Mariner's Sunset is finished

Some quilts are like a monkey on my back, keeping me from doing new projects, but also scary enough that progress is very sloooow. This one is large, finishing at 72" x 96" and putting on the facing and sleeve by hand took several sports shows and a few editions of NCIS. 

But it is up on a wall, and FOR SALE. I'm hoping for a hotel or some other business with a large space will be interested in it. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the thing, even if it overwhelmed me, particularly the colors and the waves.

And I've started another quilt... more later!

Help...?!!

I'm hand sewing the facing to the back of Mariner's Sunset. It is about 28 feet around so will take a few days. I'll post a picture when it is finished, but I'm very happy with how it looks (as long as no one looks too closely). Getting this one finished will set me free from the nagging so I can move on...

And in that department, I have a question...

The quilt to the right, Kali's Cherry Tree, needs to be quilted. I've been procrastinating on this one too. I have decided how to mount it (it will be framed) but am not sure about the quilting. I don't want it to take over the design, but also don't want to do an all-over panto-type either. 

Any ideas? Email me, or put them in the comments for this post. All suggestions welcome!

Progress Report: Mariner's Sunset

No, I've not died or moved out of cyberspace... just busy. Some of that busyness is quilting progress on this 101" wide by 75" deep quilt. The sky and most of the sea is done, as is the "sun" --- so I'm working on the rocks and the foreground water. After that is done, I still have to applique leaves on the sky and then quilt them. To see a full view, click here. This is a big project, so I'm about ready to make more postcards!

Progress report

These are five blocks for a quilt group - we are each to make floral strip sets in "quilt as you go" fashion. One of the leaders will use narrow sashing strips to join them. I made nine, four in medium tones, five in darker fabrics. She will arrange them by graduation of tones. This will be a charity quilt. 

The other picture is a close-up of some of the quilting on Mariner's Sunset. This shows about 10" in the middle of the compass where the "sun" meets the water. The water has not been quilted but will have horizontal lines of reflection, etc. Now that this is on the machine and square, and controllable, it is more of a "tamed monster" instead of being so intimidation. It's a pleasure to work on, a bit each day, in my style of free motion doodling.

Mariner's Sunset Progress

Last Monday I put this monster on a table (where it hung over all edges) and then on my living room floor to get it squared up so the horizon was level, and to trim the edges, and get the foreground rocks in the right places. Did lots of pinning and basting also. Two-three hours later and I took these pictures. I'm too old to crawl around on the floor so needed a massage on Wednesday! My thighs are still a bit sore but I'm accepting that 'no pain - no gain' bit of wisdom.

That is because this is starting to look the way I hoped. Lots to do yet though... the tulle over the "sun" reflection in the water is cut too large, so you can see a gray circle that will not be there when it is done. Also, there is a patch in the sky that needs some lighter tulle. The leaves that frame the sides and top (scroll to sketch in earlier post) will go on later, after I get some quilting done to hold all this together. It is already pinned to the back leader for my HQ 16, but I might baste it instead. 

This one is physically hard work! It is now 101" wide x 75" tall, and I do have a place to hang it, but if anyone knows of a hotel or such that has a nice big blank wall, do let me know! My aches are telling me that I would be glad to sell it to anyone who is interested.
 

K-5 - Fractured & Frazzled Flowers

 

This is K-5 Fractured and Frazzled Flowers. The title came from the fabric, design and the goofy way that I quilted it. Just have to finish sewing on the sleeve and the label and it's done. I'm waiting for the next football game :-) Also added a close up so you can see what I mean by frazzled...

I had enough leftovers from cutting my strata to make another star/kaleidoscope. Yikes, this is addicting. 

I also have Mariner's Sunset on the HQ-16, partly. So it is going to get finished, but it is 101" wide so will take some time to quilt. The water needs more rocks yet.This is only my drawing since I cannot get far enough back from the quilt to take a picture. When it is finished, I'll take it outside for its photo session!

