Friday, September 8, 2017

Radiance - A Finish

I didn't plan to finish this quilt in the orange month for the RSC2017 at soscrappy, but how fitting! (It's not made from scraps though, but I'm still linking up there because it's so orange! I also never thought I'd get my OMG done within the first week of the month. It may be because there is another OMG behind the scenes for this month which will be revealed in a couple of weeks, so I had to be crack-a-lackin' as a certain precious grandson said about something after we picked them up at the airport! Yup, Brady is in the house, as I like to say when he comes, mind you this time, it's more Brady is in the D, as we are spending a few days in Detroit and area before going back to our side of the river.

The original post for making this my OMG is here. Thank you to Patty of Elm Street Quilts for hosting this year.

I took Radiance to Seacliff Beach in Leamington early one morning a couple of days ago. It couldn't have been more perfect: no wind, almost unheard-of in this Great Lakes area, beautiful blue skies, calm waters and almost no peeps.

It was like they knew I was coming! They had this temporary fencing you see in the photo up along one section of the beach beside the stage/pavilion area where they were working, and as I had brought along several clothes pegs and the skirt hangers (had 3, no clue where the third one is hiding) I beetled right over and set to work for the first shot.
I quilted different designs in each of the oranges and the white Grunge.

I figured I would take an angled shot to capture some of the quilting texture while it was pegged onto that fence. The light that morning on these fabrics takes my breath away; it shows the oranges to perfection, rich colours that they are.

I hauled it over to the beach volleyball courts for another fun shot:

This is Yvonne's, Quilting Jet Girl, Triangle Transparency pattern. I made it a year and a half ago, and knew it wasn't quit big enough for Aidan, my nephew, who is tall.  I didn't know how to add to it at the time, so it sat, folded up, waiting for inspiration.....which came when my friend Judy of Quilt Paradigm told me of this really cool migrating geese (tutorial here) she was doing on a quilt. I made a Mariner's Compass quilt flag as one of my Henry Glass Design Challenge projects, and used it there. Loved it.  Thought, hmm, I think this might work to extend Aidan's quilt! And it sure did, by a little over 12" in length.

Even a brown gull paddled along in the background for added interest!

A picnic table provided another fun shot, and the low angle of the sun at this early hour was perfect to show off some of the quilting texture. The quilt is unwashed here.

Here is the back:

I found the Be A Man print at Alma Sue's in Florida and thought it would be very cool for Aidan, another tool-loving MacGyver man like my own. 😉 I just got a couple of yards because I do like an interesting backing. I used a little of MacGyver's Gears fabric from his wallhanging I made a few years ago. The blue is more of the Moda Essentials that I used in Brady's Fractured Pieces. Part of me wishes I'd used the navy across the entire back to show that quilting!

I did dot to dot in the migrating geese borders and wavy lines behind them. Who knew it would give them such motion? Previously I'd done swirls behind them, but I did swirls in the outermost border of the transparency blocks.


I did some ghost geese with dot to dot inside them where the second last border of each block 'met'. You can see in the photo below how it accentuated the squares effect. 
In the very centre of the quilt I did some rays and elongated figure eights, and back and forth lines which ended up creating quite a cool octagon shape.

I kind of winged it, ha, pun not originally intended, on the quilting motifs once the quilt was loaded and I'd started quilting. I knew I wanted distinction between the three shades of orange. Below are my favourite designs I did in the first four rows of medium orange. That scroll-type question mark shape with the feathers on the side I will definitely use again, as I will that diamond straight lines that overlap at the points to create a cool cross-hatching look.


I hadn't originally planned a flanged border, but I knew it would be terrific. I'd bought a grey Mode Grunge and a purple one, but thought the grey worked better with the back and was a little more masculine. For the flange I used the medium orange, Moda's 'Concrete: Rock Solid'.
Even though I cut the backing and batting 3/8" beyond the points of the migrating geese, it still shaves off a bit, although they are perfect beneath that flange if you lift it up! The above shot shows the Kona Cheddar round where I did ghost diamonds with alternating dot to dot designs and flowing designs, all from Angela Walter's Shape By Shape Collection 2 book. The Rock Solid medium orange border got back and forth lines, and the deep orange Grunge centre, or white Grunge in alternating blocks, got more dot to dot designs.

I used warm 'n natural batting and the quilt is nice and soft despite the relatively intense quilting.
Of course I put some special words in for the recipient! Here is Aidan's name in the white area. This is after laundering, so you see the lovely crinkles, and also an up-close shot of the lovely Aurifil variegated orange thread in the migrating geese.

Below is where I quilted my initials and also a closer look at the flanged binding and the backing.

Orange is Aidan's favourite colour. I used a variety of threads. Avril purred along with all of them.

