(Sorry about the picture quality; it's not too sunny here, so natural light is hard to come by!)
I finished up the blue DWR quilt last night... and boy, did I let out a sigh of relief! It's a bit late for the anniversary, but I'm sure they'll understand why it took so long. :)
This is my first completely machine-quilted quilt; definitely a different experience! There were a lot of things that I wasn't expecting -- despite over-pinning it, it still bunched in a few areas in the back -- but it was a small price to pay for getting it done so fast.
This was also the first time I've done a 'proper' binding using bias tape. I found a few tutorials online about how to get those corners just right, and everything turned out great in that aspect.
I learned a lot about the DWR and machine quilting by doing this quilt, and I'm really glad I got to do a 'practice' one before starting our wedding DWR -- there were a lot of things that I didn't see coming when I was working on this one.
I will admit that I like the machine quilting for the speed, clean lines, and durability -- however, I don't feel like I had as much control as when I was hand quilting. Maybe I just need more practice!
...and now I can't wait to take this baby to the post office!
The DWR looks great. Your future in-laws should be pleased with such a special gift.
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Hello, I seen a post on the McCall's Website dated 1/9/11 by you inviting people to view your DWR in process on your blog. Your quilt is very beautiful! I was hoping to see some pictures on how you put the rows together. Wow, this looks impossible. I am not new to sewing and I have no trouble with circular seams but can not imagine how you would sew the rows together. Did you use set in seams to sew the rows? I think the four patch in the middle of the arcs is really throwing me off. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
ReplyDeleteHi Cat! I'm going to go into more detail about the piecing with the brown DWR, but I'll give you as good of a run-down as I can right now!
ReplyDeleteI piece the 'footballs' then do a whole row of them sewed to the white center 'diamonds.' So if you'd look at the picture of the finished quilt, imagine just the vertical footballs with the white diamonds as a horizontal row. Then I take the horizontal footballs and the four-patches and make an entire row. I did all of the rows, then sewed each row together -- I'm sorry if my description is a bit confusing, but I'm getting to assembling the brown one soon, I promise!
Let me know if you have any other questions!