Tuesday, November 27, 2018

It's a Finish! Blind Man's Fancy

 Blind Man's Fancy
90 x 90
Hand quilted



of my Q4 Finish-Along goals. 

Baby, it's cold outside! 


I had my heart set on hand quilting Baptist Fans which was kind of a dumb idea considering all those seams in all those small pieces but I persisted. My first problem was marking. I tried a variety of ways to mark the Baptist Fan. Finally I settled on an Around the Block stencil I used a couple of times to quilt circles. And I have had a pounce pad for a long time but never used it but I tried it after trying a variety of other marking tools and it seemed the perfect solution.  

 At least I could see the marks. But I could only mark one fan at a time because if I tried more the chalk would wear off before I could get to it.  I didn't use a hoop because for some reason it wasn't working for me. It kept popping out of the square PVC hoop and the bigger wooden hoop just was not working for me.  I was totally frustrated between all the seams, marking, hoops but kept going.  And now I love the texture that it added that doesn't show up in the pictures but it kind of matches my vision for this quilt. 
I used muslin on the back. Sometimes I missed going through the backing all together an it appears there are skipped stitches. Sometimes I had to stab stitch through the seams. Sometimes my lines of stitching (or rather curves) are crooked or not evenly spaced. I try for small and consistently spaced stitches but sometimes I fall short of that goal.   But I still enjoy hand quilting (most of the time).

This was goal #1
for
Q4 Finish-Along

31 comments:

Libby in TN said...

Hand quilting adds a soft finish to any piece. Well worth the effort on a beautiful quilt!

Amy said...

Just gorgeous, Cathy! This quilt could have been heavy without the hand quilting, so I think your hand quilting it was the perfect choice. Well done!

Lori said...

Aaacckk! There's snow in the picture! No snow here at the moment, maybe tomorrow. Its COLD though. Nice finish, I admire your hand quilting. Perfect!

JCH said...

I just love your quilt. Those triangles for me would have done me in but it's beautiful.I'm so glad you hand quilted. It's tempting to machine quilt to get it done but I hand quilt too. The crooked, heavy seam areas, and missed on the back are all part of a work of love. It makes it yours. Just started following your blog and enjoy it very much. Thank you for sharing

---"Love" said...

What a beautiful quilt! I love your Flying Geese sashings and border. You are a brave one to do that much hand quilting! ---"Love"

Jeanne said...

Wow! Another amazing finish!!!

karen said...

What a gorgeous quilt! Looks like you'll need an extra quilt with all that snow.

Connie said...

Be still my heart!
This quilt is gorgeous . . . I absolutely love it :)

Quilting Babcia said...

If I were a blind man, I would wish for just one glimpse of this gorgeous quilt! It's perfect in my book, and I doubt that any of us get every handquilted stitch to go all the way through to the back every single time, especially through seam joins.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A gorgeous quilt! I love all your tiny flying geese boders, and all that hand quilting is amazing!

gayle said...

Stunningly gorgeous! And gorgeously stunning!
I've loved this one since you made the first block - so glad to see the finished quilt!
I'd love to handquilt all mine, but I suspect I won't live long enough to do it. (I've got a century's worth of piecing planned, and quilting is the slowest part.) At least with handquilting, there's no wrestling the quilt through the harp of the machine...

TakeMeThereTotes said...

I wrote a long glowing comment on the beauty of this fantastic quilt and could not post it and lost it. So I am trying again. Your quilt is beautiful. That pattern is so involved and you did it so well. I also told you my struggles with the same tools and marking the fans and losing those white chalk marks. I ended up buying Fun With Barbs baptist fan and Fons and Porter white mechanical pencil. My biggest struggle is aligning the row staggered above the beginning row. I love a hand quilted quilt!

Kristina said...

Absolutely beautiful! And hand quilting makes it extra special! Such a great accomplishment. Enjoy many cozy, warm nights sleeping under this treasure.

Nann said...

It's a finish and it's SNOW beautiful!

Nana said...

WOW!!this is beautiful! and I am sure the hand quilting took forever but it was worth. Great job!!!

Ann said...

This is such a striking quilt. You made excellent fabric choices for the blocks and the flying geese set them off beautifully. Baptist Fans fit with any pattern. I love the parallel curves. As you mention, they show up on busy fabrics and add great texture.

mangozz said...

I absolutely love this quilt - the colors, design and quilting. It is one of my favorites of all of your quilts. But as much as I love it, I would never attempt to make one. It would never hold a candle to yours.

Linda said...

Just gorgeous! All the work involved in creating this quilt is amazing: so many tiny pieces in the blocks and flying geese sashings, a miriad of seams to navigate whilst handquilting, all those baptist fans, millions of hand stitches on the quilting. Just perfect!

Cathy said...

Everything about this quilt is stellar! So beautiful! And I’m sure it’s aptly named; I know I’d certainly be blind by the time I finished such a (fancy) project!

Sally Trude said...

It's amazing to see you finish up quilts with more intricate piecing yet knowing you built them up the same way as all the others...block by block.

Vicki in MN said...

With all that seams-you are one brave woman to hand quilt that. But what a beauty and a great scrapbuster!

cityquilter grace said...

a true heirloom...and hand quilted as well..you go girl!

Karen in Breezy Point said...

It's wonderful! Congrats on an amazing finish!

Louise said...

Oh, this is a beauty! Every time I convince myself that blocks with tons of little pieces aren't for me, you go and finish something wonderful and elaborate and I want to make one, too. And all the hand quilting, wow! What a labor of love, well worth it in the end :)

Anonymous said...

I don't comment very often, but this is one striking quilt. I love your blog and all the colorful quilts that you produce. Thanks for sharing.

audrey said...

I adore this quilt. Such a great pattern and your colors are marvelous. I can see why you chose the Baptist fan stitching. Texture is everything!

Angie said...

Fantastic scrappy, wonderful finish, Cathy!! Congrats for not giving up on the hand quilting - it looks great, and who cares if it's not "perfect"!

Sue McQ said...

This quilt is remarkable! The Baptist Fan quilting is perfect. I have yet to try it. Every inch an inspiration my dear!

Mary said...

Gorgeous! Your persistence paid off.

Sew of Course said...

Wow! Hand quilting a quilt that size is a job and a half, whatever pattern you use. But baptist fans give a lovely texture, doesn't it?! Thank you for participating in the FAL, on behalf of the 2018 hosts!

Ellen said...

Your quilt is gorgeous!