On my way back to the SUV, I spied another good shot for this Tropicana-looking quilt!
Yup! Those are palm trees, in the ground! I imagine they are either these Chinese variety of palms hardy to our zone, a 7a/b, or in pots that they dig out and put in one of the many many greenhouses in our area.

One last shot at the parking lot overlooking the beach and the park and lake.
Because of el-crapola wifi in the hotel, this post has taken a LOT longer to do than my usual, ha, long time. I will update it with stats once we are back at home. 

Yvonne's pattern is a super one if you enjoy quilts with 'extras' like optical illusions, shadows, or transparency in this case. It goes together super-quick and is 60" square without the migrating geese borders I added. It is available on Craftsy. (affiliate link) Remember classes are all (ALL!) on sale under $20 woot! woot! So smart of them, after that free day. I know once I'm back Canada-side, later this evening, I'll be snagging one or two of the four I watched at this great price.

Update from back home in Kingsville
I have to say, my beloved Lake Erie was eerily like my other beloved, The Gulf of Mexico in Florida that morning.

A little different-looking fruits of the sea at the water's edge:
Look closely and you may spy some beach glass
Only half an hour of beach walking yielded me this bounty:
My heart and thoughts and prayers are with all my dear friends in the path of Irma as she heads towards Florida.

Here are two shots of the after-laundering texture. It always surprises me how much quilts shrink up, usually 2" horizontally and vertically. Sorry she's a bit wrinkled from being folded while we were in Detroit for three days.
Looks good on the green grass! We finally got a bunch of rain.
The angle of the sun shows off the centre design well here


Quilt Stats:
Pattern:  Triangle Transparency
Size: 59.5 X 74.5"before washing; 57.5 X 71 5/8" after
Fabric:  Moda Grunge is the white and dark orange, Moda Concrete Rock Solid is the medium, Kona Cheddar
Batting: Warm n Natural
Quilted: on my Avanté
Threads:  pieced with Gütermann cotton; quilted with Essential: Pumpkin, Apricot and Parchment, and Aurifil variegated orange; The Bottom Line in the bobbin

Linking up

49 comments:

  1. Oh so pretty! It looks great in orange--very fall-like. Great beauty shots, too!

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  2. This is wonderful Sandra. Great idea for adding length to the quilt. Love the whole deal!! Have a great time with Brady. :-)

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  3. Breathtakingly beautiful, Sandra. The quilting is exquisite. It shows that you took the time and effort for every detail, every goose and every stitch. Aidan must be tickled orange :-) I am worried that this may not get used - because it is too lovely to mess up.

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  4. I remember seeing this one. It is breathtaking. I don't know exactly what it is that draws me to keep looking and enlarging. Maybe the bold, warm colors that are kind of opposite of me, but I love them. Maybe the way the color pattern and sharp triangles keep drawing the eye out, drawing the eye out, drawing the eye out. Maybe the conflict between the wavy, swirly texture against the sharp, straight shapes. Maybe it doesn't matter. I just love this one.

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  5. This is absolutely amazing. I am in so much awe of your quilting on it that I hardly know what to say. I really love the ghost geese connecting the four quadrants. The extra borders are perfect! What a lucky guy.

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  6. It turned out beautifully and I think the extra border and quilting are divine, Sandra! How perfect to have no wind and such a lovely location for the photo shoot. I hope Aidan enjoys the quilt, I certainly know it was made with a lot of love and care!

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  7. Beautiful finish. Love the way you extended the size.

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  8. ♥♥♥♥ I love this!!! I want it!!!! I'm definitely trying the migrating geese.

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  9. Sandra, this is just GORGEOUS!! That quilting is just on point (as the teens would say). The addition of the migrating geese borders was genius. Congrats on another great finish! I wish I could lick it...I'm pretty sure it tastes like Creamcycles :P

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  10. Beautiful quilting on this lovely quilt...you did a super job on this hugs, Julierose

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  11. This is stunning Sandra. Your photo shoot makes the colours shine and the quilting is outstanding.

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  12. That is really beautiful. Such quilting!! The geese are a fabulous idea - thanks for the link to the tutorial too. Gorgeous colour and just a great quilt.

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  13. Brady time, the best of times. Love the gorgeous quilting, it is stunning...the quilt is beautiful too.

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  14. Stunning ❤️❤️❤️❤️ Beautiful location to showcase this amazing quilt. My love affair with orange is still going strong so if Aidan doesn't like this, pick me, pick me. I remember Leamington from my younger days, beautiful spot.

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  15. Fabulous post about an amazing quilt. Aiden will be thrilled.

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  16. It turned out beautiful. Great quilting and nice bright colors. Congratulations on your finish.

