Friday, August 12, 2016

Over The Moon

Isn't it exciting when you finish a quilt?!  The long hours have come to an end and if we are lucky, every single second, minute and hour was worth it.  Besides the thrill of the finish, there is always that moment of sadness.  Sad that it's over.  This doesn't happen with every quilt, but there are those projects that you have enjoyed so much you want to keep going!

'Over The Moon' was mine!  

OVER THE MOON
15" x 15 1/2"
The size had a lot to do with it, and of course, the hand quilting.  I found myself looking forward to the moment when I could sit and pick up where I left off.  Hurry eat dinner, take the dog for a walk...quilting time!!  

   
There is hardly a spot untouched with quilting!  Over kill?  Over done?  Over the top?  I'll say over the moon and leave it at that!



I love the big stitches!  The more the merrier!  In each circle I tried to do a different quilt design. Some needed more stitches and some needed very little.  That might be the only part where I held back.



The right side I kept it super simple.  Vertical stitches and nothing more.  I'll admit, I wanted to do circles everywhere, but somewhere deep down inside of me wouldn't allow it.



I don't know for sure if the quilting on the back is suppose to look exactly like the quilting on the front.  Mine sort of does.  I know just enough to go all in, not enough to know right from wrong! 

Sometimes I think if I take the time to learn something the proper way, it'll take all the fun out of it! I know!  That's totally lame and maybe even a cop out!  But some truth in it for me.



I guess there was room for more quilting after all!  After machine stitching the binding on, I couldn't help but continue the circles into the binding.  I was going to do just a little, but before I knew it...there was stitching everywhere!

My first plan for the binding was to do a wide binding.  It's something I have wanted to do, but hadn't had a project to try it on.  I thought this would be the perfect test piece for it until I realized the circles would be compromised in the process.  Another time perhaps!



Since my binding situation changed, I had to go with a pieced binding.  Remember when I said the circles were a test and I used a piece of scrap linen for the background?  Turns out I had just enough left over after the circles for three sides of binding.  The blue side is a piece left over from my backing.  

I'm loving the texture not just on the front, the back is so cool!  It shows exactly why I wanted to try hand quilting! 

What I learned is, trying new is good...using scraps is always good.  Even though you are testing a new technique or tutorial, it just may turn out better than you think and becomes a really good 'thing'.   



You can check out the tutorial for the Six Minute Circle, the starting point for this quilt.  There will be more in my future!



This will be the next hand quilting project.  My daughter made this panel, a dye discharge technique using thiox.  I don't know what it means, it's what she told me and I'll take her word for it!  And you can bet I'll try to restrain myself with over doing it with the quilting.  I'll try, but no promises!

LINKING:

27 comments :

  1. Turned out great - always best to start with something small to practice the hand quilting on and move to to something larger in the future - I can see a queen size in your future :) This piece looks great and will be so nice on the wall - love the scrappy binding it goes with it perfectly.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It may be a while before I attempt a big quilt, but one never knows! There is definitely many more smaller ones in my future!

      Delete
  2. It's beautiful Jayne and thanks for sharing the link to the 6 minute circle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The six minute circle has so many possibilities…it’s making my head spin with ideas!

      Delete
  3. Oooooooh! I love this! It reminds me of Jude Hill's work. Here is her blog: http://spiritcloth.typepad.com/ I love how you continued the hand stitching into the binding. This make me want to get out some pearl cotton and do some hand quilting too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It surprised me how much I enjoyed hand quilting. I’ve invested in more pearl cotton and even some adhesive thimbles! There is more hand quilting in my future! Especially with the big stitches. Thank you for sharing the link, her work is amazing!

      Delete
  4. Just gorgeous finish--I love the big stitching and the multi-color binding--I often do that to use up scraps from cutting fabrics for the quilt...That new fabric is amazing!!! Just gorgeous--I have only done sun dyeing and coffee/tea dyes. so, I have no idea what thiox is either, but it sure is gorgeous!! hugs and have fun with it (are you really actually gonna cut into it?? I would be just petting it for a while hahaha) Julierose

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’ve become a huge fan of big stitches and maybe a little obsessed! There is no way I could cut up the piece my daughter made! I’m just happy that I rediscovered it and especially happy that hand quilting has found me!

      Delete
  5. It looks great. I love all of the hand stitching on it.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I absolutely love this in every way! And what a perfect name for it! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I’m pretty pleased with it myself! I thought the name fit in so many different ways!

      Delete
  7. Fantastic! Your quilting is beautiful, beautiful and especially fun on the binding!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I'm mesmerized by the quilting texture!!

      Delete
  8. Very nice! Your quilting really adds beautiful texture. Have fun with the next one!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tend to go all in when I learn something new…no holding back! I’m very happy with the quilting results!

      Delete
    2. Oh, and thanks for linking up with TGIFF this week ;)

      Delete
  9. Oh, my gosh! I love everything about this! You created such a wonderful texture on this one. And I love how you continued those circles after you bound it. I'm seeing mountains and a moon on that lovely piece of dyed fabric. I say quilt it to life, Jayne!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The texture has won me over in a big way! I actually hand quilted the circle continuation before I hand stitched the binding on. Much easier that way I think! I hope I can do the mountain and moon panel justice with my hand quilting. I’m going to try!

      Delete
  10. I just love this so much! the big stitch quilting, especially into the binding, is just perfect for this quilt! Love love love!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Gorgeous - I'm not surprised you're over the moon. One of the reasons this works so well, I think, is that handquilting, especially the big stitch/nice fat thread kind has a softer, more organic feel to it than machining. This makes it the perfect match for the shapes and fabrics you have worked with here: it enhances everything, adds an extra dimension. And yes, the back and the front do usually look the same - I love to see the quilt backs too!

    ReplyDelete
  12. As usual I LUV IT!!!
    This was a great process post and I could totally relate as I have fallen in love with hand quilting over the past few years. I love big stitch and trying all different kinds of threads in various thicknesses. I also do different types of stitches as my quilting stitch and don't worry about the back! I DO NOT believe there can be too much hand quilting!!
    Lol!:-)
    Cannot wait to see what you do to your daughter's piece.

    ReplyDelete
  13. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I just love how this quilt turned out! I am always inspired by the way you try different techniques and designs and beautifully you finish them up. This time you've made me want to try hand quilting and circles!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looking good! I like the texture the quilting added plus the overall design.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Wow, I love your quilt! Beautiful fabrics and your hand quilting really is over the moon! I've yet to try that 6 minute circle, but I'm hoping to get to it soon. It is calling to me!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Jayne! I appreciate getting to see several close ups of your big stitches. I have a quilt waiting to be put in the quilting frame that will be getting big stitches. It is for my daughter, and it is long overdue. Your Over the Moon looks fantastic!!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Great finish! I love the circles combined with the handquilting, such great shape and texture!

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog! I love getting comments, and try to respond to each and every one.