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Long Road to Bethlehem 2

(1 vote)

Hi, well I've been working on both my figures but haven't taken time to blog.

VBS is over and we had a great week. Lots of fun kids.

So here's Joseph's face--what do you think of this stripe for his coat?

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The quilt is coming along.  I'm getting down to some parts that I'm not sure how to approach, so I'll have to mull them over during my sleep and do a bunch of sketching--getting myself ready to move onto the background.  Another thing is the hands on Mary.  I painted them, like the faces, but now I need to applique them over her gown.  My usual method is to machine stitch, but I'm not sure.  You won't believe it, but I'm actually considering "hand stitching" them down.  So many little ins and outs, make it difficult to get things turned under nicely.  So I'll let you know....

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Embarking on the "Long Road to Bethlehem"

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Well, I think my quilter's "muse" is back.  I awakened dreaming quilt ideas again last night and the urge to work on my quilt is right there in the forefront.  You might think—so what?  But it’s been awhile since I’ve felt those creative juices flowing much.

So here I go – I’m working on a new piece.  I think it’s going to be fun.  Gary asked if I was going to blog it and I didn’t think I would. (kind of save it).  But I decided I’d blog ½ of it for you and save the whole thing until the end.

This is the plan.  I had dear hubby take pictures of a lovely couple and posed them as Mary and Joseph.  She is “great with child”.  Right now she has a lavender head covering and a dark blue dress/drape (?)!

So what color should he be wearing?  He has a sort of robe over a sort of shirt and a head covering as well.  I’d like red but I think he’d steal the show and I want him to be the “supporting actor” that his role dictates.  Any suggestions?

 

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Finishing Touches

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So now the choices for the edge.  I decided to do a small piping and then bind it conventionally.

Here are my color choices: (I know that the green is bright, but the piping is so small that the brightness helps it show.)

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I'll show you a couple of shots along the way--the method is Susan Cleveland's.  She has books to show you how and a spot on TQS.

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I think that the tiny piping really adds a nice design touch.  I use it often.

Next I'll stitch it all down...not my favorite thing cause it has to be by hand, but again it's worth it to do it right.

Maybe tomorrow I'll have it done?!

Ok, here we go...finished.

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Blocking and Cutting Square

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Almost finished, but there's still work to do.

Because I quilt heavily on these art quilts, when they are done, they are kind of "wonky".  So I laid this little lovely on the ironing board (face down) spritzed it with water and steamed from the back. (don't want to melt those lovely threads)!!

That worked pretty well, but I decided to flip it over and spritz again.  I pinned it to the board kind of stretching it lengthwise and let it dry over night--NO pressing from this side.

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If I'm doing a BIG quilt, I put in the washer to really get it wet, then spin out the water and stretch it out on the floor, pin and let dry.  It usually settles it down nicely and then I can cut a good line and it will (hopefully) lay flat and square!!! That's the goal.

THEN WE CUT IT SQUARE!!

So after it's dry, I try to cut it salvaging as much of the artsy area as possible.  In this case, it was important for the line across the bottom to be right because of the diagonal squares there, so that's where I started with my first cut.  Everything else will have to match up to that.

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I have a nice large cutting board that is almost big enough for this whole quilt.  If I do one end at a time, it'll work.  The 20 1/2" square ruler is really helpful in getting the corners a true 90.  If the quilt's bigger, I enlist super husband to help me with his carpenter skills and we take it over to the church and put tables together and make a real session of it.

Notice that you can lay two rulers together to get the sides. Measure, measure, measure.

Wow what an ordeal.  But it's worth it to get it right.

 

 

 

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