Friday 20 December 2013

TGIFF! -- Hands Hands Fingers Thumbs

I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath to see if I finished Hands Hands Fingers Thumbs on time, haven't you? You are the best!

When my friend came to pick up the quilt yesterday, she said, "you know, I really shouldn't have asked you to do this at this time of year." And I replied, "you know, I really shouldn't have said yes at this time of year." And then we laughed and laughed. She's a knitter so she understands. It's nice to have friends like that, isn't it? :)

So did I it get done? Well, obviously M-R, you just mentioned that your friend picked it up yesterday. Um, right, I guess I did. I finished the binding and label at some ungodly hour yesterday morning. Gotta love the many holiday movies at this time of the year, eh? Great company for those late-night quilting sessions!

Photos were a last minute scramble. Crazy snow, eh? I think we're supposed to get another 20+ cm this weekend.

Hands Hands Fingers Thumbs - Side One
Hands Hands Fingers Thumbs - The "Nothing To Do With the Name Side" a.k.a. Side Two
My friend let me know that the quilt was a hit with the teacher and sent me a photo of the teacher and children with the quilt. Yay!

Notes on the quilting: I wanted black and grey thread on the dark side and white on the white side. I know that's a no-no among some quilters because if the tension is off the top or bottom thread shows through to the other side. I did it anyways! Freedom! Here's why I thought I could break the rules and you can decide for yourselves whether I should or shouldn't have done it:
  • My Bernina is awesome at balancing the thread tension. Although I have done mismatched threads before successfully, they were close in value, if not in colour. There were no pop-throughs on either side.
  • I used a higher loft batting than usual -- Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 cotton/polyester. I figured that any pops-throughs would be hidden in the valleys. 
  • I used the same thread brand (Aurifil) and weight (50 wt.) so that colour was the only difference. I'd like to tell you that I used the 50 wt, which is usually for piecing, so that it would keep any pop-throughs as small as possible, but the reality is that they were the only weights in those colours that I had.
  • I practiced the rectangular stipple/Aztec motif of a scrap quilt sandwich and made some adjustments to the tension. 
I thought I was golden. I wasn't. There are some minor pop throughs, but mostly in the corners of the rectangular stipples, when I turned too quickly. I was able to pull some of them into the middle of the quilt by gently pulling apart the two sides of the quilt around the pop-throughs. I know they will also show even less once the quilt is washed and gets all crinkly.

Final size: 55" by 70".

I'm linking up with TGIFF! over at Gingersnaps Quilts this week. Come join us.


A heartfelt Merry Christmas if you celebrate it, and a Happy New Year! We have a full house for Christmas and New Year's this year so I will see you in the New Year.

17 comments:

  1. Turned out fab! Merry Christmas to you too!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been doing a lot of quilts this year with different colored bobbin and top threads and agree with everything you said. I really like the effect it has, even if the tension is tricky is some places. The quilt turned out so fantastic! Both side are very well done and really interesting to look at.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This is such a beautiful quilt!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I actually was going through my blog reader yesterday and came across your previous post on this quilt and was wondering if you got it done in time...no kidding! It looks wonderful! I am sure the teacher will appreciate it for years to come. Merry Christmas to you and your family! Enjoy your time together!

    ReplyDelete
  5. What an incredibly awesome finish! Thank you sew much for sharing your experiences with the quilting. You did a super job. Merry Christmas to you and yours!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Fabulous work. I love love love the back.

    ReplyDelete
  7. What a great finish!! I love how this came together M-R; Merry Christmas

    ReplyDelete
  8. Congratulations on your wonderful finished quilt. It looks fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  9. M-R, it is a beautiful quilt! Merry Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I love this quilt, both sides are awesome!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Amazing. Absolutely wonderful, M-R!

    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I love it!!! I have to Hand it to you I am all thumbs when it comes to creative backs! I give teh whole project two thumbs up! Heehee!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm catching up on blogs now that the holiday blur is over. I love the back that you made for the quilt, and those cute little hands are so thoughtful. And to answer your question about the different threads, I say go for it. One of the things that I love about machine quilting is the ability to make the top and bottom threads different colors. And, I always think of the context too. If I were sending the piece out of a quilt show, I might hesitate, but I bet the teacher who got this quilt loved it beyond words and it wouldn't even occur to her to look for pop throughs even if they were in the quilt.

    ReplyDelete

Yay Comments! Thank you for taking the time to post a comment. I usually reply to comments via e-mail. If you are a no-reply blogger, please leave me your e-mail address so I can get back to you. Unfortunately, I've had to disallow Anonymous posts due to spam -- sorry! Cheers!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...