'In Love With Africa', Complete

 My customer's 'In Love With Africa' quilt is all done, and its way back home.

This quilt measures 74" x 86", and has various types of appliqué and piecing on both sides.  The pantograph is 'African Samba'.  I used my glide foot, so as to smoothly quilt over all the appliqués.  There's a light gray-blue thread, more gray than blue, in So Fine 50-wt. on top, and silver Bottom Line 60-wt. thread on the back.  

Following is what my customer, Linda, wrote about this quilt:

My husband and I lived in Argentina for 14 years for his job in mining.

A gal came from South Africa with 250 kilos of fabric.  She was a quilter also.  When she left, I bought something like 50 pounds of fabric from her.  So, for the most part, this quilt is made up of mostly African fabric.

The name of this pattern is called 'Village', by Kim McLean. I saw this quilt at our local quilt show last year. It had all these houses in the middle, but when I saw it those houses didn't look like they belonged. Not with these wild animals. I came home and started drawing animals that weren't in the pattern. 

I ordered the original and completely changed it.

They had to have a source of water, so that's where the river came in. Then I knew the river had to have crocodiles, frogs, and fish. 

I looked on the Internet to see what the fish look like in Africa, and then, as close as I could, drew some.

I looked for African huts, people doing different things, chickens running around, etc. It was so much fun to do. 

Like I said before, for the most part the fabric is from South Africa.

I was especially happy to have the piece of fabric with Nelson Mandela (on the back).

Almost Done with 'In Love With Africa'

 I'm almost done quilting my customer's 'In Love With Africa' quilt.  Just one more half-row to go.  See the Red Snappers at the bottom edge of the quilt?  

I'm waiting for my customer to tell me what to do, because the quilt top is shorter than the quilt back, and, while this is normally the way it should be, with this two-sided quilt, it's another matter.  The quilt top ends right in the middle of some appliquéd vessels and pots on the bottom border of the back.  It wouldn't have worked to put more backing at the top of the quilt, because the appliquéd words, 'In Love With Africa', are right there at the top of the backing.

This first appliqué work of the children jumping rope is perhaps my very favorite of them all.

In some of the photos, you get a sneak peak at the back of the quilt, as it's rolled on the take-up bar.

Two-Thirds Done Quilting 'In Love With Africa' Quilt

I'm about two-thirds done quilting my customer Linda's 'In Love With Africa' quilt. The pantograph is called 'African Samba'. There's a light gray-blue thread, more gray than blue, in So Fine 50-wt. on top, and silver Bottom Line 60-wt. thread in the bobbin.  I'm using my glide foot, so as not to catch in the appliqués.  I've added a few 'before and after' shots to show how even a fairly serious too-much-fullness problem can be handled with starch, an iron, and can of soup rolling along behind the hopping foot.

A can of soup?!

Well, a can of peaches or green beans would do, too.  😄  Use two, if one isn't enough.  

You see, the heavy cans press down on the quilt where there's too much fullness, so that when the hopping foot is moving along, it doesn't push tucks and pleats into the fabric. I do this with my hand when I am custom quilting at the front of the frame; but when I'm using a pantograph and standing at the back, the cans serve this purpose.

Linda told me a little more about this quilt today:

The name of this pattern is called 'Village', by Kim McLean. I saw this quilt at our local quilt show last year. It had all these houses in the middle, but when I saw it those houses didn't look like they belonged. Not with these wild animals. I came home and started drawing animals that weren't in the pattern. 

I ordered the original and completely changed it.

They had to have a source of water, so that's where the river came in. Then I knew the river had to have crocodiles, frogs, and fish. 

I looked on the Internet to see what the fish look like in Africa, and then, as close as I could, drew some.

I looked for African huts, people doing different things, chickens running around, etc. It was so much fun to do. 

Like I said before, for the most part the fabric is from South Africa.

I was especially happy to have the piece of fabric with Nelson Mandela (on the back).