Friday, August 15, 2014

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

Origins Quilt

I've noticed a couple of things as I'm teaching myself to hand quilt.  Like the appearance of my stitches.  In general, I am pleased as they are neat and even.  But when I look at pictures of antique quilts, the stitches appear (1) tinier and (2) smaller, hahaha!  Like just a dot!  The way my stitches look with this thinner hand quilting thread better suits perle cotton, I think, as the stitches look a little big to me (see the close up).

A question: how many stitches per inch do people generally get hand quilting?  Mine are about 9 stitches per inch in this quilt.  Which calculates out to..... about 27, 216 stitches!  (378 squares, 8 inches of stitching per square and 9 stitches per inch?  Correct me if I am wrong!)

Quilt Stats:

Print Fabrics: Origins by Basic Grey for Moda
Solid Fabric: Kona cotton solid in Ivory (?)
Thread: Gutermann Hand Quilting thread 100% cotton in Ivory
Batting: Warm & Natural
Backing: cut from a 100% cotton Ikea duvet cover
Dimensions: 50" by 58"

18 comments:

  1. Lovely! I adore the simplicity of a square quilt. It's patchwork at its finest and shows off the fabric choices so well. I have no idea how many stitches I get per inch, but my quilting friends tease me that mine are ridiculous and too tiny... I think consistency is really what's important. :)

    So I've been looking at your instagram (although I don't have one so I can't comment) and I'm quite curious about how you baste your quilts to hand quilt them. Do you just use safety pins? And I love your new French General quilt, by the by!

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    Replies
    1. I'd probably sew or spray baste so that I wouldn't risk the pins getting in the way of the frame. Honestly, I've tried all three and prefer getting down on my hands and knees with my curved needle and do a great big basting even for machine quilting. It holds together best, keeps the quilting flow best, and doesn't get my floor covered in sticky yucky stuff.

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    2. I don't do spray basting and I haven't tried thread basting a large quilt on the floor yet. I have thread basted a small baby quilt that I could work with on a table, and I did like the smoothness of having no pins on my lap when quilting it. Since I don't use a frame, the pins aren't an issue there, but my quilting thread does get caught on a pin from time to time as I go.

      (I answered Kiri with an email. Thanks for your contribution, Sara!)

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  2. This is a really beautiful quilt! I really love the backing fabric you've used, too.

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  3. Origins is a fave & this was the perfect project to hand quilt!

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  4. This is so pretty. You are certainly a pro at hand quilting!

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  5. So beautiful - love the colours in these fabrics and how you have handquilted this!

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  6. I am only beginning to hand quilt, but I had better learn quickly as I have a Dear Jane to quilt. Do you recommend the Warm n Natural? I think the trick is to get a suitable, not too dense batting.
    I love orange peels on squares. I was admiring a friend's similar project recently.

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  7. This is gorgeous! I don't think your stitches are too big, but then again I only machine quilt. :) This was one of the first fabrics I loved, and you did it justice. Really, really nice job!

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  8. This is so pretty. I had started a quilt with this fabric line for our bedroom, and then went in a totally different color direction, so I donated it to our church quilting group. I think it will be lovely. Your love your hand quilting.

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  9. Stumbling across your blog when search for another ROYGBIV pattern. Love your blog. Is the log cabin in the back ground yours? We live in a log home in New Brunswick. Thanks for linking to Canadian fabric sites, much appreciated. Keep on quilting eh!............Dianne @ http://atypicalife.net/mam/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! Great to meet you. Yes, the logs are the siding on our home!

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  10. What a beautiful quilt! I hand quilt most of the time....machine quilting makes me stressy and I'm only just about adequate at it. I usually manage between 9 and 12 stitches pre inch, depending on the thread and batting that I'm using. I was taught that the most important element in hand quilting was eveness of stitch length....and yours look perfect! Thank you for sharing your lovely work on a brilliant blog. xx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Kirstie! And thank you for your input. It's helpful to hear from other hand quilters!

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  11. A beautiful quilt. I like that you hand quilted it. I get hand cramps when hand quilting so mostly machine quilt. But to have hand work, I embroider.

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  12. This is lovely. As to stitches per inch it depends on what I am quilting. If I am quilting straight areas or gentle curves around applique...where I don't have to deal with any seams or piecing, I am at about 9 sometimes even better. Around piecing and seams I decide not to drive myself crazy and just try to be consistent.
    The other thing is I pick and choose between hand quilting or tying a quilt....then I've more time to devote to the quilted one. Hope that helps / your work is very nice! :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the helpful advice! I really appreciate your thoughts.

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