Wednesday, October 6, 2021

One Down and Three to Go!

 "Lady Sings the Blues" is now in the finished column!   This is the quilt slated for gifting to a birthday girl in late November.  So happy to have it completed!


I've been waiting for a nice sunny day to photograph it properly, and it looked like the skies were finally clearing mid-morning.  Though by the time I gathered up the quilt, clothes pins and camera, the skies were again cloudy, which has been our pattern of late.  When it isn't raining that is.  But still, it turned out to be a pretty good day for photographs.



A lot of stencils were used in this quilt for the free motion portion.  All marked with Crayola Ultra-Washable markers, which I've never had an issue with, until this quilt.  After it's first pre-wash bath in plain cold water I took it out to be sure the markings were removed and was horrified to find pink bleeding on the tannish backgrounds of several of the basket blocks.  And this was supposed to be a gift quilt!  The blocks with the creamier background fabric shed the marker with no problem.  Another rinse, the pink remained although slightly lighter.  A third wash with Synthrapol and warm water removed nearly all of the pink leaving only the faintest hint that probably no one else would even notice, but since I knew it was still there ... sigh.  The only thing that comes to mind is that my friend who gave me the pieced blocks (her rejects after making a quilt of the same kit fabrics) never prewashes her fabrics. Perhaps the finish on that one fabric held the color from the washable markers, though I don't know for a fact.  Anyhow, a fourth clear water rinse/dry after the outside photography seems to have removed the remaining pink, for which I'm really thankful!


I hand quilted the baskets with Aurifil 12 wt. thread, while the remainder of the quilt was machine quilted with Aurfil 50 wt.  I like the hand quilted details, plus dreaded forcing the machine to quilt into the multiple layers of all those hst seams, and figured the hand quilting "might" go faster with less angst.


The back:

And the so-called "beauty shots"

Our fall colors are slow to appear and seem much more muted this year, though time will tell when this area finally reaches "peak colors."  So a couple of the porch mums were pressed into service.


And here's our Sammy, now one year old, who accompanied me throughout.  He's such a character, into everything and just as sweet as he can be.  


Hide and seek -



Hope all is well in your world.  Now back to quilting!


p.s.  I'm having issues with comments either coming to my email twice, or in some cases not at all. Please forgive me if you don't receive a response in your email.  Maybe blogger will eventually get it right, or maybe go back to a system that actually worked.  Not holding my breath though.

15 comments:

Chantal said...

The "beauty shots" are AWEsome! I can relate to the shock of finding pink marks still on the quilt after washing. Especially on a quilt you want to give away. Happy it ended well. Do I see butterflies in the sashing? It's really lovely. Congrats! ;^)

Hill Top Post said...

The day was perfect for photographing "Lady Sings the Blues." And, how beautiful she is. What a wonderful job you did on both the quilt and the pictures. Your friend is going to be delighted with this one.

Barb said...

Lovely finish of your basket quilt.
Pretty photos too. I love the one with a rocker. Looks like a magazine photo with that purple mum.
what a cutie sammy is :)

Julierose said...

What a gorgeous quilt!! I love your quilting around the baskets--and the borders are so pretty--lovely finish..methinks your kitty is even impressed!!:))) hugs, Julierose

Sandy said...

Beautiful quilt -nice job! Your kitty is cute 😊

Nancy said...

What a beautiful quilt. The baskets are wonderful and I especially like that you chose to orient them in different directions from row to row. It is a unique setting that I think works really well. Lucky birthday girl!
How frustrating to have the ultra-washable not wash out completely. It is one of my fears when I mark on a quilt. So glad it finally came out. It's an interesting idea about the marker holding to the unwashed fabric (but not the washed), and maybe worth experimenting to see if that always happens.

kathiquilts said...

Barbara Brackman's "Baltimore Blues" line was a particular favorite of mine and I loved seeing how lovely those sweet William pieces looked in your cornerstones. The quilt is just lovely and I'm sure will make some birthday girl very happy indeed!

sandi s said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! I’m glad you were able to get those marking line taken care of. Hugs,

Angie said...

Lovely finish! I'm glad the marker issue had a happy ending - I always hold my breath when washing out marks, no matter how many times I've used the marker. Thanks for sharing your quilting thread info; what type of quilting thread to use always challenges me. Sammy is adorable - please give him some scritches from me!

Quilting Babcia said...

Thanks for your kind comments, and for visiting.

Quilting Babcia said...

Thanks for visiting and leaving sweet comments. Blue is the recipient's favorite color, so I think she will like this one.

Quilting Babcia said...

Thank you! Blue is the recipients favorite color, so I'm pretty sure she will be happy with this one.

Lizzy D said...

Beautiful photos of a beautiful quilt. I love Baskets, as you prob remember.

Sammy is darling, but rocking chairs can be dangerous for kitty paws and tails?

love

lizzy

Cynthia@wabi-sabi-quilts said...

Your basket quilt is so pretty and just glows. I'm glad the pink finally came out. I use the same markers and haven't ever had a problem. Cute kitty;).

Barbara said...

Oh, what a lovely blue basket quilt! It sings! Glad to hear the markings finally came out--that is so nerve wracking! Beautiful photography, too. Enjoyed seeing little Sammie. He's a cutie :)