4/13/11

Fini!

I am so glad to have the entire Ribbit, Ribbit quilt finished, right down to its little label.


The quilting took much longer than I thought it would, which was a lesson learned.  It also took a lot more thread.  When I first started working on it, I felt as if I needed to finish it right away.  As the hours, days, and weeks passed, I was able to adopt a more relaxed attitude toward it.  It became clear to me that the quilting could not be rushed if I wanted it to look good.  This is the largest quilt I've attempted to free motion quilt, and it's also the largest quilt that I've spray basted.  The spray basting worked out great.  There isn't a single pucker on the back (at least none that I could find).  I don't think I've done as well with pin basting.

I did stitch in the ditch for the pieced blocks.  (Today I realized that I had a stitch-in-the-ditch foot that I could have used and saved myself some grief.  Next time I will.)  I did pebbling around the frogs:


That didn't take nearly as long as the "Wiggly Woven Lines" that I put in the outer border.



It's easier to see on the back.



The leaves I put in the inner border went the fastest, and they were much easier than I thought they would be.



The leaves and "Wiggly Woven Lines" are both designs from Leah Day's Free Motion Quilting Project.  Honestly, her blog is so helpful for a novice like me.

Finally, I made a label using our color printer and Printed Treasures printable fabric.


I just sew a little border around the fabric label after I print it, then sew it to the quilt.  This quilt is going to our friends, Larry and Tracy, who call their place the "Dancing Frog Ranch."  They are George and Gracie's original mom and dad, although we've had George and Gracie since they were kittens.  Larry and Tracy rescued them from a bad situation, and we ended up with them.  The quilt is from George and Gracie (even though their only contribution was sleeping on and under it while it was being made).

It's a little difficult to read in this image.  It says:  "Happiness is a Warm Lap."  Definitely.

6 comments:

Kate said...

It'a a great quilt! Your friend will love it.

Kathy said...

That turned out beautiful. I am sure Larry and Tracy will love it. I love the different stitches you did on it. Thanks for sharing with us.

Rhonda said...

Such a cute quilt! I'm sure your friends will love it a lot!!

Lynda Halliger Otvos (Lynda M O) said...

Looks great; you did a fab job and i love that you relaxed into it and wound up enjoying it.

quiltzyx said...

It turned out fabulously!

And I'll bet that George & Gracie contributed some to the batting too....

Stray Stitches (Linda G) said...

Darling quilt. Your quilting is perfect.