Happy V-day!
I'm going to tell you what I learned making this year's valentine quilt but let me start with a little story....
I make a Valentine quilt every year since our marriage.
One year I didn't finish and my husband cautiously asked if that meant something.
LOL! Yes it meant I lost my way somehow in the finishing.
I've been going through my UFO boxes, some projects go back to my quilting beginning in 1984!
Here was the old V-day quilt, all crinkly and buckling from an overabundance of quilting, circa early 2000's
step one: decide not to throw it away
step two: block it by spraying with water, lining it up, and weighting it down to dry
step three: remove a lot of weird quilting (metallic thread is hard to unpick)
step four: add in appropriate quilting to balance the the load
now that it was flat, square, and evenly quilted, I put on a binding
It isn't my favorite by a long shot, but I'm glad the 25 years of quilts is continuous again!
what I learned: my tastes have changed, and if quilting is going wrong it probably won't help to just add more...
Not everything should be saved, but even ugly quilts can sometimes be salvaged if they are important
Back to this year's work.
I did a post on the making of this
see it here
since then I added in more hexies, and joined them after quilting.
What I learned
whatever size hexie you want, make the backing 3/4" larger on all sides. I laid the print on my background and a ruler on the 5/8" or 3/4" line and cut adding this on all sides.
use your stiffer batting, a wall hanging done this way needs body
take your time with pressing the backing to the front, as this is your finished edge.
I used this project to try different ways to sew this edge, zigzag, straight stitch near the edge, specialty stitches. I like the look of a matching thread and straight stitch.
When all the little quilts were quilted and bound, I put them together experimenting with two different stitches by hand
1. whip stitch like I connect EPP hexies... not as smooth as it takes up a tiny bit of seam, not important before quilting but this is after quilting and that pulled the edges a bit.
2. ladder stitch
A. little hexie quilts facing each other, then take stitches along the top
B. hexies laying flat but next to each other, take small stitches pulling taut each time.
The flat alignment worked the best of all, no thread showing and secure without distortion.
I stitched on tiny star sequins at the end, see?
then hung it on the wall. DH even said he loved it there so it may stay for a while!
I'll try this technique again with my cow collection, to make a bed runner. I might keep the whole background the same in that one however.
Since this is Paint Party Friday, I'm sharing my painted face quilt, and the start to a new painting... so pretty I hated to start inking over it! DH said, maybe you can just paint something to ink... I said, that's what this was to be!
so I might actually use tissue paper and experiment with flowers before inking...
