Thursday 29 September 2016

Peek-a-boo I sew you!

I have finished the top of my blue and cream version of Di Ford's Antique Wedding Sampler (re-visited) - yay! 


Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford

Unfortunately my closeline no longer winds up to its full height so the quilt is left dragging on the ground. It's quite a big quilt as my sashings were cut wider to accomodate the design on the fabric. The last time I blogged about this quilt I was doing the broderie perse and I don't think you've seen the centre vase and you can see how I cut the sashing fabric. I got the sashing idea from Sofie and the vase of flowers design from Lynne - it's great to have friends to get inspiration from!

Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford
I felt as though I needed a border or some kind of break between the busy triangle blocks of broderie perse and toile and for some crazy idea I decided to do a 'peek-a-boo' inner border (hmmmm, I think I can blame/credit Veronique for this one). Initially I just pinned the binding style strip sandwiched between the quilt top and the outer border and sewed it together on the machine. 


Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford

Well this was a complete failure and came out all uneven. Would you believe I sewed on two sides without really looking at it and then I had to do about 4 metres of reverse sewing (unpicking) - ugh!!
So I decided to be a lot more methodical - this is the process I came up with. First carefully measure across the quilt top and mark to match up equal distances.


One problem I had was strip not staying folded and together nicely...


....so I spray starched it (as I would for bias stems). 


Even though I did not cut the strip on the bias it was still acting floppy and stretchy so I stitched the two raw edges together onto the outer border with a large tacking stitch on the machine 1/8" from the edges.


Then I sandwiched it together and pinned, using the lines I had marked earlier with the frixion pen.


Also pinning carefully on the diagonal to catch the seam allowances on the triangle keystones.



Then sewing it all together, with a 1/4" seam and I used a slightly larger seam stitch.



Hopefully you can see the 1st large tacking 1/8" seam that attached the strip to the outer border and the normal 1/4" seam that sandwiched it all together.


A good press...

...and voila!!! Nice and straight and even.


Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford

I then mitred the corners the Di Ford way...

Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford

Where you hand fold, pin, tack and hand sew the border strips together. You can find Di's mitring method on YouTube.



I don't know if I would ever do another peek-a-boo border on a large quilt but I think it was worth it in the end.

Antique Wedding Sampler revisited quilt Di Ford

Be sure to hop over to the G'nT Sisters where you can see Lynne and Sofie's AWS quilts just back from the quilter.

Thanks for your well wishes from my last post, I'm completely recovered from the flu.

Oops I nearly forgot, what's one of my posts without a CCCQ update. Here are my latest blocks only one more to go....

Chester County Criswell Quilt
CCCQ Block #28

Chester County Criswell Quilt
CCCQ Block #33 or the 'Jatz Biscuit'
I have substituted this wreath block from
 Corliss' Celebrating Mary Brown pattern there were lots of inner curves in this one!

Chester County Criswell Quilt

Cheers
Carole

19 comments:

  1. Woderful work. I think you were right to add the thin border, I did the same with my Nearly Insane which was also on point.

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  2. What a beautiful quilt and you have worked so neatly it must be a price winner. cheers Tilly

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  3. I love the Mary Brown wreath - I have bought the pattern for this block too but haven't made it yet.
    Your work is stunning as usual, love your progress photos.

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  4. The sampler is stunning. Well worth the time you took to make it. And I think that peek a boo border absolutely sets it off. Well done!

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  5. Oh my! It may have been lots of work, but I think that peekaboo border strip is sensational! I can't believe you have only one more CCCQ block to do. Woohoo! They are lovely.

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  6. Wow, Carole, that is gorgeous in the blue & white! So calm and elegant. Beautiful job, and well worth the time to get it right!

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  7. Carole - your AWS quilt is an absolute stunner. Attaching the flange was a bit of work but well worth the effort. I like to miter my corners and that is the method I use most often. It is fast, easy and it turns out perfectly each time!

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  8. Wow, that is beautiful! Thanks so much for the reminder on corners!

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  9. Love that narrow border - adds a beautiful feature finish while still keeping the border light and floaty! The whole quilt is just breathtaking Carole - very, very well done !

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  10. Hello Carole -
    Just found your blog and I have been feasting my eyes on your beautiful work. Am loving the borders between the block - they really help you see each individual block - and they are all so gorgeous, it would be a shame to miss any of them. The broderie perse is gorgeous! May I ask what the fabric is? Only wiah I could see you work "close up and personal"!

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  11. Another stunner, just gorgeous!

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  12. Your quilt is amazing! Nice work on that border! It was worth the unstitching and redoing.

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  13. I get excited every time I see you have a new blog post. I love your work and your helpful tips. I'm going to start this quilt soon and your posts are so inspiring. Thank you from Texas!

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  14. How pretty your quilt is in the blues. So much work involved and a good ending.
    Block design #33 is a very different looking block. I like it very much.

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  15. Your quilt is gorgeous...... I love peeks.....

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  16. Congrats on completing the blue and white AWS. Your attention to detail is inspiring. And only one more CCCQ to go!

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  17. Wow your Antique Wedding quilt looks fabulous and was worth all that extra work.

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  18. Hi Carole - this quilt looks absolutely stunning!

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  19. I just love your version of the Antique Wedding Sampler....Love the colours of the fabric... You did a great job!

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