Friday 20 March 2015

A low volume king size quilt

Charlotte asked for a king size quilt in soft pale colours and it has taken many weeks to make. I laid it all out on the floor many times, stuck labels on all the bits and lost my way several times with it when the labels fell off! But at last it is finished and on her bed. I hope it will be her happy memory quilt, with her wedding day dress, William's shirt, little daughter Juliet's dress and Bertie's sun hat all there to make a family story.

This is how it started with Post and Rail blocks....


Post and Rail blocks by Green Star Quilts
Then it grew......

Post and Rail blocks by Green Star Quilts
I made the quilt in quarters so it was easier to handle but even so there was A Lot Of Quilt!! Can you see my labels, row 1, row 2, row 3......

More Post and Rail blocks
Finally the four pieces were finished and I quilted them with a grid pattern up to an inch from the centre joining edges. It was a bit of a wrestling match to get it all through the machine! Then I joined the top edges together, cut the wadding to size and ladder stitched it , then the backing fabric edges were folded over and hand stitched down and the quilting completed.Wrapped up in this quilt whilst I was stitching it all was so cosy... The backing fabric is white with a pale yellow stripe.

backing fabric
flower on the back made from Bertie's sun hat

Here it is at last on the bed and I am making these big photos for a really huge quilt!

Post and Rail low volume King size quilt by Green Star Quilts

And just to show that it goes right down to the floor too....

Post and Rail low volume quilt by Green Star Quilts


I must say that if I ever make another quilt this size it would be sensible to have it longarm quilted. I have learnt a lot making such a big quilt, such as realising that my Bernina walking foot wouldn't hold the stitch guide thingy until Husband ( now with a capital letter as he is so handy) modified it by cutting up an old electrical plug and saving me £40!

This  sunny morning we have watched the partial eclispe of the sun with our pinhole camera made from a shoe box. We sat in the garden as it got a bit dark and birds became quiet. It wasn't dark enough to wake the owl up though, just rather grey and strange. We both said we felt rather small as our earth lost it's brightness. As the sun returned we looked with gratitude at the garden and felt glad that signs of spring were all around.

Tete a tete daffodils
The colours in the garden are low volume like Charlotte's quilt but I am so grateful to see them arrive after the winter.

May blossom
I have looked out of the window many times over the morning now and felt so glad for the sunshine today. There is a whisper of change, and lots of hope for the summer to come.....




The next quilt on the list is a dinosaur themed one, there's nothing like a change!

I hope you have a lovely week quilting,
Kind regards,
Sue

PS. Here is one of the finished seaside quilts.... 


Seaside quilt by Green Star Quilts







  

8 comments:

Jasmine said...

It may have been unwieldy. But it sure turned out beautiful. I have made a rail fence quilt before, but not a post and rails. It looks really neat.

Kim B. said...

Your quilts are so charming. What a lovely family memory quilt for your daughter, and the seaside quilt is so cute too!

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Sue @ Quilting the Green Star said...

Thank you!

Sue @ Quilting the Green Star said...

Thanks Jasmine, my quilting is no where near your standard though.

colleen said...

A lovely gentle quilt, filled with tenderness. I hope your daughter likes it too!

Mary maloney said...

I love the vintage look of your quilt!

Sue @ Quilting the Green Star said...

Thanks for visiting Mary, yes, the finished quilt did look quite retro. The blue check shirting was from Charlotte's husband's shirt on their wedding day, there were also pieces of her skirt, and their children's outgrown clothes, a true memory quilt.