It's late Thursday evening while I write this and my allergies are messed up but I want to get this posted before I turn in so pardon me if it's a little disjointed or full of typos. But as a consolation there are lots of photos! I spent the day getting the cat quilt ready for quilting and that turned into quite the grueling task.....because, you know, I get IDEAS. The cat quilt has 3 borders. One blue border was already added, then there's a print border and finally another blue border. Simple, right? It was until I got the great idea that the print border had to be totally symmetrical. These 2 photos are of the same print fabric with strips of the blue positioned to highlight stripes so I could choose what I wanted. The left is lengthwise and the right is crosswise. I chose the left one in the right side photo. I needed 8 strips, 2 for each side. I think those 2 spots look like cat eyes. This border had to be planned from the corners to the middle so that meant that the whole border had to be constructed like a frame and then stitched onto the quilt. It was a little overwhelming but I just took it one step at a time. First I made all 4 corners and they are stitched to within 1/4" of the inside corner so that I can stitch it onto the quilt like a Y seam. Next I had to do a bunch of math, some of it really bad, to figure out how long each leg would need to be to meet up with the next corner so that the join was a symmetrical design. My brain was hurting during this part and I made a bunch of mistakes and I completely forgot to take more photos. I was smart enough to make all of my join seams with a long stitch length until I knew that I had it just right. I even stitched two wrong legs together once and wound up with and S shape instead of a frame. Here's I've finally got it all the frame seams basted and the frame pinned to the quilt top. As I sewed the frame in sections I'd stop to stitch the join seams and trim the excess fabric. Here are the joins: corner, top/bottom and sides. It's PERFECTLY symmetrical. I will admit that this border ended up a little wavy but I was able to reign it in with the final blue border and a good steam press. Aside from some early morning grocery shopping, this is ALL that I accomplished Thursday. I'm really thrilled! I'm glad I took the extra time to do a symmetrical border. I may be the only person who actually notices it but I don't care. I now know that I can do it. I can't wait to get it quilted and bound and I hope that happens in the next week.
Today I think I'm going to load 2 veterans quilts to quilt up really fast and screen print some tea towels.
Claire
5/8/2020 10:45:12 am
Wow--what a brain challenge. One of those things that are always worthwhile. Love the quilt and the borders.
Kristin F
5/8/2020 11:02:59 am
Great job with the symmetrically mitered corners and joins. That would be complicated!
Lace Flower
5/8/2020 11:08:19 am
Wow, you really make things complicated for yourself, good outcome. What would have been noticeable is if it wasn't symmetrical. Great use of the fabrics.
Becky Turner
5/8/2020 12:32:01 pm
Oh my... I get blown away every time I see those cats!
patty
5/8/2020 12:36:15 pm
The border looks fabulous! With reading all the pain you went thru to accomplish this, I don't think I will ever give it a try! LOL!!!
Mrs. Plum
5/8/2020 02:21:09 pm
Oh, the symmetrical border is fabulous, Vicki! Somehow the border highlights the variations in the cats. Good thing you had enough fabric to do it. 5/8/2020 04:08:57 pm
That border was certainly worth the extra time and trouble - it looks fantastic!! - ;)) 5/8/2020 05:41:59 pm
All I can say is WOW! And it only took you one day to do it. I'm not sure I would have attempted that even when I was your age.
Gene Black
5/9/2020 08:03:10 am
Color me impressed!
Sylvia Anderson
5/9/2020 08:50:02 am
WOW, OMG and HOLY COW! You really like to challenge yourself Vicki, but it was all worth it, because the outcome is fabulous.
shirley bruner
5/9/2020 10:43:52 am
you got a little obsessed with this, didn't you? haha but it turned out fabulous.
Terry
5/9/2020 10:56:04 am
WOW!!! The border compliments those cats perfectly! I totally saw it was symmetrical! AMAZING!!!! Comments are closed.
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I'm Vicki Welsh and I've been making things as long as I can remember. I used to be a garment maker but transitioned to quilts about 20 years ago. Currently I'm into fabric dyeing, quilting, Zentangle, fabric postcards, fused glass and mosaic. I document my adventures here. Categories
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