It’s three weeks since I last showed you my Down the Rabbit Hole quilt, in that time I’ve actually met the designer, Sarah Fielkes at a talk in Slaithwaite, thousands of miles from her home in Sydney. It was pretty exciting and inspiring.
Of course I took my quilt a long to show her and also asked her to sign a square of fabric. As soon as I got home I embroidered over it to make a ‘designer label’ for my quilt.
Despite all the excitement I haven’t managed to spend many hours quilting it. Three weeks ago I was just about to start quilting the houses…
I’ve prevaricated a bit about this border and how to quilt it, mainly because it’s foundation paper pieced, so there’s a lot of layers in places making it quite hard to quilt. I tried initially to quilt in the ditch round the roofs, but it just wasn’t happening so I decided to quilt 1/4″ out from the roofs, I even found a roll of 1/4″ masking tape to try and keep my seams even-ish and I think it did help.
Across the main block of houses I’ve stitched a sort of zig-zag line, going across the house but then going up or down around the windows, so I’m not going all the way round the windows, just two or three sides. Once I’ve got all the way round I might look and see if I need to do another row and perhaps stitch a little more in big roofs. I’m trying to quilt mainly in the same direction as I find it a very big quilt to manoevre around.
I didn’t quilt for long but I almost completed a row of houses. I’m stitching in the ditch on the purple border above as I go round.
I think I need a plan with this quilt. Every time I do a bit of quilting it grows a lot quicker than I anticipate, so I know if I made a concerted effort it would get finished in a reasonable length of time but…
I’m concentrating on my Tall Year Square etui at the moment, trying to get that finished, hopefully by Christmas. Once that is done my next SAL will be a (very pretty) cross-stitch, so I can do it in my ‘borrowed time’ , when I’m making tea, visiting my mum etc. I can then concentrate on my quilt better and hopefully get that finished.
It’s a plan!
Hand Quilt Along Links
This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.
Kathy, Lori, Margaret, Kerry, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Connie, Susan, Nanette, Sassy , Edith, Sharon, Karrin, and Gretchen
thecraftycreek 
Sounds like a plan to me, too. BTW, have you tried using painter’s tape (the blue stuff)? Weavers use it because it’s tacky and reusable to an extent, and (most importantly) leaves no residue. Possibly more quilt friendly than the usual buff masking tape?
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Thanks Serinde, this is sold as quilters tape so I’m presuming it’s OK on the fabric, I seem to be able to use each little length half a dozen times.
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Sounds perfect, then!
I really enjoy your blogging, and thanks for the heads up on the Faby Reilly SAL, too.
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Sarah Fielke is so creative, not only a great designer but also a great hand quilting teacher! I’ve had her video tutorial saved on my Tips & Techniques Pinterest board for literally years. Your photos aren’t clickable so I can’t see if you’re using the thicker perle cotton thread or regular waxed hand quilting cotton. Perle would be hard to tug through lots of thicknesses, so if that’s what you’re using, I think you’re wise to keep it fairly minimal where there are lots of seams.
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Hi Kate, I’m using Gutermann quilting thread so it’s not too thick 🙂 My photos probably aren’t clickable as I’ve run out of storage on wordpress, so most are copy and pasted with one or two loaded on properly for the feature photo
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Your quilt is so gorgeous I am not sure I would even worry about the pattern or course you take in quilting it. I might of even left the windows un quilted and just done around the roof tops. Looking awesome! ~
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A good plan that will make the time you need to finish this quilt. Meeting the artist behind this quilt would certainly be a nudge to get it finished. I don’t see how you ever find time for a big project like this. You are so busy. I often think busy people accomplish more than people that don’t have so many things going.
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Wow, that is a beauty!!
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How exciting to meet Sarah! And what a clever idea to make an embroidered signature label!
So fun to watch your progress on this quilt!
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This is just gorgeous! I like how the stitching around the houses makes them look a little raised.
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I’m with you, I need a plan or a priority listing or a goal to keep me going forward on these big projects…I have a roll of that tape, and I need to remember to use it on the Kim Diehl mini that is the next project for my sewing machine!
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Oops! I love what you have chosen to do so far, I think when you get to the sunflowers and rabbits it will be easier to choose how to quilt!
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Oh my goodness – how wonderful to meet the designer and show her your interpretation of her pattern in that wonderful palette you used!
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Oh my goodness, your quilt is truly a vision splendid. The colours in this quilt are dancing a beautiful dance. I could look at this quilt for a very long time. How exciting you were able to meet Sarah and chat about all things fabric, quilting…………!
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It’s perfect that you are able to add Sarah’s signature to your quilt. It must have been such a thrill to meet her, and for her to have seen her design made up into your beautiful quilt.
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How neat that you can add the designer’s signature to your quilt! For as busy as you are ,I think you have done a lot on your quilting. It’s looks great!!
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Lucky, lucky you!! I’m so jealous! What a treasure to embroider the signature and add it to your DTRH quilt❤️ I’m excited to watch as the quiltingborogresses😊
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A wonderful label! How great that will look on it. That’s worth any amount of time you might have spent quilting. =)
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Great quilt and great label!
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Lovely. And such a great idea to get the designer to sign and then embroider over. Genius!
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I love that quarter-inch tape! And how cool to turn the autograph into a label–great idea!
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