Quilting in Progress

On Sunday afternoon, I began quilting some quilts.  Two quilts in particular. Two I have been putting aside and postponing because I just didn't know how I would want to quilt them.   

This first quilt is by far one of my most favorite quilts. It is a simply pieced hexagon pattern made with some of my favorite fabrics from ADORNit.   I recently bought two pantographs from Urban Elementz that I really like.  I had this particular one in mind as a good one for this hexagon pattern.  So finally, after a few years of putting it off, I decided I just need to go with it and see what happens.  And....I like how it turned out.  The quilting is finished.  I still have the binding but I like to do binding.  It is the quilting that I put off.  I am almost there with this one.  I need a catchy name it just hasn't come to me yet.

Here is the backing fabric on this hexagon quilt.  I think it completes the whole hexagon/circular feel of the quilt.  I am excited to see this one finished.  

Next quilt.

Since I was feeling pretty good about that quilt, I decided no better time than this to tackle this gigantic quilt top I made last summer.  I wrote all about it here. 

I found a very nice period piece fabric on sale for half price at my LQS. I tackled cutting and piecing eight yards of fabric and was pretty happy to find that those eight yards would cover the whole quilt as the backing without adding any more.  

This is my set up.  A Nolting FunQuilter and a homemade extended conversion on a small Hinterberg frame. The machine and frame are adequate for most all of my projects.   However, the size of this quilt top far exceeds the capability of this set up and I have gone as far as I can go with an edge to edge panto pattern. I am pleased that it looks really nice so far.  Everything has been smooth quilting up to this point.
  

 I am really pleased with the stitching and pattern on this quilt. The thread tension is pretty close to perfect this time and the stitching has gone smoothly. (That is a miracle in itself. How many times can you say that??? Almost never.)  I have had very few problems. Hooray!  I wound over 18 bobbins for this one. That feathery pattern is a thread eater. (Usually I use about five to six bobbins per quilt top.)

However, I have come to the end of my longarm quilting session.  I can no longer complete the stitching pattern without bumping the bar and the rolled quilt.  If you have done any longarm quilting you know what I mean.  I have about three more feet of quilt and can go no further.  I also ran out of backing and batting.  So the quilt has come off the frame and I have pieced the batting and added about ten more inches of fabric to the backing on one edge.  I have pin basted the remaining area and have decided I will hand quilt to finish.  I have been wanting to try some of the big stitch quilting. This is a perfect opportunity to make it look like I had planned this all along.  Time to learn new skills.    

This quilt is mine, after all! 

I do apologize for this tacky photo but it does show how big this quilt is.  It is going to fit generously on my king sized bed.  There will be plenty of drop on every side even with dog underneath the covers!  This quilt is big but will finish up very nice.  I am excited about this quilt finish too.

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Thanks for stopping by!