Tuesday, August 25, 2020

Best Finally Finished:Pipertown

I’m participating in Country Threads Dirty Dozen Challenge which started in July and I have committed to finishing twelve UFO’s, one for each month, for the next twelve months.  I’ve done a few QALs and BOM with Country Threads in the past and always have stayed on task.   So far, I am now two for two with my big finish this month of a top which I made in 2000, twenty years ago.  I used to keep a spreadsheet of my quilting activity back in the early days so I checked it to see when this top was finished and much to my surprise as to how long ago it was but I also forgotten who my inspiration was for this quilt top which has been hanging around in my studio for too long. I mistakenly had referred to this top as my Pluto Dash quilt; Pluto being our dearly departed Blue Tick Coonhound but when I looked at my spreadsheet, this quilt was named after Piper, a Black Lab whose owner I worked for some years at her quilt shop.  Whenever I worked at the quilt shop, Piper was my charge and I seemed to be the only one he would listen to which I attributed to me being the one who gave him good cookies.  I need to remind Carol, my Quilt Peep of this important fact from our quilt shop days who is also tasked with verifying that Amy Butler once gave me a quilt pattern. 

When the conversation print of the dog came to the shop, I knew I wanted to make a quilt to showcase the print, I loved it so much, I bought all three of the color ways it came in; brown, black and blue (which is the color I would use for Pluto).  This is the  black color way and although it looks more like a hound like my Pluto, the black was going to be for Piper, who was named after a plane but to me his name reminded me of Scottish Bagpipers.  

I can’t remember the inspiration for the pattern but I remember designing it on EQ which is simply 8” Churn Dash done in two different colors, one with red HST and black HST with 8” HST in the dog print and black and 8” plain black blocks arranged in a barn raising layout. This quilt measures approximately 60” by 75”.

Here’s a close up view of the seven prints used in this quilt, many of them old friends like the black eyelash print by Jinny Breyer, which is one print I wished I still have some more. I chose the red plaid print in keeping with the tartan sounding name of Pipertown.
When the top was finished I knew back then that I wanted diagonal straight lines going around the center of the quilt which wasn’t common back then for a longarm quilter to do and I didn’t want a pantograph.  Also back then, I knew I couldn’t machine quilt it myself, it took twenty years for me to get up the courage to quilt it the way I wanted.  There were a few times I wanted to quilt just straight vertical lines just to get the quilt finished, but I’m glad I stuck with my initial plan.
At first I had a problem with pin basting on the diagonal until my 3” wide ruler came to the rescue in keeping the pins straight and 4” apart.
And keeping me up the night before I started the machine quilting was thinking how I was going to mark the quilting lines but the guide on my quilt foot was the answer to keeping my lines 1” apart.  I used a black Aurifil thread for the quilting and liked the way it turned out.  
I started the machine quilting at the corner ends which is where I usually start when I straight line quilt and was worried that once I started quilting towards the center it would be a puffy mess but glad it turned out just a little puffy with no tucks or pinches.
Another worry I had about this quilt, was if I would be able to find more of the red plaid for the binding and was lucky to find that when I was setting up my binding drawer I had put some of it away thinking that this quilt would eventually be finished.  Big Whew here. The backing is another Jinny Beyer print which I must have purchased at least ten yards of it since I used some of it for another quilt.  I’m pretty sure I must have bought it on sale.
One of the reasons why I chose this quilt to be one of my “Dirty Dozen” was that it would go with the other red and black quilts at the Grandparent House where it is now residing.  Right now it’s covering one of the chairs in the living room but don’t know if it’s going to stay there since I have a dog, Sophie, who likes to scratch and snuggle on the quilts and a granddaughter who likes to throw quilts off the chairs.  I’m not looking forward to the day I have to wash this quilt and pray the reds won’t bleed onto the light dog print by using a gazillion color catchers. Hopefully the quilt won’t get ruined and if it does, I have more of the dog print and it won’t take me twenty years to finish it. I have the machine quilting experience under my belt now.  All the worries which came with the finally finish of Pipertown ended with a big sigh of big happy relief and happy dancing for me.
I now have made typing peace with the new Blogger Interface with my very recent purchase of a keyboard for my iPad.  Why I didn’t think of this before is a mystery, even more why no one suggested it before, Kathleen—this is a game changer.  Since my last post, I now know how to add links which there are none in this post and labels; almost back to the good old Blogger days.  I’m also pretty proud that I realized all by myself that I didn’t have to switch the iPad from the keyboard case to my usual pink case which is the one my granddaughter knows for her video watching, the keyboard is portable and isn’t attached to the keyboard case. Hopefully this new Blogger Interface is going to stay awhile because I don’t how much more adaptability or flexibility I have left in me.

9 comments :

  1. Thanks for sharing your story and your quilt. Congratulaitons on the finish!

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  2. Awesome finish, Rose! I enjoyed reading the story, including those fun dog memories. Great job sticking to the crosshatching idea and doing it yourself! Ditto with Blogger and your keyboard!

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  3. Another nice quilt, my friend! The pattern is timeless, and the story behind the quilt and the fabrics is such fun. Glad you stuck with your original plan for quilting; it looks fantastic!

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  4. Lovely backstory to this pretty quilt....I love those older Jinny Beyer prints...nice finish...hugs, Julierose

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  5. I love that dog print and the plaid. So glad you had the binding stashed away! I wouldn't have found it until I used something else for the binding. Glad you are now playing nice with blogger!

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  6. See? It is GOOD to have some decade (or two)-old WIPs. It provides a wonderful jaunt down memory lane, and I'm so glad you took us with you. My only sadness is that our dogs don't live long enough. The quilt turned out great (great images of dogs snuggling and GD tossing it), and yay you for doing the quilting (fabulous) and the blogging!

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  7. I bet it feels so good to get a 20-year UFO off the list! Love it! I hope that whenever it does get washed, you don't have any fabric bleed. So glad you got to the point where you can quilt it the way you envision. Congrats!

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  8. Wow! A 20 year ufo with Jinny Beyer eyelash - you go and get those things done. Doesn't it feel good. I am hoping to have a similar report the end of the month. Meanwhile I am trying to finish a TGIFF for tomorrow at 6 when I am hosting.... So glad you are loving the keyboard. Makes me smile as I type this.

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  9. Hi Rose! Pipertown is a fabulous finish, and the twenty-year wait is over. It was well worth the wait! Don't you just feel great?! Your quilting skills developed enough to finish this beauty just the way you wanted, and it sure looks nice brightening the chair in the living room. I'm also glad you conquered Blogger. You're never to old to conquer and learn new things - Micah will show many new things! ~smile~ Roseanne

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I appreciate your comments but due to traveling and my ineptitude with typing on either my iPhone or iPad, my response may be somewhat delayed. Thank You for your understanding.