Quilt Show

I spent the morning at the NW Quilt Expo. Leah's Spring, the quilt I finished in memory and honor of Leah was entered in the show. It did not win any ribbons. It was disappointing but I'm glad I went and looked at the other quilts. There was some really wonderful quilts at the show. It was inspiring to see what other quilters make.

I wandered up and down the aisles looking at all the quilts and all the new fabric, patterns and other paraphernalia related to quilting. It was overwhelming. I loved it. I saw several things I really wanted but I was wise enough to take my credit cards out of my wallet before I left and I only had twenty dollars in cash along. So I bought nothing. There was a time in a vendor's booth where I desperately searched through my purse to see if by chance I had some credit card along that I missed -- no luck. And now after arriving home I'm glad I didn't purchase that pattern and fabric. Is all I had to do was to walk in my studio and see the two unfinished quilts laying there to know that I have plenty to keep me busy for years. Not to even mention last years fabric and patterns that were purchased at the expo and have not even left the bag they arrived home in! I did spend the rest of the afternoon working on a gift idea that goes right along with quilting. I'll post more when it's done. Aah, the joys of sewing and creating and the inspiration of a quilt show!

p.s. That's Lynette Jensen of Thimbleberries sitting at the table in this photo.

Completely Finished!!

As of one hour ago, the quilt is completely finished. The binding is done, the label is on and the sleeve is attached. I've photographed it -- never have I taken so many pictures of a quilt!! So now it's time to package it up and take it to the quilt shop where the show quilts are dropped. At times I really didn't think this could get done by today. It was just a little over a week ago that the appliques weren't quite done and the machine quilting wasn't even started. It's been a lot of work. Whether or not it wins any prizes is inconsequential. What really matters to me is the expression of love that went into making this quilt. It will always be a very special quilt to me.

Binding

The quilt is squared up, the edges are trimmed, the binding is sewn on by machine and it's all been pressed. Now it's time to hand stitch the binding over to the back. I actually like this part. I love handwork and sewing binding is a finishing step, so there's a feeling of accomplishment. It means the quilt is almost complete. Of course with this quilt there must be a sleeve sewn to the top of the back. I keep several sleeves of muslin in a quilt drawer and use them over and over for shows. They are of varying sizes and I just fold under what I don't need for that particular quilt. It saves time not having to remake a sleeve since I don't keep them on the quilt after a show. Most of my quilts are hung in my home with a quilt hanger that presses the quilt between two boards and screws down to make them tight. Someday I'll post a picture of one. Meanwhile, it's back to the binding. How long it takes to handstitch a binding on is determined by how many movies can be watched. In other words is this quilt a one or two movie binding? That's the way I've done it for years!!! I think this will be a 1 1/2 movie quilt binding.

Quilting Done -- Now the finishing work.

The quilting is done. It took over 18 hours. I'm satisfied with it. There are a few things I would do differently and a few things that don't meet the show standard in my view, but overall I'm very pleased with Leah's Spring quilt.

Now I'm blocking the quilt. First I laid it out on top of a sheet on my studio floor. Then I steamed it with a steam iron. Then I pinned about every inch along two edges and steamed some more. One edge has about a 1/4" bow to it. It should be fairly easy to steam and block it into square. The best option would have been to get the quilt wet and then block it but I don't have time to wait for it to dry. The binding must go on tomorrow and be hand stitched down so that the quilt can be delivered for the show on Thursday.

The End Is In Sight!

It's only 10:30 in the morning and after about 4 hours of work today (yes I've been up since 5:30 a.m.) the end is in sight. I have the borders to finish, and the inside circle around the appliques in the center. I haven't decided what to do there. I will try using the same double line as in the border -- first with air erase pen and then see how it looks. There is already over 18 hours of quilting in this quilt. I suppose it took over 40 hours to piece the quilt and do the hand applique so this will end up being a 60+ hour project. That has to be the record for me. I have really enjoyed it. Because this quilt is dedicated to Leah Grace, my granddaughter, whose life was only 99 days in length, I have thought a lot about her while doing the quilting. Reflecting on what a gift from God each day was is both comforting and inspirational. I don't think I would have undertaken the difficult task and long hours of this quilt except for wanting something very special to represent her life.

If you want to see the quilt, it will be hanging at the NW Quilt Expo held the last weekend of September at the Expo center (Portland Oregon). After that it will hang in my studio. I have been contemplating having an open house sometime in October so if that happens it will be another opportunity to see Leah's Spring. Well, back to quilting!