#handquilting

[quilt-giving]

I finished the Star Trek Doorway quilt. It turned out lovely. I know it looks simple but this was a complicated build. I honestly don’t know how I managed to get the height and width to line up with the outer blocks. #startrek #quilt #handquilting

[spindlequilts]

This isn't the quilt project I made this blog for but it feels like a good practice project to play with.

This is Sari's Quilt Kit from American Girl's Kirsten collection. These kits make a small quilt meant for a 4" ragdoll, and were marketed to children ages 8-12. It was originally introduced in 1987 and it has been retired since 2009; finding one that has not been completed and has all the parts intact is difficult. I found this one (tagged 1993) on eBay and it arrived this week. It was only missing the needle, but I have plenty of hand-sewing needles.

Right away you can tell the person who developed this kit was not a quilter. The instructions leave quite a bit to be desired.

The hearts are simply cut, no extra fabric to fold over the edges and press to keep them from fraying.

I wanted to Follow The Directions, so I did go against my better judgment and tried to stitch the first heart on without doing any of the prep work that experience has taught me is needed, and it frayed and pulled off the quilt after four stitches. So the next step was to put fray check on all three hearts, and then clip 1/8" into the curves and fold the edges in. So far this is much more work than an average inexperienced nine year old would have been able to do without a more experienced adult to help.

I split the pink embroidery floss into individual strands, threaded two strands onto my smallest needle, and stitched the hearts on with a blanket stitch, which luckily I know how to do because the one little picture in the instructions wouldn't have helped me if I didn't have any embroidery experience. The hoop got in my way so I took it off.

I opted to put the doll's initials instead of mine, and the year 1855 because the story this quilt was made in is set in that year.

When I finished the appliqués and initials, I fixed the obvious closure seam because it was bothering me.

Then I went a step farther than the directions and *actually quilted* it, using single strands of the remaining pink thread to stitch around the edges of all the appliqués and squares, as well as adding hearts to the border. I did run out of the supplies thread but I had a matching pink in my stash.

Every square is quilted, but the print on a few of them is busy or light-colored and the stitching is hard to see! If I had it to do over again I probably would have chosen a darker pink.

It doesn't have any batting - I considered adding a little square of felt "batting" but that felt like a lot more work on a tiny quilt for a doll. So it can be a summer coverlet.

[allegorechoquilts]

For Steve and Rachel’s wedding, 2025

[spindledreams]

I finished Sari's quilt!

Detailed post on the construction is over on my quilt blog:

Post by @spindlequilts · 10 images

💬 0  🔁 0  ❤️ 0 · This isn't the quilt project I made this blog for but it feels like a good practice project to play with. This is Sari's Q

I did go a little ways past the instructions, but I'm a grownup with crafting experience so I decided a little extra embellishment wouldn't hurt. I do have some gripes with the person who designed the kit, though. I would never have been able to get this to look like the sample as a nine year old with the supplies and directions as they were given unless I had an adult with relevant experience to help.

[creations-by-chaosfay]

@anastasiaoftheironwood handquilting Star Story has begun!

I need to find an alternative to white chalk that doesn't stain fabric. Seeing white chalk on nearly-white fabric is a challenge. I've tried Clover and Fons & Porter, but they stain fabric.

Threads I'm using are Sulky, 12 wt, and the colors are 4057 (yellow/gold), 4034 (black/grey), and 4001 (light brown/cream) They're variegated blendables, but stand out just enough to add visual interest.

As for the quilting, details below:

I'll be using a wood star cutout as a template. I found it at a craft shop, and it's supposed to be a wall decoration. After I get the stars quilted, I'll go over it again with crescents. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a crescent nor have one made (lack of funds), so I'm making one with embroidery rings and cardboard.

Why this instead of straight lines and following seams? Time and fun. I use a small quilting hoop to make circles on Halloween Dream, and the handquilting was fast. When I handquilted around thr blocks and border seams, it slowed considerably. Plus, the circles were fun. I'm sticking with templates for this, including the borders, because it is so much fun and faster. My client will get their quilt before the end of the summer. Ideally, within six weeks.

To help speed things along, I'm using a longer stitch as well. About a quarter inch. Tiny stitches are my preference for making parts of a quilt pop, like outlining butterflies other parts of a print. The effect is dramatic and very pleasing...bit it takes sooooo much time. I intend to avoid that here.

I'll be working on Star Story in the afternoon, when my sewing room gets too hot. Mornings will be for seeing, which means more project overlap. Monday-Thursday, from 6AM to 10AM, I'm sewing, take a lengthy lunchbreak, noon-4PM handquilting. I'm up at around 5AM, though that may soon be at 4AM because I love mornings, and go to bed at around 9PM now that we have an a/c unit in the bedroom.

When the handquilting is finished, I'll make a new post featuring it. This will be thr most beautiful quilt I have made yet.

[mumlan]

Это одеяло я шила ужасно долго, по мере поступления джинсов. Больше в таком не участвую.

[ditsyknits]

I finished it! I took the green quilt out on a little adventure today before it goes off to it’s new home tomorrow!

I’m sooo happy with the way this came out. I’m really glad I took the time to start over with the quilting. I think the end product shines 🧡💚

[ofmiceandwomen]

The portrait of the prince, taken and edited by @thistlesandstories (as well as the other pictures of me)

I had a great time at the local convention. I’m happy to announce that me and @thistlesandstories won the cosplay contest as the absolute winner, we earned awesome rewards and most importantly we really had fun and I am very grateful to @the-symphony-of-lydia-brown for helping us coming up with the presentation ideas an turned it into an entertaining spectacle.

This is our team. We are proud of ourselves

Both of the costumes are original designs made by us. We used multiple artworks and historical clothing references. I wrote more on it here

Some more pictures:

Bonus: comparison to the portrait by spectacular artist @jennydolfen