Wholecloth Feather Bars by Sharon
Sharon Perryoriginal
103.5" square
Well - how fortunate was I! A comedy of errors that turned out well.
Youngest son gave me more than two years notice of his intended marriage - the time delay just being that he had to figure out how to make everything work happily together. As well as the issues which arise from blending families he also had the additional complication of his intended being in a different country.
Being the dutiful mother - I thought I had better do a little better than the last time I made him a quilt for a special occasion. (That being his 21st - which I managed to miss by just less than two years - one thought I might have known when that event was going to occur - but there you are!)
So - I ensured it was completely finished very early - even managing to exhibit it at my local Quilting Guild where it won a prize. The Queen sized quilt was made of lots of little bits which formed a large star in the centre - signifying how even scraps can come together and make something wonderful. I was soooo pleased.
BUT - just less than 3 weeks before the wedding I was informed that the happy couple now had a King size bed.
There was no way I could give son a quilt which was too small. To make matters worse I was away visiting my mother when I received this news and there would be less two weeks when I got home before leaving for the wedding. That was time I had planned for my own personal preparations (sewing wedding outfit, etc)
Something would have to give! I decided it would be the piecing. I would make a wholecloth quilt.
Fortunately for me I had just designed a wholecloth quilt for Sunitha in India. She had sent through progress photos and it was looking stunning.
Admittedly, the pattern was for a Queen size quilt, but I thought that if I could sew it on a bigger machine than she had - I could just possibly sufficiently enlarge it. I phoned Sue - back near home - and arranged to use her Gammill Optimum. Once all the calculations were done, yes! I could sew it large enough for a King size bed.
Fortunately for me I had just designed a wholecloth quilt for Sunitha in India. She had sent through progress photos and it was looking stunning.
Admittedly, the pattern was for a Queen size quilt, but I thought that if I could sew it on a bigger machine than she had - I could just possibly sufficiently enlarge it. I phoned Sue - back near home - and arranged to use her Gammill Optimum. Once all the calculations were done, yes! I could sew it large enough for a King size bed.
Deciding that Mother needed an outing before I left, off we went fabric shopping. I managed to get a lovely fine wool blend fabric. Pacific Renaissance Pictures - who had made 'Xena, Warrior Princess' and the 'Hercules' series of films - had an auction when they finished, and this was some of their fabulous left-over fabric.
Once I was home - I was ready to go. BUT - then I suddenly realised I had miscalculated and purchased too little fabric. There was not even any time to get more posted! Solution: a two sided quilt. It was now to be pale Khaki on one side and cream Quilter's muslin on the reverse.
To make it into a king-sized quilt I enlarged the quilt outline so that each section was stitched out at 105.5 inches wide (with the freeze aspect 'on'). I used Bamboo batting as the climate can get quite hot in Australia - where they are currently living.
The 'quilt outline' was done in thread which matched the colour of the fabrics as closely as possible. The quiliting itself was done with green thread a couple of shades darker than the pale khaki, and very pale variegated thread on the cream side.
All worked very well, but be warned - those who are using threads a different colour to the background - there are an awful lot of ends which need to be tied (backstitching does not look good, short-stitching will not stand the test of time - tie-offs is has to be).
Additionally - the binding had to be hand stitched (being two sided). I think in the more than 300 quilts I have made, I have hand stitched the binding only twice before. King sized? - this was a mission!
All was done in the nick of time - helped by husband being on dinner duty for a number of days (just how long would it actually take to finish?? - an unknown, so therefore had to use every minute I could). The 'holding up' photos were somewhat rushed, but that can be sorted another time. It was completed ready for the big day!
Thankfully there was still a little time left so I even managed to get the personal necessities done.
The best news of all - this quilt was even more appropriate than the one I had planned - not even taking the size into account!
Why? - son has built his own CNC machine which can be used for engraving. We had discovered that my designs could be used on it and he had already played with some of them making bits and pieces. How cool was that? (I thought so anyway)
So, after receiving the gift of the quilt, he found a piece of scrap aluminium and proceeded to make me a coaster with the feather design from the centre of the wedding quilt.
So, after receiving the gift of the quilt, he found a piece of scrap aluminium and proceeded to make me a coaster with the feather design from the centre of the wedding quilt.
So - in the end - we agreed that it was better for him (and his wife) to have a quilt which was all about the quilting!
For downloadable quilting instructions click here .
Quilting Patterns Used
- Quilt pack (all patterns included): Wholecloth Feather Bars (30)
- Quilt outline alone: QOutl Wholecloth on point a (6)
- Wide outer border: Cable 5 bdr & cnr (2)
- All narrow borders: Kites bldr a (8)
- Corners of the Feather bars: Feather pearl 1 sq 12a xh
- Feather Bars: Feather 1 bar (13)
- Central Circle: Feather pearl 1 circle 32t xh
- Corners around central circle: Feather 1 corner
Tips & Info
- an instruction sheet for the completion of this quilt can be found on the 'Info and Free' page - in the 'Quilting Plans' section (wholecloth).
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Quilting Patterns Used (click on image to go to this item)
