I must be a glutton for punishment... anyone else done this?
 

ok, so I started this quilt in '07, I've worked on several since and I almost thought I would have it done by this past March (it's for my sister and her hubby, her birthday is March) I realized I wasn't going to finish it so I showed it to her, she loves it (I think the colors are boring personally) but I was told cream and sage green for colors.

This is a king size quilt and I'm just determined to quilt it myself, I've never done a binding on a quilt so that makes me a bit nervous, And I wanted to hand quilt the stars.... just so everything really is done by me. I've never seen a picture of anyone else using the Carpenters star pattern except for a single block quilt... so am I the only insane person to do this? I'm sewing this on my main machine which is a basic 1969 Kenmore that belonged to my grandmother...

I guess my other question is, to anyone who quilts things for others. If some of the quilting is started, it's not really great, but there, would you consider finishing the job? I live in No. Virginia and I guess I'm wanting this done. [ATTACH=CONFIG]438640[/ATTACH] hmmm not sure how to resize this. it's awful small. in actuality it's at least 108" square each block approx 32"
Thanks for looking :)

oops. nevermind. apparently it just looks small when you are inserting it.

I like it. Carpenter's Star is on my shortlist, and I really like the arrangement of this one.

I'm afraid I can't help with quilting info--I hope to make my initial foray into it next week. Good luck!

It's beautiful, and will look wonderful when it's complete. I never hand quilt, so can't be of any help to you on that score. Binding can be done on your sewing machine, but I would practice on a few small projects first.

Small project can be a fat quarter that is sandwiched and then machine quilted in squares on your sewing machine. Then find a tutorial for machine binding and give it a try. (There are several in the tutorials section of QB.)

When you're done with these small projects you'll have either place mats or doll quilts! Mind you, wrestling a king size quilt while binding will be a wee bit harder than binding a place mat, but the process is the same.

The blocks are beautiful and I don't think the colors are boring at all.

You really want to quilt a king size yourself?? Why don't you consider using a longarmer and spend your time on a really really nice personalized label for the back?

I'm way confused, do you want to do it all by yourself or willing to get some help? I would get someone to finish it if you want it done soon. Paying for it to be done always is the fastest way I think to get a job done. But I would get it done by a long arm machine quilter.

no I don't now... I guess I've just been doing it all myself on the other 13 i've done that I didn't want this to be different. Somehow I had it in my head that : A, I could do this. and B., it had to all be done by me or it wasn't completely from me.... like i was cheating or something.... I don't have the cash or space for a longarm machine myself. But at this point, I'd let another person do it as my quilting kinda stinks. First free motion actual project after practicing quite a bit.

Thanks for the compliments ladies! I guess it's not bad, It's just not my preferred choice of colors. I tend to work in brighter / bolder colors and patterns. I added the brown paisley to help with the IMO blah color palate. I will use that for the binding too.

I think it is beautiful!!!!

I love it!

Free motion isn't the only way to machine quilt. I used to handquilt all of my quilts, but, now I quilt a lot of them in a diagonal grid. All you need is a walking foot and it is a really nice affect. Google "diagonal grid quilting" and you'll find pictures and tutorials.

beautiful quilt

I think it is very pretty and I think having someone quilt it for you is not cheating. You did everything, but the quilting - no biggy. I did do part of a quilt on an embroidery machine and decided if I ever really wanted it finished I needed to send it out. Remember long armers need lots of overlap on all ends - it needs to get attached to the leaders. I did send out a partially finished quilt and almost had heart failure when she charged me what she did. She asked for a $35 deposit and I thought she wouldn't charge me more than $100. I had embroidered a quilt design in the middle of each block - she did some stitch in the ditch to fill in, and she did the border. Sticker shock - $300+ she charged me - OMG So just send it out and leave lots of fabric 4-5 inches all edges - you'll be happy. You say you've not done a binding. Go to youtube and look up some techniques - very helpful. One of the best tips I ever got was Not to iron the binding in half. Just folding is easier.
Good luck

these days for larger quilts, i'm trying to quilt them in sections. Quilt as you go method. my throat space isn't that large and it kills me to stuff my quilt through it.lovely quilt!!!

