Wednesday, May 31, 2017

A Wonderful Finish! (Finally)

It's time to spread the news 

and
Shout it out!

My antique reproduction applique album quilt,
affectionately knows as
Noah and Matilda,
is finally done!


84" x 96"

This quilt was started in January, 2015.

Dawn Cook Ronningen offered and
still has available this
Noah and Matilda BOM pattern
on her website Collector with a Needle.

She designed the pattern from
the antique applique sampler (1851) which is
part of her collection.


 She calls it 
Noah and Matilda because of the 
 two names found on the quilt.

My blocks were appliqued 
throughout 2015.

I used a limited number of fabrics 
to keep the look simple and classic.


Then I hit a road block
in 2016.

Grapes!

The border has 18 bunches of grapes.

I just couldn't face making
all the tiny circles needed for all
that fruit!


But once I got going,
 I discovered those circles
weren't as bad as I had thought
In fact they were pretty quick and easy
once they were prepped.

 Next I struggled with the corners  because
I couldn't get the four corners to match.
I ended up with two and two.

 We'll just say it adds some character.

It wasn't until I got the top
entirely put together that I realized
there had been a right and wrong side
to the French General fabric I
 had chosen for the background.
There was no going back.

More character?

Before sewing the quilt together,
I premarked the feathered wreath pattern
I wanted to quilt in the alternating blank squares.

I was taking a risk.
that the designs which were marked lightly
with a mechanical pencil
with a hard lead would not disappear
while the quilt was basted and when other
parts were quilted.
Fortunately, the designs were still visible
when it came time to quilt them.
( I know the photo doesn't show the lines,
but they were there faint enough for me to see)


I started handquilting in January, 2017 and 
worked diligently on it almost every evening.
That turns out to be about 150 days x 2 hours = 300 hours.
(probably more)

I used  3 spools  of Guterman handquilting thread
with a Dream Cotton Request batting.  

I knew it needed a red binding and I 
had only used one red throughout the quilt.
Because the pattern was printed diagonally

 the binding was cut on the straight of the grain
to maintain the diagonal pattern.

I chose a pretty wild backing in comparison
to the top.  It's a Minick and Simpson fabric
and the colors went perfectly.
  The busy pattern doesn't
allow the quilting stitches
to show much, but that's okay.

Thank you, Dawn,
 for this wonderful  antique pattern.
It was fun and challenging
and now it's done.

 Here's my quilt top with the orginial
Noah and Matilda quilt,
spring, 2016.

Today, I could finally
cross off another 17 in 17 project!!!!


Until Next Time-
Kyle


43 comments:

  1. Kyle, it is magnificent! Such a beautiful quilt...congratulations on the finish!

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  2. What a triumph it is beautiful!!

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  3. WOW...your quilt is so beautiful. I have the patterns and this quilt is on my to do list. Congratulations on a fantastic finish. Hugs

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  4. OH wow, wow, wow! Your quilt is glorious!! I just love your hand quilting; it is perfect in the alternate squares. And the quilting in the border is wonderful! Bravo!!

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  5. Beautiful, absolutely beautiful...a family heirloom. And all that hand quilting!

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  6. I am in total awe, Kyle!! It is stunning!
    What a wonderful heirloom you have created for your family.
    And the fact that you have it totally hand quilted in less that six months blows me away!
    Lovely finish!

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  7. It is a beautiful quilt, congratulations with finishing it.

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  8. Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous ! Congratulations Kyle !

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  9. Quilts with character are more interesting :0). What a gorgeous finish! Your handquilting is amazing and I can hardly believe how quickly it went! 3 spools is A LOT of thread, a lot of stitches, and a lot of texture. It looks so pretty in your outside pictures. I love the backing fabric too.

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  10. Love everything about it. What a treasure and accomplishment!

    Rondi

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  11. Ummmm....whoa!!! What a STUNNING quilt. Never in a million would I ever get anything like that to a finish. Congratulations!

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  12. Ahhh I can feel your pain when you found the fabric was upside down! How frustrating. But I live by that saying "a blind man galloping past on a horse, would be pleased to see it"! And finished it is truly a beautiful quilt. In a 100 years someone will be studying it and they wont have to wonder what you thought, did and why you made it, because it will be all recorded in your blog! Well done, that is a big job to cross off!

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  13. Congratulations on a wonderful finish! I can't believe you quilted that whole quilt in less than 6 months! I loved reading about some of your challenges but in the end it doesn't really matter because your quilt is truly a family heirloom and will be cherished for generations :) Beautiful, Kyle!

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  14. Oh my goodness This is Gorgeous!! I remember enjoying watching everyone making these blocks but what a joy to see the finished quilt. Its so beautifully quilted and such a fun surprising backing. Congratulations.

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  15. Congratulations on finishing your beautiful Noah and Matilda, a true family heirloom to be treasured now and for years to come. Your hand quilting is inspirational and I love the backing fabric you chose. How exciting to have your quilt photographed with the original.

