2/3/15

Keep Awake and Bind On

It was a slow morning here. Mike and I went to bed fairly early last night. He sat up reading for a while, but I turned out my own light pretty early on. That meant I slept until 2:30 and then woke up. After two hours lying awake, I decided I might as well get up. That meant that around 8:30 this morning, I laid down for a morning nap and caught up on the sleep I still needed. It sure throws a monkey wrench into my morning routine when that happens. Fortunately it doesn't happen often.



So aside from my usual catching up on all things online, I did some embroidery, and then planned a trip to the grocery store. When I got home, I was finally able to get in some sewing.

Yesterday I did the quilting for the Fractured Flower Garden quilt. As I said yesterday, I kept the design simple. With all those vertical and horizontal lines, I decided it needed some soft curves, loops, and circles. It's a little hard to see the black thread on black fabric, and so I've messed with the contrast and brightness to make the stitching show up a little better in these images.





When it was all finished, it looked like this...not so different from how it looked before it was quilted, but there you go.



Here's how it looks on the back. I needed a little more length to that piece, and so I added those black panels. 


The black fabric I'm using is a special purchase I made for the Plain and Simple quilt, way back when. And that gives me an excuse to post a picture of Plain and Simple, one of my favorite quilts ever.


My long arm quilter, Erin Davis, did the beautiful quilting on this quilt. Erin is especially good with traditional designs, and she really did a great job for me. There are some nine-patch blocks in that quilt, and so I'll use this as my link-up for the 9-Patch theme today at:

Val's Quilting Studio

You can see the post I wrote when this quilt was finished right here.

Anyway...that black fabric is a very tight weave, like a batik, and so black it's almost blue. It was perfect for my Amish sampler, and I used up the last of it in this Fractured Flower Garden. I bring that up because I noticed a little bearding on the black panels on the back, possibly because of the tight weave of the fabric? Only guessing, but maybe the needle had to work a little harder to punch through.

So I took the advice of my good blogging friend Sue who told me that if one sprays water on bearding, it will suck back into the fabric when it dries. And it worked! Such a simple solution to a vexing problem.

After I got home from the grocery store today, I had some time to machine sew the binding onto my quilt. Thanks to all who offered up your opinons and suggestions for the binding. I decided to go with the black binding, but I included a very narrow little flange of the pinky red stuff. Here's how it looks:


There's about four inches left of that original five-yard piece of black now. I suppose it'll get used sometime. All that's left to do now is to hand sew the binding, and this third challenge for Project Quilting 6 will be finished. Cutting those blocks into little pieces was gratifying on so many levels, and I ended up with a pretty quilt in the deal. You can't beat that.

22 comments:

Teresa in Music City said...

Way to go ... wonderful finish!!!

Nanna said...

yea for a finish! I've got a quilt that I started way over 5 yrs ago, we wont talk about it lol! lol!

Helen

Patricia said...

I unfortunately identify all too well with the awake in the middle of the night pattern. Nice finish the red flange sets it off nicely. It has the illusion of something that can almost be identified by starring at it long enough.

Marei said...

Nice job with the quilting....I agree it needed swirly curly lines to soften the whole feel....and the pinky red flange works perfectly. About what size did this turn out to be?

Sandi said...

Barb, I really didn't think that the pinky-red binding would work but it's great! Really a nice quilt/wall hanging. What are it's measurements?

Sandi said...

Oops I see the pinky red is a flange and it has a black border....now I see why it works so well. Love it!

Sharon said...

Your quilting is looking really good. How do you like your Handi-Quilter by now? Have you ever heard of Christina Cameli? Her quilting is amazing. She has two books published and teaches quilting in Portland, I believe. Her Craftsy class is so worth taking - and watching over and over again. I bet you'd really like her because she is a nurse/midwife. (Her hair is pretty great, too.)

Vroomans' Quilts said...

It looks really lovely! I'm not a flange person, but it does add at times - it really works here. I am sure chopping and slicing those flowers (and the finished results) was very gratifying.

Sue said...

What a fabulous quilt. It all goes together perfectly! I love the black background....it really makes the colours pop. I like the way you quilted the background. It is really effective. How you have used a flange in your quilt has inspired me to have a go at it myself!

mumbird3 said...

Thanks for the tip on bearding - will have to try it out!

Barb H said...

Great job, as usual! :)

Lynette said...

That flange is perfect~! Love the tiny pop of a frame it makes. Hey - about the bearding - did you use a natural fiber batting? I've heard the water trick won't work on poly batts, so I wondered if your experience says differently?

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Barbara thanks for sharing this very modern finish with us today at Tuesday Archives. I really want to try the flange dbinding method soon!! It's on my to do list now...as I too love how yours pops the quilt!

quiltzyx said...

WooHoooo! I like the idea of curvy quilting with very geometric piecing. And the pinky flange is awesome. Glad the water spray worked too!

Dar said...

Great finish!

Junebug613 said...

Absolutely fabulous! The flange is such a simple, but elegant touch. LOVE IT! Congratulations on the fantastic finish!

KatieQ said...

I love the little pop the pink flange gives the border.

Kate said...

Adding the bit of pink was definitely inspired thinking.

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

As per the norm, your handiwork shines, Barb. I love the black and how it just sets everything off. I never appreciated black until I left the Tropics and moved north.

Lynne said...

Love the little pinky-red strip before adding the black border -- inspired touch indeed!

Michele said...

I think your curves and swirls was the perfect design choice and you did end up with a very nice finished project. I'm betting Mr. Smitty approves too.

Brown Family said...

I think the flange sets it off! Great job!