Coverlets have been on my mind lately.

A local drapery store wanted  this coverlet quilted quickly so off

I went.

I was very nervous because the size of it was massive, 150″ x 150.”

All I could think about was puckers on the back of the coverlet; that

means disaster for a longarmer like myself.

Because my frame is only 120″ long, I knew that I would have to load

it on the frame at least 3 times. On the first attempt, I thought that it would

be better to put the extra 30″ on one side of the frame. However,  after loading

and winding it on the frame, the bunching was too much, so I had to take it off

and put it on again.

This time, I divided the 30″ evenly and ended up with an extra 15″ on each

side. It still bunched up a little  but it was manageable.

I quilted very sparingly but it still took some time. It felt like it went on and

on and on. When that was done, off it came again and then loaded back on

two more times so the 15″ on either side could be quilted. When it was all

said and done, there were no puckers.  Yeah!!

It is funny how you meet people that are not in the quilting industry but

still like or need what you do. It was an experience and hopefully not

one in which I have to quilt another one so large.

I have never thought of quilting a coverlet even though they are very

popular today. Maybe I will have to put it on the list of things to try.

Dale always brings me interesting quilts. The designer is Canadian but

I can’t remember. Dale wanted me to come up with some creative ideas

but all I could think about was trees.

The animals and their reflections are to be the focal point so I didn’t

want to get too fancy, just keep it simple. So, I used some of the shapes

of the trees that were in the top itself , added a few deer, baby bears, and

geese.

Because the border consisted of a batik fabric that had leaves printed on it,

I thought “why not use that motif?”  So, that is what I did.  I outlined the

leaves  on the print and even added leaves in the white areas of the border.

It all works. I used a So Fine blue green/thread for top colored areas and

an Omni cream for the light areas. I also used a monofilament thread to

do all the ditch work so I didn’t have to worry about picking out stitches

if I ran over the the raw edge applique.

The backing is a batik cream color and it shows up the quilting nicely.

In the areas where I used the blue/green thread, you can see those shapes

on the backing. It really helps me not to have to worry about tension

issues when I can use the same colored thread on the top and the backing.

Some  people don’t like this look but it depends on what you like or want.

Thankfully, for me, Dale doesn’t mind this look at all.

This is also Dale’s. She is quite the fast piecer. Once again, she

said:”do what you want.”

I love those words because then I can have fun and try to

practice being creative or some new designs.

I wanted to make the central circle stand out so I outlined the stars

with 2 double lines. It looks more classy to me this way.

Because the centre star is made up of a dark print, you really won’t

be able to see any of the stitching , so I quilted in some

really simple, straight lines. And the blue areas also received the same

but different lines as well. The white areas received a nice swirly fill.

It helps soften all those straight pointy edges of the star.

In the spokes themselves, I added straight and wavy lines, just to

add some interest.

In the white spokes , I added wavy lines and swirls so that it ties all

of the quilting together. I used a Glide thread, in white for the white

areas so that it stands out a bit more.

In the darker areas, I used a monofilament for all the SID and a

darker blue So Fine for the blue areas.

The backing is cool. I used a white So Fine thread for it and it

looks like it is phantom stitched. How do you like that new

phrase?

The spokes are hard to see here but they are there.

I hope you liked all the pictures and my process of coming

up with quilting designs.

Have a great week.