Marsha's Whimsical Bloomers

When I do a full on custom quilt, I like to do a blog post about the quilting process . . . from start to finish. . . . Marsha made the quilt top using a Kim Diehl pattern - Late Bloomers.  She named her quilt "Whimsical Bloomers".  It's both machine pieced and hand appliqued - and very well done, I might add!

First, I audition a few designs using clear plastic laid over the areas to be quilted.  I sent a few photos to Marsha with design options ..... she chose these . . .



 We also auditioned a few thread choices . . . I used a variety of Superior So Fine.  I like So Fine for more dense quilting - it's a 50 wt polyester thread that looks like cotton.  It suited this quilt perfectly.

So here, I go . . . starting at the top and working my way down to the bottom of the quilt. I stitched as close as possible to the appliqued elements with Invisifil thread.  That makes them really stand out on the quilt.  Then some echoing and filler .

 

 

 . . 

 Cross hatching and other design elements . . . 

and the backing . . .

So, here it is finished . . .

or was it????  There were a couple of areas in the quilt that I wasn't sure of - one was the large center squares in the star blocks, the other was the "jelly bean" centre of the appliqued flowers . . . I thought they needed a bit more quilting - and so did Marsha.  So, back on Freeda she went!

Here are a couple of before and after pictures . . . I hope you can see the difference that little extra quitling made.




before



after



before



after

before - I don't have an after close up, but you can see it needed something.  I added a double cc.

I did a lot of SID in this project - I really like the way SID keeps those seams flat, and adds to the total look of the quilt.  It's a bit more work, but totally worth it - in my humble opinion  :)

So there you have it!  Marsha put this in the Cochrane Quilter's Guild show this fall . . .

 

 



More August quilting coming up soon from the Little House . . .