Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Mountmellick is a finished top

Whew, back from our trip to Oklahoma to move our son and The Texas to visit family. All went well and I have spent the last several days trying to get back into the routine of things and trying to get motivated in the sewing room. Though I was feeling the urge to start on something new, I resisted and put on the borders for Mountmellick, the mystery quilt by Di Ford that was in last year's Quiltmania magazine. I am so glad I did as I love how it turned out.

Part of what took so long is that I couldn't use as much of the strip as I wanted as there were not enought full repeats of the pattern to cut it the way I needed. So after much deliberation and advice from quilting buddies, I ended up just using the darker portion of the stripe. Turns out that was the perfect solution, but in future I guess I better check the stripe repeat before getting my heart set on how I want to use it.

Next up, the hand quilting. I am trying a wool batting for the first time and my LQS only had Quilter's Dream Wool in the size I needed. Seems a bit puffy so far but hopefully once I add the fill around the appliqe I will like it better. Still deciding between echo quilting or grid work as the fill. I like the look of grids but hate the marking and stitching. I love doing echo quilting though so it may win out once again!

 
I did get this month's Quiltmaker bitty blocks done. These finish at 4" and were a fun way to get back to my machine and use up more of my scraps. This will end up as a cute row quilt at the end of the year and hopefully I will see a dent in that scrap basket by then!

Finally, you may remember a quilt, Science Fair, that I finished quilting a few months ago. It was draped across the bed in the room that our son was expected to live in at the end of the summer. However he was only here for a few nights before moving to his permanent job and I had forgotten to remove it from the bed when he arrived. He saw it in the room and said how much he liked it. The next day he sheepishly hinted that he would like to have it to hang in the office/sewing room in his new apartment and I was thrilled to gift it to him. After all, isn't that the best purpose for our quilts, to surround people with our love. I was delighted to get this picture of the quilt hanging in his room, haha, a constant reminder of mom!

 

19 comments:

Flickenstichlerin said...

Dear Heather,
just awesome, gorgeous and wonderful all together.
This one is on my wish list, have the fabrics in a box already.
You really inspired me once again.
Greetings,
Sylvia

audrey said...

Very intense border but it works so very well! Great job with this wonderful quilt. Your version is just beautiful. Love that your son wanted to have your quilt to hang in his office!

Bev said...

Yet another fabulous quilt!

Emily Breclaw said...

Absolutely spectacular quilt!! Can't wait to see the hand quilting!!

mary-myneedlethead.blogspot.com said...

Absolutely beautiful work!!

Raewyn said...

Montmellick is beautiful!! Your bitty stars are cute too, and how wonderful that your son has claimed your quilt :-)

Every Stitch said...

Congratulations - the border suits it beautifully! So glad to see you hand quilting this as it will add so much. Either echo or grid quilting will be lovely :)

Aunt 'Reen said...

Absolutely GORGEOUS!

Kyle said...

Your border is lovely and sets off the rest of the quilt, So glad your son has the quilt to enjoy and be connected to home through it. Looks like you're back in the groove since getting back.

susis quilts said...

simply wonderful!!!susi

Deb @ Frugal Little Bungalow said...

Mountmellick is just gorgeous and what an accomplishment. Science Fair looks wonderful on the wall there! :0)

Karen in Breezy Point said...

Congratulations on your beautiful finish! It's great that your son admired the Science Fair quilt and wanted to have it hung--that's why we make them!

Karen said...

I know you are happy to have the quilt top done. It is a beauty and I have enjoyed watching your progress via the blog.

Karen said...

This is absolutely gorgeous!! Enjoy the wool, it will squish down and be perfect the longer go quilt. I love wool.

Tina said...

Beautiful!!! You've done an amazing job!!

Barb said...

Congratulations - your quilt is stunning! The colors are so rich and luscious.
YOur stars are so pretty! I'm making 4" stars too. I love them in the small size.
great post

Karen H said...

Congrats on a fabulous finish. Your MM quilt is stunning.

ethereal said...

Your Mountmellick quilt is stunning! Wish I had subscribed to Quiltmania last year, instead of this year.

Chopin - A Passionate Quilter said...

You did a beautiful job Kerry - as usual. Hard work. I will be a year behind making mine, the fabric is waiting for 2016 when we return to Texas.