09 September 2009

The Firewood Quilt

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This will be the last quilt made as a barter/trade. Unfortunately, it seems the terms of the barter changed without my knowledge. The barter was to include delivery of the firewood. Now, it seems, that delivery is no longer included and since CarGuy can't help because of a bad back, I had to hire some help. I feel like I should just finish the top and hand it to him with a "Here, you need to quilt it." As much as I would love to get this quilt out of my house by either doing the above or sending it to a long arm quilter where the price is way too prohibitive, I won't. I am going to stick to the terms of the agreement.

The quilt, which is approximately 106"x106", will be quilted on my domestic sewing machine. The center portion will be quilted in four sections, then put together, and then the borders will be added. By adding the borders after the central portion is quilted, the borders are the only thing under the sewing machine during the final quilting.

And so, armed with Marti Michell's book Machine Quilting in Sections, I am ready to begin. The quilt is segmented and the backing is cut for each segment. There was just enough batting. I cut out borders first so I could get the length of grain and then was able to get whole pieces for 3 of the 4 segments. Piecing the batting for the fourth segment left just a handful of batting scraps, enough for a couple of thread catchers.

I'll keep you updated.

19 comments:

  1. It looks awesome! Good for you keeping your word even if they didn't. :(

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  2. Congrats for you sticking to the agreement even if the wood guy weasled on you. A question: how do you join the pieces of batting inside the quilt? This looks kinda like the Georgia Bonesteel lap quilting method on a large scale, but I forget how she joined the batting between the blocks. When I was using poly batting, I could separate layers, thin each side and overlap the batting to put two pieces together. I can't make this method work on cotton, though.

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  3. It looks great! I am sorry the firewood guy is a jerk!

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  4. The person you bartered with should not get away scot free, Word of mouth in the trade community is a very useful way to settle disputes.

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  5. I really like this quilt, Paula. Not that my comment there takes the sting out but its extremely charming and comfy. Well worked my friend. And now off to machine quilt this. I know you're up to the task else you wouldn't be doing it but we all know that doesn't negate the fact that it's a LOT of work. A great quilt for solidifying your skills I should think. And finally, I like your style. What an excellent example you set by sticking to the terms of the agreement!

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  6. Beautiful quilt - and kudos to you for keeping your part of the bargain!

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  7. I still feel bad for you that this guy didn't hold up his end of the bargain, but you know you won't feel right if you do less than what YOU agreed to. Atta girl!! A beauty of a quilt, hope he feels real snuggly happy and guilty when he sees it, lol.

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  8. This sort of thing makes one just that much less trusting doesn't it. The quilt is great, he doesn't deserve it really. How well do you know him?
    Good luck with the quilting.

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  9. Beautiful quilt, Paula! I, too, am interested to see how you assemble the whole thing after quilting. Keep us posted.

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  10. It is a gorgeous quilt Paula- what a smart idea to quilt it in sections. I have a king sized quilt waiting to be quilted that is 122X 115 to be quilted on my Babylock quilting machine( size of a Juki) It could be interesting trying to get it through the arm bed of the machine- good thing I am going to just meander it.Sections sound a lot smarter.
    Warmest regards,
    Anna

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  11. Oh, I feel your pain. My Charming Girls challenge for this month is to finish a barter quilt that I should have done a long time ago. Fortunately (or unfortunately for me) he has already fulfilled his end of the deal. So nose to the grindstone for me and get it done.

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  12. It is such a beautiful quilt - lovely colors. I guess I was thinking you have leverage here - you have the quilt, and it won't be given to him unless you get your wood delivered as promised. But I know sometimes it is better to just deal with it instead of fighting about it.

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  13. Paula this is the first time I've read your blog so I don't know the history of your barter but I applaud you for two reasons. 1) The barter itself is right up my alley. We would all be better off if we practiced it more. 2) Integrity is to be valued above most everything else because all the good characteristics God bestows on us are wrapped up in that one word. I must add this caveat: I know it's hard to cut wood but it's also time consuming to make a quilt and the value of a quilt ought to be at least twice that of the wood! The quilt not only takes labor; it also takes talent. I've never cut wood but I don't think (and don't anyone throw rocks here) talent is an issue. Certainly strength and determination and a willing heart are, but not talent. blessings, marlene

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  14. I think that would NOT make me happy at all. You have a much better attitude.

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  15. The quilt is outstanding. You are such a fine person to go ahead with your part of the deal despite the wood guy's failure.
    You will be rewarded in other ways.

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  16. The quilt is so pretty, I love the earthy tones in it.
    Good for you for sticking to your aggrement. I can't believe that they won't feel ashamed when they receive it.
    Good luck quilting it. That is how I quilted all of my quilts but one. Steve helped me roll it tightly and feed it through sometimes, especially towards the middle.
    Vicki

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  17. That quilt is spectacular! Sorry your co-barterer flaked on you, but you can still know that you kept your honor.

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  18. Wow...your firewood quilt is stunning! You will likely feel great when this is out of your house, eh?

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  19. I love the feel, design and effect that this quilt gives. I went back to your post in June to take a look at all those blocks. May I ask the size of the block and does it have a name? I might just put it on my someday I'll make it list...
    Sorry to hear that the 'terms' of the trade has changed without your input -- have your tried explaining or coming to an evaluation of both items cost? Would the cost of the quilt cover the cost of the firewood with or without delivery? Such a huge quilt should be valued not just for the materials but the cost of the quilting -- if you can't afford to send it out and are putting that value into the quilt by doing it yourself, add that cost of time into the cost of the quilt. If you feel used in the deal, there is nothing wrong with re evaluating the bargin...

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