Vintage Valentine Finish!

Jun 21, 2020

I am finally finished the Vintage Valentine Quilt!

Only 17 years in the making! I spent many hours quilting it.

I am always so surprised when I take a quilt off the frame. I have a handiQuilter Avante which has an 18 inch throat space. Truthfully when I am doing custom work I couldn’t really work on anything larger than that, my arms simply aren’t that long.

However, what I find is that you are concentrating so hard on that small space and in that space you see every error and imperfection.

Then, when you finally take that quilt off the frame and stand back. Wow!

Suddenly all those imperfections blend in with the whole and they are not noticeable anymore.

Accomplishment

I am so proud of myself over this quilt. Normally, I let fear and judgement stop me. I have left quilt tops sitting for years as I was too scared to quilt them the way I wanted them to be quilted. I mean, what if I made a mistake!

Not this time, I knew that this quilt deserved something more than simple all over quilting or even light custom quilting.

I’m glad I decided to just go for it even though I used so many new to me techniques.

 When I finally pulled this quilt off the frame it took my breath away! I was so happy with the result, mistakes and all.

I LOVED quilting this quilt. I had client quilts backing up in my queue so I ended up quilting until midnight for 2 nights just to get this off my frame.

I so enjoyed the process of both the quilting and the design phase that I am now thinking up different designs for the Flower Basket quilt top that is next on my list. I was originally thinking of just doing something simple but am rethinking that now. This one might prove to be more challenging as it has a black background however, we’ll see.

Lesson Learned

For anyone just starting out with your quilting and you get anxious over your mistakes, really, unless they are HUGE, once that quilt is finished, and you are looking at the quilt as a whole, you will never, ever see the imperfections.

It’s kinda like life, when you stand back and look at your life as a whole, the imperfect parts drift away.

Remember to keep challenging yourself it’s the only way to grow and improve in both quilting and life! 

Quilting Vintage Valentine Forever Hand Applique Project

May 18, 2020

Have you ever tried to get good at something and then given up because you start comparing your work, life or whatever it is you are trying to achieve to someone else?

Well, that is totally happening to me for the past two weeks. I finally had a lull in between client quilts (more are on the way) so I decided to put the endless Vintage Valentine hand applique quilt on the frame.

Now, do I just throw the quilt on the frame, quilt it with all-over design and call it done? No, I decide to practise and do something different, something I wouldn’t do on a client quilt (it would take far too long).

Of course, the design is something I don’t do on a consistent basis, not to mention something I have actually never done before, so I immediately went into comparison mode and ended up walking away from the project completely depressed because my quilting didn’t look perfect like all of the quilters in the magazines and online that win awards.

It’s also the first time I have ever used a blue washout marking pen on an actual quilt, not just a practice piece, and I was so nervous, especially as I have spent years on this baby!

Sigh, of course, it wouldn’t look like that, it is something I have never done before. To get as good as the award winners would mean that I would have to put hours of practice in, something I obviously haven’t done. Quilting pantographs or even light custom quilting isn’t the same as starting on “micro quilting”.

There is a quote from Marie Forleo that I came across the other day “Success doesn’t come from what you do occasionally, it comes from what you do consistently”.

This quote is so true and something I obviously forget when I start thinking I am going to be perfect at something on my very first try.

Now, truthfully the quilting isn’t bad, I am obviously not a total novice, but when it comes to some of these designs, I do need more practice.

But, hey, I am branching out, and getting it done! When the quilt is off the frame it will look amazing (as long as you don’t look too closely). With all of the work I have done with this quilt I am not giving it away so putting the extra time and effort into it is worth it for me.

I am actually really proud of myself for just getting in and trying something different instead of taking the easy way out.

Way to go me!

How about you, do you expect perfection on the first try?

Works in Progress

Jan 29, 2017

Well, here we go again and another week gone by. I woke up on Monday morning not feeling well, and sure enough I ended up with the cold that seems to be making it around the city of Victoria. I guess it’s that time of year. I’m finally feeling better now though yeah!

So, in light of the fact I wasn’t feeling well, not a lot got done last week.  The Cloth Castle  where I am now working part time is a one stop sewing and quilt shop so they sell regular sewing fabric, home dec fabric, quilting fabric as well as notions, sewing machines and even knitting supplies. I used to sew my own clothes and knit my own sweaters but then I found quilting and well that has been my focus for the past 11 years or so. So since I was down for the count anyhow I used my time to brush up on watching YouTube videos on sewing and knitting as a refresher for myself.

I did get a hand applique block completed though.

vintage-valentine-1

The pattern is Vintage Valentine by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool. This is block 10 of 12. I started sewing these blocks about 11 years ago. This was supposed to be a block of the month which has turned into a block of the year (more or less). I will finish this one day but not sure when.

I also managed to finish the quilting on my first great niece’s quilt. I just have to sew the binding on now.

 

I did take a picture of the quilt but it didn’t turn out well and I ran out of time to retake it so I will have to show a better picture when I have finished sewing the binding on. I choose to highlight the star with straight lines and just did a simple stipple in the centre as I wanted the dog fabric in the centre to shine and didn’t want anything too complicated to take away the focus from the fabric. I choose to replicate the stipple in the border however I doubled back to make a ribbon effect just because it make it look a little fancier.

I like how this quilt turned out and am hoping my nephew and his wife will like it too.

In light of what is going on in the world I wanted to close this post with this quote.

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Please remember to love one another.

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