The longarm sat empty for a while after I finished #2, but I finally loaded one of my finished kits (well, the top was finished at least). Merry and Bright was a line made by Terri Degenkolb, a local designer who is the owner of Whimsicals Quilts. Terri is a friend from my guild and a few years ago, I hooked her up with my mom, who has worked with her for a few years helping her with the administrative side of the business.
This line came out before mom started working for Terri, so I actually bought this kit (since then I have received several cuts/FQs for free, which is a great bonus!). It sat and sat until I declared the year of the kits. I put the top together on my Singer Featherweight earlier this year.
I decided this one needed a custom quilting job. I started with curlicues in the outer border, inspired by the fabric, and then added them to the inner border too. It was pretty tight in a few places, so I was glad for my microhandles, which help handle tight spots by giving more control.
Once I finished that part, I did cross-hatching in the center, using a template, chalk (which didn't show up very well at all!), and a ruler. For my first time cross-hatching, I was okay with the result. I finished up by changing the thread color to red and doing tiny back and forth squiggles in the red border.
I had a good time quilting this one (probably because I didn't have any thread breaks!) and it was quick - on and off the machine in the same day. I got the binding made and attached the next day and it is in my bee bag, so I have been taking it with me and making progress on the binding at bee meetings. I realized half-way through putting the binding on that I forgot to put a hanging sleeve on it, so I will need to add that later.
I think this one will hang in my family room during the holidays - it will complement our furniture in that room well.
This line came out before mom started working for Terri, so I actually bought this kit (since then I have received several cuts/FQs for free, which is a great bonus!). It sat and sat until I declared the year of the kits. I put the top together on my Singer Featherweight earlier this year.
I decided this one needed a custom quilting job. I started with curlicues in the outer border, inspired by the fabric, and then added them to the inner border too. It was pretty tight in a few places, so I was glad for my microhandles, which help handle tight spots by giving more control.
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| Microhandles in action |
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| Close-up of cross hatching and borders |
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| Detail and texture on the back |
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| Ready for trimming and binding |
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