Farmer's Wife Quilt - Finished!

 My FWQ is finally finished. I started it in late June and finished in early December. I did almost all of the piecing within three months, then there was a lag of about two months while I worked on my master's coursework.

The room is suddenly so colorful - I love it!

 The last few days have been taken up by finishing the binding by hand. Though it makes my fingers ache, it slows the time down and totally relaxes me.

 I was very daunted by the prospect of using my sewing machine, the Swedish/German Pfaff, to do all of the free-motion-quilting (FMQ - not to be confused with FWQ!). But FMQ was the biggest reason I bought it  (my little Brother was so basic that I couldn't even lower the feed dogs). So I have been practicing on potholders, table runners, and pillows that are all going out for Christmas gifts. Still, I didn't think I would be able to really handle the bulk of a queen-sized quilt under the arm of my Pfaff.

 

But I just went for it. It was not as difficult as I thought it would be. As an FMQ novice, I took about five hours spread over the course of three days to quilt it. I did have to rip out some of the quilting where I moved the quilt faster than the needle could sew, causing some awful looking tension problems on the back.

 And I think it looks good! It's no professional job, but it was a huge learning experience for me. The whole quilt, in fact. From the very traditional and difficult piecing, all the way to the large scale quilting. I am glad I decided on FMQ, rather than anything more intricate. I think the intricate piecing of the individual blocks needs no competition. Plus, I like how I unifies the quilt, despite all of the pattern and color going on.

Late English autumn means that opportunities to photograph something in decent lighting are very limited. I took my quilt out to a sports field, where the wind was so strong that I had no other option but to photograph the quilt with the sun right behind it. The upside was that my friend, Aneta, and I didn't have to hold the quilt - the wind plastered it right to the fence! Because the sun is behind the quilt, you can pretty much see how the backing looks (oops, forgot to photograph the back!).

The position of the sun does give it that interesting stained-glass effect that I like.

And soon, when Christmas is over, I hope to start on the next big thing!