This would be my oldest UFO or WIP at the moment. It's a 1930-40s quilt top and no I'm not old enough to have pieced the top. I bought it from a dealer in the US in the mid 90s. I started hand quilting it and chose a fancy flower shape for all the plain hexagons. That might be why it has taken me so long to finish the hand quilting. The fabric is still lovely and not faded as it was never used and the cream hexies show printing on them and they are feedsacks fabrics.
The Lemoyne Star and hexagons are not uncommon but they still make a pretty quilt. I am hand quilting a 1/4 inch on the inside of the star pieces and the floral design in the hexagons. Luckily I had marked the whole top for quilting as I have packed my templates. I had even marked the border with a cable design. I started hand quilting this using the typical shorter quilting needle and a frame. Now I have picked up the top to hand quilt again, I am trying it with a longer needle and no frame as I find holding a shorter needle makes my hand ache after a while. I have compared my stitches both with short needle and frame and long needle without frame and really can't see a difference. I won't win any competitions perhaps but my stitches are usually uniform and I am enjoying the process.
I have actually hand quilted about 80% of the top and I am determined to get it finished now. I am trying to add some stitches every day and then she will have a good soak and a label. I was going to plan to finish off 17 UFOs this year but I find I do better if I focus on one and then choose another. Otherwise, I get interested in something new and forget to go back to finish the first piece.
Quilting is my stress reliever so I don't want to add to my stress by making too many deadlines for myself but this one is doable and I still think it's a pretty top so I just want to have it finished so I can enjoy looking at her without thinking of what I still have to stitch on her.
So that's my plan. Finish this one UFO and then see how I feel. I want to keep hand quilting as I have lots of tops to quilt now and I also have lots of UFOs. I will probably select another one to finish, maybe a cross stitch piece or something which just needs to be made into a wall hanging. Don't hold me to it but at least I have a plan for this month. Can I finish this quilt by February? Time will tell. I'm back working nights and painting bedrooms so really only get time to stitch at night but you can get a lot done in a few hours.
Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs, Jan Mac
4 comments:
Like your plan to complete one UFO at a time, then think what the next one might be. You are as busy as ever! Do make sure you get some rest as well. Happy New Year!
beautiful handquilting Jan .It will looks reat when finished .
hugs Marijke
Use the hand quilting as relaxation time. Enjoy it. Don't stress or rush the process.
This is such a pretty quilt. It is surprising how much quilting can be accomplished in an hour or two every evening. villacrestfarm@gmail.com
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