Iris Finished ~ Another UFO Started

Every once in a while, we get to work on something truly special. This will be one of my most memorable projects because I had the chance to work out of my comfort zone and honor the unknown creator of the hand embroidered blocks and showcase her incredible craftsmanship.

Working with purple isn't easy for me.  When it comes to purple, I avoid it most of the time. The color purple only appears in my scrap quilts because I don’t really like it. In scrap quilts, purple is just another part of the rainbow, blending in nicely without stealing the spotlight. As you can imagine, there’s very little purple in my fabric stash. So, to make these gorgeous blocks shine, I had to buy some fabrics...and it was worth every penny.

While working on the quilt top, I considered giving hand quilting another try, thinking the unknown maker of the blocks might have preferred it. But after some thought, I realized the best way to honor her and make it the best it could be in my care was to stick with what I know and do well...machine quilting.

She put so much time and love into every stitch. I can’t help but feel a little sad knowing her family will never get to snuggle up with this quilt. All I can do now is make sure it’s cherished the way it truly deserves.

Even though I don't know her name I did my best to give her credit on the label.  I also gave it the name "Purple Passion".  Purple because of the color.  Passion, because it took her passion for handwork and my passion for quilting to get it to a finished quilt.

The last thing I did to honor the maker was to hand stitch the binding to the back.  Normally on quilts I plan to give away I 100% machine bind. 

A big thank you to Melissa, a new local quilting friend, who gave me the embroidered blocks.   For those of you who missed the original post about this quilt, below is how it looked.  

Melissa's mom gave it to her.  Her mom passed last year.  Her mom got them from a neighbor who has also passed, hence the Unknown Indianapolis Woman on the label.

The finish is bittersweet because I would love to keep it my quilt collection just because of all the handwork, but I know it's going to someone who will appreciate the handwork, the colors and the story behind its journey.

Now it's back to working on my own UFO's.  They too have gone unloved for far too long and they don't have any purple in them!

Next up on the frame...this one was started in 2013.  It's a small quilt so let's hope for a quick finish.

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The Iris Quilt

 Quilting the Iris quilt is moving at the speed of a snail, but at least it’s moving. Day one of quilting was nearly a total flop thanks to skipped stitches and a stitch regulator that decided to test my patience. By the time I solved both problems the sun was setting, so I stitched for about an hour before calling it quits for the day.  

The next day was a better day. I had a great time quilting the wave in the sashings with my new wave ruler. It would be wonderful if all longarm rulers had painted lines like this one.

The one inch piano key border gave me a bit of trouble for that very reason. Light fabric, light thread, and faint ruler lines don’t mix well with aging eyes and new bifocals.

I have several different rulers for straight lines and stitch in the ditch.  And every single one of them has etched/scratched hard to see lines. I know not everyone has this problem.  It's just a Granny Lea Anne problem.  All I can do is fix the problem since my new very expensive granny bifocals don't seem to be helping me in the slightest.

Can you see the etched lines on light fabrics?  Do you see the one darker line?

I fixed the problem with a fine tip Sharpie, which fits perfectly into the etched/scored line. I only marked the one inch line since it’s the only one I’m using for this quilt. 

While we're talking about hard to see lines...the preprinted quilting lines are easier to see now that the quilt has been sandwiched on the frame.  Am I concerned about these lines?  Nope. Not one bit.  This is pretty typical of older preprinted embroidery.  Sometimes the lines wash out sometimes they don't.  I know the recipient will love her with or without blemishes.

The good thing is they aren’t noticeable unless you're up close.  And I know the recipient is going to love it even with the blemishes.

This week there's a list as long as my arm of things to be done other than quilting on the frame.  So, the plan is to do what I can and quilt when I can.  See you on Friday!

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Embroidered Iris Quilt Top Finish ~ Quilting Plan

The Iris quilt top hung on the wall for a few days, while I tried to come up with the ultimate quilting plan. Then, last night in a burst genius, I decided to keep it simple with a 2 inch crosshatching through the embroidered blocks, arcs in the sashing and a piano key border. With that settled, onto the frame she went and the plan to start quilting first thing in the morning after my morning cup of decaf.

This morning, I walked past the sewing room and glanced at the quilt on the frame.  I found myself rethinking the quilting plan as I went through my morning wake up ritual.  Sigh...why can’t I just stick to the plan? Why do I make things harder for myself?  I didn't make these quilt blocks.  I’m not even keeping this quilt, and the recipient isn’t a quilter, they won’t care about the quilting. Yet there I was at 9 a.m. taking it off the frame so I could try out the different new quilting ideas.

