After more than two years, my red and white Xs quilt is finally done! It waited in its box for a long, long time before getting quilted.
The background is all loops, really the only free motion pattern I can manage over wide areas. But I did try some new quilting patterns inside the Xs. I gave up quickly and picked out my free motion attempts at fillers, but I had more success with the walking foot.
I used the border to practice some simple dot to dot lines, marking my turning points with pins. Then I went back and did more in the Xs that had relatively large open areas. Nothing complex, but I got better as I went on.
There were a LOT of thread ends to bury!
I used the bright red for the binding which went on really fast after all the pulling and pausing and turning during the quilting.
We no longer have a house with an upper deck, so my tall husband did his best to hold it up in the kitchen.
It is done just in time to put it on the couch for Christmas. I guess I need to make a blue and white one for Hanukkah next since we celebrate both. It is too late for this year – the last candle was a few days ago – but I can have it ready for next year.
I was really scared to put this one in the washer. I would have skipped that step, but after being dragged around for all the sewing, the quilt needed to be cleaned. I didn’t think to prewash the fabric way back when I was starting the blocks. I never prewash, but this time it would have been wiser. Red and white – the bleeding potential was very high.
I did a lot of research about washing it and ended up putting it in with as much water as the washer allowed and double rinsing. I also threw in six color catchers (the normal amount is one, maybe two for really strong colors). They came out pretty pink:
But the quilt did not. Yay!
The back is a crowded red and white winter village. It is busy enough that the quilting doesn’t really show, neither the white or red thread.
I especially like like the little snowflakes falling on the rooftops.
The quilt is done, the tree is trimmed. Now I just need to do absolutely everything else for the holidays. It may be time to start panicking.