Don't let the difficulties of the present moments overshadow the reality of God's promises. God's promises still stand. And God's promises are stronger than our failures.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Finished by Friday - Herbs



For some weeks now I've been showing you embroidered herb blocks as I finished each one - 16 of them. This week I put them together into this quilt top. I ordered this block-of-the-month from Patches in St. Charles, Missouri. The fabrics I used are not the same as the ones in the shop but I like these better. The green I used here is sort of a sage and blends well with the different shades of green I used in the embroidery thread. It's always hard for me to decide how to quilt a top when I've finished. I wonder how others make that decision....when you send a quilt to the longarm quilter do you pick a pattern or let her choose one or choose from a selection she has? Is there some formula I don't know about, like doing lots of curves on quilts with lots of straight lines? And what would you do about the ebroidered part - quilt over it or up to it?

20 comments:

Marie Rayner said...

I have no advice for you, except to say that it is beautiful. You do such lovely work.

Calamity Jane's Cottage, Bonnie said...

Hi Marlene, I usually let the quilter give me her advice and then decide. I did one embroidery quilt and she made a quilt figure around the embroidery and then layer out from there on each square. It looks great.
Hugs,
Bonnie

Lori said...

I have a really great lady who does my quilting and for the most part I trust her judgement. She has always left me pleasantly suprised. I've never had an embroidered quilt top quilted, but I wouldn't think you would want to stitch over the needlework. You put way too much time into that to cover it or distort it. It's beautiful by the way. The sage green looks great with the stitching.

Val said...

I could not imagine doing a quilt like this. It is absolutely beautiful.

Nancy Near Philadelphia said...

This is a lovely and sweet quilt. I like it so much.

Unknown said...

My mom would love to have this quilt! Your work is awesome!
I would not quilt over the embroidery. No way. I would talk to my machine quilter and ask her what her thoughts are. Chances are she's done some like this before. I'm leaning towards a vining leaf pattern on the border, since the quilt is about plants. I can't wait to see it finished.

Teresa said...

Such a pretty quilt and the stitching is marvelous. As far as quilting it, I usually quilt my own and believe me, I am not that good at it - but when its done, I like that I made it from start ot finish. This quilt is a real treasure!

Lena . . . said...

Gorgeous. I don't think I'd quilt over the embroidery either.

Monica at Buttoncounter said...

I agree with the others. Make sure that whoever quilts it does not cover up the stitching. this is the kind of quilt top that us hand quilters drool over because it has so many areas for showing off feather or cable borders, and cross-hatching in the background behind the embroidery. If it were mine, I would have the person quilting it add a little extra attention to detail. It will be worth the little extra money that you are likely to spend. You may even want to look into how much it would cost to have it hand quilted...just a thought. I love that you made yours so 'feng shui' with the calm colors and balance. Very nice job!
Monica

Marilyn Robertson said...

What a beautiful quilt! I have seen both types of quilting - over the embroidery designs and around the design with background stitching of some kind in the rest of the block. Let us know what you decide to do.

Brenda said...

WOW! Now that's a quilt I could live with. It's just so simple and sweet. I really love it. Congratulations on finishing it, that in and of itself is an accomplishment worth celebrating.
For quilting quilts with embroidery blocks I would look to the Aussies...those girls have the market cornered! Thanks for sharing your creation. I am inspired...although not enough to piece some pumpkn blocks I have in a ziplock, LOL!That might require a team effort; wanna come over and help me? It would be fun!

Christine said...

It's gorgeous! I love the greens. No advice for you on the quilting part. That's where I get stuck too.

Did you finish the snowman one yet?

From the Attic said...

What a beautiful quilt and I just love the hand embroidery you have done, the colours you have used and the garden herbs subject. I am by no means an expert on quilting although I've been stitching for years and have to agree with the other's that it would be a pity to quilt over your beautiful stitching.I think it would be lovely leaving the centre embroidered panels clean and fresh and just have the quilting around the panels and border. Oh my gosh, I can't believe I am telling you what I would do when I have never even made a quilt:)) It's beautiful.

Linda - Behind My Red Door said...

It's wonderful!! So many hand stitches! And until I blogged, I had no idea you sent your quilts out to someone else for that quilting! I love that I always learn something new!! Now I am curious as to what you decide.

sewtakeahike said...

oh my goodness! It's absolutely beautiful! I don't have any ideas about the quilting part of it except that if you have a specific look you want, you should see if they can do it. I have a friend at church that has a quilting business and I went over to observe her business one day and asked her that very same question. Whether people dropped their quilts off and wanted a specific design or if they left it up to her and her husband (he does most of the quilting with the machine). To my surprise, she said most people drop their quilts off with no specifications whatsoever as to how they want it done. I'm enough of a control freak I'd probably drive them mad with what I wanted!

Salem Stitcher said...

Beautiful quilt! No, don't quilt over the embroidery.

BrenWall61@gmail.com said...

Marlene what a beautiful quilt. I would echo quilt around the embroidery to enhance it. Just a thought. The greens are a wonderful shade.

Anonymous said...

Oh you know how much I love this one! It turned out beautiful! I would give you a bit of quilting advice, but I have no idea! For me, I match because my quilting is not the best on the machine, but if someone is talented... the sky is the limit!

molly said...

It turned out beautiful! I certainly wouldn't quilt over all that lovely stitching.Maybe stillling in the background?

Anonymous said...

Marlene,

What a lovely quilt - I absolutely love that green! What a great color to go with all the herbs.