And you know what that means?!?
Grandma made her (another) quilt!
I've had this quilt top finished for a year and I knew when I was making it that it was for Grace but I put off quilting it until the deadline was bearing down hot and heavy.
The pattern used is Exploding Hearts and I made it with a layer cake.
I layered it on May 7th and 8th.
As I was motoring along with the quilting one morning last week, I considered "why was I waiting" to quilt it? Stop and think! I actually did try to come up with a quilting plan when I first finished the piecing. I looked at Pinterest and Instagram for ideas -- nothing!
And so as is often the case for me, how to quilt it was my "bump in the road" and I put it off until the last moment!?!
Thankfully, the looming deadline was the big motivator!! When I sat down to actually start the quilting I took the simplest approach and used the same "grid" idea from the last Mississippi Mud top I quilted!
Brilliant!!
The quilting lines are about 1/2" off the seam lines and (this is awesome) they avoid all the lumpy seam intersections and don't call attention to any of the "not quite perfect" intersections!
My lines aren't perfectly straight but when looking at the piece as a whole, that's not obvious!
I did this on my APQS George with a straight line tool and follower foot, but it could just as easily be done with a walking foot on any sewing machine.
BONUS -- since all the lines begin and end at the edges of the quilt, there were very few thread ends to bury -- just where the bobbins ran out!!
Plus I finally was able to use this gorgeous floral print that I've been hoarding!!
On May 20th, I bound the quilt and labeled it by stitching a dedication and my name right into the quilt with my computerized Bernina's lovely script alphabet using the memory function to write out phrases.
Of course, it's been so long since I did that sort of thing, I had to get out the manual -- thank goodness I organized all my machine supplies a few years ago and the manual was easy to find!
Grace is my oldest grandchild and as I stitched out her name, I recalled the moment her mom called to say she was expecting and my excitement!
She did very well in school and is headed off to college in the fall perhaps to become an engineer? Here we are in front of her "baby tree" as she calls it -- a Japanese lilac seedling from my garden that I gave her parents the year she was born.
Look at all those cords and medals?!?
Time to start thinking about the next graduation quilt so I stay ahead of the game!!
And if you like this quilting idea, go ahead and copy it on your next project!!
Mary
Very pretty quilt! I'm checking out the pattern now, looks like a good one!
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