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Monday, May 6, 2013

Carnaby Street...Complete!

I have what some (most vocally, my husband) might call a "one-track mind."  Seriously- I am not kidding.  I have a real problem.  When I get engrossed in a quilt, I simply cannot think of anything else.  As luck would have it, I had to take my son to the doctor today- he's not sick, or else I would never consider that lucky.  Even more lucky, was that his appointment was smack in the middle of the day, so I had to take the whole day off.  Darn!  I'm sure you can guess what I decided to do with that extra time before and after his appointment.  Yep, you guessed it!  I finished the Carnaby Street quilt.  Yay!

After finding the most perfect backing fabric ever yesterday afternoon (check out the picture below), there was no stopping me.  Usually I'm an old-fashioned safety pin basting kinda girl, but I took advantage of the dry weather and decided to recruit my husband to help me try spray basting for the very first time (more on that little misadventure another time).  Suffice it to say that although it was dry, it was a little breezy, and that made things very interesting.  We did however, manage somehow to get the quilt basted successfully without the unwelcome additions of leaf bits and dirt- though not very efficiently.  Ha!

I decided to quilt it with a simple meandering, since the recipient of this quilt has told me before that it's her favorite kind of quilting.  Truthfully, it's really my favorite too.  I love how it makes the quilt all crinkly, and how it doesn't compete with the fabrics.  By the way- I don't think I can call my quilting "stippling" just yet, since my stitching pattern is very random and not always evenly spaced.  FMQ is still new for me;  I've only been doing it since January.  Other examples of stippling that I've seen have very regular curved lines.  I'm in awe of people who can do that on their regular home machines, and I'm continuously trying to reach that standard.  I don't know if you can see what I mean in the picture below-

The most perfect backing- tone on tone chevrons in the most perfect shade of aqua
(picture taken in the most imperfect lighting)-


So anyway, here's the finished quilt (fyi- the dark color in the quilt looks black, but it's navy blue)-


Again, my complete lack of patience will simply not allow me to wait until it is daylight to take a better picture.  Hope you like it!


21 comments:

  1. Love it! Can I have some of your one track mind. My mind wanders in so many directions, I can never get anything accomplished!

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    1. Thanks a bunch!! It can be both a blessing and a curse (depending on who you ask, I say!) ;)

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  2. what a beautiful quilt! sometimes its good to just take a pic RIGHT AWAY and get the post out there, I've finished a few and still haven't posted about them because I haven't gotten the "perfect" photos LOL.

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    1. Thanks!! I'm so glad you like it. It so happens that I almost always finish quilts at night (probably because I can't pull myself away and go to sleep if I'm close to finishing!), so this is a recurring problem, haha! I figure that I can always crop and adjust the color (aren't computers marvelous?). Or if I absolutely have to, I can post it, then update when I get around to getting an awesome pic. :) Thanks for your comment!

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  3. Beautifully done! A classic design and it showcases the fabrics very well.

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    1. Thanks so much for your encouragement! I'm glad you like it!

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  4. Lovely! So glad you linked up to TGIFF! I know what you mean about a one-track mind. I think my husband would say the same about me. LOL!

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    1. Thank you! Personally, despite my joking, I think that the one-track mind is a great thing. I'm sure I wouldn't accomplish nearly as much without it! Just don't look at the "unaccomplished piles" in my laundry room, lol!!

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  5. I'm obsessive about finishing projects, too. The quilt is beautiful!

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  6. Looks awesome! Love the backing choice!
    I'm more obsessive about starting projects, it's the finishing i need improve on :)

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    1. haha! I think the only reason I don't have that problem is that I only allow myself one project at a time. Of course, that means I have a whole stash of fabrics pulled, just waiting to be cut for their projects, because the ideas somehow don't seem to stop running through my head.

      Thank you! I feel like I really lucked out in finding that backing. It really is the perfect shade, and chevrons are so "in" right now. :)

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  7. This is STUNNING! I love everything about it!

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  8. Dropped by from TGIFF - what a great quilt and you did make me laugh with your story about the basting spray! Have a great weekend :)

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    1. Thank you very much!! Seriously- it might take awhile before I try spray basting again! :)

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  9. It is gorgeous as is your FMQ!
    esthersipatchandquilt at yahoo com
    Ipatchandquilt dot wordpress dot com

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    1. Thanks so much! I'm still perfecting my FMQ, so I appreciate the encouragement!

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  10. Very cool quilt, Kelly!! I'm so glad you lnked up with Whoop Whoop Friday, too!!

    Whoop whoop!!

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    1. Thanks a bunch!! It feels great to get stuff done! Whoop Whoop!! is exactly how I feel! :)

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  11. That is such a beautiful quilt! That backing really is perfect for this quilt. I love the pretty fabrics in your blocks and you did a great job with the quilting. I have loved reading your posts and hearing your experiences as you learn new things. I'm working backwards through your May posts, so I know you've improved with your stippling, but one thing that helped me a lot when getting started was to doodle out the quilting. I doodled pages and pages of very tiny stippling and that really helped cement the motion in my brain and allowed my curves to be come more smooth and even in an actual quilt.

    Congrats on a great finish and thank you for linking up!

    xo -E

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Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting! I read and appreciate every single comment, and I reply to each one as soon as I can. If you don't hear back from me, you might be a no-reply blogger. :)

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