Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Do people still read blogs? Northern Wilderness Quilt

Hello!!!  Is there anyone still out there?  It's been so long since I've blogged on a regular basis, 2018 ish????  And to be honest I've been using a lot of social media, facebook and instagram.  I just can't get into tic tok right now but I hear there's a boat load of stuff on there for quilting and crafts as well.  How do people do it all?

I retired this year  (hehehe so I can quilt more!! )and there are a number of occasions where I sat down and wanted to find out what regular quilters like me were doing.   So I opened up facebook (which I think has some really good  groups) and Instagram (which I think has taken a wrong turn since being purchased by Meta) and the inspiration just wasn't there.  Both of those platforms have  ALOT of adds and posts for business which is good becasue I'm pretty good at buying things.....not always that good with making things for those same purchases, but the potential is there!  However I wanted to see what real quilters were working on, not just the businesses that enable them.

The other big difference between a blog and a post on social media, is the content.  Blogs go into detail about the process the things that worked well, the things that didn't....you know what I'm talking about.  And honestly I want to show you what I'm working on  and see what your working on.  I'm interested in more than the shops and quilters that make close or more than 6 figures on the craft.  I want to see what those that are crafting are doing.  But blogging does take time....so we'll see if I can keep this up again.  

Goals for my blog are easy.  First to share my process and tools as much as I can.   I can show what works for me, what I liked what I didn't like.  I love getting comments from people on things that worked for them (I'm assuming there's still a person or two that reads blogs :).  Second to have  an archive of what I've make.  I did pretty good with the archives until 2019.  I know my producity was greatly reduced but there were quilts that were made, there were experitments gone both ways, good and bad.  So I'll try to catch up on a few of those for every new thing that I post about for 2022.

So with that said, I'm already a day late, I wanted to blog every Monday, but really do I need such strigent rules???  Rules are meant to be broken and I certainly wasted no time with this one!

What have I done in 2022?  I'll have to dig deep to find something, it's been a year!  When I said "bring on 2022 I'm ready"   I had no idea what is store!  But I was ready, almost, made it through and here we are today. Ready to be inspired?????  Lets start maybe with something that I didn't make but something that I quilted.

Theresa did a fabulous job on this #appliquequilt. It’s based on @northern_threads #northernwildernessquilt. Theresa made a few modifications, king size and she wanted the blocks to reflect her families travels to the national parks. Her and her daughter drafted a few blocks and it looks spectacular!! I have them all here! So hard to choose a favorite, but two of my favorites are at the end. Which blocks were modified?? First lets take a look at the whole quilt, wow, this will definitely be the star of the room! Its so big there's no way I could get a picture of the whole thing without a 12 ft ladder!

King Size Northern Wilderness Quilt
This quilt was meant to show all the national parks they have been to over the years, here's a couple they modified to better reflect their experiences.
He's hiking and he has a Cubs hat on in the top corner, int he bottom opposite corner you can see them white water rafting with the fire by the side of the river

She's in the kayak, I recognized her as soon as I saw it!

Her and her daughter drafted the train block, this was a special memory they wanted included and it's a fabulous block!!

I love when quilters do this, take a pattern and make it your own, personalize to you. This will certainly be treasured for many generations and I can just imagine future generations talking about the adventures that were had in all of the different blocks. Great job Janice
Here's a few more pics of the beautiful quilt -








Now for a few details on the quilting. This has one layer of quilters dream wool batting. Is there anything better than wool batting (provided you don't have allergies). I used a 60 wt Glide thread on top for all the dense background quilting. Mostly bottom line in the applique and pieced blocks. I try to do as little quilting on the applique and blocks so they really stand out in the quilt. If there is any area that has greater than a fist with no quilting, some will be add to help enhance the scene and provide a more consistent look to the quilting. Push the background back with dense quilting and that allows the pieced and applique to appear as though they are almost trupunto!

