Quilting Acorns

Sometimes the quilt's name is so long that it also has a nickname. That is the case with this quilt. Acorns is the nickname for Where Did the Acorns Come From? I started pinning it today so quilting should start this weekend.

There was a challenge for Acorns. Could I make a large quilt and limit myself to only 3 fabrics? The number was 3 because the block used in the center required 3 shades - light, medium, dark. To complicate matters I only had 1/2 yd of the medium fabric. Instead of searching worldwide for more, I decided to make 1/2 yd do. I was successful in meeting the challenge, but I don't think I could have done it without the use of applique. The quilt top is approximately 62x72, which I believe qualifies as a large enough quilt.

So now I need a new challenge. (I'm not sure why this quilt requires another challenge. It just does. For the record, not EVERY future quilt will involve a challenge. We're not going there.) I decided the top will be quilted without benefit of a walking foot. That is, the walking foot shall not touch Acorns. It will be done with 100% free motion quilting.

Saturday, 11/24, a.m. Quilting is underway. Quilting a medallion quilt is a different thought process. I'm not sure a walking foot would have helped all that much. The center block is 16". I thought it would be best to quilt the center block in the ditch first and work my way around the borders instead of the strip approach. Because of the width, there was a lot of unrolling/rolling required. Also much repositioning of the quilt as I changed directions. I reminded myself how important it is to keep the quilt in a squared position. Failure to do that could be one cause for quilts hanging poorly when finished. After quilting the center block in the ditch, I removed the quilt from the machine and rolled it again before proceeding to the next step. With this quilt I am trying Bev's method of tieing knots and burying threads instead of doing short stitches. It takes more time, but avoids little knots of thread on the back. May be more secure too since a later step will involve stippling over the places where the threads are buried.

Monday, 11/26, p.m. Finished all the quilting in the ditch, which I am calling step 1. Proceeded to step 2, quilting the points of the center Bethlehem Star. I quilted parallelograms 1/4" in from the ditch. It is something often seen in hand quilting. Then I went on to step 3, quilting the zig zags at the top and bottom. This involved skills similar to the points of the Bethlehem Start. All of this took multiple days. Finished Friday evening, 11/30.

Sunday, 12/2, a.m. Acorns has 14 sawtooth star blocks. In the center of each, I quilted a heart design (step 4). I don't intend for it to be noticed as hearts. It just filled the space well. Most of that was done on Saturday. Today I started step 5, which will finish the quilting on the stars. (I have the need to use the word "finish" in some capacity.) I am quilting continuous curves on the points of the stars. Then I sneak back into the center and outline quilt the heart design 1/4" from the edge. I am really pleased with the stars. Back to work.

Wednesday, 12/12, p.m. Since 12/2 I have quilted continuous leaves with center veins in the flying geese and a single center vein in the appliqued oak leaves. I am almost finished with the veins in the leaves.

Sunday, 12/16, a.m. We had significant snow last night. This morning it looks like a REAL winter morning. It is so pretty. Unfortunately my driveway looks like a winter driveway and I struggle to see the beauty in it. The veins in the leaves are finished and I have also quilted 14 acorns into the star and squirrel applique sections of the quilt. Today I think stippling will be underway. This is a deciding moment. How small will the stippling be? Because whatever I do today dictates what I will need to do to finish this quilt.

Sunday, 12/16, p.m. The stippling on the background within the flying geese border is complete. It is 1/8-1/4" apart.

Monday, 12/31, p.m. I just completed the last of the stippling. All that remains is the label and the binding. It is indeed a Happy New Year!