Sunday, July 24, 2011

First Finished Quilt!

(Let me just say that I wanted to put about 18 more exclamation points on that title, but decided to show a little restraint. No one likes gratuitous punctuation.)

WOW it feels good to finish a quilt.

But weirdly, I also felt a tad bit sad as I came to those last few stitches on the binding. It was like the end of our working relationship. At least she (are quilts female like ships?) is sticking around.

But mostly it just feels good. And now, way too many pictures from a day that involved way too many degrees fahrenheit...






 But all that sun sure is nice on the texture. Oh the texture!


Here you can see the full quilting design. Basically an echoing X. I wanted to do something to contrast all the parallel and perpendicular-ness of the pattern.


I did some unplanned piecing on the back for fun. Because you know, that's what all the hip quilters do now :)










He's a fan. We've been reading together under it in the very early mornings. There are about ten minutes of semi-quilty temps there before the stifling heat settles in for the day. That's our buddy Zaire helping us show it off.





Some deets:
The pattern is "Fenced In" from Elizabeth Hartman's book. 
The solids are Bella and the gray print on the back and binding is Robert Kaufman's Metro Living.
I made this for the modern quilting class I took at Sewn, taught by the lovely Heather Jones
I did the binding all by machine, which she has a very clear tutorial for here.
The batting is Kyoto bamboo blend.

I did the quilting all on my basic Brother. I was using my walking foot, which I thought was great. But then when I got about 2/3 of the way thru the close together lines, my machine started making loud punching noises and the stitches suddenly looked like crap. I adjusted and cleaned every little thing I could think of, but nothing helped. Then after leaving it for 4 days, I finally just continued quilting on my normal foot. From then on, things went swimmingly. So I don't know what would happen if I tried a brand new walking foot. It really didn't feel any more difficult to  move thru the machine without it. But if you look at those lines going through the wider spaces, (which I did last) you can tell the fabric pulled a little in the direction I was sewing. I don't think there are any puckers, it's just a little pulled. I still love the look of it, like there are two different textures on the quilt. Anyway, I know most people who do their own quilting are adamant about the walking foot, but is there anyone else who skips it? 


So that's it, my first quilt! I have many more ideas brewing...  Thanks for looking and always encouraging whatever I'm making. The crafty interwebs are the nicest. 














{Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations



34 comments:

  1. Wow, it looks great!
    I love it!
    And I can prettily understand that little bit of sadness when such a long project finally comes to an end ...
    Well, time for the next one then!
    Greetings from Austria
    Anneliese

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  2. Wow! Very nice! The quilt top is nice in itself, but the back & the quilting make it extra special!

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  3. CONGRATULATIONS! it looks awesome. i finished my very first quilt a couple months ago, and i know what a rush it is. way to go! i love the vibrant colors.

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  4. Wow it is goregous!!! Way to go!

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  5. That quilting is FANTASTIC. Love the texture!

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  6. Awesome! Love the X - I'm so impressed you can sew in a straight line. And no I don't mean that sarcastically. I can't do it!

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  7. yay you!! it looks fantastic :)

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  8. It's marvelous... and I love the back so much.

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  9. That's so awesome! It makes me want to grab some solids and make one of my own!

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  10. It's amazing! I am so incredibly proud of you and the work you did on your FIRST quilt! I can't wait to see what you come up with next. Great, great job!

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  11. Jessica -- that's a pretty amazing first quilt. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

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  12. Really really like the quilting. I've only used a regular foot for quilting..... now I kind of want to try a walking one though.

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  13. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I love it and you totally rocked with that texture. So many quilting lines! You are a champ. Can't wait to see what you come up with next!

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  14. ooo, love it! congrats on your first quilt!

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  15. It looks great! I hope mine does as well. And the back is really cool! Congrats! Sue

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  16. You are totally a hip quilter! That's an awesome front and a really cool back. And the quilting (walking foot or not), is SUPER cool! Great job on your first quilt!
    !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  17. that's beautiful, Jes! Great job! You maked your mama and nanny proud!! Aunt LoLo

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  18. That is a first quilt???? WOW! It's amazing! Now you can call yourself a quilter... welcome to the quilty world!!!!

    Great job!

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  19. I just saw this on flickr and my jaw dropped when I read that this is your first quilt. Your quilting detail is AMAZING and so is your craft"woman"ship!! I can't wait to see what else you create!
    Val

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  20. wow! this is a wonderful quilt. i can't believe it's your 1st!

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  21. It's beautiful!! I am so in love! You machined quilted correct? How did you keep it so neat and nice??

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  22. It's a great quilt and I hope it will visit us at The Cincinnati Modern Quilt Guild next month...I expect Heather may have mentioned us a few time.
    My Brother walking foot is also not living up to the expectations I had for it. In fact, mine fell apart halfway through my quilt the first time I used it. My machine is the same as yours so maybe we need to check out the Brother site and see if others have had the same problem. I desperately do not want to pay $40 for a new one!

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  23. What a beauty! Congratulations!

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  24. Great work! I'm working on mine right now too.

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  25. LOVE LOVE LOVE this quilt! Well done!

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  26. WOW!!!!!! You did it! Girlfriend you are AMAZING! It looks absolutely fabulous. FABULOUS.

    xoxo
    Janee

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  27. Congrats on your first quilt! It looks great...I really like the quilting. How big is your quilt? I remember the first quilt I made was queen sized...go big or go home =)

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  28. I love this! The colors, the pattern, the quilting--it's all amazing! I hope your little guy has many years of cozy cuddling with it! And I love your last line--the crafty interwebs ARE the nicest! :)

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  29. This quilt is awesome... I was not a huge fan of that pattern from the book, but your quilt made me like it! I hopped here after seeing this pinned on pinterest!

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  30. I love this quilt - the pattern, the fabric and color choices and the quilting all work so perfectly together. Very impressive.

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  31. I love this quilt! The colors are so fab! I've pinned this to my "Quilty Goodness" board on Pinterest (with proper credit, of course!). Feel free to follow me if you'd like: http://pinterest.com/lipglass/quilty-goodness/

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