Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Cross Stitched - Blue Star Quilt Progress

I have been away - I traveled across the country last week to attend a training workshop for work. While spending time in the airports waiting on flights, I worked on my cross stitched quilt. This piece has seen many miles as it seems that I only work on it when I travel. When I am at home I either piece on my Bernina or machine quilt on my long arm. I don't do much hand work anymore. I have to finish the yellow and orange flowers and then I can proceed to the quilting stage.

As I stated in a previous post, this piece is at least 11 years old. While I was at the Langley Quilt show a couple of weeks back, I spotted a twin to my quilt! I wondered if the quilter had this project sitting for years in her UFO pile and she just recently finished it or if it had been finished for some time and she just chose to showcase it to the public now. Somehow there is comfort in thinking that there is someone out there with UFOs as old as mine! Seeing her quilt finished and hanging in a show has inspired me to work towards completing mine. I think I will do a little more hand work in the evenings just so that I can finish it.
The quilter added solid colored borders to her piece and quilted it following the blue suggested quilting lines that are printed on the top.

My top is all wrinkled (see picture above) from being carried everywhere in my travels. I think it will need to be pressed before being quilted. However, if I touch the top with heat I am sure that I will "heat set" the blue quilting lines permanently into the top. Does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can flatten the top for quilting while preserving the quilting lines and still have them so that they can be removed with washing later? I am also thinking of adding a border to my top. I am not sure what the design will be yet, but I like the idea of a pieced border--perhaps triangles.

8 comments:

  1. Very sweet little embroidered quilt. What if you just put it under pressure, like from some books ?

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  2. Norma, I may have to go pull out a cross stitched top that was passed onto me by one of group that moved out of state--someone had passed it to her first and it is not her colors. It's blue but wouldn't that be something if I had your triplet???

    Not sure what to suggest about the blue marks--do they even wash out if you DON'T touch them with iron. I've seen some that it has not budged from.

    And belated Happy Anniversary--what a lovely couple you two are, then and now.

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  3. It is beautiful and it looks like you are nearly finished! I can't imagine how many hours of cross-stitching you must have in that!!!

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  4. Hope you find a solution for your wrinkles - just a thought, try flipping it over a padded hanger and clipping clothespins or some other light weight to the bottom to pull them out a bit? Maybe hang it in the bathroom while you take a shower - not to get it wet, just a little damp first?

    - but I do like the combination of blue and yellow!

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  5. You could try spreading it out on the bed with a pile of blankets on top and see if that doesn't smooth it out some. Good luck - it is sweet and definately worth finishing.

    Cheers!

    Evelyn

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  6. Oh, Norma, it's lovely!
    And happy belated anniversary! 25 years is very special.
    Jeanne, the way-behind-webring-reader :)

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  7. well, it sure is a top worth finishing! don't have any suggestions on the blue markings/wrinkle get out...sorry

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  8. what a beautiful quilt! And yes, it's worth finishing after all these years. The wrinkles? I like the idea of hanging over a shower rod and kind of gently steaming the wrinkles out. It wouldn't be direct steaming. It might be worth a try!

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