Sunday, June 19, 2016

Tulips


Tulips
81 x 91
Hand quilted

(Here it is fresh out of the washer and actually going to continue to hang on the line to dry even after I'm finished with the photo shoot.  Electricity is expensive out here in the boondocks.)


I think this is one of my older UFOs. I see my earliest blog post was in August 2011. 


Over the years I managed to make 72 blocks out of 30s reproduction fabrics (or fabrics that seemed like 30s to me). I love 30s reproduction fabrics because they remind me of my grandmother's quilts.  


I big stitched in Perle #8 which was whiter than the Kona Snow I used for the background so up close the white stitching kind of makes the background look dirty. I didn't find that out until I did some hand quilting outside in the sunshine.  Well, that's the way it is. 

 I didn't mark anything (as you can probably tell). 

 I like to use Hobbs Heirloom Cotton Batting (80/ 20) for my hand quilted quilts. It is easiest for me to needle through and I like that it shrinks a little bit when washed which I think gives it a vintage look.   

I usually use wide muslin for the backs of quilts that I make with 30s reproductions. 

I'm glad this big quilt is finally finished. It's getting too hot to hand quilt. I don't have air conditioning and so covering myself with a big quilt to hand quilt it is not really a good idea these days.  I'll have to find some other hand work for a few months. 

Today I'm joining some others in a virtual quilting bee at Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Sunday Stitching (on what has yet to be determined now that I'm finished with this monstrosity). 

for the 


15 comments:

Deb said...

Beautiful quilt, congratulations on the finish, I would have kept it on the line all day just to soak up the sunshine and fresh air. I know what you mean about having a big project on your lap even with my air conditioning its just too hot I try to do small hand embroidery pieces to put together when the weather gets cool, I am slowly hand piecing a postage stamp quilt so thats not too bad I'm using 1.5" squares. Hope you find a project soon.

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

What a great finish! I love hand quilting with perle cotton #8 and I know what you mean about the white being too white. Congratulations!

Cherie in St Louis said...

It's beautiful and has a wonderful vintage feel. After drying, don't let it outside again and no one will be the wiser about the too white perle cotton ;-)

gayle said...

ANOTHER beautiful finish! You are the most productive person I know, with those stacks and stack of gorgeous quilts. (You have quilting elves helping you, right? Can I borrow a couple? Just for the summer...)

LIttle Penguin Quilts said...

That is so beautiful! I am filing away that block for a possible future project for me. So perfect for all different kinds of scraps!

Jennifer said...

Your tulip quilt is gorgeous. Love all the pretty fabrics and the quilting is great.

Julierose said...

this is just lovely; I especially like that last enlarged one--the colors red and gold are perfect. Really nice work hugs, Julierose

Quilting Babcia said...

Absolutely beautiful! I love the look and softness of handquilting.

Podunk Pretties said...

Gorgeous, everything about it. I'm a sucker for scrappy flower quilts.

Janie said...

Congratulations! Great handquilting. I suppose if you're looking to find fault two 'different' whites are just so shocking,
but I'm not that way and I think it's fabulous.

Nancy said...

I think both the fabric and the pattern look 1930s-1940s. They are perfect complements to each other.
--Nancy. (ndmessier @ aol.com, joyforgrace.blogspot.com)

Quiltdivajulie said...

Beautiful . . . so many different fabrics and combinations. I think your quilting looks great (marked or not).

Lisa in Port Hope said...

What a gorgeous combination of colours and it looks so cuddly for those cool autumn nights. I have a hand quilting project that I am doing one block at a time, but it's pretty slow progress in between my other projects.

Ellen said...

Another gorgeous quilt!!

Leanne said...

This is such a lovely quilt and your hand stitching makes it even nicer, a great finish too! Thank you for participating in the FAL, on behalf of the 2016 global hosts.