COG & WHEEL : QUILTED

Quilting by Eileen Quilts
Quilting Pattern : Signature

Finishing a quilt is a true labour of love. Most people think that you sew together a bunch of fabric into patches and there you go, a quilt. Oh NO. A quilt is about twenty times more work than that. There is the back of the quilt (for me, often improv pieced), basting the quilt, quilting all the layers together (this is where most people get stuck) and then sewing on binding. Don’t forget a quilt label too! To anyone who has ever finished a quilt, I applaud you. It is a long road to finishing even the most simple of quilts, but it is so worth it in the end. To be honest, I would make quilts all the time, every day if I could. I finally feel like I have worked up to understanding how to finish the quilts that I start. This has meant getting over my fear of machine quilting and starting to explore free motion quilting. But it has also meant sending off my first quilt to a long arm quilter.

It’s a scary proposition, sending off your quilt top and back to someone else to have them quilt all over it. Amanda uses Lindsay to do her long arm quilting. Lindsay quilted her Halloween Swoon quilt with the coolest spiderweb pattern. A recommendation for a long arm quilter is a MUST. I also got to meet Lindsay at the Sewing Summit in Salt Lake City. She is a sweetheart and even though she lives in Virginia, I felt really good about sending away my Cog & Wheel to her.

I wanted a swirly pattern, so Lindsay sent over some options of designs she suggested. I chose one that is called ‘Signature’. I liked that it appeared to be more random. I think it looks really good with the Cog & Wheel design.

I know some people who always send their quilts out to be quilted. This way they can enjoy the patchwork process and finish more quilts. I will probably try to do the quilting on my smaller quilts and have Lindsay work on my larger bed-sized quilts for me. It is really exciting to receive a box in the mail, open it up and have your professionally quilted work all bundled up inside.

I cut the binding last night and I’m looking forward to spending some time sitting under the quilt while I hand stitch the final step.

p.s. Happy New Year! I’m picking out my first blocks to start my Farmer’s Wife Sampler this week. I’ll post about it soon.