Saturday, March 30, 2024

Gone Fishin' Quilt is Done

 The Gone Fishin' quilt for grandson Ian, 8, is all done.  I still need to finish the pillows and the label.

The quilt measures 76" x76".  Daughter-in-law Amy found the cross-stitched blocks at a secondhand store.  There were six cross-stitched fishermen (fisherboys?) on each of two large sheets of fabric.  I cut them into blocks.  

The alternating block pattern is called 'Crossed Canoes'.  The printed fabric is from a layer cake (10" x 10" stack of 42 pieces of fabric) son-in-law and daughter Kurt and Victoria gave me.  I'd been saving it to make a throw for Kurt, but when I was searching through my somewhat meager stash of fabrics, I could find nothing that looked right with the cross-stitched blocks -- until suddenly I spotted that layer cake.  Ah-ha!  Just the thing.  I managed to use up every last bit of that layer cake, with only a few slivers of fabric left over, pieces too small to save for anything.  (Sorry, Kurt.)

I designed the quilt in EQ8.  The blocks measure 9", finished.  I used Quilters' Dream wool batting.  There is Omni 40-wt. bright white thread on top, and Bottom Line 60-wt. light silver thread in the bobbin.  The quilting was done on an 18" Handi Quilter Avanté on a 12' Studio frame.  My machine is hand-guided, not computer-driven, and the quilting is a combination of free-motion and rulerwork.

I've added a few photos that are highlights from previous days' quilting.  Photos 3 and 18 show the back.  4 through 8 show the binding, which I put on entirely by machine.  9 and 10 are the pillow tops -- and yes, I'm going to make two, rather than one with the Crossed Canoes on each side.  I asked daughter Lydia (Ian's mama), and she said, "I think two pillows would be nice.  Seems a shame to hide one of them. 😅"  So two it is.

I will give the quilt and pillows to Ian for Christmas.  That's a long time from now; but I plan to enter them in our county and state fairs, and possibly another quilt show.  And with this, 12 of the grandchildren's quilts are done!  17 more to go.




















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