Ask Me what I do NOT know about Chalk!

There should be a prize for quilting Stamina - I put in some long days at the quilt frame, sometimes 9+ hours and finally reached the point where I could unload and turn the quilt to tackle the remaining 2 borders on the horizontal. 

For some relief from quilting I made some binding/flange samples, the idea being that the edge looks a bit like military ribbons. The skinny ones looked very smart and I will save that method for a future quilt bu I decided that ¼” flanges suit this quilt best with a wide ½” binding. 

I finally completed the quilting after a lengthy 159 hours on the frame. The next challenge was removing all of my very boldly applied chalk marks. I had used Sewline, tailor’s chalk wheels, koh-i-noor chalk, General chalk pencils, school chalk, scrubbed lines out, reapplied them and generally scribbled liberally with chalk all over the quilt. I read up on chalk removal and the first suggestion was to wipe gently with dilute spirit vinegar. This did not prove effective so I diluted some Ace stain remover and started scrubbing the entire 8 foot square quilt with a soft toothbrush, thinking how tedious it must be to be an archaeologist. 

I kept the quilt on the frame in case I might have to do some stitching repairs but I think the tiny stitching has withstood the abuse. Amazingly, when dry it appears that the chalk disappears into the quilt except that I am feeling paranoid about ghost lines. I have collected an arsenal of other stain removers just in case I find any stubborn spots of chalk later. There is still a lot of work to do before it is finally finished then I will have to make a decision about the quilt’s name so I can make it a label and enter a show.

I was both astonished and delighted to hear that “Domestic” has been juried into the elusive Fine Art Quilt Masters at Festival of Quilts this year. Especially when I consider which of my previous attempts - Celtic Totems, Purdah, Shield Maiden did not make it. I must have got the arty blurb right for a change because I feel that this competition is as much about the concept as the actual quilt. Ridiculous as it may seem, I feel that this endorsement of my work finally allows me to call myself a “proper” Quilt Artist.

Coffee, Quilt, Sleep, Repeat...

I have rediscovered my stove top coffee pot which makes coffee like rocket fuel, just what I have needed to kickstart every day that starts and ends with the Russian DWR quilt. Two days were slightly different. I had a DIY quilt customer in which gave me someone to talk to and I spent another day delivering a large canoe to St. Andrews for Freya that also involved collecting firewood for an end of term beach bonfire. 

I have now clocked up 123 hours on the Russian quilt! (I wish I had timed the piecing as well) It was exciting when the wadding left the floor and even better when the central area was completed. I rarely have to think about the quilting pathways now, except when I forget and end up unpicking ridiculously small stitches. 

Nell has gone off to Amsterdam on a school trip this week so there will be no school pickups or after school activities so I should really be able to power on if my aching wrist can keep going. 

Of course, completing the quilting will not be the end of the job, some of which will have to be done using a domestic machine. I am not looking forward to man-handling such a large quilt when I add gold trim and tackle the binding for which I have some simple but ambitious plans - but that will be at least another week away! It’s a good job I have taken up a new hobby in lino cutting for some light relief;)

It All Adds Up

People often ask at quilt shows how long it has taken to complete the quilting so I have been keeping tabs on the Russian DWR, averaging 7 hours per day. Let’s just say that progress is slow - even the chalk marking takes forever. I would like to think that I am getting quicker now that I know what I am doing.

To my horror, I discovered that the underneath tension was not brilliant on the tiny ruler work and I will have to come up with a cunning plan to disguise it. Lowering the bobbin tension, increasing the top tension, checking carefully for microscopic fluff and changing to a gold needle designed for stitching through sticky stuff improved matters.

It was nerve-wracking and exciting to finally get to do some free motion stitching on manual in the amber sections. Each large pinched square takes 35 minutes, which is considerably faster than the equivalent area of ruler work. I am not quite on target for reaching halfway by mid May and I have not taken into account the chalk removal, blocking, binding and addition of amber chips and any other extras that spring to mind. Facebook sent me reminders that I have previously panicked over Tartan Tattoo and BzB in previous Mays. At least the longer daylight hours make the days seem longer.

I reached the point where I had spent so long in the workshop that I was hitting repeats of radio programmes so I found a good audio book to keep me going. My deadline is preventing me from getting bored but it is a bit daunting every day working on the same quilt and not rolling it on very often!

I finally got my Landy back after 3 weeks at the garage. It needed a new cross member, exhaust, prop shaft bearing and floor. It was VERY expensive. I was devastated to find steam coming out of the radiator, with water and anti-freeze pouring out of a hose the very next day. Luckily, a new jubilee clip, costing £1.67 fixed that. I will have to get a lot of customer quilts done after the DWR to fill up my piggy bank.

Hopefully by this time next week the bottom end of the Russian DWR quilt will be in sight…

When Doubting Thomas Met Peter and Paul

My “Russian” DWR quilt still does not have a name or even an abbreviation although in a way it has tenuous links to Peter the Great, the Peter and Paul fortress, and The Amber Room with an homage to the Robbing Peter to Pay Paul patchwork pattern. My current favourite might be “Iconoclast”, obviously subject to change.

I finally got it loaded and have spent a total 45 hours working on it so far, not even reaching a quarter of the way through yet. To be fair there was a lot of thinking time, redesigning and working out the most efficient quilting path. 

I don’t think I have ever done such a lot of intense ruler work where lines must match up exactly. I have had so many doubts about it - is it too big, will I get it finished in a sensible amount of time (hopefully a month), have I chosen the right thread, is my back-tracking accurate, is it fancy enough, how will I bind it, will it measure up against the insanely high quality of other show quilts???

All I know is that it is coming along slowly and I will just have to keep chipping away at the enormous task until it is finished. Then I will have the worry of removing all of the chalk marks from dark fabric!