Sweetness and Light: A Fine, Fast Finish

I call this a fast finish because from first stitch to last it took 3 months, which is really fast for me.

Just to say, I love this quilt!  I love everything about it--the colors, the fabrics, the quilting, all of it.  It is a quilt I wish I had had to wrap up my own babies when they were little.  I hope my daughter likes it.  (We probably all know the mom and dad have to like the baby's gift or it never gets used.)

None of these photos are particularly wonderful but the first and last photos are probably the most accurate as far as colors, though maybe still just a little too creamy.  Some of the photos were taken with flash and some without.

Above and below show the whole quilt, bound, washed, and dried.  It measures 41" x 49".  It lost 3" in width and 4" in length between top to a washed and dried quilt.

I used Quilters Dream Cotton Select batting.  Quilters on the Facebook Celebrate Hand Quilting page recommended it.  After I purchased and layered the quilt I learned that Quilters Dream comes in different thicknesses.  The batting was thick enough that I was a little concerned the quilt would be more like a mat than a soft, pliable, cuddly quilt, but it's just perfect.

A few close-up photos.

Definitely taken without a flash, below, but you can see the quilting better.  As I was quilting I kept thinking of Xs and Os we use as symbols for hugs and kisses.  There are plenty of both in this quilt, if one wants to think of it that way.  I'm still thinking of this quilt as "Sweetness and Light."

Perhaps sometime I will get the lighting just perfect when taking photos of my quilts.  Even in natural light these photos look "shady."

This is the backing I used.  It is from Michael Miller called Best of Sarah Jane Flannel Dolls Soft.  When I bought it online I guess I wasn't paying attention to the length of the repeat and bought just barely enough to cover the back if I placed the figures upright going across the quilt instead of  the length of the quilt.  Maybe next time I'll avoid a directional fabric for backing.

This was a bear to quilt.  I don't know if it was the thickness of the batting, or the flannel, or all the seams in the top, or a combination of two or all three.  I used regular quilting thread but the stitches are longer than I'd like.  Even so, all three layers are fastened together and I don't think they will come apart except possibly after very hearty use.

I used Prismacolor colored pencils to mark the circles as I did on a previous, similar quilt.  Much of the marking was gone by the time I finished quilting, but not all.  I washed the quilt just once and most of the rest of color is gone.  What's left will wash out when my daughter washes the quilt the next time or two.

Do you keep notes about quilts you make?  I use a Cambridge notebook with quad ruled heavyweight bond paper.  Each quilt gets a page, both front and back if needed.  I like having this information for reference. 

I keep track of sizes, cutting measurements, dates I started and finished parts of the quilt, details about batting, fabrics, thread, binding, etc.   It's very useful to me.

A last look.

I'm linking this post to
> Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
> TGIFF at Devoted Quilter
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Beauties Pageant at From Bolt to Beauty
> Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese
> Let's Make Baby Quilts at Michelle's Romantic Tangle
Thanks for hosting, ladies.

--Nancy.

Review of Mountain Mist 80/20 Wool/Poly Batting

I had high hopes for this mostly-wool batting when I found it on sale at JoAnn Fabrics last year and brought home a bag.  I'd been wanting to try a wool batting and at $20.00 for a king size bat, what could I lose?  My hopes were so high that I bought a second bag a few weeks after buying the first.  It had so many things to recommend it, most especially the 5" or less quilting intervals because I know the spaces between the quilting are the ones that hold the air that warm the body.

The full description on the bag has the following information:
> medium-loft batting
> drapable
> easy to quilt
> ready to use
> machine washable
> resin free
> all new material consisting of 80% wool/20% polyester
> For best results quilt or tie in intervals of 5" or less

When the topic of battings came up on a hand quilting Facebook group I asked if anyone had experience with this particular Mountain Mist batting.  Some had good words for the Mountain Mist brand; others had good words for wool battings; but it seems no one had used this particular brand of wool/poly batting.  One person suggested that if the information didn't indicate that it had been pre-washed, it might not come out of the wash well.  That (and another brief, negative review I saw online) spurred me forward to do what I intended to do all along:  make a sample quilt sandwich to put it through the quilting process from layering, basting, quilting, washing, and drying.

