Design Wall Monday rolls around again. See more design walls on Judy's Small Quilts and Doll Quilts blog.
I am happy to say that the Dreamweaver quilt for our son and daughter-in-law has now been quilted. Man, I have had such a time with this quilt--trouble of my own making, for sure! Again, this is a Jen Kingwell design that I greatly enlarged; my background squares are 3" finished.
Last post, I mentioned that I had added quilting pins to the quilt sandwich after stippling the top third of the background...well, due to the significant problems with skipped stitches while trying to buttonhole stitch the appliques and quilt at the same time, I ended up removing all the quilting pins so I could fold the backing and batting out of the way, and stitch the appliques only through the quilt top.
These specialty needles were allegedly nonstick, but the Steam-A-Seam continually gummed up the needle anyway. Lots more skipped stitches...
I'm sure the white on white print and seam allowance contributed to the stitches completely skipping here, but in other places there was skipping for no good reason. Lengthening and widening the stitch after this attempt did help some. I persevered, stopping frequently to remove gunk from the needle with an alcohol prep pad. Finally all the applique was finished and I could fold down the batting and backing and finish the quilting with a regular size 14 needle. It was tedious to quilt between the appliques with the stipple and I began to wish I'd just stitched in the ditch in the patchwork. It was far too late to turn back at that point, however!
The medallion took a couple of tries and some unpicking, separated by backyard breaktime, in order to get it all right. The bobbles and imperfections of my free motion quilting will hopefully be less noticeable once the quilt is bound, labeled, and washed. Those tasks are scheduled for this week. I'd love to get some glamour shots of the quilt at the beach by the end of the week.
Our soon-to-be-born grandson has not turned head down yet and their OB doctor has discussed performing an external version to turn him. Our third baby was the same, three weeks before her due date; but once threatened with the procedure, she turned herself head down one night while I was sleeping and I never had to bear that trial! We got a long email from our son and daughter-in-law regarding getting TDAP and flu vaccines and COVID-19 testing, self-quarantining before seeing the baby. So scary to have a baby during a pandemic with no treatment in sight. We will at least get to socially distance visit in the backyard, we're told :)
10 comments:
I really love your low volume background! The applique-quilt works better when I do it by hand; I had the same results when I tried to machine applique through all the layers. I think the stippling really added a lot! Hope the baby gets turned easily, I don't think that is any fun to go through.
So sorry to hear of the trials and tribulations of the final applique and the skipped stitches.
Love the quilt.... I have been playing with an idea for a dream catcher quilt for awhile and that low volume background is the kick I need to make it happen!
Wow! I didn't realize you were this far along. What a wonderful quilt for your son and daughter-in-law! It's beautiful and such a work of love for them. The binding will be a cinch in comparison to all the other work.
Praying that baby gets headed in the right direction without any help. Glad the parents are being so cautious and smart about protecting the new one. Hope you can cuddle the baby though sooner than later!
That steam a seam is tough to quilt through. I’ve started using Misty Fuse bits a bit more expensive but much lighter and less gummy. Happy to see you persevered. It’s really pretty!
It is a gorgeous quilt--love dream catchers. You have persevered through so many challenges with this. I am very impressed.
So hard not to be able to cuddle the new wee one, but you definitely want to keep everyone safe.
Your quilt is beautiful but I feel your pain about the quilting... last time I did one of my own I had this issue with skipped stitches and it drove me nuts... I'll be saying a prayer for the baby.. it is a scary time... I hope your son can be with your daughter in law at the birth. I've heard some places aren't letting anyone in with the mother... how heartbreaking that must be for all... take care!
I can imagine how frustrating it is to have to deal with skipped stitches on a quilt of that size. And all the stippling too! Bravo to you for sticking it out! The result is wonderful!
I will be hoping for the best for your new grandchild... Yes, it does seem to be a scary time to be bringing a baby into the world... my daughter has until December to make plans but I wonder when I will ever get to see our first grandchild... Baby quilt in the making at any rate! (But the post office isn't taking packages so the quilt may not even get to the States!)
Sorry for the painful finishing process, but it was certainly worth it, you've got a beautiful quilt almost finished. I can't imagine having a baby right now or needing cancer treatments, or any type of surgery right now.
What a great quilt. Sometimes the harder the struggle, the more we appreciate it.
The color palette is so soft and pretty. Wonderful!
I hope the baby has turned. What a difficult time to face medical treatments.
So frustrating with the skipped stitches! It looks great though!
It sure is a very challenging time for birthing babies right now... I really feel for the new moms.
Post a Comment