Sunday, June 30, 2013

June Lovely Year of Finishes: Complete!

Nothing like quilting that is pure texture!


My June Lovely Year of Finishes goal was to machine quilt this polka dot log cabin quilt I'd pieced last summer.
I went with my original thought on this--to do one large spiral quilt design. I purposely didn't center it--the center (which is the traced circle from my pin holder) is in the third row, on the left side of the center block.
I decided to quilt this freehand. A) because I wanted to, just to see if I could and how it would turn out, and B) because I try to avoid marking quilts if I can. Mostly because I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a hard time staying on the line I drew, and then I'll just feel like I did a worse job.
This way, I can just call it freehand!

It's definitely not perfect, but I do like the overall look.

The most frustrating part for me is how the needle would jig jag (well, that's how I describe it) after I would stop to remove a pin, shift the quilt, or adjust my hands. I'd stop with the needle down, and after doing necessary shifting, it was like a game to see where the needle would come back down again when I started stitching. But with a good wash and dry, most of those spots will nestle in nicely.

This is probably my favorite shot because the spirals really show!

The back: also a polka dot fabric (of course!)

What are your thoughts for a binding color? I'm thinking either black or scrappy dots.

Now to decide on my July goal...


12 comments:

  1. Oh, I love you quilt and especially love the way you have quilted it. I've always wanted to do a spiral quilting, but have been afraid to try. It looks like a pretty big quilt. Was it difficult to get everything into/around in your machine?

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  2. Lovely quilting!

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  3. Your quilting is perfect as I can see! Love the blocks and colors. IMHO...a thin black binding would set it all off nicely.

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  4. Just lovely. Both the quilting and the whole quilt.
    I agree, black binding would be nice.

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  5. Love it, glad I'm not the only one who has had jigjagy needle issues. I think a black binding would be nice.

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  6. I tried spiral quilting and had the same problem with the zig and zag.

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  7. Great job!
    How about something red or orange to bind it...give it a frame!

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  8. I did a quilt of concentric circles. Marking it was a night mare, keeping on my markings was terrible, and I had the same problem. But when it was all said and done, bound and washed it looked wonderful.

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  9. I love how it turned out. Great texture! I think either back or scrappy would look terrific. Both good ideas.

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  10. I adore this quilt! I think either black or color would work for binding. I know I would go for scrappy color binding myself. Beautiful job.

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  11. I LOVE This! The quilting is perfect for the pattern. And the texture, oh the texture, it's beautiful! I am hoping someday to be brave enough to attempt concentric circle quilting. Great finish!

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  12. I love love polka dots and love your quilt!!! Thanks for sharing

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