Monday, August 15, 2016

Backing, Batting and Stitch

This quilt has been a completed top for a number of months now.
The first obstacle to getting on with the process was my batting. You see, the quilt measures 106" x 92".....my roll of batting is only 63" wide.
So I rolled out 2 twelve foot long pieces and carefully joined them together


for the backing, I used a duvet cover I found in a clearance bin ..... it washed and dried beautifully....so at $10, this 100% cotton duvet was "re-engineered" and turned into a perfect backing piece  ( in order to achieve the necessary size, I needed to deconstruct and incorporate the pillow sham as well)


here are the 3 layers ready to be combined.....trouble is, I do not have a large enough space anywhere in my home to fully lay this thing out. Luckily, I did have the opportunity to use a room in a church basement


Batting  (this piece is roughly 12' x 13')


the backing ......would you have guessed it was a transformed duvet and pillow sham?
once the layers were all assembled, trimmed and basted, I next wanted to create clean edges for the large amount of handling that will happen as I work on this project


This was done by turning the backing edge over, folded to the front to create a sort of wide "temporary" binding

rolled once
rolled twice
pinned and ready to long baste



Yeah, this does take a little extra time, BUT, it encases the batting and gives me a nice clean working edge......since I am hand quilting this thing I don't want to be constantly dealing with stuff sticking to the exposed batting and vice versa


here it is all ready for the stitching.......to the left of this set up I have a TV, DVD and Media box.....I can binge watch some shows as I stitch along

Since my goal in making this quilt was to try to use supplies I already had, I am stitching with the 12 wt variegated Aurifil thread I won a few years ago. It is perfect for doing this "Big Stitch" quilting.




An earlier post about this particular project can be found here



10 comments:

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

That is a big quilt. Glad you got the basting behind you and can now do the relaxing stitching. The quilting you've done so far looks good.

Phyllis in Iowa said...

Great quilt, but my eyes immediately focused on your toy machine display. I have a few toys and 1860s small hand cranks, but most of my collection contains full sized machines.

The Inside Stori said...

Yikes…..I’m pleased to see hand stitching such a large quilt is underway…….it’s going to be a true heirloom.

quiltedfabricart said...

Hand quilting this big quilt? Wow! A lofty goal, get it, lofty as in batting - tee , hee :-) I love hand stitching and find it relaxing. You will no doubt be very relaxed by the time it's finished.

Robbie said...

This is a cool quilt! I had to do a double take on your pictures! Looked like you put the batting down first, then the backing?? But then I saw you really did sandwich as usual. Thought, knowing you!, that you came up with a new way to even sandwich a quilt top! HA HA

Diane J. Evans said...

Oh my goodness -- hand quilting??? Bless your soul. I'm guessing it's a gift for a treasured family member -- whoever eventually owns this quilt will truly have an heirloom. And I don't believe you when you say you're not fearless with color -- the colors in this are amazing. It's going to be a beauty.

Diane

Kim said...

I don't see any markings.... are you quilting and making it up as you go?
The quilting stitches look great are you using a hoop?

The stitches are lovely and even how many are you getting to the inch...they don't looks so big to me! This will be beautiful. Thanks for showing us......how are your knees doing?
Happy Sewing

Createology said...

Oh My Heavens! This is a truly beautiful quilt you are creating. I love all the interesting fabrics and placements you have done. Hand quilting this with those gorgeous variegated threads is divine. This quilt will be a treasured heirloom for many generations to come. Your studio is a sacred place and I adore your little sewing machine collection. Embracing Quilting Bliss...

Quilter Kathy said...

That's a huge quilt to hand quilt! You are brave!

Mrs. D said...

Hello. Love the "big stitch" quilt. Drooling over all the beautiful colors. I have been browsing your blog and enjoying it so much. I just added your blog link to mine, at www.1893victorianfarmhouse.blogspot.com










































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Copyright Jill Buckley