The border...the saga...the fixup... the tying...the backing...the binding...THE FINISH!! (bar the label)

Well, what a busy week. The first pic is of the ill fated borders. It is not a particularly good picture, but you can see how they just didn't add anything to the quilt, except a whole lot of busy-ness that just didn't work. Maybe if the stitching had been more delicate. I don't know, they didn't work, they had to go! So , as soon as Rob got home on Friday, I was off to mums to put new borders on. I was a bit (alot actually) miffed, because I had spent hours and hours on the borders, and I would of rather spent that time working on the body, and refining bits and pieces here and there. But never mind. Lesson learnt - when you REALLY don't want to put anything in the border, don't listen to your mother, and DON"T do it! Love you mum :)

Next we have assembling the quilt. Backing down. Flannel sheet for batting, top on, then we pinned. I was really keen to try Valerie Bothells "inside tying" method, but since we really didn't know what we were doing, we decided we couldn't afford the time, and just did it the traditional way.
I did get a bit of time in the evening to do some stitching and finishing before we embarked on this part the next day.
Here we have the tied quilt hanging up, to see if there were any extra saggy bits that needed tying. I did toy with the idea of doing a layer of interfacing over the entire back to help stabalize, but it was actually in really good shape. We basically tied around the corners of each block and one tie in the middle of those.



And here those border rear their heads again! After re-doing the borders, we were short for the backing. Mum was going to use a different black, and said "why can't we use the borders?". I am really pleased that they are in there some where. They were such a lot of work. Not difficult, but terribly time consuming. The pic is of mum tying off the ties. The tying of the quilt was actually a pretty quick excerise. I spent yesterday evening running the ends of the threads into the quilt, so all you see is little knots here and there.
And my binding, and a lovely mitred corner.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And here is the finished quilt!! I can't quite believe I have done it. It hangs beautifully. When we came to do the binding, and mum checked the squareness and measurements, it was 1/4 of an inch out up the top of one side. That is from the original calculations of what is should of been, with 12 " blocks and a 6" border. Mum had a hard time with the 6" border. she was in sane quilt mode where they shouldn't be more than a third the width of the block, or something? I like the
6 inches. I think the quilt needed it to contain all that visual overload.

And some closeups for those of you who asked. The pics should be plenty big enough if you click 'em. First we have the top left quadrant.

bottom left

top right. The only hard embellishment on the quilt is the spider hanging from the web.
and the bottom right. You can see the blue flystitch/lazy daisy combo that I put around the border.

And finally, no quilt is complete without initials and the year. This was one of mums suggestions I did run with, working them into a web. I did look at doing formal, monogram typed initials, but i am not good with satin stitch and making it look perfect...and, well time really, and I really liked this idea!

So, what have I learned? I think that blocks should probably be made , and sashed as seperate blocks, and whole cloth should be done as just that, a whole cloth. While it wasn't my intention to 'disguise' the blocks, it ended up that way, and I could of had more time to finish it off better.

I could of given myself more time!! This quilt sat around as a WISP for a couple of months, and I really should of utilised that time . The curse of the procrastinator!

Use black interfacing on a black quilt !! Enough said.

Probably more planning in the beginning stages would have made for an overall more cohesive piece. Though when I started I thought I would just make blocks until I had had enough, then chuck them together, but I found that I didn't want a chucked together look. Despite being a "crazy quilt" they don't always look good "chucked" together.

I really like that I have a WHOLE QUILT to show for my efforts. Finished and ready to go on the bed. How exciting. I am inspired, and already PLANNING the next one!

I want to thank all of you that have followed the progress of this quilt. All your comments and suggestions have kept me motivated . Right back at the beginning of this process, many of you responded to my request for black fabrics, so look hard, you will see your contribution to this quilt in the pictures somewhere. Thank you thank you!


Now, the final hurdle. A name!! The working name was Black CQ. A bit boring. I would love your help here too.
This quilt was made in response to a comment my nana made about the three of us (nana , mum and I ) all exhibiting in the annual guild show together. I want a name that reflects that. History, women, family, generations, quilting. We all have very dfferent styles. Mum is an art/contemporay quilter, nana does applique/baltimore album type quilts, and I am "crazy".
Thoughts so far:
For Kitty (my nana)
Threads of Time
Homage to the Womenfolk

3rd Generation (thats me)



Leave a comment with your ideas , please.

32 comments:

Wendy said...

Jo, your quilt is so gorgeous! I really love the way you did the spiderweb with date and your initials that is a brilliant idea. This will be a treasure for future generations.

Marty52 said...

Jo, this is truly a masterpiece, IMHO. It is such a tradional crazy quilt, in the very best sense of the word. When I look at this quilt, I see all the original CQ stitchers smiling down at it. It is VERY special.

Ah... I vote for 3rd Generation.

Diane said...

It's wonderful. What an amazing encylopedia of stitches and seams. I really like the wide border and your very neat corners. You are quite the inspiration!

Anonymous said...

This is just an absolute masterpiece. I'm speechless.

Hideko Ishida said...

Jo, you have done the greatest job!! amazing!!

Cheryl said...

You did an amazing job tying all of the squares together with your seam treatments. The colors really pop now, and the flow from block to block is just wonderful. How I wish I could come to New Zealand and just watch you stitch- you are the diva!

Karrin Hurd said...

The quilt is exquisite Jo, you did a beautiful job. Congratulations1

Mary Corbet said...

Oh, Jo!!! It's incredible - I love the finish! It's fantastic - the whole thing. You must be so proud of it!! What a huge accomplishment. The initials are perfectly cleverly done. I'm glad you did the plain black edges. A Big Huge Congratulations!

