Saturday, November 23, 2013

Finished!!!

I have been writing this post in my head for two years, but now that it is finally time to write it for real I've forgotten what I meant to say! In any case, it is two years since I started this blog, almost two years since I started this quilt, and well over 30 years since I started starting quilts, and this is the first one to make it all the way to the end. 100% finished!

Nine Patch Jubilee, 54" x 66"

The sun was not co-operating today, but it was too cold to stand out there for long! I made one attempt to style the quilt before I hurried back inside:


Yes, that is a small dusting of snow around the garden pagoda.

I named the quilt Nine Patch Jubilee because the filler squares and the backing are from the Jubilee Garden collection by Connecting Threads, which they had a couple of years ago. And it seemed right to celebrate my first finished quilt.

With the red and white colour scheme, it felt appropriate to do the label in redwork too:


The quilt is machine quilted (yes, by me) in channels the length of the quilt, 1/4" on either side of each square in the nine patch block, and carried through the solid squares. The binding is machine sewn to the front and hand stitched down on the back. I miscalculated the width of the binding, so it is a little wide on the back, but I think that's fine.

I also tried out a sewn mitre technique for the corners of the binding that I saw Ricky Tims demonstrate on The Quilt Show. It uses this tool from Animas Quilts:


There is a video demonstration of how to use it here. Two of my corners came out perfectly...


...and two did not, lol. But the problem was that I had miscalculated the width of the binding, so the corner didn't hit in the right place. Those corners are a little wrinkly, but again, everything can't be perfect on the first quilt. I have concluded that I do like the tool, and I will continue to use it on large projects. The big advantage for me is that you only have to sew the binding on one edge at a time, so each length of binding is more manageable, and I can take a break after each long seam.

So, yay! And, whew!

20 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your finish. What a great feeling. I like the classic look of a red quilt, some day I'll finish the red ones that I have started.

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  2. Congratulations on finishing your first quilt! The red and white color scheme looks just great. And you quilted it yourself. Very good!

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    1. Thanks very much, Cynthia. And thanks for hanging in since the beginning!

      Yes, the quilting was by far the most challenging part. But hopefully I've figured it out now!

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  3. Love, love, love that you have your first 100% finish! Well done. And such an attractive quilt. I'm sending encouragement for more finishes. Yay.

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    1. Thank you very much! I'm hoping it won't be too long until the next one. :D

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  4. Way to go! Completing a project always feels great! Almost like a weight has been lifted from your shoulders. I love the subdued, quiet reds and beiges in your quilt. You have a talent for making colour choices that work well.

    And, congratulations on your two years of blogging as well. I always look forward to seeing your blogs.

    I hope that you are out celebrating these two landmarks right now. Congrats!

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    1. "Out celebrating," lol. No, it's -10C and snowing right now, so I am safely inside and deciding what to do next! But it certainly is nice to finally get one done! Thanks for all your support!

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  5. Woo Hoo! Congratulations on finishing it so well - and on your blogging anniversary. InAustralian vernacular, it is a Bonza quilt. I really love the colours and elegant design. So pleased for you - and thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Thanks very much, Jillian! In the end, I think you can't go wrong with a traditional design, so I'm glad this is the one I managed to finish first. I appreciate all your support on the journey!

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  6. big congratulations on completion of this wonderful quilt, there will be no stopping you now. So good to have quilted it yourself too so many are long arm quilted these days. Well done with 2 years blogging as well.

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    1. Thank you very much, Margaret! And thanks for all your support -- it is nice to have the encouragement of another new quilter!

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  7. Well done, Monica! Your first finished quilt is beautiful. After taking a leisurely peruse through your blog you certainly have not had idle hands. So you have many great excuses for the time it took to finish it. Lovely to 'meet' you.

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    1. Thanks very much, Diane. Yes indeed, I have plenty of excuses! :D

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  8. I love it!! What a beautiful quilt!! I have to ask, if you've been making quilts for 30 years, how come this is the first you've finished?... do you have lots of UFOs? But then again if you were to only finish one this is a beautiful one to finish. I like your photo styling too!!

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    1. LOL, thank you Rachael, I think there's a whole post in the answer to that question! I think my earliest attempts at quiltmaking fell through due to lack of information on all the techniques. And also, a lot of the tools and techniques we use today, such as rotary cutters(!), weren't available, so I just got bogged down with the whole template and scissors thing. Then I became obsessed with knitting for quite a while, then I discovered cross stitch and became obsessed with that for a while, plus my career got quite busy. But that whole time I was still buying fabrics too, so I always planned to come back to quilting. The really early UFOs went in the trash about two years ago (yes, I still hear the howls of dismay from the thrifty quilters out there), but there is a finished top from the late 90s that I may dig out soon.

      And yes, there are quite a few unfinished projects in the queue now! But hopefully now that the first domino has fallen, the others won't be to far behind. :D

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  9. Congratulations on your finish!
    Carol

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  10. Definitely worth celebrating for sure! Love the colors and your work is wonderful...wish I could have said the same about my first quilt! :)

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    1. Thanks very much, Diane, that is a nice compliment. :) But it's not the first quilt I've started, just the first one to make it to the end!

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I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

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