Works in Progress

It isn't the posting that gets me... it is taking pictures, downloading and resizing for the web... I'm so lazy. Anyway, this is what I'm working on.

Stack of parts & one completed

More parts to sew

Quilt of Valor, using purples and greens from my stash and the odd and interesting block from Anita Grossman Solomon's book, Rotary Cutting Revolution that was published in Nov / Dec Quiltmaker. I have 35 blocks in various stages of completion and will be using sashing between them. The greens/purples blend much better in real life than in this photo???

Parts basted, pinned, sewn, & some just in my head!

This big one is called Mariner's Sunset. My design wall will not hold it so it is pinned to a rather floppy rod so lots of wrinkles. This one is 100 inches wide by 75 high. The paper pattern along the top is my sketch for the tree leaves that are in the next picture, which is my computer sketch. I wanted to do something different with this 35" Mariner's compass. Someone suggested a sunset, and this is the result. I hope to heavily quilt it. 

My computer sketch for the above quilt

Working on this one is time-consuming and doesn't make my UFO pile much smaller, but getting this big one out of the way will take care of a huge mental block!

On December 10, my quilt "No Star Shines Alone" was chosen as The Quilt Show's Quilt of the Day! I was strolling through facebook and nearly fell off my chair when I saw it. If you have quilts on their site, check it often. They never told me they picked it, so I'd have missed that thrill otherwise.

 

So excited...

Today the tree is blooming --- finally, at least the piecing. Counting the week-long class I took to learn how to do this, plus time at home to get it done, fifty hours. This goes to my granddaughter. I'll tell her that she can repay me later, like push my wheelchair.

This one is all pieced, never counted the pieces but lots of them. No applique and a bit of hand-piecing to replace a few pieces that didn't look right when it was done. Changed them out for another fabric. (Oh, just noticed my flash put a funny glare in a couple of places. Ignore.)

The pattern and piecing were done using Ruth McDowell's method, which I like. Drawing the pattern was difficult, but selecting fabrics and fussy cutting them was worse. I'm very pleased with the results even though it took so long and was a big challenge. I suppose the bigger challenge now will be figuring out how to quilt it! I might be calling my instructor and yelling help -- again. LOL!

This is what I've done so far on the Christmas mini. Our church gets one that will be more than twice this size (it will be about 84" square). Mine is about 32" wide. So far all the little pieces are just stuck on with Steam-a-Seam II Lite, not even ironed. Now that the tree is finished (sort of), I can get back to this one... and the Mariner's Sunset monster spread over my pool table.

This is it — number 200!

GIVEAWAY • 200 POST. If I posted every day, this would be more than 1100 - yet I'm glad to have made it this far, even if this happens only in fits and starts. For this occasion, I have a giveaway that includes books, fabric, and a few surprises. 

TO ENTER: Post a comment sharing your favorite quilt color combination. Omit seasonal/themed/children's/ quilts, which have their own color requirements. POST your comment on today's entry. I'll pick someone randomly. Try to include your email or a link to your blog or website.

Also, I am celebrating the start on my Mariner's Sunset (for want of a better name). In roughly this order, I have:

1) the backing/batting fused and basted loosely, not being sure if fusible batting will hold on this size of a quilt. Here it is folded in thirds.

2) the fabrics selected, mostly. I just toss them in a pile to see if they work together.

3) the fabric strips sewn for the background water, horizon, and lower sky.

4) and those strips laid out along with the other fabrics on top of the batting/backing on our pool table (ping pong top over it) in roughly the right places. Tulle is included, but I'm not sure if it should go just over the "sun" or all across the water as here. It really dulls the bottom of the quilt, but would it look odd if it was just on the compass?

 
I am doing other things today, but will get back to this. I have to go two floors from the table to my sewing machine. The joy of exercise! 

Also, all tips, suggestions, advice, is welcome. I'm making this one up as I go.