I have finally bitten the bullet and begun to quilt the queen size quilt. I'm not a talented quilter, I'm just getting 'er done as best I can. This is a quilt that is destined to be used, not hung on a wall and viewed, so I decided to quilt it myself rather than taking it to a professional.
The above photo shows the gold flowered backing material that I used. I used it because I had it and it was big enough. There is also a solid dark green that is part of the backing. The green is part linen so is rather heavy. Notice the blue gloves next to the sewing machine? Those are gardening gloves that I cut the fingertips off of the first finger and the thumb. They really help me to move the quilt around under the needle. I'm doing a free motion squared off meander stitch. My shoulders are feeling fatigued this evening after getting though maybe a third of the stitching. I decided not to push it, there really is no hurry.
Instead I moved on to some more gentle hand stitching on my latest dooleybobber. It is inspired by a picture from the November issue of National Geographic showing a wetlands. It is rather larger than previous dooleybobbers so is taking longer.
Mary over at
Fox On The Run Meanderings gave me this Scotty Froggy blog award. It is for Creativity and Fun. Lets see, who can I nominate for it? I think I shall nominate Olivia over at
4 Rooms and the Moon. She has a nice blog, creates some fun art so it seems appropriate. Go take a peek at her work if you have a moment, tell her Jan sent you. Thanks Mary, for the award!
Another thing I have neglected to post about is my inclusion into the Beautiful Bald Babies club!
Ces over at
Ces and Her Dishes started the club to honor breast cancer awareness month and any friends who have battled cancer. If you click on the link it will take you to her post where she talks about the club and why she started it. There is also a great picture that she drew with all the founding members included. She is quite a talent. Can you find me in her picture?
Hope you are all ready for the weekend and that you have a good one.
Be well.
16 comments:
Hi Jan! What a gorgeous quilt. I love that it is going to be used. In my family (ages ago) quilts were regularly sewn and given to newlyweds. Somewhere in the house, I have the one that was given to my parents. In the squares are the names of everyone who worked on it. It was used A LOT, and I have many memories of napping on it. LOVE quilts. :) Happy weekend - xox Pam
Oh my....you're a brave girl :-)
That quilt is enormous! What a family heirloom it will be though ...its absolutely gorgeous.
Love your wetlands dooleybobber too - very soft and pretty.
jan, that quilt sure is a lot of work, but it will be so worth it when it is done. what an undertaking! looking at it and its size i would imagine that you are feeling sore. take care of yourself and don't over do it, especially if it's not a rush project. your doolybobber is awesome. i knew right away what it reminded me of when i saw it, and then you said it was wetlands...so very nicely done. i looked at the drawing of all the founding members on it. it is very cute. but no, i didn't know which one you are. and i didn't know you have battled cancer. that must have been one of the most difficult things. sad to hear that you had to go through that, but so very happy that you endured. i hope you have a fabulous weekend!
Oh Jan, I have not been here for a while and then I come here and you are making a monster, actually an angel of a quilt. Oh my. You really can sew and do a lot of things. I am so impressed!!! Is it snowing up there yet?
I feel for you---literally!---on the quilting. I wonder why they cannot make Quilters Duct Tape? To hold big quilts together??? Wouldn't that be great? (asks someone who has shoved a lot of quilt packages thru my machine and knows how the shoulders ache) I always use those cotton knit rubber dotted work gloves when I quilt, for the same reason you used the garden gloves, lets you hang on!
It looks great and I love your felted piece in progress---lovely!!!
XXOO~~♥
Anne
Oh my what an undertaking....and now you've made me think of my purpley monster living in a box under my work bench. It also needs to be quilted. Well I wish you buena fortuna on your endeavor. It is sure to turn out to be a lovely monster when you finsih it. But keep it down over there with the quilting talk or my purpley will hear and I'll be up to elbows in well, I hate to use such harse words but W-O-R-K. ssssshhhhhhhh. The Olde Bagg
Gorgeous quilt, and I love the new dooleybobber. I do not have the patience to make a quilt, my sister keeps saying I should but just can't quite get to where I want to. I hate to start something and not finish and I think for me a quilt would be one of those things.
What a great quilt.
My grandmother used to do all of this by hand, she made tons of quilts for the whole family with fabrics from every dress I ever had made by my mom.
I still have one of them and I can not use it because some of the fabric is so old.
I hate to get rid of it though.
One of these days I will fix it, I think. I love it and they are so warm and heavy.
Such a nice thing to have and sleep under.
Yours is just gorgeous.
I adore you new landscape dooleybobber you are working on. It is so beautiful.
It should be framed.
Have a great weekend!
Jan, the quilt is massive ~ I can see why your shoulders hurt. It is a beauty! I don't know a thing about quilting. I just know it is a lot of time consuming work, but the end result is worth every minute!
Loving your current dooleybobber. Pretty colors!
Congratulations on your Scotty Froggy Award. He's cute!
♥ audrey
Oh Jan! I know exactly how you feel. It helps if you have a couple of glasses of wine and then your shoulders are relaxed LOL. Your quilt is beautiful. Happy stitching. Nice feeling when it is all done.
the quilt looks beautiful, and you will be so glad you decided to quilt it yourself. Take your time and enjoy building your free motion skills.
Hi Jan,
You have quite a quilt challenge there, but knowing you you will do a great job and it will be beautiful and much appreciated!
I have some finishing touches to do on the ( much smaller) quilt for my new graddaughter coming in December. Even smaller quilts for me are quite an endeavor!
Hey I like the Scotty Froggy Award you were awarded...
Congratulations!!!
Your newest Dooleybopper is so gentle and pretty...yes it goes with your sound track nicely.
Have a Great Weekend and take lots of breaks from the giant quilt!!
Hugs and Smiles,
Susan
xo
Dear Jan,
I already falled in love with your dooleybobber when seeing it at the other blog. It is very nice, is it ready yet or will you add more? I am wondering why you need this special gloves, lot of work with this quilt I understood, of course. But you are a professional quilter remembering the wonderful quilts you made before and your exhibition.
At our place it is also getting colder, but snow only in the high mountains called Alpen at the weekend.
Huggels
Anja
Dearest Jan, Your quilt looks beautifull and I belive that you will have a lot of pleasure, when it's done. It also looks looks like a lot of work. too. But as you've wrote, there is no hurry. :-)
Your last dooleybobber looks so beautifull, that I can't diiscripe my thought's in English. Meer, Dühnen, und Sonnenschein würde ich sagen und am liebsten gleich reinspringen und bleiben.
Congratulation to the Scotty Froggy blog award. You
ll find the ight one to give it to.
I wish you and your loved ones a harmonic, creative and relaxing weened.
Hugs
Gabie
Like your tip about the gloves, Jan. I just cannot seem to get the hang of free-motion quilting. Yours looks beautiful. Love your new felt piece too. And the pics of Sadie and Charlie are darling. Your Charlie is definitely more fastidious than mine.
The quilt is looking great and the backing is so warm and bright. Great inspiration for your latest dooleybobber.
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