Little Forest Quilt-Along Update-I Finished!

Hi Everyone,

Well, as you know, I haven't been feeling well.  I felt a little better on Saturday and did a few things around and outside of the house.  Felt worse on Sunday.  Feel so-so today.  Hope this doesn't hang on too long.

But I did have to show you what I finished!

Ta-dah!  Sorry the lighting is so bad.  It was really cloudy on Sunday morning when I took the photos.  But I had to get it done.  I already had the quilt sandwich assembled.  I also had all the binding ready to go, as it was left over from another project.  (And I still have plenty more left!  Wow!  What was I thinking on that project?)  I had taken on my retreat to work on, but I never worked on it there.  I swear, I think I'm phobic about quilting in front of other people.  I'm very self-conscious about it.  But in the privacy of my own sewing room, I am okay.  I really had little fear when quilting this.  I knew exactly what I wanted to do, practiced for about 5 min on a practice piece, and then just went for it.

I wanted to quilt some snowflakes in it, so I used some of Leah Day's ideas.  (The motif is called Icicle Lights.)  More on that in a minute.  I also quilted some garland in each tree.  The only tricky thing about this design is there is a lot of "travel stitching" (stitching over the lines you just stitched) to do to make the snowflake pattern.  So, I had to be pretty accurate.  Sometimes I did a really fine job of that.  Other times I didn't.  But, once I washed it and it got all crinkly, it didn't really matter, because it didn't show.

While I was quilting it, when I'd go off a line, I was saying to myself, "It's okay.  Snowflakes aren't perfect."  And if my lines weren't perfectly straight, I'd say, "It's okay, the wind blows snowflakes around."  I really just relaxed into it and had fun, for once.

Here is the back.  You can see I went around each tree and then drew the garland.  I was just going to do the garland, but I thought that would look weird on the back.  I went around the trees just to frame the garland on the back.  Is that weird?

Here's a closer shot from teh back.  Again, not perfect, but I am very satisfied with it.  This served its purpose well....to give me another small piece to practice free motion quilting on!

One more shot of the front.  Just 'cause.  You can see I had a little trouble with the red bleeding when I washed it.  Too bad.  I put a color catcher in with it (I never prewash my fabrics and really don't have a problem with bleeding....probably pushed it with the red and white).  I think some of it is coming from the fabric underneath the white.

Here's the other that bled a little.  Just these two.  I bet the fabric was folded over onto the red here when I washed it.  I'll have to see if I can get it out.  I am not going to get too worked up about it.

A word about the quilting design.  I had recently picked up this book from Leah Day.  I am enjoying using her designs as inspiration for some of my quilting.

It just so happened that as I was leafing through it, I thought, "I should look for a snowflake-related design for Little Forest." And a couple seconds later, I stumbled on this--Icicle Lights.  Perfect!  It was nice and modern looking.  Perfect for this quilt.  I rotated it, however, and made it so the snowflakes were coming down.

If you want to see Leah stitching the design, you can click here.  She also did them vertical in that post. In this case, I didn't watch her video.  I just went for it after looking at this drawing.  I think it worked out pretty well.

Now, a word about thread.  I have told you all how much I love my Aurifil thread.  I quilted all the white snow with my 50 wt. Aurifil thread.  It went smooth as silk.  No problems.

Well, when I was at quilt retreat, one of my buddies told me I should be trying lots of different threads and seeing what works.  Thinking I would do the quilting on this quilt at retreat, I went to one of the quilt shops in Shipshewana and got some thread to quilt the trees with.  I didn't have the right colors of Aurifil in my stash, so I thought this was a good opportunity to try some different thread.

I picked up these:

Pretty colors from Presencia.  I think it's also 50 wt, but I could be wrong.

Well, on the first tree I stitched with the red and the green, the thread shredded.  I wound a small bobbin, because there was not much stitching to do, really.  I ran out of bobbin thread.  (The Aurifil just goes and goes, it seems.)  I was very frustrated by the shredding.

So, I made a decision yesterday.  Nothing but Aurifil thread for me from now on.  I'm going to buy a color card and just start collecting that.  I guess I should try to use up some of the other threads I have, but I may not.  I have decided that I get fantastic results with Aurifil, and that's going to be all I buy from now on.  I guess I'm even more of a dedicated Aurifil girl now than I was before.

And stay tuned, because I have a giveaway of Aurifil thread coming!  :-)

 I want to apologize to Linda (my co-hostess) and to all of you for being a slow hostess on this.  You should go check out Linda's version of Little Forest.  It really rocks.  She did hers bigger and all in green.  I love it.  Thanks to everyone for playing along and hanging in there with me.  I still wouldn't be done with this if I hadn't felt the pressure of the quilt along, so it really helped me.  I hope it helped you.

