Customer Necktie Quilt ~~ Finished!

That's right.  The men's necktie quilt that I was making for a customer is off the list.  It was fun to figure out how the Dresden Plate would come together but even better was quilting it. 

I haven't heard back from my customer, so I really hope she likes it.  

I treated the negative space as though each Dresden ray extended to the edge of the lighter gray. 

That allowed me to play with different quilting motifs.  And I got to have fun in smaller spaces, so if I chose a motif that is rather slow going, I wasn't disappointed that I had a huge space to cover.

I also played with the rays themselves.  After dividing the background into quadrants, I placed the ties so that either 7 or 8 ties would fill each quadrant.  Although I didn't worry so much about placing the ties "just so," Richard came in and insisted that I rearrange them.  In the end, the four yellow ties  border each quadrant and create an X.  

The darker gray frame has a different quilting motif.  I used a curved filler that quilts up very fast and easy.  I added the center cover for the Dresden Plate using a solid blue tie that my customer chose.   And finally, created a border using what was left of some of the ties in the quilts.  

  
I was a little surprised at how much the border wanted to twist, but I assume the problem is that I cut the 2 1/2 strips at the wrong angle in my attempt to get enough border.  

The most difficult part of making this quilt was stitching in the center where the ties overlap.  Some of the ties are very thick, so my machine wanted some encouragement to push through, but we made it.  If I were to make another, I would definitely deconstruct the ties and remove the interfacing to reduce the bulk.  It turns out that deconstructing ties is much easier than I originally thought.

Linking up with
Crazy Mom Quilts (celebrating 9th year anniversary!)

Happy Quilting,

Festival Recovery and Little More Than Naps

Yesterday's trip to the Houston Quilt Festival was fabulous, of course.  The one downside: one day cannot possibly be enough.  I really wanted to see more.  I did see about two/thirds of the quilts. Having been before, I knew I'd have to make some choices, so I started my race with a strategy.  I looked at the floor plan and made my decisions--"In Full Bloom," "National Parks," "In the American Tradition," "Modern Quilt Guild" and so many, many more!

I just bought a double wedding ring die set from Accuquilt, so I was especially interested in how other quilters have played with the block.  Of course, I wanted to see all the really big winners (you'll be very impressed), and everything IQA sounded interesting.  Do you see the dilemma here?  

The only way to handle it, I've discovered from previous festivals, is to push myself through, eat a quick lunch and choose extra carefully in the afternoon.  We got a late start, had a later breakfast, and chose an even later lunch.  Apparently everyone planned to eat lunch at 1:00, because we stood in line for quite some time and had to wait for a small group to get up before we could get seats.  All in all it was truly enlightening and pleasant.  

We left late (why not since the whole day ran late?) and then decided to have gumbo at a niece's home, so our arrival was truly late.  Today I've been dragging around zombie-like but managed to visit the in-laws, do the Halloween shopping for the grandkids, and sew just a little.  It poured down rain the entire day, so there are still flowers sitting on the worktable waiting to go to the cemetery.  

Today has been rather long, even with the naps.  I say naps in plural because I tried to wake up and move several times, but it was really impossible.  I'm not sure how long I rested, but I am sure that it took most of the afternoon.  The sound of rain falling on the roof didn't hurt the situation nor did snuggling under my favorite quilt.  

As for the rest of the day: The in-laws are doing fine, the baskets and bags are all arranged for tomorrow's lunch when everyone should be here, and I'm close to finishing my customer's tie quilt. And that has been my weekend thus far. Not busy, but not boring and certainly the quilt festival was more than I had hoped for.  Enjoy the few pictures I've posted.  I am waiting till tomorrow to post more.  It feels wrong to post lots of pictures of a show that is still going on, so this is just a sneak peek.  

Happy Quilting,

Whew! Quilting Is Hard Work

Really, it is!  My back is very sore but that should not surprise me since I quilted a whole quilt today.  Thank goodness that quilt is only about 50 inches square.  Any larger and I would not have made it.

Can you tell what it is?  Here are a couple of hints: it's really heavy, it's not the usual cotton, and it's got some very unusual colors and design.  

I'm in the middle of making a Dresden Plate tie quilt for a customer.  I actually began this project last weekend, but I did not get very far.

I was above my head in measuring and making the ties fit the quilt. Today my darling husband came in and did the math. It turns out that the math wasn't so hard.  Apparently I was on the right path but stopped too soon.

This is one of those times that I'm really grateful that I have such a large work table.  I spread the gray backing down on the table, found the centers on both side, and started laying ties down.  We did lots of adjusting to get the points even, and I had to trim down the center quite a bit, but in the end it worked out.



Then I loaded the long-arm and got busy.  It was difficult stitching down the ties, but once those were finished, the rest went quickly. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to trim the edges, prepare and sew on the binding, then just close up the center.  It would be nice to have this project finished before we leave for Houston later in the week.  
Are you coming to Houston?  

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: N E C K T I E S

I've begun making a quilt for a customer that incorporates neckties for a deceased family member.  The quilt is to be a gift and she had already chosen both the ties and the pattern that she wants.

When she approached me about making the quilt, I thought that it would be much easier than it is in reality.  In fact, I've restarted several times already.  I think I may have finally figured out the problem and the solution, but I won't know for a few more days. My research turned up some interesting points, however, so I thought I'd share some of those with you.

First the ties.  You may already have ties, but if not they are widely available at thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales.  Don't worry too much about the style or colors.  Anything goes!