Owen’s quilt | Simple Bird Applique

For some reason this post from yesterday disappeared:( So I am re-posting it. Thank you, technology, for keeping me on my toes…

We have had a couple of cool evenings lately, so it seemed like a good time to stitch the binding on Circle of Tulips. So this is my third (!) finish of 2014! My first finish was Owen’s quilt…

…and my second finish was Civil War Bride..

So, once I finished the binding, it was time to wash the quilt. I didn’t have the heart to put this quilt in the washing machine, so I decided on the bathtub instead. First, I filled the tub with cool water…

…and added half a scoop of Oxi-Clean.

I let the quilt soak for about an hour, swishing it around with my hands now and then. I used a wool batt so once the quilt was wet, it smelled very much like a wet dog!

I let the water drain out, rinsed the quilt under the tap (the quilt was very, very heavy) and pressed out as much of the water as I could. I carried it downstairs where I had laid out a thick, clean blanket. I placed the quilt on the blanket and smoothed it out, making the edges as square as I could.

Even though I squeezed out a lot of water, within minutes the water was starting to be absorbed by the thick blanket. I could have used towels, but I didn’t have enough clean towels at the time! As you can see, even after soaking for an hour, the marks left behind from the Frixion marker did not come out, but I had a plan for that!

Once the quilt was completely dry, I used my steam iron to remove the pen marks. I never touched the quilt with the iron, I just held the iron 1/2″ or so away from the quilt and let the steam do the work. So this picture is before I steamed it…

…and after I steamed it. Magical!

Til next time…

Kerry

Oh my! I am so excited! Here it is just the end of March, and I already have two finishes! First, Owen’s quilt. Beautifully quilted by Colleen at Elite Quilting.

And, here is the back.

For the lettering, I just printed “Owen’s quilt” in Illustrator and prepped the pieces just like I would prep any other shape. Remember this?

And here is my Civil War Bride quilt breathtakingly machine quilted by Rose at Elite Quilting. I wish you could see this in person!!

Whenever I ask Colleen to machine quilt a quilt for me, she always asks me what design I have in mind. This is the look I give her….

…and then I say, “I don’t know…whatever you think”. As you can see, my input is not needed at all!

Here are some more pics…

This is the backing I chose…I found it on sale for $6 a yard. I bought the whole bolt!!

I am also very excited to announce I am just putting the finishing touches on the first block of my first Block-of-the-Month called “To Everything There is a Season”. It is a quilt designed by MT Designs exclusively for Simple Bird Studio. Would you like a hint or two? Well, the quilt consists of twelve 18″ blocks. And a center medallion. There is a cardinal, a squirrel, a hummingbird, a basket of poinsettias and a wreath of roses…among other delights. Look for it next week!

Til next time…

Kerry