Sunday, December 11, 2011

Curved Rails & Curved Quilting

So I won the  BlockLotto for the second time in September.  I won 48 wonderful batik blocks!  I've gotten the top pieced and am working on deciding about the quilting.  It is against my nature to show an unfinished project. But since the whole point of this blog is to share the "evolution" of my process, I'm going to show you what I'm up to.  Here is the pieced top:

I hope it is apparent (since I worried over it forever :) that I arranged the blocks so that the top of one block is in at least the same color group (if not the same color) as the bottom of the block above it and the corner pieces in the sashing.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be.  It was suprising to find that I didn't have an odd piece out.  Not every match up is perfect, but they really are all in the same color groups.  I was pretty impressed with myself! 

So now on to the quilting.  I'm learning free motion quilting.  So I made a set of 3 blocks to practice a few things before I try it on the actual quilt.  Tell me what you think.

As you can see I haven't hidden any of my loose ends yet.
I'm also trying to decide whether to take the pebbles (that's what I call them anyway) right to the seam or just an 1/8 of an inch away.

What do you think?
Here's a close-up of the front.


And here are some pictures of the back.


My curves are still a little jerky, but I'm getting there!
So leave me a note and let me know what you think.  Seeing these close-up pictures of my quilting just encourages me to practice, practice, practice.  There's loads of room for improvement!  I'll try and keep things up to date as I continue with this one.  If you have any suggestions, let me know!
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6 comments:

  1. Quilty ConscienceDecember 11, 2011 at 10:15 AM

    I love your layout and your quilting. I made blocks for this one but donated them. I just didn't think I would like it...but your planning of colors and the white lattice have made it wonderful. Now I want one! Toni

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  2. joanDecember 11, 2011 at 5:13 PM

    Great layout! I also donated my blocks, mostly because of color issues. My experience with free-motion makes me agree with you about practicing...it really does get better and easier. BTW, I love your wallpaper on your blog. Did you make that quilt? Love your colors! Good luck! Joan T.

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  3. j-andrewDecember 11, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Thanks Toni and Joan.
    My wallpaper is a quilt that I made. My family calls it the underwear quilt because most of the fabric is from old boxers that I couldn't wear anymore. The rest of the fabrics are from old shirts. I will have to take some more pictures of it and write a blog entry about it. A number of people have asked about it. Thanks again! -Andrew

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  4. PokeyDecember 15, 2011 at 5:32 AM

    You have a great quilt! The lattice was a neat addition, and your fmq lines are cool. I've read it takes 20 hours of practice to become accomplished on a quilt stitch, and I believe it from my own experience! Really, you have a wonderful accomplishment to be proud of ~
    :-}pokey

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  5. UnknownDecember 12, 2013 at 2:44 PM

    What is the pattern called? What is the trick to sewing nice flat curves?

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  6. j-andrewJanuary 6, 2014 at 9:01 PM

    Sorry it has taken so long to get back to you about this pattern. It is called Curved Rails. My friend Sophie at Blocklotto.com wrote up the instructions for the block. And if you'd like to send me an email at andrew@j-andrew.com, I'd be happy to send you the PDF with the instructions.

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