Telling the Craft Story: Quilts

Telling the Craft Story: Quilts

INSPIRATION:  Creating a label is a good way to identify your quilt, with the pattern designer, quilt maker and the quilter, the recipient and date, but not the actual story of the quilt.  After a quilt is completed its a good idea to tell the story, admire your work, wind down and reflect on what new techniques were learned, challenges and how they were resolved, what could have been done differently and most important, the feel and state of mind, before, during and after completion of your quilt.

I was inspired to tell the story of my quilt after watching Craft In America; QUILTS which premiered on PBS Dec 27, 2019.  Quilts do tell a story, history, feelings, state of mind, and history; after watching the Craft in America: Quilts, I was moved to began documenting the of my quilts.  As I began to tell the story, I realized there were varying components which i have listed below including photos.

QUILT NAME:  Shining Star (two versions of the Shining Star (1) and (2))

DATE STARTED: 11/30/2019       DATE COMPLETED:  1/2/2020

SIZE:  (1) 13 1/2" &  (2) 16 1/2"

QUILT TYPE/RECEIPIENT:  Home Decor/Wall Hanging

ORGANIZATION TOOLS:  The Quilter's Planner -Projects at a Glance & Project Planner

MACHINE:  Baby Lock Ellure Plus

NEEDLES:  Organ Needes XAX1 10pcs 130/705H/90/14, The Bolt Quilt Shop

QUILT COLORS:  Green, Red, Gold, Ivory

FABRIC:  Moda Watercolors Fat Quarters; RJR Holiday Collection 2 1/2" strips; and Joann Fabric & Craft -Elizabeth Brownd Designs "Woodland Splendor" yardage.

THREADS:  Craftsy Prima-Parchment 1006 100% cotton; 50wt/1200yd; 
Poly-X40 100% Polyester/1000M/ES1552 (for bobbin, outlining, stitch in the ditch); Robison-Anton/JMetallic/100yds/Gold/color 1003/Lot 792676

BATTING: 987F Fusible Fleece, White, Fabric type: 100% Cotton By Pellon (one-side); Pellon Natural Blend 80/20 Batting With Stabilizing Scrim Binder, 96" Wide, 9 Yard Bolt

NOTIONS:  Omnigrid 2102 Glow Line Tape, Pink/Orange/Yellow; Omingrid 12", 6 1/2"; Mat 58"x34"; June Tailor Mat 36"x24"; Super Fine Quilt needles, Dritz 172 Glass Head Pins, Ultra Fine, 1-3/8-Inch (150-Count); Singer fabric sissors & Pinking Shears.

TECHNIQUES USED IN QUILT:

• CUTTING DIAMONDS :  the diamonds started out easy, however, it was very easy to cut at different size resulting in wrong sizes.  Placing glow tape on the quilt ruler helped keep the sizes consistent.
• SETTING & CORNER TRIANGLES: The set-in or setting triangles and corner triangles were a challenge though referring to Kimberly Einmo, 2015 Summer Block of the Month tutorial on BluPrint (formerly Craftsy) made the process easier without using "Y" seams (of course I'll have to try the "Y" seams at some point in my quilting journey).
• BORDERS:  
• (1) has a 2" unfinished dwith a 1 1/2" finished border with corner stone; 
• (2) has a 3 1/2" unfinished with a 3" finished border, left/right sides then top/bottom
• BINDING: (2) 2" sewn to top of quilt and hand-stitched to back of quilt.
• FACING: (1)  uses 2 1/2" corner pockets; 2 1/2" folded over facing on front and folder over to back of quilt then hand-stitched.  Used glue around edges to keep corner pockets from moving; the glue did not cause any problems with the needle nor with the quilting
• QUILTING:
• (1) Used 100% cotton thread to baste and outline ; then used gold metallic* thread to enhance the design to make the star appear to have rays and move the design to the border.
• (2) used 100% cotton thread to baste and outline the quilt design and quilt in the ditch

That's it for this story of the Shining Star quilts, hope you enjoyed the story.  

Vera Fernandes


The Culinary Quilter


January 2, 2020