Monday 11 February 2019

Finally Finished: Summer by the Sea

It's finally done and has only taken two years and 8 months to complete. I may have gotten slightly distracted by sewing and DIYing for the new flat in the interim.
Summer by the Sea in the January sunshine
This quilt should probably be called "Summers in Aeroplanes" instead as it's been on more trips than your average Gap Year Globe Trotter at this point. Off the top of my head the list includes Barcelona (Spain), Bordeaux (France), Dubai (UAE), Estonia, Germany, Italy, Paris (France), Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), Salzburg (Austria), San Francisco (USA), Zanzibar and, of course, a whole host of places in good old Blighty. Possibly my most cosmopolitan quilt yet.
Summer by the Sea
Hoping that it'll shrink more when I wash it
Summer by the sea
All of the squares in all of the rotations
(oooo! New quilt design idea!)


Started: May 2016
Finished: January 2019
Size: 108 x 126 cm (approx. 43 x 50")
Quilt top: 1 Jelly roll of Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda
Backing: Sea Garden in seafoam - Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda (I actually bought backing fabric this time. Shock. Horror)
Binding: StripeSalt Air by Cosmo Cricket for Moda 
Batting: Hobbs Heirloom Wool Batting
Quilting: 100% hand quilted using YLI hand quilting thread in white. Stencils from the Stencil Company 1.5" double cable and 1.5" shell border
Label: Scraps from quilt cutting as above


Summer by the Sea
Nautical quilting: Squares, shells, and a double cable
I've massively improved my hand quilting over the course of this quilt. My technique is probably completely unorthodox and 8 stitches per inch isn't really anything to write home about but I'm really pleased that much my speed and consistency has improved so much. I've tried out at least 5 different thimble / fingertip saving options in the process and finally found two that I really like.

Thimble Option 1: Metal fingertip shield
This fantastic fingertip shield from Colonial. You just stick it to your fingertip with the little sticky disks that come in the packet. Genius, but not great if you're quilting while travelling. I lost at least three of these but kept buying replacements because they are so good. A big thank you to my lovely friend Becca of BeccaSews who took me to the Great British Sewing Bee event at the Excel in London last year. I would never have come across these if I hadn't spotted them at one of the market stalls (Also you should check out Becca's jaw-dropping dress making skills. She bought stuff to make jeans and a jumper at this event and they turned out better than any I've ever bought in a shop! I'll just stick to my sewing-squares-together-and-hoping-they-match-up approach to sewing.)
Metal finger shield
Great at saving my fingertips!
Thimble Option 2: Silicone needle-puller
This silicone needle-puller comes a close second the above, depsite my hatred of all things pink (and especially this particular shade of pink). I found this even more effective for those tough bits where one is trying to quilt through a bazillion layers and seriously contemplating pulling the needle through with one's teeth. I found using these together with the finger shield above the best option.
Silicone needle puller
Stops me using my teeth on the tough bits
(naughty naughty!)

I'm also particularly pleased with this quilt's label, probably due to my love of boats of all kinds. While I've decided that this quilt is definitely on the "finally finished" pile, I'm seriously considering doing just a tiny bit more embroidery on the label because every boat needs a name!
Summer by the Sea
Sounds like a good name for a boat, no?
I have loads of this absolutely gorgeous fabric left and am already scheming for a bigger and more intricate quilt but in the meantime I'm enjoying snuggling up with this in my armchair while I toast my toes in front of the fireplace.
This is my monitor-lizarding-in-the-sunshine armchair,
not my toasting-toes-in-front-of-the-fireplace armchair,
but it'll do

Happy Quilting,
me x

P.S. Linking up to Finished or not Friday (because while today isn't Friday, I did finish this on a Friday), and Main Crush Monday (because I love this fabric so much that I'm already planning the next quilt for it)

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