A happy quilt finish

25 Feb

It’s a few weeks since I finished this quilt but thanks to Storm Imogen I had to wait to get some half decent photo’s:

IMG_7854As you can see it was still pretty windy a week after the storm had passed. We made a trip to the beach for this photo shoot; it was pretty cold but the children still had fun running around: IMG_7883

We certainly added some colour to the beach that afternoon:

IMG_7895All the fabrics were chosen by Mathias, my 6 year old: IMG_7898

We intervened in the layout stage to make sure we ended up with some sort of order:

IMG_7899It’s a wonderful pattern in that you can get a whale from less than a fat eighth of fabric: IMG_7900

The background in Kona Silver from 2 different batches so you may notice a difference from the whale background and the sashing.  I was fairly irritated when I noticed the difference but only have myself to blame for using up some stash before cutting in to the new fabric.  But I think it looks fine and I’m guessing that if I hadn’t mentioned it no one would notice:

IMG_7901Mathias sat on my knee as I sewed the first few whales, he was quite engaged in the process and when it came to quilting he requested the scallop stitch on my machine as it looks like waves – I think it was a great choice. IMG_7907

We had fun choosing the thread too; I used 2 variegated threads from my stash: Aurifil 4669 12 weight and Aurifil 3320 50 weight.  I had a couple of issues with the 12 weight breaking and asked for advice on IG to discover that I probably should have used a 90 topstitch needle – see as usual I was winging it but know for next time.  What I probably should do is buy some needles in preparation.  The Aurifil website has useful advice on what needles to use with what thread, my advice is read that before not after working on a project!

Anyway quilting was not a disaster and I’m really happy with how the waves look.

On the back is a super sized whale, I’d had so much fun making the whales that I thought it would be great to add a large one to the back:

IMG_7915Before quilting I hand embroidered some water shooting from the large whales spout: IMG_7918

The backing fabric is Nautical Flags by Makower it was stashed back in November with this quilt in mind – yes sometimes a plan does come together.

IMG_7850Mathias chose the binding fabric, it’s Paris, stripe in charcoal, not sure who by but the selvedge reads Vive Gade and it was from The Village Haberdashery in April last year, specifically with bindings in mind (it’s possibly a little bit migraine inducing used elsewhere). IMG_7908

So as you can see we struggled with the elements, fortunately the beach we frequent has plenty of pebbles, perfect for using as quilt weights!

IMG_7888

I finished the quilt one evening after Mathias had gone to bed so I sneaked it onto his bed for him to discover in the morning – he was delighted!

This was on my FAL list for the 1st quarter so another tick – hurrah.

Quilt stats:

Pattern: Preppy the Whale by Elizabeth Hartman
Fabrics all from my stash and Kona Silver
Wadding – Super-Soft 70/30 Eco-Blend by Sew Simple
Quilting – stitch 112 on my Janome Horizon
Size – 61″ x 66″ approx

Finish A Long 2016
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7 Replies to “A happy quilt finish

  1. What a wonderful quilt – the stuff of childhood memories for you all. I agree I like the two tone silver Kona but the difference is stark, which whilst it plays to your design, doesn’t show good quality control over at Robert Kaufman!

  2. Mathias, you did a wonderful job choosing the fabric and the wave stitches. The quilt is absolutely beautiful!

  3. What Helen says! Bravo on all the choices – it makes a great quilt that will be treasured I’m sure! Thank you for participating in the FAL, on behalf of the 2016 global FAL hosts

  4. I’m a hug fan of owls but the more I see these whales….the more I fall in love with them!

    Thank you for participating in the FAL, on behalf of the 2016 global FAL hosts

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