Tuesday 28 August 2012

The Last Stitch

 
It has been a long time coming but today I finally put in the last stitch. I came to call this quilt top Blood, Sweat and Tears as it knows my innermost thoughts,  great sadness, anger, sleeplessness to name but a few emotions, even laughter. If I left the house the box of tricks came with me and I have stitched them almost everywhere. The truth is though that I can look at this quilt top and enjoy it for something  that is in my mind's eye truly beautiful. It pleases me and is a thing of joy inspite of everything. I have made it for myself because I can.
 
 At no time have I pressed anything and the whole thing was appliqued on to wide borders. I used countless reels of thread in the construction and it weighs a ton and measures around 88inches at its longest side. I used a jelly roll bought from the Quilt Room when jelly rolls were the new thing and I saved it having no idea what it would become.  I had a Eureka moment when I realised that I would get 120 flowers from said jelly roll. The hexagons are 1inch.  Now for a big dilemma. How do I quilt it? By hand? By machine? I have a few ideas forming but nothing set in stone yet.
 
 
Wrapped in  love.


Laid out on the lawn , had to be quick as it kept blowing away.


 
I need to give it a happy name, what would you call it?
 
 
Happy Stitching.
 
Love Shirley.
 

33 comments:

  1. An absolute delight Shirley and you must feel very proud. Take care.

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  2. Awesome! Such a pretty quilt top and I admire all those beautiful hand stitches. Good work!

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  3. It's glowing and powerful, very appealing , and the green, poison green? Ilove it, warm greetings from Paris

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  4. Very lovely Shirley!!! It's all your fault that I've actually made up some hexagons to hand piece!

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  5. Wonderful work! I love very much the colours.XXX

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  6. Your quilt top is just stunning! A lot of work went into it..you must find a better name than Blood, Sweat, and Tears? LOL Maybe something like Daisy Mae (because the flowers look like happy country daisies {to me}) or maybe something that refers to the name of the line of fabric your jelly roll was from?
    Congratulations for sticking with the project. My first quilt was a Grandmother's Flower Garden made with 1" hexies. I just quilted it by stitching in the ditch by hand. Way back then machine quilting just wasn't done. I look forward to seing what you decide.

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  7. I recognise some of those hexies! Looks fabulous, quilt it however you fancy (maybe a really deep raspberry thread?) and then you could be "Tickled Pink"?

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  8. Wow that is beautiful! Good luck coming up with a name! :)

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  9. That's fantastic Shirley. What a labour of love.

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  10. Looks great! I've no suggestions for quilting (that part always stumps me), and names...definitely drawing a blank there too. But it's sure going to be pretty when it's finished!

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  11. It's a wonderful piece of work. So much time and effort has gone into it. Great to see you still love pink.

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  12. yay, Shirley...it looks fabulous...It was worth it all...don't know what you could call it. I machine quilted one going through the ditch across on the diagonal of the quilt in a zig-zag fashion...I really love these quilts hand-quilted, but takes to long to do...more therapy!
    Julia ♥

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  13. It's truly stunning, Shirley! I always find it a bit sad to quilt a quilt like this by machine, after you've put so many hours into it stitching it together by hand, but that's just me. Of course you could do a combination of the two. Do some quilting by machine to anchor everything down, then do some hand quilting for effect. Just an idea. About the name: can't think of anything right now. I'm sure the right name will come to you.

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  14. It's beautiful Shirley !!
    They look like a field of daisies...

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  15. Congratulations it looks wonderful especially against the lovely green grass. Perfect for the girl who likes pink. Don't rush into the quilting - the ideas will come.

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  16. It looks absolutely stunning Shirley. Can`t think of a name, but I would have to quilt it by hand! Joan

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  17. It is stunning, but I haven't a clue how you would quilt it...I guess it depends on how quickly you want it done. It's has really cheery colours! Perhaps you should call it Jubliee Gardens or something...or perhaps A Floral Olympic Feat! :o)

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  18. Congratulations on finishing, so used to seeing you carry your box of hexagons around. It looks absolutely beautiful, you could call it pink fizz. Debby

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  19. It's so pretty! Awesome finish Shirley, congratulations. I've see two hexie quilts lately with interesting quilting. One was machine done with petals in each individual flower hexagon and a flowery background. The second one was hand quilted with a line through each hexagon so it made a pattern of a larger hexagon and then repeated in the ones surrounding each flower.

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  20. It is beautiful! Would it not be appropriate to give it some hand quilting? In my humble opinion I think it would, considering all the handwork already done:) A lovely project for quiet stitching during the forthcoming colder days. I say hear hear to Janet's suggestion:) Take care, and thank you again!

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  21. Absolutely beautiful!! You should call it" Summer Garden" It looks very " Summer".I would have to quilt it by hand.
    I like the pink colour.

    Have a nice weekend, Evelyne

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  22. LOVE that pink! Congrats on the finish. I look forward to seeing how you quilt it.

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  23. What a beautiful quilt!!!

    Madelief x

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  24. I like the suggestion of 'tickled pink' , after all the blood, sweat and tears you must be feeling very happy Shirley ! Hand quilt with perle thread 8 or 12 !

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  25. Shirley, it is truely beautiful - the love that has gone into the quilt shines out of it. How about hand quilting the hexagons and then have a design machine quilted around the borders? Difficult to know really, but it is stunning! I think I would call it "Sweet Dreams" cos whoever sleeps under it will be sure to dream happy! Well done ... !

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  26. We're just trying out the various hoops that Blogger puts us through coming in from our Wordpress blog - feel free to delete this as soon as it shows up.... but we couldn't think of a better place to start! Yours in oatcakes C&B

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  27. How did I miss this post??!! It is absolutely beautiful Shirley!! What a journey with the quilt, and aptly named. If you want to machine quilt it, I came across a gorgeous floral design the other day which I will probably use on mine... I'll forward it to you if you are interested.

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  28. I like "tickled pink" too. Its beautiful Shirley, absolutely stunning!

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  29. Oh it is so divine.....Petals in the Breeze. What an awesome job you have done.
    Hugs Michelle x

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  30. Hi beautiful!!!:0)
    You know I love your quilt to bits..and also knows how much of yourself you put into that quilt... It's your SECRET GARDEN ...:0)
    Smile and be ever so happy .. You did it!!! And don't you feel fantastic!!! Thought so...:0))))hugs!!!!

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  31. Congrats on the finish Shirley, it looks absolutely gorgeous! I would go with 'Tickled Pink'too :)

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  32. What to call it? When I was reading about all of your emotions I was thinking of Pandora's Box. Well done Shirley. It's gorgeous. I still have piles of unfinished hexies which I know in my heart will never get finished :-(

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