The quilt is finished... The big reveal!

So... It has finally been done...

And what a journey it has been...

Once all the panels were finished I stitched them all together to make the complete front of the quilt.

I then cleared my living room to make enough space to lay down the backing, wadding and front panel on the floor.

And then the grand pinning project began...

Once pinned it was on through the sewing machine...

The weather has been extremely hot in Yorkshire which, I have found, is not conducive to sewing quilts in a windowless room shared with a smelly tortoise... Endurance didn't cover it! There must be an easier way too to get a quilt through a machine like mine... Though I am surprised how well it coped. There is nothing worse than stuffing a half made quilt through a machine when most of it starts on your lap, you are pricked to death by pins and the weather is 30o outside!

Since I last wrote I have recieved the walking foot for my sewing machine. And what a god send it has been. As readers of my blog will know that when I did my last quilt I broke a stack load of needles while using a regular foot and it was a complete nightmare. My life has now been transformed with this foot. I haven't puckered the fabric once and it worked like a dream... The link for the one I bought is below!

I then carefully pinned the re-ironed bias binding to the outside edge (while trimming the excess fabric along the way!)

That was then sewn... I don't know about anyone else but I love this part as you know you are on the home stretch... And it seems to go a lot quicker than the quilting bit... But it is not as hot either!

And then it was a quick trim or two and TA-dah! The quilt was finished. I am pleased that it is finally done as it was a long time in the conception and the actual practice but all a labour of love. I will be travelling down to my parents at the weekend to give it to them and can't wait to see their faces when they see it...

Ladies and gentlemen... The anniversary quilt!

Quilting against the clock ... Part v

After the success of the peacock a few squares ago (and managing to not stick too many pieces to the iron which happens far too often when I have very small pieces to work with!) I thought I would tackle what seemed to be the most complicated square (and I hope I have judged it right!)

While looking for pictures that would be suitable to transfer to a quilt I loved that I found a map of the USA with a Stars and Stripes on it which encompassed my parents trip there a good couple of years ago.

I have found the best method is to bondaweb the material first and then cut out the shape... It helps to battle against fraying on the slightly thinner fabrics.

I have also discovered that it is useful to put a couple of tea towels under the fabric as well as having a few pieces of calico handy to place on top of the square too... I saves from burning anything... I hope!

I use a little travel iron for all my quilting needs... It heats up super quick, cools down ok and is perfect for doing smaller stuff!

I had to take a photo of the original picture before I cut it up and I am sooooo glad that I did! There is nothing more scary than being faced with a pile of fabric strips and not knowing the order of them...

This square isn't quite finished though... I realised I could bust a gut doing the stars on the blue background but realised I certainly didn't have the time (or possibly the patience) to cut out all the stars individually out of the white fabric (which frayed around the edges which was not ideal)... So, I have cheated and bought a square of it off ebay...

I am currently awaiting the square so I can finish this panel... One more 'country' square to go... Three letters and five 'project' ones to go too...

Oh... And 18 days to complete it? This is going to tight...