Finished!

[Sally M.]

At noon yesterday, 2/2/10, I finished Stars for new Day with the final border strip. I was caught up until our Nov. trip to Thailand, and then I had to enlarge it to king sized. I can't wait to get it to the long arm quilter. This puppy is just too large to push around under a home machine. Any suggestions for batting for a 98 x 108 quilt? Wool is my preference, although silk would be luxurious. Has anyone tried bamboo or combination in a large quilt? Thoughts please. Sally

[Karen W.]

Hi, Sally. I am doing mine with wool. It is the queen size. Since I found wool wouldn't do much of any other kind.
Karen

[Sally M.]

Hi K,

Wool has been my choice. I hear king sized are in short supply right now. My other option would be silk which would help with the weight. Interesting that the daily blog today is about batting, and wool seems to be the preference. I'd like to hear from those experienced with bamboo as well. I have a feeling it will be wool.
Thanks for your input. Sally

[Sally M.]

I did my mom's quilt in bamboo. It was a dream to work with and my mom says it is a good weight for her bed. It also drapes nicely.

Jean in Windsor, ON

[Susan M.]

For Christmas my friend gave me a Quilter's Dream "Orient" batting. It's a blend of silk, bamboo, tencel (whatever that is) and cotton. It's really nice. I'm using it right now on a baby quilt.

[Mary R.]

Finally finished my 2009 TQS BOM. What a feeling of satisfaction! I completed piecing the top in February and finally had time to quilt it this past week- hand guided quilting on my Gammill longarm. See my profile for examples of my quilting.

[Mary R.]

Happy day... On Monday I also finished quilting and binding my Stars for a New Day. What I can see of Mary's quilting she did a great job. Just wish I had access to a long arm quilter. But I don't so I had to use my good old Bernina 440. Quite a job but it was all worth it.
I'll try to get a picture soon and post it. Istitched in the ditch around all the stars and geese, free motioned the floral pattern. I had purchased the kit in the quilt shoppe. Then I decided I needed to make it larger and couldn't get any of the fabric so I added a nine inch border that I just love. Hope to enjoy it on the bed next winter. Keep on stitchin everyone. Nan in Northern NY


One of these days I'm going to get a better picture to put on my profile. Just hate the one I have now...

[Margo C.]

If you haven't seen Mary's photos yet, you need to!! Her quilting is fabulous!!

Nan, we are looking forward to pictures of yours too!!!

[Margo C.]

Congratulations to Mary and Nan! It must be the month to finish! I am done quilting mine, and will be squaring it up today to get ready for the binding! I will blog and post a picture when it is done! I am going to enter it into the Vermilion County (IL) Museum quilt show, which has a deadline fo June 24!

Maggie in E. Central Illinois

[Margo C.]

That is great to hear that the two of you finshed it Mine is on my bed this past week end hubby sister came to vist and ask to see it because I would post things on facebook about when she saw it said I could sell it for a lot in Pa. because I used Penn State fabric how this come from some one that dose not know why I spend so much time and money on quilting and do not know why I would do it Happy

[Margo C.]

Mary, beautiful quilting. Congrats to you and Nan. I, alas, am still taking out quilting!!!!

[Margo C.]

I finished my top in December and it is the most ambitious quilt that I've attempted to date, but I'm in a quandry about the backing. My quilt will be sent to a longarm quilting friend, so I'm thinking about using a solid cotton sateen on the back to show off her beautiful quilting. However, I've not yet found the right color sateen and do not want to use white. Also, I love madras plaid and found one with just the right colors, but I'm not sure if madras would make a good quilt backing. With all of the seaming on the quilt top, I think it's best to have as few seams on the backing as possible. Lastly, a small print isn't out of question, but I'm concerned that a print wouldn't show off the quilting as much.

I'm curious what others chose for their backings and "why?". I wish others would post photos of their quilt backs.

[Margo C.]

Nancy, I actually started with my backing fabric! Here is the photo I posted on my Webshots tutorial at the beginning of our 2009 BOM with the backing and about half of the fabrics I wound up using. It is an extra wide backing, so there are no seams, and I'm using Hobb's 80/20 Heirloom Cotton batting. It's on the frame as we speak, and I'll show photos when I get it all done!

[Annis C.]

I chose Moda Marbles in a beige color for the king size and a small leaf print in a beige color for the lap size. These will be custom longarm quilted and I wanted the quilting to show on the back. I'm hoping to get them finished this summer.

[Annis C.]

I used a 108" wide batik to back mine. (I had lots of help from my QI!) I just chose the fabric because I liked it, I didn't have to piece it, and it had the right colors.