This is what the batting looked like when I pulled it from the bag.  It had the wonderful fragrance of washed wool:  sheep and lanolin.  I loved it because it reminded me of my spinning and dying days when I bought whole, raw fleeces to clean and spin.  Some may not appreciate the smell of nearly-raw wool.  The edges also had the tiny bits of seeds and straw found on raw wool.  But the rest was pure and beautiful, almost cloud-like.  It was thinner than I expected when the label said "medium loft" but, I thought, perhaps it would fluff up, or even shrink, in the dryer.

I cut a square of the batting to 12½" inches.  I also two 12½" squares of fabric, one of older quilting cotton, the other a piece of (what appeared to be closely woven) cotton twill, originally from a shirt.  I layered the outside of both fabrics together, then put the batting on top, pin basted, and stitched a ¼" seam around the edges, leaving an opening to turn the batting to the inside.  (Sorry, no photos of this step.) 

But here's the pin-basted quilt sandwich turned right side out.  It measured 11¾".  It lost ¾".

Then I quilted as I might have if it had actually been a quilt. 

It was so easy to quilt, like putting a needle through soft butter.  I loved it!  After quilting the square measured the same as before quilting.

Next I put it in the washer with another quilt and a pouch of All Free and Clear laundry detergent.  I set the washer for normal wash, high spin, with eco-warm water (which is cooler than lukewarm).  I closed the lid and hoped for the best.

This is how the quilt looked when it came out of the washer, quilting cotton front and cotton twill back.  It measured 11½" but I could stretch it back to 11¾".

And a close-up of the back.

I was disappointed, to say the least.  The wool had migrated to the outside of the quilt, more evident on the twill side than the side with regular cotton quilting fabric. 

I put it into the dryer with the other quilt and it came out looking like this.  You can't see strands of wool from the photo, and I can't see them, either, unless I hold the quilt at an angle to the light.  They're there, but there are fewer stands of wool than on the the front than the back.  It measured 11 3/8" square.

This is the back after drying.  It looks much the same as before drying.

The batting package said it was medium loft but this is no thicker than (and maybe less thicker than) the muslin I used instead of batting in Ohio Winter Browns.

To say I'm disappointed is an understatement.  I had visions of a great, light-weight, warm quilt on our bed and the fun and ease of quilting with wool that others have mentioned.  Now I'm hesitant about using any wool batting for fear of the wool fibers migrating to the outside of the quilt.

What will I do with this batting?!  Certainly not use it for a quilt as it is.  Could I wash and dry it before putting it in a quilt sandwich, or would that completely ruin it.  Perhaps I could put it in a quilt I will never wash?  Or maybe I could use a double layer of fabric on top and bottom and tie it?  No matter how I try to use it, would I ever feel safe that the wool fibers wouldn't migrate to the outside of the quilt?

I will contact Mountain Mist Company and let them know of the problem.  It's likely they won't do anything but least anyone else who has a question about this batting and who searches the internet might find this review and choose not to buy the batting.

One good thing is that I made a sample first, and now I know!

--Nancy.

Layered & Basted: Another Step Toward a Finish

Getting the parts and pieces of the Blue and the Gray ready for quilting has been my One Monthly Goal for May. 

Backing prepared?  Yes.  The pattern match is not perfect along the seam but I don't believe it will be noticeable after it's quilted, bound, washed, and dried.  In some places the flowers match exactly, in others, not quite so well.   It seems like the stitching (or maybe it was the pinning) was in line, went out of line a little, then back in line. 

Batting chosen?  Yes.  That was a hard choice.  A while ago I bought a wool/poly 80/20 Mountain Mist bat on sale at JoAnn's.  I've been wanting to try wool batting and when I saw this king size bat for $20.00 I thought I should take it home.  Several people said they loved wool batting, not only for quilting (like butter, they said), but also for lightweight warmth.

But I wasn't sure about wool for this quilt.  I imagine quilts from the 1800s as relatively flat -- cotton flat.  And how would wool wash and dry?  You can see that the package describes this batting as machine washable.  Certainly I would wash a quilt with wool in cool water on a gentle cycle, but when I checked the Mountain Mist website there was no sign of "machine washable" noted for this batting.  Which left me with the question of whether it really is machine washable or not.

