I realize that with the exception of borders, this pictures looks almost identical to the one I posted on August 5th, however, the back has now been filled with what feel like thousands of tiny stitches. Tiny stiches I put in by hand while OL laughed and told me what a miracle it would be for me to finish this thing.
Here is an example around one square:
Sadly, the blanket is still very far from completed, as I have yet to do the actual quilting part and sew together the three layers. For the uninitiated, those layers would be the quilt top, the soft batting in the middle, and the quilt backing material. Here's the super cute print I'm using for the back of the quilt:
Yesterday I spent an excruciating hour ironing out the wrinkles from all three layers, and positioning the fabrics carefully on the floor. Then it turned out that I needed The Pit's assistance to hold up the fabrics while I pinned. And all this for a baby blanket...I can't imagine the work that goes into something bigger.
However, after much sweating and cursing,* the whole thing is now marked with masking tape for quilting:
At the moment, I can only bear the thought of doing the stitches diagonally in one direction. When I finish those, I suppose I can re-evaluate and think about going in the opposite direction...however, I suspect the baby will be close to due by that point, and we'll just call it good.
Now if only I could figure out how to hand-quilt this without using one super long thread for each of those diagonal lines. Anyone know how to effectively hide the stopping and starting points if I use reasonable lengths of thread?**
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* You know, love the baby will really feel.
** Dina who is not related to me, I'm looking at you here.
Wow, that baby is going to feel so happy and so important in that quilt. He will be filled with gay pride!
ReplyDeleteOn a more constructive note (pun intended, as usual), I think you ought to be able to pull the knot through one layer of the quilt and hide it inside. I don't know how a quilting stitch works, but I think if you doubled back over a stitch or two using the same holes, then pulled the knot through, it would be fairly secure.
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I hate to say it, but my advice is to use a sewing machine-I can't believe you've already done all that by hand! (If you don't have one, in the interest of goodwill I will mail you mine. Seriously.)
ReplyDeleteIf you insist on doing it by hand, you can hide the knots inside the batting, and covering the excess threads by sewing it into your lines-it's not perfect, but I doubt the baby is going to be squinting at the details. Here's a quick tutorial on the knots:
http://www.how-to-quilt.com/articles/5007-hide-a-hand-quilting-knot.php
PS-Nobody uses one long thread-you'll only drive yourself crazy! Stick with around 18 inches at a time. (That's what she said)
PS-the quilt looks AMAZING!
>>Nobody uses one long thread-you'll only drive yourself crazy!
ReplyDeleteIf you really loved the baby you would.
A) This is a unisex quilt Eric! It could be for a she or a he.
ReplyDeleteB) I love you for offering the sewing machine Dina, but I have no idea how to use one. Also, I do a majority of my quilting while babysitting OL.
C) Oh my god, I just did the shortest of the diagonal lines by hand, and damn, I think I need a hoop or something. I will investigate at JoAnn's tomorrow.
Keep reaching for that rainbow...
ReplyDelete