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Thursday, August 16, 2012

Blue Borders, Binding, and Hazy Skies

In my last post I referred to another little quilt that would be coming together from the leftovers of the mini rail fence. Well, here it is. I haven't sewn on the outer border, but I surprised myself by choosing blue. I was so sure I would want black.

Today I completed the quilting on the fundraising quilt. (Insert happy dance!!) This is the top Doniene donated for my daughter's fundraising effort. I learned a lot in this process and wish I had it to do over again now that I have had this experience. Gidget really came through for me. The thread only broke once. When I attempted my first machine quilting last October I never would have believed I would be doing this less than a year later.
Do you have an opinion on the binding--I could do it with the same fabric as the two lighter colored borders, or a brown very similar to the setting squares and small border. Or, there is plenty of that burnt orange backing fabric. Would you use one of those, or look at other options like green or dark brown?
I am so excited to get this finished. I really enjoyed the machine quilting--once I got the hang of how to wrestle a queen-sized quilt. : ) You can get a better idea of the quilting from the following photos.



 I will be trimming a little from around the outer edge. I couldn't find a border design I wanted to use that took up the whole space.

I haven't forgotten the drawing I promised to do this week. Marcia, your name was chosen from among those who indicated an interest in making a Flurry of their own. However you are a "no reply" blogger (you can change this in your gmail profile), and did not include your email address in your comment. I cannot contact you without it, so I will wait until Saturday for you to contact me with your email address. If I don't hear from you by then I will choose another name to receive the leftover fabrics from LuAnn's generous Flurry giveaway last year.

Did you see Lori of Humble Quilts little AAQI quilt? I was the lucky buyer and it came to live at my house today. If you know or have known someone with this disease, you can appreciate the symbolism in Lori's AAQI quilts.

I'll leave you with these shots. With all of the wildfires in the west, our air here is very smoke-laden. Aside from doing nasty things to your lungs, it sure makes some gorgeous sunrise/sunset photos. No filters or tints--just the colors as they really were.

I'll be away from the computer for a few days tending grandchildren. My posts are so few and far between anyway that you probably won't notice a difference. : )
Until next time,
 Janet O.


27 comments:

  1. I love your blue border...your quilting the big quilt is just beautiful, you did a wonderful job. I think I would try a dark brown binding that would bring out the dark brown in the leaf of the border fabric and make a nice frame for the quilt.
    The sunset pictures are beautiful...darn smoke sure is awful, but you're right, sure makes pretty sunsets. Enjoy your time with the grandkids.

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  2. Congratulations on a wonderful quilting job!!! It looks great! I think I would go with a brown binding, or the orange might look good too. The pictures are awesome.

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  3. Did you mark stencils on your quilt top? I am venturing out beyond free motion quilting on my HandiQuilter. I used a stencil on my last one (a Christmas quilt), but wondered what you did.

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  4. Nice quilting job! I like the orange but another color of medium value fabric might be nice, too.

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  5. Your blue border is drop dead gorgeous.

    For that binding, the orange or dark brown, I think. Definitely not the light.

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  6. Both of these are beautiful ... I may have to mimic the your little rail fence quilt. I love it! Did you do the quilting for the big quilt on a home machine??! It BLOWS my mind! Have fun spending time with your grands. I know you will!!! :)

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  7. Your quilting is lovely. The border is very pretty. I think that I would bind it with a brown similar to the setting triangles.
    Thanks for sharing the beautiful sunset/sunrise pictures.
    Have a fun time with the Grandchildren.

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  8. You did a wonderful job on that quilt! I would do a brown binding, or scrappy, using leftovers (if you have some). Beautiful sunset pictures. Have fun with the Grands!

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  9. Your blue border is wonderful, as far as binding for the beautifully(!) quilted fund-raising quilt I would go with a dark brown. The photos are stunning, sad for the reason, though. Enjoy those grandchildren!

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  10. As usual, I love it all!
    Have fun with your grandchildren!