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  17. Spectacular! Glorious! Radiant! Just... wow!!! 😍😍

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  18. Great top, great quilting, and GREAT PHOTOS!!

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  19. What a spectacular finish! And a beautiful setting for photography, you really scored on that!

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  20. Wow, an amazing quilt, quilted to perfection and the location was just perfect too...😊 The stars most definitely aligned for you. So lovely of you to share it with us. It has brought a warm glow to my heart. And yaay, Brady time now😀 special hugs to you and yours and I hope that Brady comes up with more beautiful ideas and thoughts to share with you...xxxx

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  21. I'm not usually a big fan of orange but I love yours!! The quilt is beautiful and the quilting on it is superb! And I love the migrating geese, I have to try them..i enjoy your blog too.

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  22. Be still, my heart! This is one lovely piece of orange-o-rama-ding-dong quilt artistry!! I love everything about it...the vibrant color, the gorgeous quilting, the manly backing, the flange binding, and your fabulous glamour shots at the park. Congratulations!!

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  23. I adore orange, so I love everything about this quilt! That goosy border is the perfect choice for the ends, picking up that triangle theme and flying with it!

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  24. Wow, wow, wow! I love everything about this, and I'm not really a fan of orange. The quilting is just stunning, especially around the migrating geese and in the very center of the quilt. What a great finish, Sandra!

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  25. What a fabulous showcase of orange. Such a happy quilt with so many great details.

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  26. What a great design. I love the sunny colours, and your quilting is gorgeous! Great finish. :D

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  27. Beautifully done! Love the orange. The different shades really add depth. The addition of the flying geese "end caps" was inspired. Congrats on a gorgeous finish. (Oh and the quilting is wonderful too!).

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  28. Oh, wow, your nephew's getting a real gem of a quilt! Even though you photographed it in the morning, the colors remind me of that perfect golden hour at sunset. (Can you tell I'm not a morning person?) I love the addition of the geese. And the quilting--be still my heart. So glad you can spend time with Brady. (Are you collaborating on another design?)

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  29. This is such a beautiful quilt! I've bought this pattern, and need to get to it. I really like the way you made it longer with the migrating geese. You have quite a collection of white beach glass! I'm always on the lookout for it, but have only ever found one white piece!

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  30. Beautiful quilt!! Thanks for sharing your quilting details, you did a lovely job.

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  31. What a beautiful quilt and the quilting is exquisite, great photos, it looks good everywhere.

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  32. A wonderful finish, it feels so good to finish a UFO right!! So how is the storm affecting your FL home? Did someone board it up for you?

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  33. I don't have time right now to type up all of my thoughts, and if I save the post, to reply later, well - I know myself and that will never happen. so - I'll sum it up with - your quilt is amazing and your quilting is absolutely fabulous!! Enjoy your time with Brady <3
    happy making ~ Tracy

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  34. Truly awesome quilt. I appreciate the details of the quilting which make my mouth water with how beautiful it is. I've done a quilt with the migrating geese and have not quilted it yet because I was stumped. Thank you for the inspiration. Your photography is wonderful and the detail with the flange is so cool. I'm sure Aiden will be super pleased!

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  35. It looks great and your quilting is fan-tab-u-lous! I love that you've added in your initials; that is such a great idea! Thanks for sharing the info on the migrating geese - they are on my to do list.

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  36. A marvelous orange transparency. I will check out that pattern at,Craftsy. The Quilting is so perfect for each area. Love the ghost Geese and the swirls.

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  37. Beautiful quilt, you made a sunset and the quilting is exquisite (my favorite latest word to use to describe machine quilting that I envy). Some of the photos of the quilts are draped very interesting (wink). Your very lucky to find wonderful places to showcase the quilt--where I live I have nothing.

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  38. So beautiful! I love the oranges and the quilting.

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  39. What a wonderful quilt! I love the pattern, but you have definitely kicked it up with those beautiful oranges and that quilting! You really know how to show off some great piecing. The hidden geese are a surprising little touch and really do it justice. It's hard to say just how much I like the quilt--there's are so many good features!

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  40. Oh, my goodness! It's absolutely gorgeous! And your quilting is fantabulous! Bet he was pleased! What lovely photo shoots, too.

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  41. just love this quilt - the colour is so awesome and the flying geese border is so perfect !

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  42. I actually thought I had commented on this beautiful quilt . I had read the post , I commented in my head ! I love orange so I love the vibrancy of this quilt. It has a real glow about it which is accentuated by the fabulous natural light of your backdrop . You alwsys get such scenic shots ! X

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  43. Beautiful quilt! You have a lot of really nice photos of it!

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  44. Your quilt is gorgeous and the quilting is absolutely amazing. Thanks for linking up with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal and congrats on your finish.

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  45. I love your quilt! Your quilting is awesome!

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