You haven't lived until...

13 years ago

Ok, we all have this special project we wanted to do, bit the bullet and half-way through wonder if we had a lapse of sanity. We usually soldier through it, and come out the other side. Hopefully happy with the results. I'd be interested in your's. Here's mine.

On my second wool quilt, and this one I am liking and is what I wanted. I's 42 ft. sq. wool crazy blocks on a cotton foundation, and for the backing, I remembered I had a full-sized Army blanket I'd purchased years ago for tenting I had never used. I decided to 'birth' this one because I couldn't decide on a binding. I don't think any of my machines can be trusted to FMQ on this one, and wools are traditionally tied of anyway, so I'll be tying this one with yarn.

I made the mistake of letting Willie the cat up to the sewing room to romp, and I pulled tables over to hold the heavy pounds of cloth in alignment with the machine. It's all done now, save hand-stitching the small placket opening where I birthed it. It's blocked and ready to fly. My arms are totally sore from horsing it around.

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Comments (7)

teresa_nc7
13 years ago
That looks like one warm, cozy and heavy quilt - which, when you need a wool quilt is just what you want.

Teresa
calliope
Original Author
13 years ago
Heavy, it is. So much so, that I top stitched over each seam, even though you can't see it on the photo to reinforce them, and why I used a cotton foundation on each block, so they wouldn't stretch out of shape from the weight of the fabric. It' still cold here, and we keep the upstairs cooler than the down anyway. All my quilts get a workout in winter, and I've not taken them off beds yet this year. I know this type of quilt isn't most quilter's 'bag', but I quilt for function before form and really needed a few of these. I love wools and other natural materials and not so keen on synthetics. Our county is a wool producer and I grew up with wools overseas, where they're still popular. Love 'em.
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nannykins
13 years ago
Unique and personal. I think quilts should be both as well as being used. You win on all counts.
Theresa
rosajoe_gw
13 years ago
It looks so warm and cuddly! We are having strange weather for this time of the year and I would love to be under it right now lol!!!
Rosa
littlehelen_gw
13 years ago
You are brave...wrestling with a wool quilt, but the result is certainly worth it. Nice job all around! ...I see myself curl up under this with a good book and a mug of hot chocolate!
No ill intent, but I do hope you won't be needing it too much longer...warm weather should be around the corner, even in your neck of the woods.
V.
msmeow
13 years ago
Calliope, congratulations on finishing both of them! And it's great that you are pleased with the result. It looks like a warm, sturdy quilt that will serve you for years to come! I think you were wise to birth it and tie it.

So, did Willie help? Maybe add a few extra pounds to move around? :) They love to help!

To answer your "what was I thinking?" question...right now my vote would be the colorwash top I recently finished. I loaded it on the frame today. I was afraid it would be a bear to quilt over all those seams and the heavy fusible interfacing, and while it hasn't been problem-free (I'm currently taking a break LOL), so far it hasn't been too bad.

Before this project I had only tried the colorwash technique in a class and we made a very small table topper (16 X 18 inches or so). This one is about 30 x 48...it took a VERY long time to choose fabrics, cut however many 2" squares it is (I'm not counting), sew a bunch of them into HSTs, arrange them just so and fuse them into place. And of course sewing the seams took about four times longer than I thought it would.

But...like you, I am pleased with it. And it's getting close to being my first finish for the year!

Donna
geezerfolks_SharonG_FL
13 years ago
I don't think anything can give a quilter as much pleasure as to have a quilt turn out the way they envisioned it. Good for you! Your wool quilt should give you years and years of warmth. It looks really homey.

For my 'what was I thinking' project, I also was sewing a crazy quilt using a foundation, but I was using polyester (what was I thinking!?)....it got so heavy I didn't even finish it and now I have no clue where it is. The next time I clean out the back of the closet, maybe I'll find it and do something with it.

SharonG/FL