For the name... I think I like 3rd Generation best. That way, you get your grandma and your mom in there! (and you, too...)

Well done!

MC

Thelma said...

Jo, I love your quilt , it is beautiful. Love how you initialed the year and your name in the spider web. Names are oh so hard to come up with. It's a beauty though.

Thelma said...

Black Beauty?? Black Widow?? I'm not good with names. lol

coral-seas said...

Wow, it is stunning. I had not taken on board how big it is until I saw the pic with your mum next to it.

I think the black boarders contain it very well and the initials/date in the web is inspired.

Naming them is really tough, how about From Kitty to Crazy, or Generation Crazy or Keeping it in the Family?

quiltlion said...

Jo, What can be said but, Beautiful!

Lyn G

gocrazywithme said...

Jo,
I especially love the date embroidered into the spider web. That is going to delight viewers of this quilt forever!

As for a name, how about, "Black Looks Back"?

Lisa Boni said...

Incredibly gorgeous Jo! The plain black border was definitely the way to go. Really sets off the gorgeous stitching in the blocks. I'm not usually a fan of spiders and webs, but I love this with your initials and date in there! You have a blue ribbon in my book for this!

Connie said...

Wow - now this is a beautiful quilt. I know the time you must have put into it - you are my CQ idol! I will think of it as inspiration for my future CQs! Thanks for sharing.

Candi said...

Jo your quilt came out just gorgeous!!! I love all the pic's you shared with us! Thank you:)
hugz:)
Candi

Cathy said...

Jo, this is an absolute masterpiece; a quilt that will be a benchmark for the rest of us to attain! Congratulations for sticking to it and producing such an incredible work with gorgeous stitching. You might be the 3rd generation of quilters/stitchers in your family so far, but this quilt will be admired by many future generations in your family, and my guess is that YOU will be recognized as the quilting superstar you are! Love and hugs, Cathy

LouAnne said...

Jo, you continue to be my inspiration! Awesome quilt. So many wonderful ideas. Love the flow and the funky spiderwebs, especially the one with your initials and date. This quilt is and will soon be known to be a classic incoming years. Names? I like the Black Looks Back and Generation Crazy or how about "3rd Generation is Crazy"

land-of-milk-and-honey said...

Jo,
Just wanted to let you know "You Inspire Me" I love the quilt. I plan on keeping a copy of it for reference. If it was mine i would name it "3rd Generation Crazy" of Crazy runs in my family.

Way to go!!!!!!

Tami

Marie Alton said...

Jo ... I have totally enjoyed following your progress on this quilt. You should be very proud...it is simply awesome!

Charlotte would be jealous of what you did with the webs! I know everyone who sees it will remember them.

After reading all the name suggestions...I am inclined to agree with "Third Generation Crazy"! Catchy!

Hugs...Marie

allie aller said...

You have got to be so proud of this huge accomplishment, Jo!
There is NO ONE who stitches like you do....and the black quilt shows that off perfectly.

Thanks for showing your finishing process too...good to have a sane quilter on hand for this part, I always think. Hangs straight and true!!!

And having the old borders on the back is a flash of genius!!!

WAY TO GO!!!

kerrykatiecakes2 said...

Jo - it is glorious! I think you made the right decision with the bindings too -it looks just perfect now! All the stitching is wonderfully done, imaginative, creative, and all that good stuff!

Names: With the three generations what popped into my head was "Triple Threat" - maybe we'll let it pop back out again, eh? lol

I kind of like the Third Generation one!
Hugs,
Kerry

Magpie's Mumblings said...

Words fail me to describe how wonderfully glorious this quilt looks! Oh how I wish I could see it in person because I know there are hours of delight in store for anyone lucky enough to do so. Congratulations on a remarkable quilt!!

Bear said...

Oh wowee Jo
your quilt is amazing and the more I looked the more I found- its so beautiful and not at all chucked together and the old borders screeched at the beautiful embroidery contained on the b locks- hon you dun the right thing and it looks wondrous on the back I can believe the amount of work you have put into this work of art
Tis Truly Beautiful
love n hugs bear xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Anonymous said...

I really like third generation. I am the third generation with my middle name and i take a lot of pride in that. Loeve the quilt and really like just the black boarders.

Gerry Krueger said...

First I love the way you did the date. VERY clever.... I finally had a chance to study the closeups. I have printed them on glossy photo paper and laminated them. Those 4 photos will provide me with enough inspiration for the rest of MY life.

I wanted them to fit in my needlework bag to show folks and knew they had to be laminated so I didn't wear them out..... Kudos to the "Queen of Seams" from the "Motif Maven."

Gerry K

Floristic said...

Jo, your quilt is so wonderful masterpiece. The stitching on the black background is terrific. I wish that I could be that great with my stitching.

Faye said...

Jo, your quilt is amazing, I too have been following your progress of the makings, and it's no wonder your very proud of it... you should be. What a wonderful inspiration you are.
cheers - Faye

Ati said...

Congratulations Jo with your finished quilt. I love it! And I like your black border!

Debra Dixon said...

Absolutely one of the prettiest CQ quilts I have seen! Just gorgeous!

Anonymous said...

"Magic black" is the name in my mind, you creat a magic world with your quilt!

Rose Anne B said...

I LOVE your Black CQ quilt!!! Your stitches are just exquisite my dear! As for the name I like "Threads of Time" but it's your quilt and you name it what strikes your fancy!!! YEAH!!!!!