I understand the satisfaction of doing it all yourself, and yes, it is a big quilt for a smaller machine, but if you cut the batting into thirds and just add in one section at a time, it will be much easier....there are tutorials showing how to do this. I did fmq on a 112" square quilt and on a small machine. It wasn't easy and certainly not my best effort (first attempt at fmq) but I finished it and my sister loves it! I would make a bunch of small (12-18") sandwiches and practice your fmq at lots of different patterns (hearts, stippling, meander, loops, etc) before I started on a large quilt....it is harder than it looks. Check out Leah Day's website....she has great fmq patterns to practice and use on quilts. Binding is relatively easy compared to fmq, but check out the videos and tutorials as there are many different methods. Then pick one and bind your practice sandwiches. By the time you've done them all, you will be a pro and ready for your large quilt!

I love it... I have a quilt that I am hand quilting as well... and it is taking FOREVER... have considered having it finished by machine, but thinking that would ruin the look... but this is YOUR quilt, and if it is only started, I think it should turn our really nice. Talk to whomever you think you would get estimates from, and see what they say...

Sorry I am no help with the quilting I do not handquilt, really beautiful quilt!

Color choices an pattern hint that your sister likes simple designs. I would quilt this to bring out the star design.
choose the batting carefully; one that will not need to be quilted densely. Stitch along all the seam lines so design elements puff up. You could also echo quilt in the white/background areas to be sure the batting won't bunch-up when quilt is washed. Also, be sure to tell the owner that the quilt should be washed cold water, gentle cycle in big load machiine at laundrymat, dry on low heat. It is worth the laundrymat cost, trust me. This can be done on your home sewing machine! I suggest using basting spray and safety pins to hold the "sandwich" together for quilting, and take your time. GOOD LUCK.

It's beautiful (I love sage green!) but I certainly understand why it'd be a bit intimidating, to quilt. I tend to stick with twin-size or smaller. For something like that, I'd probably learn how to do QAYG (quilt as you go) and quilt each block separately, then fasten them together.

However you decide to finish it, it'll certainly be loved! :thumbup:

There is nothing wrong with this top and I would love to see a picture of it quilted. The colors are fine.

Your quilt top is beautiful. To answer your first question, the carpenter's star is often done as one big star (which makes for a relatively fast and easy quilt top) but is also done as multiple smaller stars. One example is on this blog - http://sunporchquilts.com/. If you decide you do want to finish the quilting, and if not much quilting is already done, you might consider taking out the quilting and then quilting it in sections. There are several methods of how to do this described in Marti Michell's book, Machine Quilting in Sections. I've done that on kingsize quilts and it can be done relatively easily on a home machine. The other option would be to send the top to a longarmer, but I am afraid you or the longarmer would need to take out the stitching already done. Unless the whole quilt sandwich has been well stabilized, the longarmer would have trouble loading a partly quilted item. Taking out quilting is not nearly as bad as it sounds. I have done it...frequently...

What a beautiful quilt! Great job!

Well, first, if you google "Swoon quilts" you will get a ton of pictures of quilts with multiple blocks. The Swoon block is very, very similar to the Carpenter's Wheel block.

Second, don't worry about any boo-boos you make in quilting. Washing the quilt will make it shrink a tiny bit, and amazingly you won't be able to find any of those mistakes! :thumbup:

This is beautiful... By all means finish it. As for the quilting issue, people tend to look at the colors and patterns and not so much at the quilting on it. You can find some tutorials on binding on utube. Just set your mind to it and when you're finished you'll be surprised at how satisfied your sister and her husband will be. We are our own worst critic.

That is just GORGEOUS! I was going to suggest a border until I saw how big it already is. I also have one that size that I am determined to hand quilt, since it's all hand appliqued. I've done one block, but it's for me, so however long it takes is okay. Best of luck deciding which quilting to use.

This is just a suggestion, but based on what I've learned over the years. While I understand your wish to totally "own" this project, your sister won't care whether you or a long arm quilter finished it, when she's enjoying it on her bed. But hand quilting (even machine quilting) this monster will drag the process out for a long time. The time has come for you to get it finished and her to enjoy it. Had you not showed it to her, she wouldn't know about it and wouldn't be looking forward to receiving it ( and you might have the time to quilt it). But she does know about it and undoubtedly wants it. You chose the fabrics,designed it, and pieced it, and that's a wonderful, thoughtful gift. Now have someone quilt it and get it to her. And start a smaller project to quilt it you want...

It is beautiful, but I couldn't quilt it myself, either by hand or by my little sewing machine....I couldn't handle the size of it. I send mine to the longarmer, do my table toppers, table runners, place mats and some baby quilts my self on my little sewing machine, but physically can't wrestle a bed quilt around to machine quilt it!! Binding has become second nature to me and after a few under your belt you'll feel the same way!!