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  11. The quilt looks gorgeous Mom! I think I would do the binding with the same color as the thinner border and setting squares...but any way you end up doing it will look nice :)

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  12. Very pretty quilt! Love the collaboration - makes it even more special.
    Thanks for sharing the sunsets.
    Enjoy your GK time.

    Binding - I'd probably select a darker print.

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  13. So you are the lucky buyer, I tried to purchase it as it was still showing available, but nope, someone beat me to it! It's a great quilt. Lovely machine quilting, here is a tip, you can echo around your border motif to stretch the quilting to the outer edge of the border.

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  14. Janet, congratulations on winning Lori's quilt! That's a real treasure! Your quilt is beautiful. Personally I would use a binding from one of the brighter colors in your blocks. Not the cheddar, maybe; but something bright. Just to bring it all together. NICE quilt job! You're ready to take in others for quilting yet??

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  15. What gorgeous pictures! What a shame that fires are the reason for such glory. I just love the choice of blue borders on your little quilt - it adds a lighthearted feel to it. The donation quilt turned out beautiful! Congratulations to you and Gidget for a great finish!!! I think I'd go with the color of the setting triangles and small border. Enjoy your family - we'll be here when you get back :*)

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  16. The railfence quilt turned out cute cute cute. You're machine quilting is lovely, your stick-to-it attitude is very motivating.

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  17. Janet you are soooo productive! I love you mini's. How do you display them? You did a wonderful job on the machine quilting. Do you draw your designs on or just freehand? It looks lovely. Enjoy the time with the grandkids!

    Have a wonderful and Blessed day
    Kristie

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  18. Love both quilts so much...your quilting is gorgeous! Ok, send me your address again...it was swallowed into the abyss!!

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  19. What a beauty! Because of all the different colors in it I would find a small floral that encompassed as many of those colors as you can. Just my pea brained opinion!!

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  20. WONDERFUL!!!!!! All of it! My first thought was light - but now that I have seen it, I would go darker- I like framing it! I know the grandchildren were grand!!

    Blessings

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  21. The awful wildfires sure make pretty sunsets uh? We've been dealing with the same thing, although not quite as smoky.
    I adore your quilt made from leftovers!
    I think any fabric from the center would look great on your fundraiser quilt. The quilting is terrific!!

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  22. Beautiful quilting, Janet. I've just bought an HQ16 "sitdown" model....named her Lulu...and I'm wondering if you did FMQ or did you draw/stencil your patterns? I like the burnt orange/brown for the binding.
    mdmontalvo@yahoo.com

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  23. Your binding suggestions sound good. You did a great job picking the light blue border for that cute little quilt. I'm amazed with what you do with scraps. I didn't realize the fundraising quilt was QUEEN size. Wow! It's absolutely beautiful. As are your photos. Just wish you were using a filter or tint. Those fires sound so scary.

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  24. Gorgeous photos! And amazing machine quilting...really Janet...you did a great job!

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  25. We notice when you done post! Your little doll quilt is adorable and the blue border is perfect. I like all the binding options but I might go with the backing fabric for a little pizzazz. Your quilting looks wonderful and I wouldn't have known it was your first large quilt if you didn't tell me...now you need to do another soon so you don't forget all your tricks :) Enjoy the grands.

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  26. Fabulous quilting! I love the quilt all round. Doniene is such a sweetie to send the blocks your way and you have done a great job of completing it. I would probably go with the brown for the binding but it would be interesting to trial the backing fabric too. I love the scenic pics too but what a shame that it is fires that are causing that great colour.

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  27. Certainly I'd have to audition the fabrics for a binding since photos just don't tell us the right shades sometimes :). Most are going dark to frame the quilt. I think the center of the quilt and your quilting should speak out. To pull this off a binding the same as the outside border might work best to keep all the attention directed inward. If you remove fabric to the quilting as you say it might change the outcome. Remove it then give it another look. Nice work ladies, hope the fundraiser brings a bunch for the cause! Sandi

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