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Sunday, September 6, 2015

Quilting the Peacock!

My UFO to be completed for MCQG Guild this past month was #9 - which was to quilt my Peacock Braids quilt.


I shared it's start HERE on the blog in 2012 - January of 2012!!!
Yep, 3-1/2 years ago!

The fabric is Timeless Treasures Plume CM8662, and of course I fell in love with it - what's not to love???


In fact, I love it so much I've made several other projects from the same fabric =^..^=

Stitchery Keeper
See-N-Go Project Bag

One of the reasons this quilting project has been on the shelf for so long is that I was afraid to quilt it.  It's not too terribly large - about 36"x45" - a good size for my Janome 6600P with the large throat.  But I knew it deserved some special quilting, and I really didn't feel confident enough to go for it.  This year, I decided to put it on my UFO list so I wouldn't have any more excuses!

After sandwiching - never fun! - I trimmed as much as I could off the edges and then turned and pinned the backing over the front to keep some of the wool batting fuzz out of my sensitive nose as well as off of that black fabric.  It was impossible to keep the black free of fuzz of course, but I think this helped at least :*)


Then I started picking some yummy thread candidates for making this quilt as beautiful as I could make it ...


I love the look of King Tut thread on the top of a quilt, so using the black in that for the background was the first easy choice.  Then I chose this gorgeous aqua metallic thread on the left for the peacock feathers, and the deep, intriguing green variegated thread on the right for the leaves ....


I love how the aqua metallic makes those feathers sparkle! ....



After painstakingly quilting the peacock ....


...... I outlined all the other flowers and leaves on the quilt, and then I began to fill in the black background areas with my simplified, totally novice version of McTavishing...




As this was my first attempt at this filler stitch, I have to say I was pretty pleased with how well it turned out!  It's nice to know that I will get better at it as I practice :*)

For the borders, I really had to give some thought to how I wanted to quilt them.  Because the inside was so densely quilted, the borders needed lots of quilting as well so it would keep its shape.  But my main objective was to keep that braid look clean and sharp.  I didn't want a lot of thread moving around in there to muddy up the design.  So I drew out some options on graph paper ...


Isn't it amazing how much we can learn from drawing out a design first?  I was pretty sure I would go with feathers in there at first.  Peacocks=feathers, right?  And I planned to use a thread that would disappear as much as possible, just leaving the texture.  But after looking at my drawing, I decided the beaded rows were a perfect counterbalance to all the flowery/feathery stuff going on in the center.

They were fairly easy to do too.  I've stitched pebbles before, so that wasn't too frightening.  My main concern was in keeping the rows even and the same width.  These tools came to my rescue ....


I have no idea where I got the 1/4" plastic stick, but it was perfect for marking both sides of the beading row.  And I use the Clover White Marking Pen everywhere I can - it makes very minimal lines and irons out beautifully when I'm done!


I just love how the beaded rows look in the finished borders!  I stitched in the ditches as well to give each braid a nice finished definition.


The quilt is now pinned down on the guest-room floor, being blocked in preparation for binding.


I don't usually have to block my quilts, but this one had pretty wacky, wavy borders when the quilting was done. That often happens when doing a dense quilting project on a domestic machine......


I'm hoping it will be ready to bind later tonight.  I'm excited to have this favorite quilt all done and ready to enjoy!!!

Slow Sunday Stitching

In the meantime, I'm going to be joining Kathy's Quilts for some Slow Sunday Stitching this afternoon.  Kathy is relaxing with her Pumpkin Seeds applique, making orange ones for the 2015 Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  I stitched together this Patchwork of the Cross block this past week ....


... and I hope to finish up the last of the hand stitching on Block #1 of my Folk Art Album today while watching the PGA Playoffs with My Guy.


Wishing everyone a lovely Labor Day weekend!!!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

I'm also linking up with Patchwork Times for Design Wall Monday, Freemotion by the River for Tuesday Linky Party, and Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story.

33 comments:

  1. It absolutely takes my breath away! One of my favorite panels to begin with. The braid border is perfect (thanks for the inspiration for my Christmas panel). And the beadwork, oh my! The quilting layer of design simply escapes my feeble brain; that's why I quilt by check.

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  2. Oh sweetie - this is just gorgeous! We practice ourselves right into a corner, don't we? It is a matter of 'go for it' and then we kick ourself for waiting so long.

