Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Finished Fall Tumbler, 999 projects to go!

The Fall tumbler quilt, finished and in use. It was a learning experience from start to finish, and I've been quilt making since 1984. Before that if you count piecing squares on my grandmother's treadle machine at age 6.

The size is about 32" long and about 11" wide
68 tumblers all pieced from scrap bins

hand quilted with 40 weight thread doubled, and thick gold metallic thread doubled. No quilters were injured in the making of this quilt.

I finally traced around my cutout paper with my chalk powder wheel. It left a mark long enough to get a feel for where I was going, then I would just keep quilting til it looked okay. No need to wipe off any marks!!

After quilting I backed it with black felt, stitched 1/8" from the tumbler edge and trimmed close to finished tumblers leaving about 1/8" black felt.

It needed some more trim so I couched down the embroidery thread, 12 wt hand dye from ArtFabric, to make a finished edge line. It's slightly crooked because I just eye-balled it using my walking foot as the couching foot caused it to stretch.



See the top and bottom edges left tumbling. Note the couched thread wonky quilting and embroidery.

Lessons
1. Glue basting to paper isn't nice to work on and when you pull the paper out eventually the ones on the edge open up. grrr. this doesn't happen with thread basting which takes about the same amount of time.
2. The chalk powder wheel leaves a mark even on prints.
3. Oh yeah, I like hand quilting and hand embroidery
4. Doesn't have to be perfect to be lovely
5. I seldom rip out, I change direction and keep going
6. It's not done til the last thread is couched and the last bead is on, not on this one though.
7. Tumbler shapes are fun to sew and I have plans for two more.
8. It's really easy to hand quilt a straight line but it's cuckoo to hand quilt a spiral without marking through random seams and expect it to be even.
9. I like the uneven quilting because it shows the hand of the maker. Perfection is so yesterday.






30 comments:

sonja said...

Your colors glow of autumn hues we love.
" 4. Doesn't have to be perfect to be lovely" YES!

gayle said...

'Perfection is so yesterday' is a great idea, and one I need to work on. Thank you!
Now on to project #999 - I can't wait to see what you do next!

Glen QuiltSwissy said...

LOL....perfection is so yesterday.......we must be sisters!!!!

Jan said...

Pioneer girls used to purposely do something wrong in their quilts to show that only God is perfect. I like your perfection is so yesterday better. :)

easyweimaraner said...

it's a wonderful tribute to mother nature... and your colors look as wonderful as the trees around my house :o)

LA Paylor said...

awe that's so kind. I sure wish Cole and Easy could take a stroll together around your house as it looks so quaint.LeeAnna

Jenny K. Lyon said...

Gorgeous color!

Jackie Bouchard said...

Wow, that's so pretty! Catching up on the walking mischief post - Rita agrees! Some smells can't be passed up!

You were the only one so far to ask about the pendants so looks like they might both be yours! Send me your mailing address to jackiebouchard at hotmail dot com and I'll send them your way!

Joanne said...

Looks great LeeAnna!
Love the leaves and natural shapes and colours!
Take care,
Joanne

Joanne said...

Looks great LeeAnna!
Love the leaves and natural shapes and colours!
Take care,
Joanne

Ann said...

Lovely mix of colors and quilting styles. What a good idea to add black felt to the back.

Tails Around the Ranch said...

What a gorgeous 'autumnal' project. Love the colors. Bravo.

Maria said...

Wonderful, love the mixture of color!

M-R Charbonneau said...

So gorgeous, Leanne. It complements the sewing machine so beautifully!

JOY @ http://joysjotsshots.blogspot.com/ said...

Your lessons (learned/observed) are very helpful. Thanks.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

It may not be sewn perfectly, but if it makes you smile, it is.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

It may not be sewn perfectly, but if it makes you smile, it is.

The Cozy Quilter said...

Beautiful fall colours in your runner! Looks great! No one notices the mistakes except the maker...

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

I so agree about your comment about hand stitches! The added embroidery really adds so much!

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Your title just cracked me up! Congrats on your finish :) Perfect Fall Project !

Kaja said...

Beautiful colours, as always, and I love your leaves and the spirals (wonky or otherwise). I quilted spirals once and there's just no way to avoid those seams, but I'm of the perfection is over-rated school of thought too!

VivJM said...

It's gorgeous. The embroidered leaves are a lovely detail.

Quilter Kathy said...

You are so funny... perfection is so yesterday! Love it!
What a great finish... so much yummy texture and details added!
Thanks for linking up and contributing to a wonderful Slow Sunday Stitching!

Jayne said...

Beautiful work! Love the hand quilting and the fall colors are gorgeous!

Zenia Rene said...

Only 999 projects to go? You are way ahead of me...lol. This is a beautiful fall finish. I've never heard of glue basting to paper or "couching" so please fill me in.

Christine B said...

What a beautiful runner.... love the colours, love the design, love the quilting! Christine x

Sheryl said...

This is just perfect for this time of year. The colours are gorgeous, what lovely work.

Angela said...

Nice stitching!

Snowcatcher said...

Beautiful work! I've never done a tumbler quilt. You make it look fun!

SuperMomNoCape said...

What a pretty tablerunner. I like the embroidered leaves and the spiral quilting.

Thanks so much for linking up to last week's Stitchery Link Party.