 If you look closely at the image, you’ll see a large piece of plexiglass over the quilt block in the image below. Using dry erase markers, I experimented with the different ideas. 

Originally, I thought the crosshatching could go over the embroidery, now that idea doesn't feel right, it would push the embroidery into the background.

The new plan is to quilt around the outside of the Iris. It’s time consuming, but it will really make the Iris stand up and be the star of the show. 

The straight lines radiating from the center is common for this type of preprinted embroidered block.  However, it is not the preprinted quilting design on this block.  I can barely see the preprinted design but it's there and I hope it washes out.

The only quilting in the sashing will be a wavy line in the green gingham fabric, this will help frame each block and soften the harshness of the radiating straight lines around the Iris. 

The final lavender border will be kept simple with one-inch spaced piano keys.  

And that's it, no more changing my mind!

This last picture is a little eye candy of the all the fabrics and how they play together.  The border fabric is the one I planned to use in the sashing of the original plan that you can find here.

See y'all bright and early Monday morning with an update on the quilting.  Maybe I'll get it finished this weekend...HAHA!   Don't hold your breath!

Happy Stitching!

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The Purple Iris Quilt

After months of waiting in line the gifted Irish quilt top has made it into the rotation.  I'm loving how it's looking so far.  Today I'm going to share with you what it took to get this quit to this point.

 It all started with this very loved and wonky quilt top, not made by me. But someone put many hours into her so she deserves to become a beautiful finished quilt.  I feel it's important to make her shine.  My thoughts are, should I leave unfinished projects behind someday, I would hope someone would take the time to make them shine and give them life to the best of their abilities.

She has her issues but nothing that can't be fixed or overlooked.  The embroidery work isn't the best but it finished and it was still a lot of work.  So the first thing to do to start this makeover is to take the blocks apart in order to fix the wonkiness of the quilt top.

After separating the blocks and giving them a good look I thought maybe the maker tried to "fix" the wonky block issues by adjusting the seam allowance widths.  Notice I used a plural... WIDTHS.  The seam allowance was all over the place.  Too large in some spots, too narrow in other areas.  Maybe the maker had poor eyesight.  We'll never know but I'm sure whatever was going on they did their best.  I might sound like I'm being critical but I'm just trying to build a story that makes sense in my mind.  I too have made some pretty wonky quilts.  So, I'm not judging the quilt just trying to understand. 

At the same time I must give credit where credit is due, the maker backstitched at all stops and starts.  Good for her, bad for me when ripping out seams but it was the right thing to do especially if the plan was no borders.  Anyway, since the quilt blocks were so wonky and had a couple dirty spots why not give them a nice gentle hand washing.  Of course I let them air dry...for about a week. HAHA!

 

I thought the washing might allow the fabrics to naturally go back into a more square shape.  WRONG!   In my opinion, they shouldn't look like this from a gentle hand washing and soaking in warm water for about two hours.  Sigh. 

The only thing I could do is iron the heck out of them.  Hopefully in the end the quilting will help keep the super shrinkage under control or at least not so noticeable.  

The first block was squared up to 16.5" and became the template for the remaining blocks.

The squared block was laid on top of the next block to be squared.

Then pins were place through the embroidery at matching points.  Look closely and you'll see the pin head through the fabric. The pin goes through the embroidery at the same place on both blocks and stuck into the cardboard underneath.

Once the blocks were matched up the pins were secured in place, and I used a light touch to smooth out the fabric of the block on top making sure not distort the fabric or the embroidery. 

These blocks are 16.5", I don't have a square up ruler that large.  That's why I chose to square up the blocks in this manner.  One side at a time using the 6.5" x 24" ruler. 

Once trimmed to size it was time to put them on the design wall and sing a little Sesame Street song....One of these is not like the others, one of these doesn't belong....  Do you see it?

Let's take a closer look.  The one on the left is the oddball.  There's several differences.  Maybe it was a test block, maybe the maker ran out of thread.  We'll never know.  I like the the whimsy it gives to the quilt, just a tad bit of character and something to make you go...hmmm?

 

Once on the wall I could start playing with the fabrics curated over the last two months.  Many hours were spent looking for what I thought was the perfect fabrics. 

