Canvas Corners

So let's take a step back to the recent reveal post for my Summer Sampler. This was a big quilt - 80" x 90" - with the longest dimension actually being the width. Ie. Longer and taller than hubby could reach to hold it for a photo. So we had to get creative if we wanted a decent photoshoot.

The idea for our solution came straight from Zak Foster. For my version, I cut two canvas rectangles 4" x 12", then folded and stitched them to keep their shape. We'd tried a simple variation of this method involving push-pins a few weeks ago, but that quilt wasn't this big, so we were hoping real canvas pockets would be up to the job.

Zak bastes his canvas corners on his quilts, but I tried to speed things up by pinning them on. Considering how big my quilt was, they were a tad flimsy, so I might just try basting next time after all.

But that said, they worked well enough!

Hubby did say that even so, the quilt was heavy and he had to brace the ends of the sticks against his body to stabilize things. So it's not a perfect method, but obviously it worked pretty much, and we at least got a few photos. Final note - hubby had bought dowels to stick into the canvas corners, but they weren't sturdy enough for a quilt this large. So those are painter extension poles he's using, and they proved good and strong.

Do tell, how would YOU get photos of a quilt this big?

Still Looking Up

From the day I thought of using "Looking Up" as a Bee Sewcial prompt, I loved it, and there was no looking back. A stall, perhaps, but no looking back.

Looking Up :: 75" X 60"

I spent weeks looking up and taking inspiration photos, though I knew my bee-mates would easily find their own, just by taking a moment to look up wherever they might be. And of course, they did!

In the photo above you'll see [top to bottom, left to right]: "Storm" by Leanne/@shecanquilt, "Perception" by Silvia/@astrangerview, "Bridge" by M-R/@quiltmatters, "Dormant" by Stephanie/@spontaneousthreads, "Timber!" by Hillary/@entrophyalwayswins, "Ceiling" by Felicity/@felicityquilts, my own "Swinging", "Fascinating" by Marci/@marci_girl, "Aspire" by Anne/@playcrafts, and "Redwoods" by Karen/@capitolaquilter. Each block so unique and individually inspired.... I've spent alot of time looking at them and appreciating them.

I also spent alot of time fretting over how to puzzle the blocks into a whole, and at long last settled on an improvisational sashing using Kona Overcast, which besides being the perfect color, just added to the sentiment of the design prompt.

For quilting, I used Aurifil 50wt #2600 (light gray) to create a free-form mesh inspired by the power lines on our street. So mostly there are groupings of parallel lines angling across the quilt, grounded occasionally by a trio of vertical 'poles'. It was one more aspect in keeping with the theme, and I love the idea still, though the execution left some empty spaces larger than I would have liked, many of which were secured by just following the lines of the fabric. It all worked well enough for me to be satisfied for trying it, knowing just the same that another choice might have been better. I can live with that.

This one called to be horizontally oblong, and why not? Measuring 75" X 60", I finished it off with a faced binding. Though pulling my bee-mates' remarkable blocks into a cohesive whole nearly did me in this round, I love the finish for the thoughtfulness that went into it, for the admission (by me) that indeed, the struggle can be real, and especially for the reminder, as always, to pause for just a bit.... and look up.

This project was on my 2018 Finish-A-Long Q1 list.
Linking up with Finish It Up Friday and 2018 Finish-A-Long Q1 Finishes!