Friday 24 October 2014

Guest post from my mum: Twenty-three bubbles

Hi everyone - today my mum is guest posting about her latest quilt finish.

Hello I’m Adrianne’s Mum, Lynley. Adrianne asked if I would like to do a guest post about this quilt I recently finished. My response was not hugely enthusiastic, more shrugs and maybes than “of course, I’d love to dear”. I feel like a bit of a fraud writing a post about quilting as I haven’t been doing a lot. but I’ll give it a go.


Most of the fabrics are charm squares from the 2wenty Thre3 range by Eric and Julie Comstock and were bought, on impulse, at the end of an online order.  The impetus to make a quilt was a New Year’s resolution to make use of impulse buys and also to get back into quilting again with some small, simple projects.  The block used is called a Disappearing four-patch.  I probably first saw it on pinterest and then found a video on Missouri Quilts of a quilt being made (this one, I think). The piecing looked fun with enough of a challenge to keep me going.  Once the blocks were made I decided to loosely group the strong yellows and oranges together.


The two borders were added and then, the perennial, vexing question.  How to quilt?  Straight lines and monofilament have been my preferred safe approach, but I was keen to add some curves.  After weeks of sitting folded on the sewing table and periodically spread on the floor and puzzled over, Adrianne suggested quilting concentric circles.  This fitted the bill nicely.

The first circle was marked using an inverted large glass mixing bowl, and then sewn with a walking foot. I continued, in an outwards direction, quilting circles 3/4 inch apart using the walking foot guide. The smallest 3 or 4 circles were marked using a compass and also sewn with the walking foot. The smallest “circle” is rather wonky and is the best I could manage. In the middle is a slightly wonky plus. If I was making this quilt again I would centre the smallest circle around a patterned part of the quilt, not a plain square!


The binding is made from the back of the quilt. To do this, carefully trim the excess batting away and then trim the backing fabric 3/4 inch from the edge of the quilt and fold in half and press. The corners are then folded diagonally and then the rest of the backing, now the binding, is folded over the edge of the quilt. This will create mitred corners and the binding can be hand or machine stitched down (although with either method you will need to stitch up the mitred corners by hand first).


I enjoyed all parts of making this quilt and have a sense of satisfaction with the finished article.

Thanks Mum!  Mum has definitely been overly modest in this post.  She hasn't been quilting a lot lately, but she's really an accomplished quilter and her quilts are always impeccable.  She taught me to sew and all the quilting basics, which I still use today.

16 comments:

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

Lucky you to have such a clever mum! She nailed it with the circles :)

Vicki H said...

I am always stumped on how to quilt the quilt as well. You did a wonderful job. The quilt is awesome.

Dominique said...

Lynley, your quilt is awesome and if you had not mentioned the wonky small circle, I would not have noticed (though I will try to remember your advice). Adrianne, thanks for asking your mom for the guest post!

bee said...

lovely! the quilting really makes this sing. thanks for sharing this with us - great job! :)

magistra said...

I wish my Mum, or Mom :), would have been able to help teach me on quilting. But that's okay, because I have nice people like you and your daughter to show me the way. I have several charm square packets that I have been wondering what to do with them, I think I might try this modified four patch if it's not too difficult. I really love your quilt and I personally think binding it with the back sounds so sensible. I have started my first quilt, but haven't gotten that far yet. Thanks for the entry!

Beth
Magistra13 at yahoo dot com

Unknown said...

I love everything about this quilt. It's beautiful. Well done to your mum.

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl said...

I like the binding description and technique! The smallest circle doesn't look very wonky to me. :)

Kirsten said...

Really love this - the circular quilting looks amazing too!

Erica said...

The quilt is lovely. I can see where Adrianne gets her talent!

Unknown said...

What a blessing to have a Mum who sews. Mine can sew enough of a straight line to hem my Dad's trousers and that is it!

What a lovely happy looking quilt you have made too.

Leeanne said...

Lovely quilt! how cool to have a quilting Mum! I love the effect of the quilting.

Anonymous said...

Hi! First I'm so happy that you can share the quilting! I love this quilt! Everything is really beautiful! The layout with the colours, Fabrics and the quilting! I would love to see more your quilts! x Teje

Molli Sparkles said...

::waves at Adrianne's mum::

Lisa in Port Hope said...

The quilting complements the circles in the border really well. With a very rectilinear piecing such as this, the circular quilting is the perfect contrast. Thanks for the tip on centering it over a patterned section. I also do the very centre with my free motion foot, although my only circular attempt was on an 8"x8" piece.

dutchcomfort said...

Such a thrill to have a quilting Mum! The quilt and quilting are beautiful!

jeifner said...

It is wonderful!! Great use of the colors and prints of this line. The circle quilting is amazing and I can't see the least thing wrong with it. What a clever thing to put a plus in the middle! Great job!