This is very beautiful - no matter how you've started quilting by hand, the person who takes over the quilting can follow your pattern, or at least come close to it. I'm a hand quilter - afraid if I purchase a long arm machine, I'll be spoiled on it and never return to my hand quilting. I've purchased many "almost completed" hand quilted quilts, and find it's rather easy to follow someone's "started" quilting project.

I have a friend who has been quilting many years. When I did my first quilt and put on the binding, she told me to put the bulk of the quilt on a chair next to the sewing machine table, to support the quilt. It worked. Try it for the binding as well as the quilting.

I hand quilted a quilt with stars and it turned out really nice but it was a double size. It took about 2 years because I got tired and stopped and then started again. I hand quilted 1/4 inch inside each of the star pieces. It really doesn't matter if the stitching isn't perfect. When you look at the whole quilt you'll never notice each stitch. Just don't know if I would consider doing that size quilt by hand but if you do it will be beautiful. If you have it done by a long arm quilter it will have the same pattern all over and each star won't stand out on its own.

If you want it bigger I would add 2 borders to it. I have lap quilted a king size quilt. Pin it very close. Keep smoothing the under side with your fingers as you go. Start in the middle. Good luck. Vi

Terrimb- you go for it friend. Love the quilt. You can do the binding yourself so hang in there my friend. I do all of my own quilting on my domestic machine a Bernina 930- not much fancy stuff on it, but all of my quilts are done entirely by me. I just finished (hand sewing binding yesterday) on a queen size foldy stuff pattern the pineapple block made entirely on one of my FW's a 1937, and quilted on my Bernina 930. This quilt is a Christmas gift for DD and I am entering it along with two others in our County Fair tomorrow. All 3 done entirely by me, a Black and White queen size Challenge quilt for DS for Christmas, and a turquoise and white chevron king size for a friend.
I think it is great you are making this one on your grandmother's machine. Check out Sharon Schamber's tutorial on You Tube (Binding the Angel part 1) on how she binds her quilts, great video, I've used her method a lot. It is really easy to do the binding, but I dislike any hand sewing, so I always dread doing the binding on any quilt. Take your time and keep reminding yourself that you can do anything you set your mind to. Good luck. Terri, if you prefer not to try a mitered corner on your binding just yet, you can always put a binding on just like you do a border on a quilt, same method of measuring and sewing it on, you are just using a smaller strip of fabric. Just a thought.

A sister's love is shown in this quilt. You did a great job and she will treasure it for many future birthdays.

LOVE this quilt, you have done a wonderful job, the colors are great together . If you can't quilt it find a quilter in your area. I can't hand quilt have tremors that say no to hand sewing ,also becomes a challenge some times to even machine quilt. Enjoyed see this one thanks for sharing.

Nice quilt.

Beautiful quilt , If you wanted to hand quilt it I would consider using the large quilting stitches, I do not remember what this is called maybe country or primitive quilting i'm not sure,but I have done this several times and love the way they turn out . The large quilting stitches go really fast and you do not have to be worried about even stitches. I think this quilt would look great with the large hand stitching. I also have seen an old fashioned stitch for quilting , it may have been called chicken or turkey tracks they were little V's, I think I seen the tutorial on this board.

It is wonderful and yes you REALLY like punishment. ha

For crying out loud! The nature of free enterprise economics is that we hire people to do jobs that we either can't do for ourselves or that we don't want to do for ourselves. You will pay the long armer, thus giving her/him a job and you will have "done it yourself" because it was your money that got the job done.
Do you do your own oil changes/plumbing/roofing? Probably not! Go hire someone to quilt your quilt and think how much you are doing for yourself, your sister and the free enterprise economy! froggyintexas

I personally think that the quilt is beautiful, nice contrast and I like the frame around the star block. I know a lot of people are not fans of SID, you could do that around the stars and blocks, then hand quilt around the Carpenter's square. I am pretty much a self-taught machine quilter, except for one class. Early in my quilting days I had made a king size quilt - 110"x110", with pieced basket blocks set on point. There were 4 basket blocks in the center, then I put plain blue squares around it, which I quilted in a feathered wreath, but the remaining blocks were SID. I did this all on my Kenmore sewing machine, as there was no one to tell me that it couldn't be done. I still have that quilt although it has been replaced with another quilt. If you don't feel that you want to do all the quilting yourself, it is still a quilt made by you for your sister and her hubby, and even if you send it out to be quilted, it will still be your quilt.