Hearts Desire: Quilting Finished

Hearts Desire is quilted!

It’s pouring with rain here so my DD and I waited with baited breath by the window until a few moments of respite opened up. Then we ran out, placed a cloth on the decking, wheeled out the quilt frame and finally got Hearts Desire hanging in just minutes... and starting taking pics straight away.

I didn’t manage to take as many as I’d like because of weather conditions…but I here are a few I did get in before we had to run inside again.The top pic looks a little too yellow, that's down to strange lighting conditions outside.

The quilting is subtle, I wanted to enhance the applique rather than showcase the quilting in this quilt. My initial thought was to quilt less….but I do love really quilting a quilt so that wasn’t really an option. It is heavily quilted – my usual style! That’s just the way I like it.

Hearts Desire is all about sentiment, double meanings and richness of detail. Those of you who are making it yourselves know, just how much time and commitment each block demands.

Much work, much patience, much perseverance.

The motifs used throughout the design are traditional and invoke feelings of nostalgia and beauty. When I first designed Hearts Desire, I spoke of an ‘old town folk’ feel, a traditional, inspiring place.

Abundant foliage symbolizing growth, renewal and perseverance

A bird, symbolizing birdsong, morning and spring

Hearts with open centers symbolizing life’s difficulties and disappointments

Flowers and buds symbolizing starting and blooming

Details such as thorns symbolizing beauty after difficulty

Richness of detail and a delight in fabrics throughout the quilt– symbolizing hope and the need we quilters have to create works of beauty.

Details: The binding is on. The pattern finished at 83 inches for the quilt top and after quilting it went down to 79 inches.

It will be hanging at Victorian Showcase in Melbourne from Thursday to Sunday. I will be there Thurs, Fri, Sat.

Yes, Still Quilting ...

Quilting the leaves:

I finally finished stitching veins on all the leaves last night

This morning I sketched my idea for quilting the border

And now all I have to do is actually quilt it.

Today is my deadline.

Wish me luck!

Quick Quilting Update

 The house is filled with the sounds of a busy machine.....

Not nearly there, but persevering...

This is my idea for the corner baskets,

I just sketch over the pattern and keep it in eye sight as I quilt

 Getting there...

And now I must get back...

WOW: Quilting Hearts Desire

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

This WOW finds me Quilting Hearts Desire

I’m not going to let my enthusiasm wane, so although I have so much to do, I have decided to stop my new project and instead start quilting Hearts Desire so I can have it ‘finished’.

I managed to have Hearts Desire basted on Monday and this is a real hurdle out of the way. It’s such a treat to have a quilt ready to be quilted without tiring out my shoulders basting beforehand. Now it’s time to quilt! I always quilt freehand, so I have some rough sketches and I am improvising as I go along. I have opted for blended thread and have decided on just going with the flow, quilting wise.

Sometimes, you can’t really ‘see’ a quilt until you reach this stage of the quilt making process. I chose muted civil war style fabrics, so this is my traditional old style quilt. It’s the first of its kind on my quilt shelf –  I want to have a really diverse range of styles and colours in my collection. I always try to do something a little bit beyond my own version of ‘ordinary’.

I can also see this quilt done completely in brights, so I may run a repeat because I am sorely tempted to dive straight into making another one straight away. When will I find the time???

Ok, back to quilting!