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Tuesday, July 5, 2022

More Christmas In July: Sharon's Flannel Snowflake Quilt + Jingle Progress

Since my last post was all about boring invisible ditch quilting, I feel like I invited you all to a parade to see the Emperor's (imaginary) New Clothes!  So today I am sharing another Christmas quilt, but with this quilt you can actually see the quilting.  I quilted this one a few months ago and I've been waiting for July to share it with you.

My mom pieced this quilt using the Snowflake pattern from Modern Handcraft and a kit of flannel fabrics from Keepsake Quilting.  She chose Minky dot fabric for the backing, and the finished quilt is soft, snuggly, and weighty -- perfect for curling up with a good book or a Hallmark Christmas movie in the month of December.

Sharon's 60 x 72 Flannel Snowflake Quilt


This is only my mom's second quilt ever -- didn't she do a great job?  We went with Quilters Dream 80/20 batting and Glide thread in White.  The edge-to-edge quilting design is called Snowflake E2E 2 and it took forever to stitch out.  

I have several other digital snowflake designs that are faster stitching, but I felt that this one was the best complement to the angular style of the patchwork snowflake and the snowflakes in some of the fabric prints.  And I love that there is such a great variety of different snowflakes in this panto instead of the same one or two snowflakes over and over again.  

Same Quilt, Minky Backing Side


The quilted snowflakes look like they are embossed into the Minky pile on the back side of the quilt.  Here's what Mom's quilt top looked like before quilting:

Sharon's Flannel Snowflake Top, Before Quilting

As a new quilter, my mom followed the pattern instructions exactly -- and this pattern instructs you to press all of the seams open rather than pressing all of the seams to the left in the odd rows and all seams to the right in the even rows, as I would have done as a reckless Disregarder of Instructions.  With the seams pressed in opposite directions, those intersections would have locked together nice and tight, greatly facilitating assembly of the quilt top.  Mom reported some frustration and seam ripping in trying to get her seams to line up with the seam allowances all pressed open.  I wish I'd read the pattern instructions so I would have known to warn her.  Why are so many pattern designers telling people to press their seams open these days?  It makes it so, SO much harder than it needs to be, and I don't really see any clear advantages to doing it that way for 90% of the patterns.

Mom's 60 x 72 Snowflake Quilt After Quilting

Looking at the end result, I would never have known she struggled because in the end those seams match up pretty close to perfect.

Meanwhile, Back At the Ranch...

I'm still plodding my way slowly through the SID work on my Jingle quilt:

S-L-O-W-L-Y Stitching Around Applique With Invisible Thread

Can you see the difference between the appliqué I've already stitched around (the top two pomegranates and the top left tulip, plus stems and leaves in that area) versus the flatter looking applique that still needs to be stitched around?  SID around applique is unbelievably time consuming, all carefully hand guided at slow speed through all those nooks and crannies, but it gives so much life and dimension to the appliqué shapes, especially with double batting like I'm using for this quilt.  My final step will be to go back with an off white thread and quilt background designs that compress the fabric around the appliqué so it stands out even more, like trapunto.  But that's a LONG way away.  My Tuesday To-Do List goal is just to keep working steadily on this quilt throughout the rest of the week.  What are YOU working on this week?  I'm linking up with my favorite linky parties, listed on the left sidebar of my blog.


21 comments:

  1. I love your Mom's quilt! I go back and forth on pressing seams, but now I'm leaning back to one side or the other. Gosh your quilting, especially looking at the minky side, is fantastic.
    Thank you for sharing with us at To Do Tuesday!

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  2. Love your Mom's quilt, so snuggly. And your Jungle!! Oh my!

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  3. your quilt is looking great! the only thing about pressing your seams open that I find is in a block that has a lot of seams your piece lays flatter if you press open - especially if doing a star pattern I think as the point in the middle lays flat - your mom's quilt turned out great!

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  4. Gorgeous! Your mom did wonderfully! Can't wait to see the quilting on your Jingle quilt.

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  5. Your mom did a great job on the quilt; it's so pretty and perfect for snuggling with a good book! I'm with you on the seam pressing. I think pressing seams open is so time consuming and makes it more difficult to match up. Maybe I'm just old school, but I need all the help I can get when it comes to matching seams! I love how the stitching around the applique makes it pop, but I bet it feels like it will take forever. That is going to be even more gorgeous with your beautiful quilting!

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  6. Your mom did a fantastic job, Rebecca! The choice of the quilting motif was perfect for this one, even if it took longer to stitch out. I love the way it looks on the back with the minky fabric. I've never tried minky but I think my grands would love it as they love sleeping next to blankets rather than sheets, LOL. SID takes a while but definitely worth it around applique. Great job. Can't wait to see the finish!

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  7. I can definitely see the difference in the applique pieces that are quilted compared to those that aren't. The dimension you get from the SITD and the double batting is amazing!
    Your mom's quilt looks great, very impressive for her second quilt!

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  8. how was minky to work on with longarm? you are doing some great work there!

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  9. Your mom did an amazing job on her second quilt, and the quilting motif is perfect for finishing it off. I personally really like to press my seams open, but I find it really important to reduce my stitch length down to 1.8 or 2.0 at the largest.

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  10. Beautiful quilt by your Mother! I love the way you are quilting your Xmas quit! time consuming, but beautiful!

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  11. Congratulations to your mother for her wonderful quilt. I'm in love. Love the quilting too. Great job to both of you. ;^)

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  12. Your mom did lovely work with her second quilt! Bravo ! Great job to you too, choosing this pretty snowflakes design. Love your appliqué quilt too!
    Thank you for sharing ;)

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  13. What an impressive quilt and the quilting! Congratulations!

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  14. it's a gorgeous quilt and congratulations to your mother. The quilting is perfect too.

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  15. I can see how it's boring to do the SID, but it sure makes a difference for the applique! A little every day and you'll be done soon. Your mother's quilt is gorgeous! I press seams open most of the time, but in this case it's absolutely better to press to the dark. So sorry for your mom but at least the result is great. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  16. What a great job you both did on this quilt! I think designers often say press seams open as it 1) lays flatter and 2) you don't have to figure out how to press so it all works out right. I have done that on some pattern I have written; it is so much easier to just say "press seams open". That said, like you I prefer nested seams. I love the Minky on the back but wonder how that thickness is (flannel/batt/back) on the uptake bar? I don't know if I would do it on my small machine. Of course, you have a much bigger machine/set up than I do!

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  17. This is a really beautiful quilt. I love the pantograph you chose. Would you mind letting me know who designed the panto?

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  18. Gale, the allover snowflake digital design is called Snowflake E2E 2, by Christy Dillon of My Creative Stitches.

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