I searched online to see if anyone else had experience with this particular batting and found that Kate Klein of Village Quilters had horrible shrinkage and lots of wool on the front of the quilt after a wash.  She used shot cotton on the front (and didn't mention wool coming through the back) and also washed in warm water.

I decided against wool for this quilt and will experiment on a smaller quilt to see how it goes.  If any of you have experience with this batting or other wool batting, I would love to hear about it.

I used the trusted Soft 'n' Crafty 80 cotton/ 20 poly that I've been using for a number of years.  It quilts easily, doesn't have too high a loft, washes and dries well, and is warm.  It seems more similar to a Civil War era batting than wool.

Layered and Basted?  Yes.  I forgot to take a photo when it was on the floor so here is part of it draped over the couch.

One of my concerns using a print fabric for a back is that it will end up askew because I didn't get the quilt aligned well enough.  I was oh-so-careful and measured the edge every few inches the whole way down.  We'll see.

Corners marked?  Done.

The pattern makers put rounded corners on their quilt which are very appealing.  I couldn't decide how big a curve to mark so I used a 12" pizza circle and a 9" cake pan to mark both sizes.  I don't have to decide now so I'll consider these two options as I quilt.  Looking at the instructions in the book just now I see that they suggest a 5" diameter plate for a quilt half this size.  Maybe I'll look for a 10" circle.

Thread color chosen?  Yep.  Black thread was too dark for the light fabrics, natural was too light for the grey and dark blue fabrics, so grey thread it is.  Sadly, I don't have any.  I checked at Hobby Lobby (because it's open) but their spools of cotton were big enough for 5 quilts and I doubt I'll want to use grey again.  I usually use Americana which I buy at JoAnn but couldn't find it online.  They're not open yet here (except for order and pick-up) and I don't remember Americana having grey thread.  Then I checked YLI online but they are out of grey just now.  I went to my nearest quilt shop today (after calling yesterday and being told that yes, they had Gutermann 100% cotton hand quilting thread in four different greys) and found that they had one very dark grey and one very light grey hand quilting threads and four greys in regular sewing cotton.  Sigh.  I even check Walmart thinking they might have Coats or some other brand but they had nearly no thread and most of their fabric shelves were empty.  So I'll begin quilting when I can find thread.

All this to say that I completed my One Monthly Goal for May.

Linking to
> One Monthly Goal May Link-up at Elm Street Quilts
> Finished (or not) Friday at Alycia Quilts
> Peacock Party at Wendy's Quilts and More
> Put Your Foot Down at For the love of geese
> Off the Wall Friday at Nina Marie's blog

We've had so much rain this week that there's been flooding in our city.  In fact, they put up the flood gates a few days ago.  Roads not far from us looked like streams and rivers.  Our house and street are in good shape -- this time.  I hope things are going well for you!  One of these days (or weeks or months) we'll be safely out and about again.

--Nancy.
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A Finish! Snowballs During the Winter that Won't End

This quilt is for little Olivia who is only 2 1/2 months old, and since it still feels like winter outside I think she'll have time to use this it before warm weather comes.  Whew!  She hasn't outgrown it before I finished it.  I'm new to this gramma thing and haven't got my timing down yet.

I'm still working on taking photographs that show the true colors....

Below, after a spin in the washer.

The finished quilt measures 41 1/8" x 52 1/8". 

I like to record details of each quilt I finish. 

Timeline  I record dates when part of the quilt was finished but not necessarily why it took so long.  Four months to quilt this little quilt is an impossibly long time except that I spent two weeks at my daughter's home before and after the baby was born helping her and watching new baby's toddler-brother.
10/14/13 - begun
10/26/13 - center blocks sewn together
11/13/13 - borders sewn on and applique finished
11/16/13 - quilting begun
 3/15/14 - quilting finished
 3/18/14 - binding cut, machine stitched
 3/20/14 - binding finished

Batting (info from package)

Soft n Crafty 80/20 (cotton/poly) from JoAnn
3/16" loft
2"-4" quilting distance
2-3% shrinkage

I found this batting easy to quilt through and I like the loft after washing -- puffed but not too much.  (After all, this quilt's meant to keep my grandbaby warm and it's the loft that adds warmth.  I might make another choice for a different quilt with a different perpson.)

Quilting
Hand-quilted using Natural Essential 100% cotton thread from Connecting Threads. 

