9/3/15

Four Fabric Forest Finished with Finesse

Awesome Alliteration. I just had to add the "finesse" at the end of that title for, you know, finesse. It was a productive day yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty darned spunky about it. Four quilts were sandwiched:





The Vintage Tin quilt was the largest and most cumbersome to work with. It really should have been done first because I was kind of tired of sandwiching quilts by the time I got to it. 

Also, I wanted to say that I took a cue from Sharon Schamber's board method and used spray starch when ironing these quilt backs. She said she always starches her backs to get a smooth result. It occurred to me that the same thing would be true no matter what method one used to baste, and I believe it made a difference. When these were sandwiched and flipped to the reverse to check for puckers, I found them much smoother, and pretty much finished with only a little additional smoothing necessary.

And there they are...a stack of four to be added to the stack of two already hanging out next to Eliza for quilting.


When those were finished, I made up my grocery shopping list, took a short nap, played with the cats, and ate some dinner. It was around 6:00 by then, and Mike wasn't home. He's rarely out past dinner time, and so I found myself at loose ends a little bit...not really able to entertain myself...and both kitties were napping by that time. 

So, I did what any good quilter would do: I got to work quilting the Four Fabric Forest. This is a small quilt at 13.5 x 23 inches, and so I did it on Big Bertha, my domestic machine. Letting the fabric guide me, I decided to pebble in the foreground.


Then I stippled in the mid-ground.


Then I did a sort of scallop in the background, which is supposed to suggest clouds in the sky.


Then I switched to a black thread to put the markings on the birch trees. By the way, did you ever wonder how to tell the difference between a birch tree and an aspen tree? Well, I did, and so I turned to my friend The Google and asked. Here is what Google tells me:

The most visible difference between the trees is the bark. Aspen trees have smooth, white bark while birch bark can be gray, grayish-white, red or black. Additionally, horizontal markings mar the surface of birch trees while aspens typically only show knots or scars. (Source)

So there you go. And with that in mind, I decided these were technically birch trees. It's important to be technical when discussing such things, don't you know. Anyhoo...my trees.


So...by gosh and by golly...at that point, the quilting was finished. And Mike wasn't home yet, and so I went ahead and sewed on the binding.


By then, I was kind of running out of ways to entertain myself, and so I created this label.


That's my address and phone number there in the middle. Didn't figure I'd post that for the entire world to see. And by then, I was getting tired, so I quit for the day and got into bed to watch old episodes of The Daily Show. What? You didn't think I stayed up that late, did you? 

This morning, I hand-stitched the binding. The morning sun was so pretty that I took this rare Oregon opportunity to take it outside for its final pictures.


Here's how the back looks.


The rising sun's rays actually made it possible to see the quilting from the back.


And there you go. That's pretty much 24 hours in the life of a quilter whose husband stayed out late last night. Not a bad day's efforts.

Today I'm getting my monthly pedicure and dropping off the Vintage Miniature Sewing Machines for the quilt show at the end of the month. (I'm dropping it off at a local quilt shop, and you know that's always very, very, very dangerous for my wallet.) Then I'm going to the grocery store. I'm telling you...the action never ends here at the Three Cats Ranch.

15 comments:

Vroomans' Quilts said...

Yeah!! A pile of sandwiches - yummy. The 4 fabric forest turned out great - what a fun project.

gayle said...

Frankly, I thought you didn't sleep at all - it's the only explanation for how much stuff you get done...
I love your birches - the quilting is so perfect!

Shirley said...

What a productive day! Love the quilting on the trees. It just takes the quilt up another few notches. You are very talented and creative!

works4me said...

Fabulous Four Fabric Forest finish. :)

Anonymous said...

So, four fluffy fabric creations were fastened together for future finishing. And the Four Fabric Forest looks fantastic! Looks like today is the nice F-word day.

Teresa F.

quiltzyx said...

Amazing, 4 quilts sandwiched and one not only sandwiched, but quilted & bound!! Congrats!

crazy quilter said...

Fabulous finish!

Christine M said...

You had a very productive 24 hours, Barbara. Well done!

Kate said...

You made a lot of progress yesterday. Your Fabric Forest turned out beautifully!

Dana Gaffney said...

Sandwiching is probably my least favorite part of quilting, so a big congrats to you. I always iron my quilt back but I'm going to try the starch, anything to make it easier.

Lou said...

Great job on your 4 fabric forest! It turned out beautiful!!!!
I love days when I get lots of things done!!!!

SJSM said...

Finally finished Four Fabric Forest for fabulous furry friends. Furry friends finding flowing features fantastic!

Yes to your "F" day!

SJSM said...

(Couldn't keep from replying likewise.)

Beth said...

Your binding choice is outstanding on Four Fabric Forest--it really shines! And I love the shot of the back--we can really see the quilting. Might I suggest that there will be days on which you'll want to display it from that side? The quilting alone is enough to suggest a forest, which is pretty darned good.

Thanks for motivating me. Whenever John goes on a business trip, I tell myself something along the lines of, "Who needs to pay hundreds of dollars for Sewtopia? I can have Sewtopia right here in my living room, complete with dogs, cats, and Netflix!" Then, depending on lupus/laziness, I either quilt up a storm or nap like crazy. This week I napped like a champ and had nothing to show on his return home but bed head. I get a do-over next week and hope to hop to it, Three Cats Ranch style. :)

Brown Family said...

I find myself at loose ends when my hubby is gone, too! Love the quilting on this one. THe binding really sets it off