6/12/21

Harvest Time

It's a farm quilt right? When it's nearly finished, it would seem appropriate to start the harvest. And when it's all finished, the harvest will be in, right? It makes me think of that old church hymn, "Bringing in the Sheaves." So, yeah. I'm so old I've actually sung that song in church. It might even have been the day it was written, or certainly when it was still listed in the Top Ten.

So the quilting is finished. YAHOO!! I can't even tell you how much I dreaded this project. Now that it's finished, I'm wondering why I thought it would be so awful. Of course, my little quilting cat was by my side throughout, and I'm sure that made it easier. Certainly it made it slower.


I needed to finish quilting the sashings and borders. I used this motif I found on Pinterest:


It was easy to do, and it made me think of rolls of wire used for fencing. When it was all finished, I took it off the machine and laid it out on the floor.


Here's a peek at the back:


Smitty was exhausted after that effort. He needed a neck massage.


Finishing a big quilt like this always kills my sewing ambition for the remainder of the day, but I did take the quilt down to my work table and square it up for binding. The binding strips are already cut.


I sorted through the remaining scraps left from the quilt and put those away. I had some nice sized pieces of yardage that I can use in another quilt, and I had lots of little pieces left. 

While I was at it, I took a look at the embellishments. They aren't as involved as I thought they would be. I'll be adding apples to the apple trees, and a bell to the cow.


Also, there's a handle for this "bucket." It doesn't look like a bucket to me though. It looks like a bushel basket, which wouldn't have a handle. What do you think? 


I'm seriously considering leaving the handle off. Besides, I'm not sure how to sew it on. A zig-zag stitch over the ends might work. Now here's a question: how many of us learned the measures of a bushel and a peck in about the second grade, only never to see them ever again in life? 

Also, I'm going to add some black beads to the cat's eyes where I couldn't keep those little black pupils attached. And, point of reference, cats' eyes do not have round pupils. They are elliptical in shape. Sadie was extremely offended by this.


So today's sewing effort will be to get the binding sewn on by machine, and then begin the long journey of hand-stitching it down. This might be a good project to take along on our camping trip next week if I haven't finished it before we go. For sure, I'll be taking along some slow-stitching.

Speaking of camping, I need to make a short trip to the grocery store today. Saturday...I know...a person could die out there among the English. Like I said, it will be a short trip. And then, I'm still hoping to get a start on the pattern for the Sonora Desert Landscape. It still sits where I left it days ago.


Also, I brought out my next quilting project, and it's draped over my sewing chair to relax the wrinkles from it. Here's a picture I took as I was sandwiching it for quilting in December of 2018. Consider that for a moment. That was a full year before the pandemic started. Good grief. It's been waiting its turn ever since.


These panels were created by Hoffman, and they come in many different colors. You can see more of them at this link. I decided to buy one while watching others quilt them on a Facebook free motion quilting group. It seemed like good practice, and that's all I'm doing with it. I've seen some others that were all fancied up with borders and quilt blocks. Mine will end up a nice sized lap quilt or a wall hanging when I'm finished with it. Mainly, my goal is practice. It'll be at least a week or two before I get started on it. 

So aside from grocery shopping, I'll get back to my quilt binding and my slow-stitching. It's a day to relax, I think.

14 comments:

Barbara said...

With every deed you are sowing a seed, though the harvest you may not see. ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Betty said...

Congrats on this grand finish! I agree that looks like a bushel basket and would not have a wooden handle.

Darlene S said...

You are quite close to an official finish on such a beautiful quilt. I love your ideas for adding some colored beads. I too have a Hoffman panel (Dream Big ?) in my stash that needs to be quilted as I was also inspired by what everyone created and shared in that Facebook group. I'd like to finish one of these panels using true FMQ and another with machine embroidery, to practice multi-hooping. But then, thinking of stitching two is coming from my inner squirrel so no telling when I'll get a round to it. You get way more finished than I can dream about. Congratulations!

Julierose said...

Definitely a bushel basket--I vote for no handle...
Congratulations on your quilting finish! Funny I always feel no energy after a finish for a couple days sometimes...
I finished my "The Cherry Thief" this morning--all bound and labeled...
A small one--but a finish YAY!!
Hugs julierose

Robin said...

You have done a beautiful job on this quilt. So nice!

Dorothy said...

I hope every one was safe at the grocery store. :-)

gpc said...

Ah yes, be wary of dose English. Another church song stuck in my head. A perfect addition to my weekend.

AnnieO said...

Congratulations on getting the quilting to a finish—it was labor intensive and looks great.
My sister quilted a dream panel as a wedding gift for a relative—so special. Today I ran into a fellow guild member at a quilt shop and she had driven her yellow dune buggy—on the roof was a Dream Fall Leaf panel she had vinylized! It was spectacular.

piecefulwendy said...

Given the proportion of the chick to the basket, I'd say it's definitely a bushel basket, and I'd leave the handle off. Around here we have smaller versions of that bushel basket, and the smaller ones do have a handle. However, the chick is key in this case. Anyway - yippee for getting the quilting done. Glad Smitty was on hand to help as much as he could!

Grandmother Carolyn said...

WOW - Words of Wisdom.............mebbe!

A basket isn't a bushel until you add the handle ~ oh, wait....maybe the bushel isn't a basket until you add a handle............hmmmm.....

Regardless, that farm piece is GORGEOUS - with or without a handle....
C

Pam Dempsey said...

Miss Sadie is SO beautiful!

Joan G said...

Beautiful job on the farm quilt! Your quilting never ceases to amaze me! I agree with you, leave the handle off. Maybe you can incorporate it some other way or use it for another project.

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Any bushel basket I've seen only has two small 'loops' on either side - no large handle. My vote is to leave it off. Seeing that Hoffman panel reminded me of seeing a post online about someone stealing a finished quilt using that panel from a quilt show and asking that people share the post in hopes that it would be returned. Wonder if it ever was.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

How exciting to see this piece so close to a finish. Have always fancied that panel, but not talented enough to do it justice.