Well, if my neighbors were harboring any small hope that the lady next door might be normal, those hopes were sorely dashed as I searched for ways to take picture of my finished Blooming 9 Patch. Do you know how hard it is to find a place to photograph a queen-sized (almost king sized) quilt in good light when you don't have a wide house or a big back yard?
First, the easy photo. I chose a dark blue batik (it looks a little "overexposed" in this picture) for the back and a modern geometric design for the quilting pattern. The quilting was done with a red thread, and it looks pretty sharp. The binding was a colorful batik print that picked up colors in both the backing and the dark border prints. Instead of a standard cotton batting, I opted for a superwash wool batting, since the destination room for this quilt can get a little chilly.
Here is my first attempt at a picture -- on my own bed. I made this quilt with the queen-sized bed in my guest bedroom in mind, but it almost covers my king-sized bed (it need about 6" on either edge t make it workable). I was hoping to be able to get a good picture to give some scale, but I just couldn't get far enough away.
The next photo attempt was in my front yard. I think I was actually standing on top of a wall to take this photo (doing the sort of thing that I would tell my kid she couldn't do). The overcast day made it a good day for taking pictures to help show what the colors look like in natural light. But I still wasn't able to get a good top down perspective. Made me think I needed to have a picnic -- on the most over the top picnic blanket I could ever imagine.
This final photo was taken from the balcony above my deck, standing on a chair so I could get just enough height to get (almost) the whole quilt in frame (the bottom horizontal edge is a bit clipped). Unfortunately, I didn't include anything that would help create a sense of scale, but at least the color flow is clear. I'm rather pleased with the color flow, though I do wish I'd gotten a bit more of that dark batik on the edge and had a more solid dark border to finish it off.
I'm going to call this one a happy success. I think it will be a great addition to my guest room -- if I let it live down there. Part of me wants to find a way to have it in a place where it would be more prominently displayed.
After the kiddo saw the pictures, she asked me if she could sleep with it. So I guess that means I better get a move on and get some more effort in on the twin-sized quilt I have planned for her for when she graduates to a "big girl" bed.
First, the easy photo. I chose a dark blue batik (it looks a little "overexposed" in this picture) for the back and a modern geometric design for the quilting pattern. The quilting was done with a red thread, and it looks pretty sharp. The binding was a colorful batik print that picked up colors in both the backing and the dark border prints. Instead of a standard cotton batting, I opted for a superwash wool batting, since the destination room for this quilt can get a little chilly. Here is my first attempt at a picture -- on my own bed. I made this quilt with the queen-sized bed in my guest bedroom in mind, but it almost covers my king-sized bed (it need about 6" on either edge t make it workable). I was hoping to be able to get a good picture to give some scale, but I just couldn't get far enough away. The next photo attempt was in my front yard. I think I was actually standing on top of a wall to take this photo (doing the sort of thing that I would tell my kid she couldn't do). The overcast day made it a good day for taking pictures to help show what the colors look like in natural light. But I still wasn't able to get a good top down perspective. Made me think I needed to have a picnic -- on the most over the top picnic blanket I could ever imagine.This final photo was taken from the balcony above my deck, standing on a chair so I could get just enough height to get (almost) the whole quilt in frame (the bottom horizontal edge is a bit clipped). Unfortunately, I didn't include anything that would help create a sense of scale, but at least the color flow is clear. I'm rather pleased with the color flow, though I do wish I'd gotten a bit more of that dark batik on the edge and had a more solid dark border to finish it off. I'm going to call this one a happy success. I think it will be a great addition to my guest room -- if I let it live down there. Part of me wants to find a way to have it in a place where it would be more prominently displayed.
After the kiddo saw the pictures, she asked me if she could sleep with it. So I guess that means I better get a move on and get some more effort in on the twin-sized quilt I have planned for her for when she graduates to a "big girl" bed.
Blooming Batik 9 Patch -- "Fire"
it was nice to find that I had already sewn together a significant number of the component strips, and even nicer to take them out, iron them and look at how the colors worked together. There's something distinctly satisfying about pulling out a 3 year old project and still being happy about one's color decisions. 
It took me a few minutes to review the pattern and component parts, but I found that, in spite of the long hiatus, I didn't have much difficulty getting back into the swing of this project. Amazing how much muscle memory just takes over sometimes as I started seaming squares together.
I have modest goals for making continued progress on this project. Weekday time is limited, so I am hoping to dedicate weekend afternoons to it. I still have 7 long strips to piece together from component squares. Then all the strips have to be seamed together -- which will probably be the most challenging part since it will require much pinning and fiddling with edges. But one of the very nice parts about this project, is that because of the way the fabrics and squares blend together, little problems should become relatively invisible in the finished project. 
. It wasn't the most expensive model, but it certainly met with all the criteria that people had mentioned for a good iron. 
