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Quilting by Celia

Quilting by Celia

Sunday, November 3, 2013

My longest UFO !!! 15 years

It may seem a long time to have a quilt in progress but I like this quilt today as much as I did when I started it years ago. And now it's finally quilted, bound and labelled !

I got the pattern for this quilt in 1998 at "Primarily Patchwork" quilt shop as well as a stack of fabrics to get the project started.
I was fairly new to quilting back then but already loved needleturn applique, so I maintained my enthusiasm for the blocks for quite some time.
I struggled a bit with the piecing, trying to fit all the triangles and blocks together, eventually I got it done but decided not to follow the border design which have included several hundred more triangles.

Then I decided to quilt it by hand so I purchased a large quilt frame and began.  After a while of very little progress I got a quote to have it professionally quilted but the price was way too high, so I got it basted instead.
I then proceeded to hand quilt around each motif and this went on and on until I gave up altogether when I realised that it needed a lot more quilting in the open spaces.
This was not going to happen so the quilt stayed in the bag for a few more years.
Then last week in the middle of the night (after being called up for work and could not fall asleep immediately) I contemplated the idea of loading it on the Handi Quilter and finish it no matter what !
And that is exactly what I did....not the usual way of loading a quilt but I got it done and that is all it matters.

I did not mark it, nor did I pre-planned before I started each block, I just let my imagination take over and just went for it !
I did not worry that the designs were not perfect or conventional but I had great fun coming up with each design.
Each block is different and I used a neutral thread so unless you look really close it's not obvious the imperfections. 
The quilt measures around 96 inches (2.45 metres) and I am just so happy that is done !

The photos were taken indoors, so the actual colours don't show it's full beauty and being so large, it was quite difficult to photograph in it's entirety.
 


















9 comments:

  1. Wow, your applique is really gorgeous and this quilt really deserved to be finished. Bravo!

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  2. Better late than ever! Well, that's what I say to myself considering the amount of UFO's I have.
    Thank you so much for the bag pattern. It's lovely.
    Hope everyone is going great.
    Beijinhos,
    Teresa

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  3. Well done you!! Now you have inspired me to get back to mine and finish it. Great job! And yes, the fabrics are beautiful in real life! We can still see all the beautiful applique and your quilting though.
    See you soon,
    Lynne

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  4. Congratulations Celia!! It looks gorgeous and so well worth your efforts! Great idea to put it on the handiquilter. (Mine is still in the "collecting for" stage!)

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  5. Congratulations!!! What an amazing feeling of accomplishment that must give you!!

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  6. Wow, such a detailed and intricate design!

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  7. WOW...I bet you're glad to have that finished! It's gorgeous!

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  8. Celia,

    ficou simplesmente maravilhosa! É uma colcha para sempre, não importa o tempo.

    Bjs

    Glória Luz

    ReplyDelete

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