Thursday, November 6, 2014

Almost Done


This week has flown by.
I've started some holiday shopping,
I've cooked up the Halloween pumpkins for holiday pies,
and I've spent many hours in my sewing room
machine quilting a holiday quilt.

Over the past couple of weeks
I've been debating with myself
about how I should finish my
Home For the Holidays quilt.

Should I do
big stitches with perel cotton?
It would fit the style of the quilt because of
the wool appliques,
But it might take more time
than I wanted to spend.

This is my "put your $ where 
your mouth is" quilt.
 It's my WIP project
that I pledged to finish and
because it's a holiday quilt,
it made sense to me
 to finish it now so I could actually use it
in the next couple weeks.

So that meant no big stitching.
 I needed to
machine quilt it.

My hesitancy was because
it had been awhile since I had 
machine quilted and
my skills were a bit rusty.

It also meant I needed to mark the quilt.
I'm pretty finicky about how I do that.
I use either a mechanical pencil or
chalk,  when I'm marking a design.
I don't use markers that need to be washed out because
I don't wash most of my quilts when I'm done.
This one, with the wool applique, 
wasn't going to be washable.

So I was left with the option of
either machine quilting freestyle or
using stencils and chalk and
pouncing the designs.

The good part about pouncing is
that the marks aren't permanent.
The bad part about pouncing is
that the marks rub off easily.
The designs have to be marked in
small bits at a time,
and it's good to dust your machine often.

I'm just about finished,
and I like how it's turning out.
I used three different snowflake designs,
 
although all the patterns weren't specifically snowflakes.

There's some free-styling around the appliques,
and it will be a combo in the borders.

With the holidays fast approaching
it will be fun to have this quilt finished.
The good thing is
my confidence with my machine quilting
has been restored.
For me,
there's a time and place for different finishing styles.
No one way is right,
it's just what fits the project and you.

Until Next Time-


19 comments:

  1. Your quilting looks wonderful Kyle! The snowflake designs work just great with this quilt! I love all those red hst's :0) You will enjoy using this quilt through the holiday season. I look forward to seeing how you quilt the borders.

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  2. This is a sweet, sweet holiday quilt design and you have done it well. Your quilting solution makes sense. I should get a pouncer. I used to have one but was not putting it to use and donated it somewhere. It would work well enough for similar situations to what yo are using it for.

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  3. You've really made great progress with this quilt, I can hardly believe you're up to quilting it already. The snow flake quilting is such a great idea and so perfect for your holiday quilt!

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  4. I love this pattern--you have done it justice. I like your quilting ideas.
    Like you, I often pounce as I go with larger quilts. Nice job, Kyle. What a fun thing to have this ready for the holidays!

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  5. Great to hear your quilting thoughts - always such a decision isn't it? The lovely snowflakes are a perfect design for this quilt. I have not marked with mechanical pencil...doesn't it need washing out too?

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  6. Clever you! It looks great, and so lovely that you'll be able to use it this year.

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  7. You will be so happy when Christmas comes around and this beautiful quilt is done!

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  8. Whoa! Mighty impressive quilting there! Can you tell me a resource for quilt stencils? I recently learned that they're also good for adding interest to the background on hooked rugs, so I'd like to get a bunch myself. Have never tried the pouncing method, but it looks like it works really well! Love this quilt Kyle!

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  9. Your Christmas quilt looks great - I love the appliqués and your quilting!

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  10. Your quilting is PERFECTION !

    LOVE THIS QUILT !!

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  11. what a great Christmas quilt! your machine quilting looks great - arg - that pouncer! I just love crayola washable markers.
    You'll love to snuggle up with this during the holidays

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  12. Looking fantastic! What a great quilt for the holidays. I like your choices for quilting. I don't think,you were rusty at all!

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  13. The snow flake design is beautiful and the quilt looks amazing. I wouldn't have been able to decide on a style, but the one you went for looks wonderful. Around here it's the time of the year when we don't use covers because it's so warm. I'd love to have a snowy Christmas! Best, Sil

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  14. Your confidence should be restored! You did a great job and I like the motifs you selected.

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  15. The stitching doesn't look the least bit rusty! Wonderful job on your quilt. It will be so much fun to have it in use during the holidays.:)

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  16. Your quilting looks wonderful! Congratulations on a beautiful holiday quilt!

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  17. Big quilting would have been pretty but so will this - and done is always good. :) blessings, marlene

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  18. Very nice Kyle, This is such a great holiday quilt and your quilting decision was perfect.
    I don’t have very good success with the pounce. The lines always seem to be too large to suit me.

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  19. It looks wonderful and not at all rusty to me! What a lovely quilt to have around during the holidays.

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