  The two fabrics in the middle came from my stash.  The other two are purchases just for this quilt.  The one on the bottom from a quilt shop in Alabama called Coffee Cup Quilting. She used to have a shop here in Indiana. They don't have website but you can find her on on Facebook.  If you can' t find what you need, give Claranna a call, she might have it.   Anyway...When I couldn't find what I needed locally or online I called her and asked if she had anything with purple flowers and white background.  She sent a photo of the fabric to my phone and I too thought it would be my best option for the sashing in my original quilt plan.

A few weeks later a Judy and I went fabric shopping at a couple new to me shops, that are a little farther than I care to drive for fabric. She on the other hand loves the drive and the adventure.  The adorable Georgia fabric by Brenda Riddle was found at Klaiber's Sewing Center, it's on the top of the picture below.  The quilty wheels started turning and I decided to change the layout from solid sashing pieces to striped with nine patch cornerstones and use the fabric from Alabama as the backing.

When it came time to audition my fabrics I was so excited to finally be at the reconstruction phase.

I cut a few lavender pieces to make sure it was the perfect fabric and.... I didn't like it, it just seems sort of BLAH. 

And so the purple fabric dig began again.  Let's see how this purple dot looks.  Nope not this one, the print is too bold and the color is muddy.

A couple more... one is too pastel the other looks too dirty compared to the purple in the Iris. 

I liked the movement and color of this plaid but sadly I didn't have enough.  That was all the purple in my fabric stash that doesn't have other weird colors on it like orange and red.

All that was left for me to do was explore the other colors in the quilt. Yellow and green. Both of which are plentiful in my stash.

I love yellow, so happy yellow was the first stash dig.  And again....a big fat NOPE not for this quilt.  She is screaming at me... "I'm the star of this show, look over here, look at me now!"   But, it's still better than the purples so it could work if it's all I can find in the stash.  

At this point it dawned on me that the problem with the purple fabrics might be all in my head because I don't really care for purple.  In all honesty, most of those purple fabrics would work well with this quilt.   But before throwing in the towel and settling something that doesn't make me happy I have to see all my options.

A few small scraps of green were pulled and placed on the wall.  I like it much better than the yellow and definitely more than the purples.  But the green could be a little lighter even though the green in the blocks are much darker.

So the next problem was could I find the right shade of green yardage in the stash.  And you already know the answer...YES!  A soft green mini gingham,  Perfect!  It plays well with the tiny purple rose buds in the background print and allows the Iris to be the star.  It has all the right things to say.  It's a softer voice... "I'm here to protect my pretty Iris and make her shine". 

Don't tell anyone I said this....I'm loving this purple/green quilt.  It's going to be hard to let her go but I will.   I know just the right person for this quilt, it will be loved more than I could ever love her.

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The Purple Iris Quilt Top

One of the best perks of social media is stumbling across people you’d never meet otherwise. A few months back, a quilting newbie named Melissa found me online, and wouldn’t you know it...she lives just down the road, a whopping 4 or 5 miles away. In Podunk, that’s basically neighbors. It took us months to finally meet in person, but when we did, she showed up with an armload of things she no longer wanted. Among them was a hand-embroidered quilt top.

Everyone knows my well documented aversion to purple, but this quilt top has earned the right to be finished. Melissa told me she got it from her mother, who got it from a friend who had passed away. Sadly, Melissa’s mother has also passed, so the maker of this purple masterpiece remains a mystery. All I know is she lived in Indianapolis, I guess I could add that to the quilt label.

 

I plan to gift this quilt to my daughter. She and my granddaughters love the color purple, and my daughter also has a fondness for vintage and homemade items.

The quilt top is as crooked as a dog’s leg and needs a bit of fixing. The plan is to take it apart, square up the blocks, and add sashing. My fabric stash is short on purple fabrics, but I managed to find a couple that might work.

After finding the fabric I decided to draw up a quilt plan in EQ8.  I even uploaded a picture of the quilt block into the program.  That's an EQ feature I use about as often as my treadmill. HAHA!

As always, I like to play the what if game when designing a quilt and I played around with the colors. Hmmm....A deeper purple might just be the touch this quilt needs. Looks like a fabric shopping adventure is in my future...always dangerous for my wallet but delightful even if it's for purple fabric.  Any ideas you may have are welcomed. I’ll start working on this early next year and hope to have it finished in Spring or maybe early Summer.

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