What's off the Hoop?
I decided to pass on a quilt that I finished back in 1985. It is a queen size blue Giant Dahlia. Back in '85 I couldn't decide how to quilt the giant dahlia that is the centerpiece to this quilt. I didn't like the designs that came with the pattern, so I chose only to quilt around each patch. It is a pretty quilt, but I was always concerned about the large unquilted spaces; I needed to be very careful how I handled it. Twenty years ago, my oldest son asked me if he could have the quilt. I simply wasn't ready to give it up. We are now to the point where we are downsizing and it is time for it to move to my son's home. But those large unquilted spaces were still a problem.
It was early in January this year that I decided to set up my quilting frame from back in the late '80s. I pulled the Giant Dahlia out of my glass front quilt cabinet and placed it across the frame. It wasn't going to fit on my 8 foot frame. I chose to work using my floor stand hoop. But still I didn't know how I was going to quilt it. Over the passed two years, I have learned how to free motion quilt on a domestic sewing machine. One of the benefits of learning this new skill is how my creativity has been triggered. I decided I wanted the dahlia to have a sense of life, not just a quilting pattern, but a design that would be organic representing life. I started that first round in the beginning of January. At the same time I placed another quilt in need of quilting since the early 90's onto my fame. I really wanted to sit at the frame again, so I did. I was making good progress on that quilt when I realized I wanted to buckle down and work on the Dahlia. So I began late January, early February.
Giant Dalhia finished in1985
laying across my frame in January 2015
1990s quilt now on frame was a distraction from Giant Dahlia
I had stopped quilting by hand years ago because the tendon in my right hand would ache after a short time of work. Quilting a good size quilt would take a year to get done. My machine quilting was now either in the ditch using a walking foot (seven I Spy quilts) or putting my Juki TL98 on a portable Handi Quilter frame. I designed my own scroll design to quilt up six Yellow Brick Road quilts. I also tried my hand at free motion quilting. I quilted quilts that would never win a prize anywhere, but I enjoyed working that way.
In 2013, I decided I wanted to finish hand quilting a quilt I had started 10 years before. As I sat working on that quilt (the red and green double wedding ring variation picture in my last post), I realized how much I had missed hand quilting. As I worked on that quilt, I began using my thimble on my index finger or thumb. That took and incredible amount of strain off the tendon in my hand and I found I could quilt so much faster that way.
Back to Giant Dahlia. I began by simply quilting free hand. As I finished each round, I decided I wanted to make the next round different. As the spaces got bigger, I realized I needed to be able to repeat each pattern more accurately. I began cutting shapes out of light card stock. It worked perfectly. I would trace around my shapes, then quilt that round. Each consecutive round changed. I finished Giant Dahlia yesterday, March 21, 2015. Finally after all these years, it is ready to be passed on.
Giant Dahlia with new 2015 upgrade!!
March 21, 2015
A little better detail shot
Just hangin' around!
I sat for hours just gazing at Giant Dahlia. Yes, I'm ready to pass her on.
So, that is what is off my hoop!
Enjoying my blessings!
dianne
