As you may have read, I finished the quilt top for Version 2.0 of my Mother's quilt to my Son as my May One Monthly Goal (OMG). For June, my OMG is to sandwich it. I trimmed all of the threads on the back of the quilt top, pieced the back, and it's now ready to be sandwiched!
Planning the Free Motion Quilting (FMQ)
My mother made the quilt in 2000, for my son's 9th birthday. All of the hand-quilting were motifs of things in my son's life, such as nature, school, books, sports, math, music, friends, mine heads (many of our ancestors were minors in Northern Ontario) as well as symbols of his heritage. The centre was the sun and the border was a chain.
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| Here is one of the mine heads |
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| Baseball ball, glove and bat |
Mom wrote an account of each of the designs in a duo-tang that she gave to Stéphane. By-the-way, she named the quilt "La courte-pointe Stéphane".
I'll be using the original quilt as well as her notes to come up with quilting designs. Some will be the same while others will be my own, while still trying to illustrate Stéphane's interests.
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| Mom's template of a book, with numbers and notes used elsewhere on the quilt |
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| The quilted book design |
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| My map of how my mother quilted it. |
I've prepared a couple of quilt sandwiches to try out some of the motifs after drawing them. I'll practice a bit on those and then create another sandwich with the quilt's fabrics and batting, to audition the threads that I'll use. The threads will match the quilt colours, but I'm not sure if I should go with a heavier or lighter thread. My instincts say heavier, but I'll see the effect when I practice. I had better figure it out soon because I may have to order thread, depending on what I choose.
I also have a template for the chain in the borders (which was probably my mother's) but since the borders are not the same width, that could be tricky. If anyone has any ideas on the thread weight and the border, I'd appreciate them 😊
What I learned
- I had a really nice time tonight drawing the quilt, reading my mom's notes and then matching them to the quilt. It was like being there with her.
- I can't wait to get started. I will probably check out some of the FMQ books that I have to find motifs to add to the quilt.
- The hard part will be to not quilt it too densely. It has to be quilted more densely than my mother did because that's one of the reasons the quilt didn't last.
Version 2.0
- Snippet Exchange (and June's OMG), June 6, 2021
- May's OMG and Free Motion Mavericks, May 27, 2021
- What I learned in 2020, December 31, 2020
- Learning quilting math the hard way, February 11, 2020
Linking parties
Free Motion Mavericks
Welcome to week 335 of Free Motion Mavericks. We had a lovely turn out last time. Thanks for linking up and dropping by!
This week, I thought that I would mention Deb's quilt, Out to sea. Deb of A Scrappy Quilter is working hard on her free motion quilting skills and did a great job on her quilt! If you didn't catch it, check out her post - the back of the quilt really shows the quilting!
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| Out to sea! by Deb of A Scrappy Quilter |
That quilt is a true labor of love and will be a real keepsake. To have your mother's notes to work with is a real treasure.
ReplyDeleteI love to read how you go about the quilting process. It helps me learn when I read your steps taken in working through the issues with each quilt. Thanks for linking with Design Wall Mondays, Judy
ReplyDeleteHow fun to have your mother's notes and what a treasure you are making! It will be fun to watch your quilting as you progress. What is your concern with the border? You could make your own template by making a paper copy and shrinking it on a photocopier...then making it in the medium you need to trace it. I am sure you already know this, but just in case.
ReplyDeleteWon't that be cool to have a multi generational quilt!
ReplyDeleteCan you scan the template and use MS Paint or your printer to scale it down a bit? I say go with heavier weight thread. My thinking is, there is a lot of negative space and the design is kind of bold though I'm not sure bold is the right word.Then my mind so no, use lighter weight thread so that bold design really pops. My heart says go with lighter weight thread because you don't want the quilting to draw attention away from your mothers design. Let it be bold. :) Sorry I keep missing your linky party, hopefully things will go back to normal soon in my sewing room.
ReplyDeleteBravo pour ce quilt, il est superbe, et plein d'histoire familiale. Précieux !
ReplyDelete