This top was completed a long time ago (I wrote about it in this post), and it has been stuck in the queue all these years because I couldn’t figure out how to quilt it. Because the yellow is Kona cotton, which is heavier than the solids I am used to, coupled with the fact that there are about a gazillion seams in this pattern, I wanted to avoid sewing through the points of those little triangles. Finally I forced myself to sit down and sketch some designs, and I finally came up with something I was happy with — basically just a square grid though the triangles, with a geometric pinwheel in the solid space. For the borders I ditch stitched the flying geese, and then echoed that shape in the solid border. I bet you’re wondering why it took so long to come up with a pretty simple pattern. Not sure — maybe I had quilter’s block. You can see in the last photo that I had to fudge a little in the corners, which can happen when you don’t plan a quilting pattern when you’re designing the top, which is what I almost always do.
It’s been a long time since I’ve quilted a bed-sized quilt (and this is just a twin), but I’m so happy I was able finish it with very little pain in my hand and wrist. Taking almost a year off from quilting, wearing my brace both at night and when quilting, and alternating different types of stitching have all helped to combat my carpal tunnel and tendinitis. I now limit my hand sewing to 2-3 hours a day in the evenings, and I should switch to something else now (embroidery, hand piecing or appliqué), although I am itching to make a another dent in that pile of tops.
Ocean Waves Quilt
Martha Dellasega Gray, 2014
machine pieced, hand quilted
64″ x 78″