Measurements
43" x 55" before layering
42 1/4" x 53" after quilting and before binding
42 5/8" x 53 1/2" after binding
41 1/8" x 52 1/8" after 6 washings and once in the dryer (because of the the pencil)

Actual shrinkage was about 9%.  Whew!!!  Much higher than the suggested 2-3% on the package.

I hope it will keep Olivia warm and comfy the rest of this winter and next year, too.


I'm linking this post to
TGIFF (Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday) at Devoted Quilter, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts.   Thanks, ladies.


Happy Quilting,
--Nancy.

Not Much Fun - W.i.P. Wednesday

I'm making slow progress hand quilting Children's Garden.  I used Warm & Natural batting because I had a piece available but it doesn't quilt as easily as the Cream Rose did.  Of course it could be my lack of experience in hand quilting... but I'm not enjoying it much.  The next time I use a cotton bat I think I'll go back to Cream Rose; or perhaps I'll try a bamboo, wool, or other kind of bat.  I think wool batting would be easy to hand quilt through but what about laundering?  Anyone have experience with other brands and varieties of bats?

Our cherry trees bloomed on sunny Tuesday but I was "out" with the flu (no fun) so I missed photos that day.  Now it's cool and grey.  I'm sure (well, almost sure) I'll feel better by the time warm and sunny spring days return (unless that's tomorrow).

I'm linking this post to W.i.P. Wednesday at freshlypieced.  Thanks, Lee.

--Nancy.

P.S.  I won a Traveling Stash Box.  I want to enjoy it when I open it so I'll wait another day or two.  I'll post about it soon.

Last Hurrah for High Five for Brenna

Now that Brenna's High Five is completely finished, I wanted to post details about it.

The quilt took 7 months from start to finish.  (Am I slow or what?!!)  I began making blocks in September, 2012, and bound, washed, and dried it on April 1, 2013.

The blocks are cut at 5" and are 4 1/2" finished.  There are 16 x 20 rows equaling 320 blocks.  Each block has 5 pieces of fabric and four seams.  All fabric was pre-washed.

The backing is a tone-on-tone natural/creamy print.  (Brenna said she liked plain backs best.)

The batting is a Mountain Mist Cream Rose 100% cotton bat.  Shrinkage was about 9%.  It was hand quilted with an all-over arching pattern that, if it had been more orderly, might have been a clamshell or Baptist Fan pattern.  The arches are about 1" - 1 1/4" apart.    I used Connecting Threads all cotton "Cream" and a size 7 needle.  The stitches are 4-6/inch.  (I'm still a beginner but improving.)

Measurements:
before quilting:  72" x 90"
after quilting:  71" x 88 7/8"
after binding:  71" x 88 7/8"
after washing and drying:  68 3/4" x 85"

Reminders to self:

• When choosing quilt size, make the quilt larger to account for shrinkage, especially if using a cotton bat.
• Everything takes longer than you think it will.
• If you haven't quilted recently, it will take a while to build up quilting callouses.

I don't think any photo will show the richness of this quilt (at least not any photo I take!).  I love it.  I love looking at individual blocks and seeing what fabrics worked together to make an aqua or a tan or a red or a blue block.  It's such fun.  Some of the fabrics were scraps that were left over from someone else's project and I have no more of them.  Some, I wonder where they came from because when I look at them they I can't remember ever seeing them before.  Part of me wants to keep this quilt for reference. . .  but I suppose I should give it to my daughter, huh?  Especially considering that I made it for her.


I'm linking this post to the April 5 edition of Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts, hosted by Amanda Jean.  Thanks so much, Amanda Jean.

--Nancy.
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Procrastinating a Binding

Brenna was home over the weekend and chose the above fabrics for a scrappy binding on her High Five.  On Saturday I cut and stitched the fabrics into one long strip but didn't get any further.  I don't sew on Sunday so Monday was the day to get the binding onto the quilt and get it finished.

On Saturday night I had a dream about the binding.  There it was all cut and ready to be sewn on the quilt.  I picked up the quilt, sat at the machine, laid the binding along the edge of the quilt and began to sew.  Great progress, almost done.  I awoke with a start.  Oh, no!  That's not how to sew a binding on a quilt!  (I know because I've tried that before and ended up with a ruffly-edged quilt.)  Whew!  I'm glad it was only a dream.  When I came downstairs the next morning, there was the quilt on the floor exactly where I'd left it.

