Working on a Snowflake Quilt

Since my other project is still in progress, today I will be blogging about a quilt I am working on behind the scenes.  When I blogged last, I had just started an doll using an experimental technique I had read in Art Doll Magazine.  The doll requires several layers of papier mache' before it reaches a point that I can cut be taken to the next step.  Papier mache' takes a while to build up layers as it needs to dry between each layer.  So I will also be blogging intermittently about the quilt just to have some photos of interest to my readers.

The snowflake quilt is going to be a quilted table runner.  It's finished sized will be 23 & 1/2 inches by 59 and 1/2 inches (59.69 centimeters x 151.15 centimeters).  This was a quilt I had not intended to make.  It was something that got started then got out of hand.  It all started after I completed the embroidered jacket I had blogged about recently.  I was going to a quilting group that meets near my home.  The women get together to quilt, sew, knit and crochet one day a week.  Everyone brings a project and we work on our projects as we have a social day.  When I finished my jacket, I needed something to work on and had not had time to go shopping for material for a quilt I wanted to make.  I had an idea for a wall hanging quilt, but was having trouble finding the material I needed at the closest stores.  So I just picked up a few fat quarters thinking I would work on while I was at the group.

The material I picked up were two shades of cool blue.  They are so close together in color that you almost have to squint to see the difference in color in some types of light.  So I started making four patches and sewing them together in rows.  The cool blues reminded me of a winter sky.  And that is when I decided I needed to embroider snowflakes in some of the squares.  It is taking a lot longer than I imagined it would.

The large snowflakes take about two and a half hours each.  If I am embroidering a small snowflake it only takes about two hours.   I embroider them while I watch television in the evening.  I may get one snowflake done, and if I have time embroider in the next set of guidelines that set the size of the snowflake. I still have two rows of embroidery left to do on the quilt.  I estimate another eighteen hours of embroidery left to do on the large and small snowflakes.

However, those will not be the only snowflakes on the quilt.  Once the layers of batting and backing have been added, I will be adding more flakes to the quilt.  Rather than doing a traditional binding, I am going to make a tied quilt.  The quilt top, batting, and backing will be sew together with right sides of the fabric facing the batting, sewn around the edges of the quilt, then pulling the quilt right side out.  Once the quilt has been pulled right side out, the opening will be hand sewn closed.  (I will have photos of this in future blog posts.)  Once the quilt is smoothed out, I will tie each corner and the centers of the four patches with tiny snowflakes.  These snowflakes will just be small straight stitches and will be used to tie the quilt together at regular intervals.

So, that is the plan.  I'll let you know how it works out and any insights I may have about the process as I go along.  Next blog post will be an update on the Doll Experiment.  Check back on Sunday for that post.