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It would only be fitting since we are going on a cruise later this year that I quilt some boats. This very large quilt was 10 days on the frame, and mostly done in a flurry of last minute quilting before all 3 of my kids finished school last Friday. I spent some early mornings this week finishing it up as they were still asleep.
Sue Garman's Ladies of the Sea is always an impressive quilt. This is either my 5th or 6th to quilt in the last 2 years. Every time I stare in amazement that anybody has the patience to quilt SO MUCH applique! And this one is another example of exceptional handiwork.
The first thing I do on these is to ditch stitch the applique using a clear nylon thread. It is time-consuming...14 or so hours to be exact, but it gives every detail a crispness that you cannot get otherwise. The rest of the quilting is done in 40wt Glide thread, mostly in a tan color, but there is detail work in green and red too.
I have tried to make each of these that I do a little different. Several had a quilted ray pattern like is shown
here. I just wanted something other than that on this quilt. It got a windy/watery quilting. The feathered diamonds create a beautiful secondary pattern.
The 10" wide borders are immense and have so much applique. It takes about an hour to ditch each one, and then nearly 2 hours to quilt the fill!
The mariner's stars on the corners bring the texture of the crosshatching.
Each time I quilt this I see things I didn't the time before. Wish I had a rough number of hours that the maker spent on each block. Some of the ships have a ton of embroidery and tiny beads in the rigging.
A couple more pictures...
There are loads of little circles...see?!?
And the backside is just as beautiful. For those wondering, my machine is home and stitches well (although this quilt does not have any fine threads). I did test quilt it using silk on my personal quilt for a day or two before I loaded this beast!
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7 comments:
Absolutely Beautiful! Your quilting is stunning and makes the appliqué "Pop"! The maker will be happy for sure!
This is absolutely amazing Margaret.What an incedible quilt to stitch your magic on. Apart from every block being exquisite I love the secondary pattern the feathered diamonds make. I am sure the maker would've shed a tear when she got her quilt back.
Magic Margaret! I know you have quilted several of these. Your quilting is perfect, but without that SID things just wouldn't shine!
Such beautiful work, both of you
Beautifully quilted. What do you use in the bobbin when using the clear nylon?
another gorgeous "Lady". I am an avid reader of your articles in MQU. I wonder if you might consider discussing wrinkles on the back of your quilt after quilting. What do you do to alleviate them and what can you do if you get one with lots of heavy quilting over it. You know, when you do a ton of fill quilting on a double batting of wool and 80/20 and you take it off the frame and see a wrinkle in the midst of the heavy quilting. Even if I rip it out, not sure how to smooth it out. Karen
Absolutely gorgeous! It amazes me that an already beautiful quilt can be taken to a higher level with EXQUISITE quilting---which is the only adjective short of "divine" I an think of to describe your quilting. I wondered, too, about what you use in your bobbin when outlining with nylon....plus...the biggest issue to me is how in the world do you avoid tucks with so much rolling and re-rolling. Do you baste in a gridwork pattern? However you manage, I thank you for sharing, not only the photos, but your expertise as well. Your books hav been so helpful...but I would love to be able to take a class with you. THAT is top of my bucket list!
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