A Is For Alex Quilt Finish!

Front
Front
Front

That time of relief, pride and all that jazz that exists before the next project, is here. That’s right. I took the quilt to a pub to photograph it. That is what we do in Portland. My Art Director, there to the right, made sure her daddy was taking the photos correctly and made sure I was holding it straight.

It has been washed and dried already (and slept with) successfully.

Here’s the back.

Back
Back

It was a completely unplanned quilt all the way through the process, and I don’t think I could have planned it better. Most importantly, Alex is happy with it. He says, “It’s super comfy.” Sweet. That, and he’s kicked all other blankets aside in favor of his new quilt, is all we can hope for at the end of the day – actions are worth a thousand words.

It’s quilted on a big “+” down the middle and then the quadrants echoed out from that. I was a bit worried with the wonky blocks on the back that I might get some puckering even with a walking foot and Aurifil 50 wt (in Slate gray), but nada. I’m a happy mommy.

Here’s some of the up-close business if you’re interested, complete with crinkly-after-wash-goodness.

is for alex
is for alex
tail feather
tail feather
left over tail feathers
left over tail feathers
Front Star 1
Front Star 1
back improv block 2
back improv block 2
back improv 1
back improv 1
back block 2
back block 2
back block 1
back block 1

and a few of the Artistic Director doing exactly what you hope a child will do with a quilt…marvel at all the fun fabrics (I rub my hands together and say, “yes, yes, there will be an apprentice….”).

mini me
mini me
Helper
Helper
designer
designer
critic
critic
art director
art director
4 Stars
4 Stars

So, that was a big chunk of my mid-to-late August sewing!

Details – let’s see. There’s some Chicopee in there, some Denyse Schmidt, some Zen Chic, some Birch Organic, some Moda – the gray slate is all Moda solid, there’s some real, first print 1995 script-text fabric courtesy of my most amazing, generous mother (score!), that big fruit was something I got a Joann’s – I think it’s their knock-off of Alexander Henry but it’s nicer feeling than their usual stuff…I dig it. What else, there’s some real Alexander Henry in there and some Red Rooster I think…and some scraps from Boersma’s and…scraps from Joann’s and whatnot. I tried out some Gutermann 50 wt while piecing it…and my machine’s take-up lever did NOT like it. I used Aurifil 50 wt in slate for quilting and had no issues the entire time. For the hand-binding, I used a yellow Gutermann in 40 wt that worked out great – hardly any curling/knotting. All thread is 100% cotton.

I have 2 more quilts to show you soon, er, in-progress quilts, and some shhhhhh secret pattern testing to do.

Pinwheel Potholder

Back Quilted

The colors in this block are comforting and as a family we decided to keep this one. I told my Robert it’s his.

Boersma's pinwheel
Boersma’s pinwheel

He makes eggs in the cast iron pan for himself and our youngest on his work-from-home days, so it will be well loved.

Instead of quilting the top to the InsulBright and the bottom to the batting, then combining them, I thought I’d try quilting the whole, squooshy thing together.

The pin basting almost made me give up on that idea. While you can’t tell how mooshy-squooshy it is on the front,

Extra Sandwich Front
Extra Sandwich Front

you certainly can tell from the back:

Extra Sandwich Back
Extra Sandwich Back

That scared me.

I put on my walking foot, and kept the same Aurifil 50wt in, I think it’s ‘slate,’ on the machine. It was a bit squirrelly. You can see I marked some lines…but it was still squiggly.

Quilting lines
Quilting lines

Here’s the top finished. The shifting wasn’t too bad, but some of those lines are wonky.

Top Quilting
Top Quilting

Here’s the back:

Back Quilted
Back Quilted
Back Quilting Close Up
Back Quilting Close Up

I did the self-binding from the back…I probably should have changed thread color here to the purple or used bias tape for a cleaner finish, and if it was going as a gift, I certainly would have redone that part, but for home use, I’m good with it.

Self Binding
Self Binding

Here’s some shots of the Pilot FriXion pen (again) that was brown used on gray Kona to show it ironed out:

Ironed FriXion Markings
Ironed FriXion Markings

I sound like I’m not happy with it. I am…I just know I rushed it and I was tired, you know? It’s very pretty still.

Purple Potholder
Purple Potholder

Pretty pretty pretty.