was all that, (exquisite) and more for quilting.  L. O. V. E.  Avril loved it too; she purred along for the entire quilt, only breaking thread once.  It's 100% polyester, and half the price of Isacord/Mettler.  It has a beautiful sheen to it.  The ladies at the shop have embroidered as well as quilted with it and told me they loved it.  I will write and tell them I do too, and I'm coming back for more!  It took only about 3-3.5 hours to quilt the entire quilt.  That is not counting loading.

Here is a view of the back in the filtered sunshine, but again, I was constantly fighting that wind... I do love this quilt laid out on the rocks and gravel of the harbour though!

I machine-stitched the binding to the back of the quilt; normally I prefer hand-stitching, but a) I wanted this done--20 minutes for just the machine-stitching it down to the backing, and b) I wanted it durable--I've had to repair 3 quilts so far that were hand-stitched, due to usage; the cotton thread started to disintegrate after 8-10+ years.  I'm okay with that; it means my quilts are being used and loved!  But I live 2000 miles away from Callum...

I laid it down in that spot, protected by the barricades from that darn wind so I could get a full shot of the back, lying my yoga mat towel underneath to protect it.  I mainly had to be mindful of seagull poop!  I made the label with scraps from the front.

As per usual, I quilted in the recipient's name

That grey "Time" text fabric is à propos for Callum, as he is a "early to bed, early to rise" kind of guy.  I love the old-fashioned bike fabric you get a glimpse of here, and that I used up in its entirety, on the backing.

As I drove out of the harbour area, the sun came full out, so I decided to pull over and try one more shot to capture the texture that we all love so much in a crinkly finished quilt:

I really liked the look of it draped on the stairs going down to the harbour.  It was a glorious low 50s degree day; I'll take it for the end of November!  I couldn't seem to get a photo without my shadow in it that showed the texture, so I headed for home, hoping to maybe have some success there.

Callum's last name.  My initials are quilted in somewhere too; another cool black bike tire tracks print here, no?

Back home, on my bed, (ha!) with the sun streaming in, seemed to wind up being the best angle for that elusive texture shot:

I did this on purpose to show the difference in colour between shade and sun.  But finally! You can see and just about feel that lovely filled-with-love texture.

I have three nephews and one niece.  I used to think, I'd give each one a quilt when they get married, but then I thought, nope, when they leave home or graduate from grade 12 or college.  The next three of the four quilts are already underway, so I should have those done by the end of 2016, or, at the latest, 2017, for the youngest, another nephew, who will be in grade 12 that year.

Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  Bento Box
Size:  pre-washing 60X75"; post-washing 58X72" (so a healthy lap quilt)
Fabric: 100% cotton, many lines; NB I did use four different Peppered Cottons
Batting: Warm 'n Natural
Quilted: on my Avanté, overall meander 82 735 stitches
Threads: pieced with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Exquisite 100% polyester in olive green

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts, TGIFF with Jan at Quilting Among the Groves, and Confessions of a Fabric Addict!