Sunday 12 January 2014

P is for Party on dudes, I've finished my quilt: ABC BOW week 18

You will recall last week that I was having a bit of a tantrum about quilting my ABC quilt.  I was using a "hand quilting" stitch on Bernie that was doing my head in.  Not to mention that I did a bit crooked and had to unpack it.  Urgh.  It uses invisible thread too, which I am pretty sure is the devil.

I understand from comments on a post by Nicole about invisible thread that other quilters use this stitch successfully.  Me - not so much.  I think I need to investigate invisible thread a bit more.  Tell me people that use it successfully - what brand do you use?  I was using Gutermann.  Breakage city.

Anyway, I pulled up my big girl undies, stopped whinging, and got the quilt finished.  It feels AWESOME, I tell you.  As my first ever embroidery project, it took far more time than it should have, but I have learned heaps about embroidery, and I really did enjoy the process.  So I guess Kristyne deserves a big shout out for her book and for being so inspiring.

Without further ado, here is the finished quilt.  It doesn't look like I imagined at the beginning, and thanks to the pulling power of invisible thread, isn't close to flat, but it is done.

One finished ABC quilt out in the sunshine

Those blocks are 8" each finished, so the quilt is 40" x 48".  That is a good size for a wall hanging.

One finished quilt, some sweet peas, decimated swan plants and dwarf cosmos

The wee man seems pretty enamoured with it, because given a chance he would pull it off the back of a chair and try to eat it.  I suspect he will not appreciate the sheer amount of work and effort that went in to it, but I guess that never stopped anyone sewing, right?! However for now it is hung on the wall in his room, by this method, which works really well.  It is a first birthday present (he turns one in February, but I thought it best to get finished over the Christmas break).

This is the backing, which I think is so cute.  Thanks to the 40% off fabric Boxing Day sale at Spotlight, I got it for a song.  You can see from the back that I quilted two squares around each block - 1/2" from the inner seam on the orange blocks using white thread, and 1/2" from the outer seam on the blue blocks in dark grey thread.

Wee pirate boys

And, because this is P week - here is the puppy.  What a cutie.  You can see the quilting more clearly here too.

P is for Puppy

How are you getting on?  Still soldiering on?  Link up and show us.  Despite my intentions to have a break, I may have purchased a bit of fabric to start the embroideries for the girl's quilt.  It seems I love handwork after all!

I will keep working through the rest of the letters each week, so don't you stop now ...

And even though it is only Sunday, I suspect I will be linking up to everyone this week - Show and Tell Thursday, Needle and Thread Thursday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Crazy Mom's, and TGIFF over at That's Sew Julie.  Did I forget anyone?  Go and check them out.
   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   





21 comments:

Glinda ♥ said...

Liz, this is amazing - you can tell how much work went into it - love it! I don't use much invisible thread but when I have, it's been by YLI and I haven't had any problems :)

Paula said...

A really beautiful finish and what a wonderful first birthday present it will be. I use invisible thread from time to time but really only when I'm doing stitch in the ditch quilting. I've used Gütermann and Coats and never had a problem with either.

DeborahGun said...

it is brilliant Liz. It came out so nicely :-) You have inspired me to keep going!

Susie said...

Hey Liz it looks wonderful. I'd love to see a close up of the quilting. I adore the colour scheme. I got cracking on mine and actually have more blocks in front to do but your blog is more important. I will do a blog post this week but how do you link up?

Susie said...

Hey Liz it looks wonderful. I'd love to see a close up of the quilting. I adore the colour scheme. I got cracking on mine and actually have more blocks in front to do but your blog is more important. I will do a blog post this week but how do you link up?

Miggsie said...

Fabulous! I've been following your progress and am so impressed with how this turned out. I've been on the fence about doing one for a good friend who's expecting in June, but seeing how gwell yours turned out, I think I'm going to give it a try. Thanks for sharing!

Megan said...

Oh the puppy is cuuute!! The whole thing looks completely adorable :-)

Leonie said...

Whoohoo! well done you! it looks great and I am feeling inspired! nothing more satisfying than finishing a big project :)

Lucy Casey said...

Brilliant job! The quilting is perfect for the design and you've given me a good idea of what I will probably do once I've caught up.

Fay said...

It looks awesome! Well done x

RaisingCropsAndBabies said...

I love your quilt! What a fun idea!

Val's Quilting Studio said...

Stinking cute!!! I just love everything about this quilt!!! Thanks for sharing!

genie said...

I have always wanted to make an ABC quilt but have not had the nerve. Your turned out so cute. Love the closeup. And the pirate one...it is precious. Such creative and whimsical quilts. genie

genie said...
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knottygnome said...

cute! so bright and happy.

Sara said...

I have not tried invisible thread and it sounds like I should continue on with out it lol Sorry you had such an awful experience with it. You did it though!!! Beautiful quilt finish!!

Julie said...

This is great! All that hand work is stunning. I hear you about babies not appreciating the work (I have five) but he will later and we all do now. Thanks for sharing and linking up with TGIFF.

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

This is too adorable, Liz! I love the backing fabric too!

Thanks for partying at Needle and Thread Thursday!

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Jasmine said...

I have used that same stitch before twice. I won't be doing it again. Not because of problems with the clear thread, but because I just didn't like how it pulled the fabric. The contrast with your fabric does look great with the stitch in your photos, and your embroidery is beautiful.

Sweet Woodruff said...

so much to love about this quilt. I love the embroidery and all fabrics. The backing is wonderful too. Very nice. Happy Quilting.

Kristin said...

How awesome! Beautiful work and super idea.