Monday, October 12, 2020

Tuesday's To-Do List: Still Slogging Along With Butterflies and Clam Shells

 Might as well just get to the meat and potatoes this week!  Last week's goals turned out to be overly ambitious:

✅ finish quilting Modern Baby Clam Shells, AND 

get it labeled and   

❌ bound, AND  

❌ get my Letter Home baby quilt top and ready to load on my frame.  

After quilting the pantograph design over most of my Modern Baby Clam Shells quilt and stitching in the ditch around my butterfly appliqués  a quilter who was more goal oriented and focused than I am would have finished up the quilting with some monofilament or color matched thread to machine quilt along the butterfly veins.  I decided to haul out all of my yummy hand stitching threads instead.  I ended up quilting my butterfly veins with Perle Cotton #5, which would probably have looked better with a longer stitch length, but I like it anyway:

Perle Cotton no. 5 for Hand Quilted Butterfly Veins

I like the idea of combining machine quilting with hand stitched details, and think I might explore more of that in future.  


Best of all, since my butterflies are turned edge appliqué with the backing trimmed away behind them and no fusible web or anything like that to add stiffness, they are super soft and smooshable and were very easy to needle for the hand quilting.


The purple butterflies got green stitching.  It's subtle, but I love the vintage hand stitched vibe it gives my butterflies.

All Quilting Completed, Ready to Trim

You know, I was really tempted to custom quilt this one, if I hadn't been up against a time crunch to get it finished.  But I have to say, the less densely quilted pantograph design makes this baby quilt SO soft and cuddly!  Custom quilting might have made for a stiffer quilt, and if I'd gotten too carried away with it, the baby's mom might have felt like the quilt was "too fancy" for everyday use and stuck it in a closet.  😱😱😱. Heaven forbid!  So all's well that ends well!

Attaching the Machine Embroidered Label

My bee group that used to meet in person Pre-Plague has been meeting on Zoom instead on Monday afternoons, and I used that time today to get this quilt trimmed and to attach the machine embroidered label I'd digitized and stitched out on Sunday.  I tried something new this time, using Aurifil 50/2 Cotton threads in the needle and also in the bobbin to embroider my quilt label.  I am really happy with how it came out!  That extra thickness to the thread (compared to regular embroidery thread and bobbin thread) gave the stitching more prominence, yet I had zero issues with puckering or thread breaks.  And although I love the sheen of trilobal polyester or rayon embroidery threads for other projects, I liked the matte lustre of the 100% cotton thread for this quilt.  I used one layer of water soluble topping, one layer of tearaway stabilizer in the hoop, with a second layer of tearaway stabilizer floated beneath the hoop.  I used my built-in basting stitch around the perimeter of the design as well, both to reduce the tendency of the embroidery to draw up and pucker, but also because the basting stitches form a nice, straight rectangle around the label design that I can use to trim the excess fabric and turn the two edges of the label that won't be caught in the binding.

My local chapter of the Modern Quilt Guild will be doing its first in-person stitch-together next Saturday, in the parking lot of the church where we usually meet, with masks and social distancing in place.  I'm planning to get the binding machine stitched to my clam shell quilt tomorrow and then set it aside to be finished with hand stitching at my guild's outdoor gathering. I sure hope the weather cooperates!

And then I can turn my attention back to the baby brother's quilt, based on the AQS Letter Home QAL.  So, that's what I'll be up to for the rest of this week!

Rebecca's To-Do List for This Week:

  1. Attach binding to clam shell quilt by machine
  2. Finish piecing Letter Home blocks
  3. Assemble Letter Home quilt top
  4. Piece Letter Home backing
  5. Load Letter Home on the long arm frame

I'm tempted to put more on that list, but there's so much SHAME when I have to put red X's next to everything at the end of the week!  😉. Best to quit while I'm ahead!  I'm linking up today's post with the following linky parties:

MONDAY

·       Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts  

·       Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

TUESDAY

·       To-Do Tuesday at Home Sewn By Us

WEDNESDAY

·       Midweek Makers at Quilt Fabrication

·       Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

13 comments:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

great job! that is why I always like to do applique by hand turn under edges and no fuse - then you can stitch on top of it with ease if you wish to - love how it turned out

Jenny K. Lyon said...

"Butterfly" is a treasure! Lucky baby!

Home Sewn By Us said...

Hi Rebecca! Aww, I hate to hear that you feel shame when you don't accomplish something on your list. {{Hugs}} I wish I could talk you out of that, but since I can't then definitely stick with the very short list. You can always say you completed extra things and then await the praise for being ahead of the game. Seriously, I usually stick with only three things for that very reason. Us overachievers have to mitigate damages within our control. Thank you so much for linking up today. ~smile~ Roseanne

chrisknits said...

What a delightful quilt this has become. The family will cherish it!

Sherrie said...

Hi,
Beautiful quilt, baby will love this and keep it
always...love the stitching around the
butterflies...so nice. Have a great day!

grammajudyb said...

Butterflies and Clamshells is so special! Positively gorgeous!

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

I love the combination of machine and hand quilting. The stitching in the butterflies added so much, and personalized it, too! The recipients are going to love it!

SJSM said...

All those "little extras" you added to this quilt is making a treasure for its new owner. I’m sure she will treasure and love this quilt until it is rags and then frame what is left for her children to enjoy. I’m smitten with it myself.

As long as you enter your sewing studio each day and move forward on your list of projects you are successful. So many dither their days away with nothing to show. Do take a moment to be thankful for your progress as you move forward with your next tasks.

O'Quilts said...

Great job!!!

O'Quilts said...

Great job!!!

Audrey--Quilty Folk said...

Your clamshells are gorgeous! Love the added quilting texture in this one.:)

Jennifer Fulton Inquiring Quilter said...

Adore the hand stitches you've asked to the clamshell quilt. Perfect touch! Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

Preeti said...

Oh Rebecca, I had no idea what was going on in the first picture. A random butterfly? Outta nowhere. When I saw that you are placing those butterflies in the clamshell background - it was just WOW!!! These beauties that that gorgeousness to the next level. So very cool!!!