Rulers, you know there was not alot of ruler work but I think every ruler was on the table! I can't help it, even the straight line rulers, I used 5 different ones, totally not necessary but yet I can't find another way to do it!! Here's a picture of the threads, the marking tools and the key rulers after I cleaned up the others, oh it was such a mess! But neat and tidy for you!! If you're wondering why I have tape on the curved rulers, I do that so I know which part of the border nees which ruler and the location of where I should mark the dots for quilting. LOL I'd lose my mind if I didn't do that.
bottom line thread to match the applique and blocks

air erasable fine line marking tool and water filled pen for erasing (you dont' want to too much water in case the fabric bleeds.   And scrubbies, just in case you need to pick out a thread or two, they are great for catching those wayward threadst that have been rejected.

rulers, why do I need so many straight rulers???  The tape tells me where to put the registration marks for the border.

And just like that my first blog post of 2022 is complete. It's been a while since I've been in the linky parties, if you know any good ones, let me know, I'd love to join and go see what other are doing.

Have a wonderful quilty week!

13 comments:

  1. Hummm...I wonder if this will go thru? I can not get the setting right so that I do not post as anonymous... tried lots of times taking lots of time to do so ...so no more.
    But
    wanted to say welcome back to the bog and hope to see more. I do not Facebook, Instagram, tick tock or whatever but check the blogs every morning with a cup of tea and a bit of time.

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  2. Thank you for returning tto blogging! I love it. My computer would lock up if I was trying to see these pictures on Facebook. Your quilting makes the quilt - as always. Glad to see it up close. Hope you can continue to blog. You are still on my RSS feed.

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  3. Perfect timing for me regarding your post...I have my version of the Northern Wilderness quilt top loaded on my frame ready for quilting. I've been having trouble getting motivated to quilt mine. I did a google search and pinterest search to look for some quilting inspiration. Awesome to see how you tackled the design. Like you....I don't know how many people take the time to read blogs anymore but I mainly keep mine because it is a great way to keep track of what I'm doing. I publish a book from my blog at the end of the year. I love having a printed record of what I accomplished in the last year.

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  4. I am so glad your back!! I miss having blogs to read.

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  5. Welcome back! It's so good to be reading your blog again and see what you have been working on. I always enjoy see your amazing quilting, and this quilt is no exception--beautiful! Yes, I still read blogs and post to mine too (btw, thanks for the nice comment today!) I like connecting with other quilters through the blog, and it is also a great way to track past projects.

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  6. I read quilterblogs.com everyday, so I will catch you when you post. That quilt is amazing, and your quilting is beyond beautiful!

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  7. So happy to see you back! I've missed your blog! The Northern Wilderness quilt is FANTASTIC!

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  8. I read quilterblogs everyday. There are fewer and fewer blogs showing up. I don’t do Instagram and find Facebook just isn’t good about showing what I want to see. Hope to see more of your blog!

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  9. Welcome back! What a gorgeous quilt. Your quilting did it proud! Thanks for showing so many photos so I could really see the detail. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss linky. Hope to see more soon!

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  10. Yes, people still read blogs; people still write blogs.
    I've been blogging steadily, writing nearly every week (sometimes twice) since January 2007. At that time, there were tons of blogs, but soon everyone moved over to IG, especially after Facebook (now Meta) purchased it. But as of late, the only way to decently read Instagram is on a computer through the browser, which allows skipping all those ads and other pushed posts (I wrote about this two weeks ago).
    It's always good to have someone pick up the threads on their blogs, and find the space and time to write again.
    I do use Feedly as a blog reader, and it was nice to see your name pop back up. Happy writing, and happy reading!

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  11. I love blogs - so much more detail can be shared. And we can really see close up . So glad you are back... but not following your own rules - haha!!! I came to you from Midweek makers - and I host Finished ( or not )Friday - fun blog links ups to follow - hope to see you there.

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  12. Sue - it's so good to have you back! I enjoyed reading your post and feel very much the same way regarding Facebook, Instagram, all the ads, and just wanting to read a blog to learn something. Unfortunately, I do think blogs are on the decline, saved for us old dinosaurs. Other media avenues have taken over, which I just don't have the time to invest in. So, blog when you can (yes, there really are no rules!) as I always love seeing your work. You're quilting is such an inspiration!

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  13. That quilt is stunning and your quilting absolutely makes it! I just found you and was glad to find a good blog to read. Please keep blogging, if you can. I read quilt blogs every morning in the quiet dark with my coffee. Your blog seems so interesting!

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I would love to hear from you, comments and questions welcome!