Nearly Insane is quilted! I started hand quilting March 23rd and finished June 21st. When I started, I mentioned I hoped to have the quilting completed sometime this summer and I did, the day of the summer solstice! I've been very busy and it just took me awhile to get the binding completed.
And as I promised you way back in March, a picture of the back of the quilt.
A close up of a corner quilting.
More pictures of the quilt.
I've been asked what I'm going to do with this quilt. I'm not going to do anything, this quilt is for me! When I am no longer able to have my own home, then I will gift it away but hopefully that won't happen for a long time.
For now the quilt resides on a bed upstairs where I can look at at it every day. I'm enjoying the pleasure of this accomplishment. I started piecing this quilt as a challenge to myself to see if I could do it and I did!
Here is some general information. I used a Hobbes 80/20 batt. It took 13 weeks and 519 yards of thread in the quilting. The quilting thread was white YLI.
My Insane measures 88" square and was pieced from a variety of blues and yellows.
There are 4687 pieces in the blocks, 196 yellow sashing in between the blocks, 112 blue cornerstones with 564 pieces in the zigzag border for a total of 5559 pieces in this quilt. Of course there is a narrow blue sash all around the quilt center and then the outside border too which is pieced but I'm not counting them.
The first block of Nearly Insane was pieced on January 11, 2016. After 2 years and 6 months, this is the final post about this quilt, unless I decide to enter her in a quilt show.
A link to all the posts I've written about piecing and hand quilting Nearly Insane.
Special thanks to Edith for lending me her Nearly Insane book.
These are the last week by week photos of the individual blocks with the quilting if you wish view them. The blocks are 6" finished. (There are a lot of pictures!)
Week 11 of quilting, June 3 - 9. Another rainy week so more time for quilting. And, since the Star Dance applique is completed, I'm using that time for quilting.
This is not a block that Salinda designed, I did. The original block was very scrappy. I made the first block according to the book and sewed it into the row. It just looked out of place and I hated it.
I took it out and made my own design. I think my block fits in better with the other blocks than the original did.
This block has 233 pieces in it. How in the world do I quilt it? The HST row seams are pressed open.
I decided the easiest way would be to just stitch down the center of the rows each way.
The center blue strips are pressed to the side so they are stitched in the ditch. The blue center of the star is stitched in the ditch and I managed to stitch the corners of the star.
This block has the fan design.
Also that is a stripped fabric in between the dark strips, not pieced strips.
Row 6-1/2, yes, I completed 2 rows this rainy week.
Right side triangle and block 1.
Block 2. In the center I just quilted through the center of the block both ways but now I see I missed quilting the bottom row one direction.
I've quilted the missing stitches but I didn't bother to take a new picture.
Block 3. I remember piecing this block. It was to fussy cut the fabrics.
Close up of fussy cutting on block 3.
Blocks 4 and 5.
Block 6 and left side triangle which is the same as the right side triangle.
Row 7 and the inset top triangles. I'm getting close to the finish!
Quilting week 12, June 10-16. Finally, a week with lot of sunshine so we could work outside. The last of the soybeans were planted on Saturday the 16th. Harvesting is going to be late this year with crops planted this late.
I didn't get a whole row quilted but I did quilt 5 blocks.
From the left side, blocks 1 & 2.
Blocks 3 & 4.
Block 5 by itself.
These blocks are from row 7, the last row of whole blocks in the quilt. You can see in the picture the half blocks on the top. I'm getting closer to the finish!
Week 13, another dreary, rainy week. There is such a things as too much rain. If I could, I would redirect the rain to places that are having drought. But rainy weeks do give me plenty of hand quilting time.
First I finished row 7, blocks 6 & 7.
Then I started quilting the top triangles. I don't know why I didn't take 2 triangles in one picture but I didn't.
Top left corner.
And the rest of the triangles.
Finally, top right corner which looks just like the other corners.
I rolled the triangles down then quilted the zigzag border and then finally the blue outer border. I used a white Sewline chalk marker. It was very hard to see with the white flowers. I had thought of using a different color but I was afraid it wouldn't brush out like the white does. I didn't want to try something different on this quilt. Some of my quilting is rather wonky but that's the way it is.
The next quilt to go in the hand quilting frame is The Pastor's Attic quilt but the marking hasn't happened. Marking quilts isn't fun but I will make it happen sometime this summer.
Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday With Bambi, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, BOM's Away, Design Wall Monday, Esther's Wednesday WOW!, Let's Bee Social, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished Or Not Friday, TGIFF!
