I sort of cringe when I see myself in these photos. I figure, if I’m sharing all this on the blog, I better get over my self-consciousness!
LeahQuilt and Dress being shown at the Modern Quilt Guild meeting
Tag: LAMQG
Urban Nine Patch – finished
I sat down, quilted, binded and put on the label. Oh and of course took pictures.Here it is in all it’s glory. This picture was taken before I washed the quilt. Yes nice crisp lines. 
Here is a close up, you can’t really see the quilting on the prints, except for the straight lines in the large grey areas. Yay for a walking foot and a machine that cuts the thread itself. I’m talking about my Juki.
The back is made up of the leftover fabrics from the piecing. So once again, quilting is not obvious.
You get the idea of what the quilting looks like. Initially this quilt was meant for me. I had made the blue/grey quilt for Joel so this was going to be my, cuddle up quilt. I was posting pictures along the way on FB and before I knew it, a good friend claimed it. It is her colors! She wants this quilt and is willing to exchange a piece of art for it.
I don’t sell my quilts. I have given baby quilts as gifts but this is a full size quilt and the time and effort put in are much more than a baby quilt. An exchange, now there is an idea, I said yes.
If this were a wall hanging, there would be no need to wash it. Since it will be used as a quilt should be – I washed it. I don’t want the new owner to have any surprises if down the road she decides to wash it herself.
Here it is washed. What’s the difference you ask?
The top is unwashed, the bottom, after washing. Now you can really see the difference. I didn’t prewash the fabric, I used 100% cotton batting. Then threw it in the washing machine and dryer and this is the result. The quilt shrunk a little but it is also much softer and cozier. You can see the quilting in action, how it makes everything much more three dimensional.
A quilt isn’t really finished until there is a label. It’s the artist signature, name and date.
This is why I still need the Babylock machine. It does basic embroidery, which is a nice easy way to make a label.
Next week I will show this off to my Quilt Guild and then it’s going across the country to Connecticut to my friend Lynne. When I get the artwork from her, I’m sure I’ll post about that as well.
LeahThe Chuppah part 2
It is finished!!! All sewn and ready to be attached to the poles. 
The quilting and binding is finished. If this were just a quilt then all that would remain would be the label.
The backing used up all the leftover fabric and then some. I had to go buy more fabric for the binding.
I have some very clear ideas about how to affix the ties, but first, it was show off time!
Yoch and I are both member of the Los Angeles Modern Quilt Guild and our monthly meeting is held the first Monday of the month. This month was special, a photographer from the LA Times was there to document our quilts. Since we are the first modern quilt guild – we will are part of an article on the whole movement. We were asked to bring our most modern quilt. What better than this joint project. Yoch is describing his color choices and design.
Even the back is impressive and the guy blocking me? That is the photographer. He later asked for my name, so I am really hoping that this quilt will be in the article. One can hope right?
Next stage, putting ties in the corners so it can be attached to the poles. I knew it had to be strong, this is one heavy chuppah. Most are not this large or quilted.
I cut eight strips, 45″ x 2″, found the middle and ironed in a strong piece of interfacing, then folded it in half and ironed. Next I positioned the reinforced portion on both front and back of quilt in the corner, sewed in place with an x through the middle for extra strength.
As you can see here, I sewed the strips across the corner, at this point it looks like there are 4 strips.
View from the back, at this point I sewed the two strips of fabric together, so it is stronger and easier to tie.
Now for the test, will they hold the weight of the chuppah?
Yes!! It works beautifully. I hung it from my pergola and it’s holding strong. Which means for the duration of the ceremony, it should be fine. Yes, I have some pity on the brothers (my two other sons and Yoch’s two brothers) who will be holding this up. They are strong young men, they should be fine.
Next time I show images will most probably be after the wedding, when I can share this as part of a wonderful celebration.
Leah