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Thursday, March 28, 2013

King Size Quilt

I hope everyone has been doing well in my absence from my blog.  I have truly missed blogging.  I have been away exploring our lovely state, and upon my return repacked for a long weekend away at our twice yearly quilt camp.  I treasure the time with my wonderful quilting  friends and enjoy watching the projects come together over the course of the weekend.  We have some amazingly talented quilters in our group and I am so thankful for the knowledge that we share with each other that allows us to improve and grow in our quilting.

This past weekend I was able to machine quilt a very large king size quilt I made for our bed.  It has taken several years to construct and is finally now quilted.  When I found the fabric I fell in love with the black floral pattern, only to discover it was a pattern from the previous year.  For those that are not familiar with fabric, the fabric company usually runs a sample, gathers sales, and makes one run at the fabric mill.  When that is done, they start the next year's print sample and run and so on.  Very rarely unless they have a heavy requests for a second run do they actually make a second run.  So I had the challenge for several years of purchasing any fabrics that were in this fabric line and enough to make the quilt for our bed.  Slowly over a period of about four or five years I purchased enough to start making the quilt.  I finished piecing the top at a previous quilt camp a couple of years ago but because of  it's huge size 122"x122" it would not fit on a quilt frame to be machine quilted.  I did not care because I initially planned to hand quilt it.  The only request from my DH was that the quilt drape to the floor or close to it.  How could I not honor the only request from  him????  Thus, the large size.  After two years being folded in my sewing room, and even being gifted with a quilting frame for hand sewing I decided to quilt it on my PFAFF.  I wanted to enjoy it in THIS lifetime!!!  I have never undertook such a large quilting project on my machine...or ever for that matter.  However, though it was incredibly heavy and at times difficult to fit in the throat of the machine.  I persevered and got it quilted and bound while at camp this past weekend.  I could not wait to get home and wash it and put it on the bed.  DH and I really like it and now I am on to my next quilting project :)
This is the backing, batting and top all laid out ready to pin baste.


Here the quilt is done being pin basted.  I took a short break and gave my knees a break about half way through.  For a quilt this large pinning on the floor was the only option to keep it straight with no puckers.
Here it is!!!!  While at camp we had a snowstorm come in .  My dear friend helped me hang the quilt and was actually hiding behind it on the balcony to straighten it when the wind blew the corner up!  If you look closely you can see snowflakes.  Brrrrr It was VERY cold outside and I knew I would never pack this quilt up and bring it back with me to take pictures once I got it on our bed so it was now or never.  Thank you Pam!!!

As I get time I will fill you in on my recent journeys.  It takes me a while to settle back into my routine once I return home :)


9 comments:

Rose said...

That is stunning Amy!

Anonymous said...

fabulous!

Unknown said...

That really does look lovely! I'm very VERY new to quilting - just a cushion and a table runner so far! - but I have a question I'd love to ask you - do you mind? It's sort of a 'recycling' question . I have a bedspread which I bought many years ago now. It feels as though it's a quilt but the coloured part seems to be attached to the backing. As it's quite faded now and I'm about to buy a new bed cover, I'm wondering if I could cut it into smaller pieces to use as backing for other projects. It's king size and so it seems a shame to throw it out if it could be used to make something else. If I do use it again, are there any traps/tricks I should know about?

Unknown said...

Anne, Welcome and thank you for your comment and question. I do not mind answering at all. I think it is wonderful that you would like to recycle your current bedspread. This is a very good idea. Based on what you have described, and not seeing your project, I would remove all the stitching holding the layers of your bedspread together and separate the top and batting (fluffy stuff sandwiched between the layers) from the backing. You will then be left with a nice large piece of backing fabric. If you meant to use the whole bedspread and put a new top on it, that would work as well as long as the original top is a fairly smooth surface to allow for ease in quilting. There are many quilts through history that were made using recycled fabrics, clothing, and anything quilters could get their hands on to make a warm quilt for their family. When tops became worn it was not unheard of to make a new top and put it over an old one, by leaving the old top in place it created an extra layer of warmth on the quilt. The original stitching or quilting was removed, a new top placed over the old one and the quilt was then quilted again. I hope this helps. If you have additional questions please do not hesitate to send me an email :)

Rose and Becci, thank you so very much for your lovely comments! This was definitely a labor of love and so worth the effort :)

Little Home In The Country said...

Amy, your quilt is BEAUTIFUL! I have a queen size quilt boxed up waiting to be quilted... it's been so long waiting, we actually have a king bed now! I'm sure it's been sitting for 15 years... for shame :( You have inspired me, though :)

Deb@asimplelifequilts said...

This is a truly WOW! quilt. Good for you... I could not dream of making a quilt that size! Just gorgeous!

Unknown said...

Thanks! A very helpful reply!

Donna said...

Excellent!!! Great job,my friend :)

BLD in MT said...

That is fabulous and you must feel so great to have finished it! Hooray! Hanging it off the balcony as you did really showcases it! I am already looking forward to the October sewing retreat with my aunts/mom/friends, myself. It is such a valuable time together! I always learn so much and get so much done.