And while you're at it, go check out the Flickr group for other finished ones!  There are so many great versions of this out there! This is an awesome and fun little project.  Many thanks to the Purl Bee for letting us use the pattern they had posted on their website.

This week, I will wrap things up by doing all the drawings I'm behind on and sending out prizes!  So, stay tuned for that!

Hope you're all having a great Halloween.  I think I'll do those photos tomorrow.  I thought this should come right away.

Now, the big question.  Should I keep this for myself, or give it away?  Hmmmm....If the red hadn't bled, I would be more tempted to give it away.  I'll probably end up keeping it.  Shoot.  There goes my thought of actually having a Christmas gift done already.

Until next time,

Mama Pea

 

Comments

[Shelly]

It's so cute! I still don't have mine done, but it's on my wall, and calling my name!

[Sue]

I really hope you get to feeling better and soon! It's never fun being sick when there is so much to do and especially this time of the year.

I love your quilt and your quilting is just great. I'm not such a great machine quilter but I do enjoy some of Leah Day's quilt designs. Others I can do without.

I love Aurifil thread too and I've used Presencia before, but even though I've used the same weight as Aurifil, I find Presencia's to seem like a heavier thread. Not all threads are the same that is for sure. I can't live without my Aurifil.

[Terri]

1. I love your design!
2. Hello?! Christmas gift to yourself!
3. I'm totally stealing your idea. That's okay in quilting, right?

[Linda in Calif.]

Well, didn't that turn out nice? I really like the red binding. And Leah's design going downward is really cool for this quilt.

[Brooke]

so, so awesome!!! Love the colors of your trees and your quilting - amazing!!

[Allie]

I hope you're feeling better soon, hon! I love your quilt - you did a fantastic job on the quilting. Bummer about the red bleeding, even with a color catcher, yikes! Try washing it again, maybe?

I've only tried Aurifil once but I absolutely loved it. I'd love to get more too!

[Lacie Jane]

Sorry to hear you are feeling sick, but glad it is getting better!

I love the quilt-- your quilting is wonderful! You should not be so self-conscious about doing it in public, you do a very nice job!! I also really like your use of different colors in this, it would go with so many different Christmas themes. You could even leave it out after Christmas to be a winter decoration!

[Jackie]

That is my new fav quilt for Christmas.. it is just beautiful, and your quilting design is spot on. Now get feeling better!

[Lynn]

The icicle lights look wonderful!

Have you tried some Oxyclean on the spots where the red bled? I used powdered Oxyclean mixed with just enough water to make a paste on some marker spots on a sweatshirt. The marker spots were a few weeks old and had been washed and dried several times. The Oxyclean got them out! I was stunned.

Another idea is to baste a color catcher over the problem areas and wash it again. I've never tried this myself, but a member of my guild has done this with some success.

But you should definitely keep this. Merry Christmas to you!

[Maggie Szafranski]

WOW! Awesome quilt! You did a great job with the quilting! I recently started using some Aurofil for piecing, thanks to Edyta Sitar! It just may replace my beloved Superior threads!

[Sequoia]

Love your quilting!!! A great choice for this quilt and you did an awesome job! I didn't recognize the gal you got the design from, so went to her site. Was surprised to discover that I used to follow her when she first started her journey of a quilt motif a day! My, has she come a long way!!!
Now,as for trying other threads, I would encourage you to use the Aurofil as you gain your confidence. Then, when you get to the time when you want a bit more shine and for the quilting to show more, I will introduce you to Isacord and Marathon. Since they are embroidery thread, they will never shred. I will let you borrow some of mine, I have a pretty collection : )

[terriaw]

Your Little Forest Quilt turned out beautifully! I love it! I love seeing all the trees in different colors, and adore how you quilted garland on each tree. Also love that snowflake quilting pattern you did in between the trees. Makes me want to make another one of these - well done!

[Susan McFarland]

Gorgeous!!! I just wanted to tell you. I've had reds bleed and didn't discover until after going through the dryer. Retayne rubbed on with a toothbrush and then washed with Retayne as the detergent (didn't use hot water as the label says) took the red bleeding out.

[Caroll D]

Hope you're feeling better by now. Love your quilt and the way you quilted it is awesome. You did a great job. Thanks for the link to the video as I'd like to try this myself. Take care.

[Jen]

The icicle quilting is a wonderful touch, and I especially like the garlands on the trees :)

[Brie]

I love the littletrees and your quilting is just stunning can wait to do my trees!

[Cindy Gardiner]

If you wash in Synthrapol, the bleeding will very likely come out. We've had VERY good luck with it where I work.
Cindy

[teresamnj]

So cute! Who cares if it isn't perfect. That just makes it more unique and heartfelt. :)