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  3. Congratulations on your peacock quilt! Your bead quilting is perfect for it! Just a lovely work all around.

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  4. Teresa your Peacock quilt is stunning! I also love your POTC block!

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  5. Oh, Teresa, it came out absolutely gorgeous! Aren't you glad you bit the bullet and just did it? A real stunner! Am loving that POTC block, too! I really must dig mine out and add at least one more to the pile this summer, and I'm running out of time, too!

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  6. Wow! Your peacock is just stunning. What great threads and quilting designs! Truly a beauty. And you know I love your POTC block!!

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  7. Beautiful!! And your POTC is absolutely breathtaking! You are an artist!!!😊

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  8. Your peacock looks fantastic. I love your thread choices and the metallics really make it pop. You did such a wonderful job on it and now it is off the "to do" list!

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  9. Congratulations on finishing this UFO, it's lovely.

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  10. Love the quilt and your quilting! Also the POTC. The shooting stars block is amazing. Nice work, but what is the yarn in the bag all about?

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  11. Your quilting is gorgeous. Good job. Love your blocks, and POTC

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  12. What a fabulous quilting project! Your novice quilting is much nicer than mine. I guess I'd better practice more!

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  13. I'm not sure why you were apprehensive about quilting your peacock because it turned out absolutely spectacularly! I'm not sure that I have the words to express how spectacular. And your POTC ... every time I see it, I think I need to move it up the list and start on it when I finish my EPP projects in progress.

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  14. Well that was a big hunk of beautiful to enjoy with my morning coffee - thank you! The peacock turned out wonderfully - congrats on an amazing finish! I really like your idea for pebble quilting, I will have to find a way to try that.

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  15. I don't think I've ever seen anything more beautiful than your peacock quilt! A...MAZ...ING!

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  16. Your peacock quilt is just fantastic! I love that you shared each step of your progress. Sometimes projects like this need to age before we can perfect them...that's my story.

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  17. That machine quilting is absolutely stunning! The texture is really amazing! You rock!
    Enjoy your hand stitching... binding is my favourite part!

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  18. I love the pebbles in the braid. I have the French Braid book but haven't made anything from it yet. When I do, I'll have a pattern to refer to. What a great texture to focus there. Beautiful job on your McTavishing too.

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  19. The quilting looks great. I have a couple of those 1/4" sticks. I got mine at Joann's, Hobby Lobby and Walmart, back in the day. I forget to use them now.

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  20. You just blew me away, Teresa!! There is nothing "novice" about your quilting, girl!
    This panel is gorgeous, and just your colors! The braided boarder is stunning and you have enhanced the lovely piecing with your clever quilting design. You McTavishing looks perfect, and I think the added bling on the peacock feathers was inspired!
    Then you throw another gorgeous POTC block in on top of it all. Thanks for the morning eye candy!

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  21. I loved that panel, and the quilting is beautiful.
    Helen

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  22. I love your Peacock quilt and all of your quilting choices. It truly is a beautiful quilt. Both of your other projects shares are gorgeous also. Have a great time with each of your projects. Thanks for sharing and have a wonderful creative day!

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  23. Love the Peacock! You are such an inspiration with your work. The fussy cut work you do is awesome!

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  24. How very pretty the peacock piece is. Also, I like the floral applique block very much.

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  25. Oh my! It turned out to be a real stunner! So glad you got it all to work out. Now don't you feel silly for being nervous? You nailed it!

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  26. The Peacock is fabulous! The quilting is gorgeous! Hope you got in lots of slow stitching on your other projects yesterday.

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  27. Wow - I love reading your process to determine the quilting. you have such an eye for selecting the 'right' quilting. Your quilt is stunning and the quilting really sets it off. Great job.

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  28. Your quilt is stunning. Well done!

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  29. Breathtaking! I'm in awe of this gorgeousness! Pulchritudinous! Great job

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  30. Your peacock quilt looks absolutely stunning with your fantastic quilting designs. You did a marvelous job of deciding what to quilt on it and your execution looks flawless. Another beautiful finish!!

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  31. BRAVO!!! You have done that beautiful bird justice with your choice of colours and of course, quilting abilities.

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  32. What an absolutely amazing job you did on your Peacock quilt! Perfection!! And another lovley POTC block!

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  33. Teresa, you consistently blow me away! Your peacock quilt is amazing and every time you make a new patchwork of the cross block my jaw drops. So gorgeous!

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