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“I have given skill to all the skillful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you. “ Exodus 31:6


“O Thou who art the all pervading glory of the world, we bless Thee for the power of beauty to gladden our hearts.
We praise Thee that even the least of us may feel a thrill of the creative joy when we give form and substance to our thoughts and, beholding our handiwork, find it good and fair. “.
Walter Rauschenbusch


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"Come, and listen, all you who fear God; let me tell you what He has done for me.
I cried out to Him with my mouth; His praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart, the LORD woud not have listened and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God, Who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me!" Psalm 66:16-20
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Thursday, September 27, 2012

Goldie's quilt is finished.......


...washed, dried, and awaiting a label. 













 I took the finished top and my basting frame to the senior center on Tuesday for the regular monthly get-together.  But somebody forgot to tell me that they weren't coming !  So I had the entire big room to myself, and got the top basted in 2 hours.  So glad to have the use of the room, if not the good company to go with it.


Finished top awaiting basting.
  

I like to wait until the quilt has shrunk all that it is going to before I apply the label, since it doesn't get quilted.  That way, the quilt doesn't shrink AWAY from the label, causing the label to look buckled and poofy.




Finished size of the quilt is 48 x 72 inches.   After photographing the nearly complete quilt top, I realized that I would like for it to be a little bit wider........but it didn't need any additional length.  So, rather than piece an additional row of blocks, or border it all the way around, I just added borders to the two sides of the quilt.  And, I must say, I like the look ! 

I struggled with a quilting design, trying several ideas and removing a LOT of tiny quilting stitches.  Finally, I settled on using the walking foot to quilt across the blocks, and then using the darning foot to freemotion-quilt feathers in the outside borders.  They don't show, but they filled up the space.

Have I mentioned before how much I like it when a machine-applied binding goes smoothly?   I use a SLEW of pins to make sure that the stitching doesn't slip off of the fold, and it takes a bit of extra time, but nothing like as long as hand-stitching.  

I like the addition of the black and white fabrics to the multi-colors of the blocks. 




















I used the cow print for the binding and for the backing and a white tiger print for the borders.  The quilt has a batting comprised of 20 % polyester/ 80% cotton. 


 
I spoke to Goldie yesterday and she sounded great.  I haven't told her that I was making her a quilt.  I don't know about you guys, but nothing stops me in my tracks like promising something before it is made, or coming up on a deadline.  So, I hope to take the quilt over to her tomorrow and surprise her.  It'll be nice to see her.....she's been missed.

6 comments:

  1. So very pretty! She will be thrilled.

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  2. It turned out so nice!!! I also like the side borders added. You made quick work of this and it is so lovely. She's got to love it!!!

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  3. I know what you mean about commiting and then putting things off. Your quilt is very pretty and cheerful. You amaze me how quickly you are able to do one. Wish I was more speedy...but I am not. =)..have a nice weekend!

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  4. She will love the quilt. It's just wonderful. And has so much to look at that she'll enjoy it over and over!

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  5. I haven't tried machine binding yet. I have a couple of quilts I plan to donate to the Ronald McDonald house so I may try on those first...children's quilts need to be tough!

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Thanks for stopping by !