Saturday, July 30, 2011

Adding spirals


I've finished the filler quilting on all four squares in the big quilt and have moved on to the triangles. Echoing was sufficient in the squares, but the triangles have odd spaces that did not look right with the echoing. It was my chance to insert some traditional spirals.


I must admit, though, that these spirals were not quilted free hand as I talked about in this post. I found I just couldn't get the outer curve right. So I resorted to free hand marking in advance of quilting, using a prismacolor verithin silver pencil. Unlike regular graphite pencil, this rubs right off when no longer needed. Or, as in my case, when the lines need slight editing... Each square took about 3-1/2 hours to quilt. I think the triangles will take a bit longer, but it's hard to tell from this first one - I spent quite a bit of time taking out stitches that weren't working.

You might also want to check out the latest post on my Newspaper Blackout Obituaries blog.

6 comments:

Amanda said...

Those corners are working really beautifully.

Cate Rose said...

Hand quilting at your age? I'm impressed!

Little Wren said...

What an amazing job!

The Idaho Beauty said...

ROFL Connie! You have to remember I committed to the hand quilting part 10 years ago...and now it feels like I should be committed to the loony bin. Seriously though, I've always found hand quilting relaxing (except when I set myself up for a struggle as I did here) but it does suck up the time and I've got a limited amount of that left I guess. ;-) Thus, no more bed size hand-quilted quilts after this one. However, it is warming me up for a couple of small art pieces I plan to hand quilt. Yeah, I guess you can go ahead and be impressed! vbg

Thanks Amanda and Little Wren. To be honest, the quilting stitches are not up to my old standard, but the best I can do on this quilt. Still, I'm very pleased with the overall effect.

MulticoloredPieces said...

Enjoying your blog while trying to beat the heat. Lovely textile work. I decided to quit hand quilting because I'd rather spend the time on needle-turn appliqué, but you just can't beat the look of hand quilting. Thanks for sharing.
best, nadia

The Idaho Beauty said...

Thanks, Nadia. I so agree about the look of hand quilting. I too enjoy needle-turn applique and like to take it with me on trips or outside when I want to enjoy the nice weather we are finally getting. Can't always do that with hand quilting.

Am off to check out your blog and get a peak at life and quilting in Tunisia! Gotta love the way the internet has opened up the world to us. Thanks for seeing what I'm up to.