Thursday 12 January 2012

Quiltus Giganticus!

I been beavering away on my Dad's civil war quilt, and look what I've made:

Side view: 61" x75"

The first pic is of the quilt top spread out on my bed!  Just to give you some sizing perspective, my bed is Super King size!  This might not be the biggest quilt you've ever seen, but it's one of the biggest I've ever made!

But I LOVE it! 

Colours still look a bit pale here, sorry!  They are much warmer and deeper in reality.
I love the fabrics, the colours, the blocks, the story telling, and working with such quality material was a dream.  I think that's why I managed to run this up so quickly (certainly wasn't down to the mathematical conversion skills I had to apply to each block!).

If anyone wants to know the Civil War names of all the blocks featured, just let me know (but I won't be expecting a run on email requests!).

The back will be made up of personalised message blocks from each member of our family, a type of memory quilt on the back.  I'll bring you pics when the back is made.

And then comes the big question - How on earth do I quilt a Giganticus?

Bearing in mind the size of this beastie, my lack of significant biceps, and the back being as much a feature as the front - all suggestions will be gratefully received!

I have 1 month to go til my dad's 70th birthday!  Plenty of time to panic!

Hope you are having a wonderful Thursday!

24 comments:

  1. That looks absolutely wonderful! As for Quilting, I think I would do each block separately, and then go in the ditch along the sashing but that is how I like them to look, I am sure some far more creative lovely people will give you some much better ideas.

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  2. Very cool! We are both making super huge sampler quilts at the same time!

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  3. Goodness its a whopper innit! Your dad is going to love it I'm sure :-) As for how to quilt it.... Employ a child to hold the weight you cant... I did a quilt with mum holding the weight, it was tricky at first but when we got into the swing of things it made such a difference!

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  4. This is really beautiful and I like the modern blocks combined with the more traditional fabrics.

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  5. Wow! I love it!! I have a similarly huge sampler quilt waiting to be basted and quilted. This has inspired me to get cracking on it!

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  6. Wow it looks amazing!! I need to get my sampler finished!

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  7. Your dad is going to be so chuffed. This already looks like an old, well-loved quilt.
    Long arm quilter?

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  8. It is wonderful and I see you have been so careful with each block to line the fabrics perfectly. It is a wonderful gift. I would either send it out as Sheila suggests or do an all over stipple. Or this could be a quilt that you tied (by hand or with your machine doing tacks) or hand quilted.

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  9. It's wonderful! How about machine quilting in the ditch either side of the sashing strips and then hand quilting each block?

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  10. Oh WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I know these aren't your normal style of fabrics but they look amazing in your superbly stitched blocks - crisp, precise and so beautiful. Your dad is a lucky man!

    Quilting not being my forte, I will leave it to the more experienced to make suggestions.

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  11. Oh my goodness look at that fantastic-ness. Wow. You're going to have to start doing press ups before quilting! My fav block is the little American flag you have in there :) Nice touch.

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  12. Your Dad is going to be thrilled as you have done a brill job. No idea about the quilting as I'm only a beginner.

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  13. wow Judith, it looks fabulous, your dad will be thrilled! I would do some hand quilting on each block: something for you to do whilst sitting down in the evenings - or to make you sit down in the evening!!

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  14. Wow it looks fab, no ideas how to quilt something this big sorry!

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  15. Well done, that looks fab! Sure he'll really appreciate it :o)

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  16. Oh your Dad is going to be so amazed!!
    As for quilting - you are asking the wrong, indecisive person!

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  17. It's really beautiful Judith! Your Dad is a lucky man! I think hand quilting would look lovely.

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  18. J This is an incredible piece & so meaningful!

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  19. The quilt is fabulous and you made is so quickly. Where do you find the time?!

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  20. Oh it's wonderful! You did a great job!

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  21. Oooh this is looks fab. At the risk of getting a slap I'm going to suggest hand quilting. You've got nothing to do for the next month have you? ;-) Can't wait to see it all finished.

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  22. Cor, this is amazing! I've got no useful suggestions re quilting it (other than sending it to Trudi, which probably isn't feasible!) but from the little experience I've had, I say keep it simple and don't try something that has to match exactly on both sides :) x

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  23. I totally love this quilt! Your dad will be overwhelmed I am sure. lOVE the colours, fabrics, blocks, size everything! Beautiful. xxx

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  24. Wow, it looks wonderful, Judith! Such beautifully precise work, it will be the perfect gift :)

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