Thursday, September 14, 2017

Ariana's Summer Snowballs Quilt and my newly established Etsy Shop!


     I took a break from blogging during August, but of course, didn't stop sewing or quilting.  My latest finish to share is a snowball quilt, make with 30's prints for my nephew's new baby girl, Ariana.       I had purchased a wide assortment of 30s reproduction fabrics earlier this year, and pulled some blues, yellows and reds for Pippa's Union Jack Quilt.  You can see that quilt here  I knew this baby was a girl before I started the quilt, so went very pinky - with orange and violet..  

    
     I was winging the pattern; I looked at some examples and tried to figure out my own sizes.  I started with 5 inch blocks of the 30s fabric, and then cut 2 inch blocks for the corners (in Kona Candy Pink and white).  After testing a piece, I decided I needed smaller corner squares, so trimmed those squares to 1 3/4 inches.   
The blocks with the 2 inch corners.  I didn't think they would make the squares look round, which is the point of the snowball blocks! 
The trimmings!   Note to self - test one block before cutting for 99 blocks! 

Once I got the sizing right, I marked the sewing lines and began sewing lots of little corner pieces accompanied by many Doc Martin episodes! 




    I alternated pink and white for the corners, which created a little hourglass design in the middle.  I spent some time laying out the blocks to keep it looking pretty random, albeit with the pink and whites in the right spots.     

     I wasn't sure if I had achieved the "snowball" effect, but once I had the blocks sewn together, I was happy with the result.  

The finished top
     I found a Kona printed wide backing fabric that I thought was perfect for this quilt, and had spent some time watching Angela Walters' tutorial on how to quilt a free motion flower pattern.    This is the first quilt I was working on with my Tiara II up on blocks to create a standing machine, so I did a sample block which turned out well, so I got started on the quilt. I was very excited about this design. That excitement soon turned to dismay.
Sample piece on the back
Actual back - disaster! 
     After quilting perhaps 1/8 of the quilt, I turned it over, and to my horror, realized that the tension was all off!  Eeeeekkkk!!!  For the first time ever, I had to undo all of the quilting.  I considered just reverting to a stipple or a meandering stitch, (let's face it, I also considered just ditching this quilt!) but eventually came to my senses, and decided to try again, with a bigger pattern.   Although I had some problems at the end, I eventually was happy with how it turned out.  

More problems to undo! 
     The backing fabric is just so cheery.  I am glad I stuck with the flower quilting pattern after all.  The binding is more Kona Candy Pink.   
     Here is a picture in the sunlight of the finished quilt.     The quilt finished at about 40 x 49 inches.
Finished quilt, trust quilt holder!
     I hope little baby Ariana enjoys her quilt as much as her big brother, Levi, enjoys his!  You can see his quilt here.

     In other news, I have finally gotten my Etsy shop up and running.   The link is on the side of the blog!   I started out with a few of my little novelty bibs, and have sold a few of the science baby bibs.     I have some more of those to offer, and will also be listing some baby quilts for sale, as well as offering custom designed baby quilts.    A guild quilt show is right around the corner, so I am busy getting ready for that.      Stay tuned! 
     Enjoy the end of summer and beginning of fall.
Take care,
Gretchen

5 comments:

  1. I have to say that the colors and fabrics you chose for this quilt are not ones I would have thought to put together but, gosh, they look gorgeous together. You have a talent for color. I love this quilt!

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  2. You are uncannily similar to me; I feel like I know you! The quilt is gorgeous, and the method you describe for figuring out proper measurements is just exactly the way I'd do it. Also, you watch videos and use the library to teach yourself new techniques. And you don't mind sharing the mistakes, because you know we all make them. I found you at Finish it up Friday, and will continue to follow you! Thanks for the enjoyable post. :D

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  3. It's so pretty! You did a wonderful job!

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