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  16. Wonderful finish Kyle - so beautiful! Your hand quilting adds a soft "hand made" finish that can't be beaten. I love what you've done with the borders. The "character" addition makes it special and so much more interesting. I have a quilt like that - a four patch with a huge block in a tonally different background - can't believe I didn't notice the colour difference along the way! But now I'm quite fond of it and it hangs in a guest bedroom...

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  17. Such a beautiful finish! Congrats on a great accomplishment! It's such a classic & timeless quilt - it'll never go out of style. I noticed that you fussy cut some of the grapes and not others - makes it so interesting to look at. Your quilting is perfection and I love the backing & binding fabrics you used. You must be floating on a cloud to have this one done - have you slept under it yet?

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  18. Congratulations on a beautiful finish! I'm in awe that you were able to complete the hand quilting so quickly. A quilt to treasure, for sure!

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  19. Oh congratulations! It is so timeless and sharp - just so pretty. There is nothing so beautiful as a big hand quilted quilt with a lot of white space! And... I LOVE the backing!

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  20. What a gorgeous quilt! Fabulous accomplishment!

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  21. That is just fabulous, Kyle! What a labour of love. And it looks amazing! Congratulations! I bet you are ready for a week or two off right now. :D

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  22. Ohhhh Kyle what an achievement and completed in only 5 months you deserve a ribbon for finishing it plus another so quickly. How stunningly beautiful it looks I liked seeing those simple mistakes it does add some personality to it. I've been hand quilting an antique 1930s 1/2inch hexagon quilt and at first I thought the top had been made by one quilter but since working at hand quilting each of those wee hexagons I have been able to Find out so much more about the quilt making and quilters, so I was so happy to see your labels. Once more it is truly beautifull and such a gem to pass down through generations. Cheers Glenda.

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  23. It's beautiful, Kyle! A masterpiece! A Ph.D. of quilting! Congratulations!

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  24. Wow Kyle, gorgeous quilt, a lot of work for an amazing finish. BRAVO .

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  25. What a fabulous heirloom this quilt is! It is just perfect from start to finish, and it has character - which makes it perfect in my eyes. Congratulations on this glorious finish!

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  26. Congratulations! What a wonderful finish. I love all the "character" in your quilt. So, the background is all the same fabric, but it some blocks were flipped? It is hard to tell - and it looks wonderful.
    Your quilting is beautiful!
    I hope you have plans to share and show your quilt.

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  27. It is stunning, beautiful and I think everything you did makes it am heirloom. Matilda and Amelia did every corner different!
    With everything you have done this year, and finishing this quilt is impressive. I am so glad you got to see the original quilt.
    Thank you for sharing.

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  28. Wow--what a beautiful finish--a classic heirloom, for sure! All those hours of hand quilting--I can't even begin to say how impressed I am--so lovely!! I think your backing is a fun surprise too!

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  29. Oh I remember the post about all of those grapes! :) What a wonderful finish...a true heirloom !! :)

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  30. Congratulations Kyle, this quilt is beyond Gorgeous!
    All of that hand quilting is stunning and makes this quilt truly a Treasure!
    Such an amazing and awesome accomplishment!

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  31. I am green with envy! Love your finish. I still have lots to do on mine.

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  32. Congratulations on your stunning finish Kyle! Your hand quilting is magnificent!! I have joined my blocks and made the grapes for the border. I must get it back out and finish it.

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  33. Congratulations on a beautiful quilt. I have the pattern but haven't started it yet. I'm really impressed you started quilting it this year and it's finished already. Your quilting looks terrific. Your "character" moments made me chuckle. Who knew about that background!? I'm using one of theirs for a repro quilt and I bet I have the same problem, oops, I mean character in my cloth.

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  34. What a fabulous quilt! The hand quilting suits it so well. It's not wonder you faltered at all the little circles in the border, but of course it's part of what makes it so special.:)

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  35. Wow. I would totally be shouting about this from the rooftops! What a gorgeous accomplishment. I love seeing the details up close and the labels are perfect. Actually, everything about this is perfect, including the 'character' you mention. LOL

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  36. Kyle Felicidades !! maravilloso.

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  37. Came for another look Kyle! had to stop and say how lovely those grapes look worth all the time you spent fussy cutting them. Cheers Glenda

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  38. Oh Kyle! It´s absolutely beautiful! Es maravilloso terminar un trabajo despuĂ©s de un par de años. La satisfacciĂłn es muy grande. Cariños

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  39. 6 months of hand quilting???? Amazing!!!! Did you ever sleep??? A wonderful accomplishment indeed. Did you use Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Circles for the berries? That is the only thing that got me through the BTCT project. And secret sharing here too - I had the same experience with my background fabric and a "shading" difference - I love your thought process - adding "character" -
    Enjoy your completed quilt - it is lovely - 6 months to hand quilt??? Mind blowing!!

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  40. It sure is stunning! And hand quilting every night for two hours straight for 150 days, awesome! I should be doing that too! I will get to meet dawn in holland in august. Should be good, i love her patterns. Just a couple more days and we will get to Colorado!

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