Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Big Bear Little Bear Finished Quilting

After about 15 hours of machine quilting and at least 750 yards of thread (yes that is nearly a half mile of thread JUST for the top of the quilt - says nothing of the bobbins!), my Big Bear quilt for the Project Linus Book Blanket challenge is completed. Surprisingly, it is still mostly white, despite quilting in my basement. It was quite a task not allowing it to touch the floor.

The overall quilt is 44" x 56", which is really larger than I like to quilt on my machine. My Singer just does not have quilt enough throat depth to accommodate that much fabric.
I added the pale gold inner border in hopes of bringing out the color of the bears a little bit. I am still not sure that I love it as much as if I had kept it all in blue and white. Too Late now!!!
Around the six inch outer border I mimicked the diamonds of the main part of the quilt. Around them is quilted in a wave-like design of white rayon, while the inside of the diamonds is actually done in pale aqua. It's a little hard to see, but in person it shows nicely.
The binding is scrappy from all of the remains of the blues of the quilt.
The blankets will be turned in sometime before October 10th. The "show" is not until early November. I don't expect to win this again this year. This quilt is nicely made, but not as fun and childish as the one I did last year. The blankets will be distributed to children of all ages that are inthe Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland, ME between Thanksgiving & Christmas. It's a win-win project either way. I could never imagine having one of my kids in the hospital. A soft sweet blanket can only make it a less frightening experience.

6 comments:

Valerie said...

You've done it once again, Margaret. I am constantly amazed and inspired by your talent! The bear theme of this quilt is just too sweet -- any child will be thrilled to receive it. Your quilting is beautiful as well -- I need to take a class or something to learn how to machine quilt that beautifully.

Emma said...

Wow, I thought this quilt looked great just pieced, but your quilting has taken it to a new level!

jovaliquilts said...

I love it! Checked out last year's and it was really something, too. I'm so pleased to see people's best efforts go into these quilts.

Tami @ Lemon Tree Tales said...

WOW Margaret!!! This is beautifully done. I like the pale yellow and don't think that it detracts at all from the overall blue and white theme. It does bring out the colors of the polar bears nicely. When you quilt, do you mark any of the designs before you take it to your sewing machine? If so, all of it or is it just things such as the on point squares in the border where you have to space them out evenly?

Good luck with it! Like you said it's a win-win situation. :-)

InfinityQuilter/Knitter said...

That is absolutely adorable! Whatever child receives it is very lucky!!!

Rosalyn Manesse said...

A really charming quilt, and the recepient will love it. Your quilting is really lovely.