Thursday, January 25, 2018

No Broken Bones Required

My sweet great Niece Olivia knows that I do comfort quilts for the cancer center, veterans and those in the hospital that need a good warm quilty hug.  She also likes quilts.  She also hasn't gotten a quilt from me since she was born  and has grown out of that one just tad (she's a freshman in high school - a TEENAGER, almost driving, whatttttt??? where do the years go?).  She said "so.....what do I have to break a bone or something to get another quilt?".  No, no, no honey, and thus the name of this quilt, No broken bones required.  Ya, she's been asking for a quilt for so long that I when I finally started working on this one I had to make sure the color scheme in her room was still the same and she still wanted to the gold and grey. Yep, I got it made before the color scheme changed!!  It's just a simple something that I worked on when the On Ringo Lake got to be  a bit too much and I just needed to sew.  Now to get her quilted.
No Broken Bones Required
I decide to just leave Old Friends as is.  She's now trimmed and sits waiting patiently for binding.  Ugh, I so dislike binding.  I'm gonna throw this out there again, anyone  local (within an hours drive) of Crystal Lake, IL that either does binding (I'll pay) or wants to trade binding service for quilting service, just let me know. Please, please, please, don't make me put the binding on this thing :)  Here's some detailed picks a little better than the last set.  When you finish such a big quilting project like this there is definitely a sense of accomplishment.  So happy to have it done. But I also spent a good part of every single day for over 2 weeks with this old friend and now I feel just a tiny bit of sense of loss without her on the frame.  Anyone else feel that way after a really tough project?  Guess I ought to just get her done and on bed and then I'll be nice and close to this old friend again.









Whooping it up for another finish!!  I'm on a roll here.  Check out the link parties on the side bar, so much to see out there.  Have a great weekend.

17 comments:

  1. You are so funny about the binding! On the quilt that I just finished, I realized that I spent more time hand stitching the binding to the back of the quilt (over SIX HOURS!) than the time it took me to do the pantograph quilting! That was a real eye opener, and I'll be trying out one of the machine binding techniques for my next quilt. I wouldn't mind binding a masterpiece like your Old Friends quilt for you even if it took me 10 hours of hand stitching, but alas, Charlotte, North Carolina is a bit farther away than the 1-hour drive! I would gladly trade binding services for longarm quilting lessons from you; your work is just gorgeous.

    Now, your quilt for Olivia is making me feel a bit guilty because my younger son is the same age as Olivia, and he still has the froggy quilt on his bed that I made for him for his 2nd birthday. And it's literally falling apart at the seams!! I had this idea of doing a version of the Moda Modern Building Blocks sampler quilt for him and I resized it in EQ to fit his bed and planned all of the colors, bought all of the fabric, made ONE block for it, and then got distracted by other projects... He keeps nagging me about it, especially as I'm finishing up quilts that I'm gifting to other people!!

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  2. Sew the binding by machine, no one says you have to hand sew binding anymore, not even show judges ;) I spoke to a national quilt judge and she tells me as long as it's evenly placed and well sewn they don't care if it's done by hand or machine.

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  3. LOVE all those closeup pics of your quilting. Yummy! I would take you up on that trade in a heartbeat if I lived closer. Sadly, I'm in Idaho. :(

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  4. Sue, I'm local (Woodstock) and would be happy to bind your quilt. (I know, I'm crazy...) I sew by machine on the front, and hand stitch on the back. Would be happy to show you one of my quilts if you'd like to see my work.

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  5. The flying geese is perfect for a teenager and again, you quilting on Old Friend is simply breathtaking!

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  6. Two beautiful quilts! I think the flying geese quilt will be just great for her!

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  7. A lovely arrangement of Flying Geese.

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  8. I'm in awe of your talent. This is beautiful. I'd even bind it for you if we lived closer. (although I'm not a fan of binding either. Most of mine are done both sides by machine.)

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  9. I'm close, but not close enough to help with the binding. Your quilting is magnificent. Binding for quilting... even though I LOVE free motion quilting, I don't have the ability to do ruler work, since neither of machines are adaptable to a ruler foot. Looks like you are quite comfy with "heirloom" quality quilting.

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  10. I love the sophisticated color palette of your niece's quilt. The arrangement of geese is perfect for it. Those pictures with the sunshine are mesmerizing with your amazing quilting.
    I hope you can get that binding on soon (no matter who does it) so you can enjoy the quilt even more. I think of binding the same way I used to think of hemming when I made clothing--a big source of procrastination even though I want a finish so much. Good luck finding a solution!

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  11. I love the quilting on your Old Friends quilt and would love to bind it for you. I like binding my quilts, because it's the last step to the project. I'd love to make a trade of services with you, as quilting is not my strong suit and I often take my projects to a local LAQ; but alas, I'm in Arizona. Maybe another time.

    I also love your flying geese quilt. I've found I enjoy the look of flying geese and plan to make more flying geese quilts in the near future.

    Thanks for sharing!

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  12. Trade binding for quilting? Wish I lived closer!! OK, so maybe not THAT close. I'm allergic to cold weather!

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  13. Is there a pattern for your Flying Geese Quilt? I would love to make one!

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  14. Old Friends is just jaw-dropping STUNNING! Wish I was closer, as I'd bind her (not that's it a favourite part for me either) just so that I could run my hands over and over that gorgeous texture and fine stitching...WOW. Love the name and the reason for your great-nieces' quilt, as well as the quilt itself, great colours. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF!

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  15. I would offer to bind it, too, but don't live close enough either! I love to do binding! The quilt for your great niece is gorgeous - I really like quilts made from HSTs!

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  16. Oh if only I lived closer. I love to sew binding! Such a good excuse to settle in with a nice movie or two or three.... So glad your great niece didn't need to break a bone. Family is a good cause for quilting too.

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  17. Oh, I definitely know what you mean about that feeling of loss after finishing the work on an intense quilt. Even when you're sick to death of it, it feels so EMPTY when that project is off the work zone. Too bad I'm in Colorado - I'd love to trade some time and do your binding for you. :) Hope you find someone soon. Your niece's quilt top is so pretty. You did a really nice job with her colors.

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