Last fall a friend and I issued a challenge to our quilt guild. We each purchased enough yardage of a different fabric to cut 10 fat quarters. We took the fabrics to the guild and challenge people to join in the challenge. There were two groups since there were 2 different fabrics. Nine people (besides Lynn and I) signed up for each group. We handed out the fat quarter fabrics.
At the next meeting, each of the participants were to bring 10 fat quarters of a fabric that coordinated with the focus fabric. These fabrics were passed out to the respective challenge groups. We are to bring our finished flimsy to show & tell at the June 2018 meeting. We were allowed to add some fabrics if we wished to.
I could not come up with an original idea for my project. I had decided I was NOT making a large quilt, I wanted something small, maybe around 36" square. In January, Country Lane Quilts started a mystery BOM called Friendship Garden. This mystery started in January and ended in June, and it was for a 30" finished wall quilt. I also like the name Friendship Garden, it was my friends from guild participating in this challenge.
I've followed the mystery and this is my quilt. She measures 26-1/2" square. This is smaller than what the instructions said it would be, but everything went together fine and I didn't want a large wallhanging.
These are the fabrics my group used. The focus fabric is on the left. The right fabrics are the challenge fabrics from the group. The separate black at the bottom is only I added from my stash.
I've linked to Country Lane Website and the mystery quilt. The mystery was a free BOM. I don't know how long the free pattern will be posted.
I don't know when this wall hanging will be quilted or what I'll do with it but I accomplished the challenge!
This challenge wallhanging is #8 on my list of projects for the year.
It was hard to get the true colors in the pictures. All that shiny gold is hard to photograph!
Linking to Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday With Bambi, Em's Scrapbag, Design Wall Monday, Love Laugh Quilt, BOM's Away even though this wasn't really a scrappy project.
I've finished hand quilting row 5-1/2 of Nearly Insane. I know I took pictures of the individual blocks quilted this week but they weren't there when I downloaded them onto my computer!
I didn't unroll the quilt but just took pictures of the partial blocks. Sorry.
There was a lot of quilting on this block but it turned out nicely.
I added some curves to the corner HST's.
Left side triangle and zigzag border which is the as the right side.
Sorry the pictures are dark. If I turn the overhead light on, the blocks look too light.
After I rolled, I realized I can see the start of the top zigzag border so I've taken a picture to show you.
I won't be posting much this summer. I will keep you updated on any finishes that occur.
Happy Stitching!
Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap
The applique borders are finished! Star Dance is now a completed flimsy!! Another project to cross off my list!
The center stars were pieced in 2017 as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.
Before I started the border applique, I had toyed with the idea of making the border stars coordinate with the color of the pieced star closest to it, rainbow borders. That would have been interesting but I decided to mix the colors.
I did add more circles to the border than the pattern called for but I don't think I overdid them. When I auditioned circles for the center of the bottom border there, I didn't think they looked right so I didn't add any.
The stars finish at 4" and the flimsy measures 60" by 70". I made several changes from the original pattern. When I started this project, I had thought this would be a nice crib quilt but it is too large for that now.
I took several more pictures of the flimsy. I couldn't decide which one was the best so I'm including them all.
Now the flimsy has moved into the next phase, waiting to be quilted because I'm going to hand quilt this one of course.
Linking to Esther's Wednesday WOW!, Let's Bee Social, Whatever Wednesday, Sew, Stitch, Snap SHOW, Needle & Thread Thursday, Finished Or Not Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, TGIFF!, Finish It Up Friday, Scrap Happy Saturday, Show Off Saturday
A full row of Nearly Insane did not get quilted. As I said in my last post, I've been spending more time outside
Here is the hand quilting that happened last week starting at the right side and working my way to the left. These blocks finish at 6".
Right side triangle, stitched fast.
Easy peasy stitch in the ditch quilting
Instead of stitching in the ditch on this block, I quilted a fan design.
This block had the most stitching of the week. I like how it looks.
I like the simplicity of this block and it quilted easily too.
I'll never receive a prize for my quilting stitches on this quilt. There are so many different fabrics, it's hard to be consistent with the stitching. Oh well, finished is better than perfect.
Star Dance has moved into first priority this week. I'm so close to having her completed and I think the finish will come this week.
Linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, Oh Scrap, Show & Tell Monday With Bambi, Em's Scrapbag, Love Laugh Quilt, BOM's Away, Esther's Wednesday WOW!