Bindings are my least favorite part of quilting.  I think a binding can make or break (or at least enhance or detract  from) a quilt.  A fabulous quilt will look less than its best with a poorly measured and sewn binding.  Thus, my trepidation.  Even though my goal was to completely finish the quilt (binding sewn and stitched) on Monday, I found myself coming up with ways to avoid it.

• Better check on Airedale Hannah.  She might be out in the yard digging.
• Oh!  That load of laundry's finished.  Better go change the washer.  (Repeated every half hour or so, at least four times.)
• Look at all those threads on the floor!  Gotta vacuum.  (You know it's bad when I choose cleaning over quilting.)
• Look at all those crumbs.  Someone forgot to clean off the counter after breakfast....
• Breakfast.  I forgot to eat breakfast!  I need to eat so I'll have energy to do that binding.
• Gosh, I'm sleepy.  Maybe a nap will help.
• Etc., etc.  

Determined to meet this goal and be finished with this quilt, I measured the binding, laid it on the quilt, measured again, pinned, and sewed each side.  By late afternoon the binding had been machine stitched in place and I spent the rest of the evening folding it over and blind-stitching it on the back.  I think I got it right.  I don't think there are any ruffles but we'll see after it comes out of the dryer.

The label on the the Mountain Mist Cream Rose batting bags says, "Washable with care, when quilted properly".  What care, exactly?  Regular wash, gentle wash?  Dryer, no dryer?  The quilt is going through a regular wash cycle, and will dry on moderate heat.  If I were a superstitious person, I might cross my fingers....

I'm linking this post to Small Blog Meet, a link-up for bloggers with fewer than fifty follows.  It is hosted at the beginning of every month by Lynne at Lily's Quilts.  If you're a blogger with only a few followers and would like to meet more, please link with the rest of us.

I'm also linking this post to Let's Get Acquainted! Monday Link Up by Plum and June which is hosted this week by Taryn at from Pixels to Patchwork.


--Nancy.
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Should I Be Concerned . . .

. . . that this bat isn't even?  It dips downward on the right corner.  (This is the Mountain Mist Cream Rose bat I wrote about yesterday.)

Is it common for cotton bats to be irregularly shaped? The cutting line looks "straight" but not perpendicular to the side of the bat.


I'd love to hear from you if you know more about cotton bats than me.  Thanks!

--Nancy.

Layering a Quilt

A softly printed off-white fabric for the back, plus

a Mountain Mist Cream Rose double sized bat

plus a 72" x 90" Sunday Morning quilt top

will become my younger daughter's quilt when finished.

She liked this pattern and wanted a cotton bat.

I stitched the pieces for the back together tonight.  I hope to layer and baste the quilt tomorrow.  My husband wonders how I will do it.  I wonder, too.  My  layout area is my living room floor.

I had foot surgery in October which was mostly healed.  But two weeks ago I started having a different pain in my foot.  The doctor tells me that if I don't rest and elevate my foot, I will have a stress fracture.   Nearly three months of rest with an elevated foot has been a long time.  I've read books and blogs, researched on the internet (all sitting with my foot elevated), stitched at the sewing machine a little, watched a few movies and when the doctor finally said I could go out, very carefully went to the thrift store and the grocery store.  Can I tell you that I'm bored?  I want my body and my mobility back!

I believe I could have had this quilt quilted if I'd been able to get it layered and basted before the surgery.  Now that I have to rest for 3 more weeks, I know I could get a good start on quilting it -- if I can only get it basted.  How much do you think my husband will help me with it tomorrow?  He will probably -- very kindly and generously -- help me smooth the layers out on the floor.  But I know he will not pin.  Do you think I can sit on the floor and pin-baste it?  Or can I bend over and do it?  We'll see. 

I'm looking forward to hand-quilting with this Cream Rose bat after reading a review at The Tulip Patch.  She says it shrinks more than some other cotton bats but, to be honest, I was concerned that this quilt was a little too large.  I hope it will be the perfect size after it's washed.  Lucy at Quilting with the Past said Cream Rose is very easy to quilt, which is just what I need as a newish hand quilter.  I'll report back later.

Happy stitching!
 --Nancy.
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