This is it folks, the end of Downton Abbey Series 4 tonight, and the end of our festivities with the quilt along. I can’t believe that we started this party 16 weeks ago, and there are still new people finding us and joining the Facebook group and the newsletter.
All that’s left to do is have one more live chat, pick some contest winners, and show you Lady Mary’s quilt. The contest winners will be announced later this week; the contest closes at 11:59pm CST tonight, so there’s still quite a bit of time to get sewing and get your entry in!
Submit Your Project to the Downton Abbey Quilt Gallery
Downton Abbey Quilt Along Live!
Join me at 1pm Central for today’s live party! I may actually get to start cutting my solids version, and it’s a good thing too because I only have a few weeks to get it ready for the Downton Abbey Quilt Exhibit.
It’s hosted by Google+ and YouTube, and I’m going to try something different today, by trying to stream it directly from my website. A lot of people have reported issues with the Google+ app, so if that’s you, try watching it here. So if you’re not having issues, please use Google. If you have issues, come here. If you’re not able to join the live event, you’ll be able to watch it later on YouTube.
Lady Mary’s Quilt Explored – Moxie
It’s no secret: I love Lady Mary and she’s kind of the whole reason I watch the show. Sure, the Dowager has some nice zingers, but Mary’s story carries the plot. She’s driving me a little nuts though, mooning over Matthew when men are falling at her feet, but it’s probably because I have a crush on Lord Gillingham and am projecting my own desires onto her.
With naming the quilt Moxie, I really had to go big with the quilting. This one took me about 14 hours to quilt, and while it’s not the most dense pattern I’ve ever quilted, it certainly is one of the more ambitious. Once I decided to quilt her with a custom design, I really had to think about my approach.
It’s time’s like these when I appreciate having EQ7 for design work. It allows you to print an outline of the quilt without the fabrics showing, so I used that as a starting point for my sketching.
Just like with designing quilts, the quilting design often changes between concept and execution, and this was no exception.Most of what you see here is what ended up in the final quilt, but I did make some changes.
The first thing I had to do though was pick a thread color, which as I mentioned a couple of weeks ago can cause a lot of angst if you choose incorrectly. The easy thing to do would have been to choose a monofilament thread so it blended in, but you know me – I can’t resist the opportunity to teach from my experiences.
Mary’s quilt has such high contrast that choosing a single thread color would have been really difficult, and I’m not one of those quilters who is willing to change colors every three inches. I found a happy medium by choosing two colors of thread, Superior So Fine 434 Misty Blue and 512 Medici. (I eliminated the rosy pink for being too, well, pink.)
It’s a good thing I chose two colors too, because my cone of Misty Blue was looking a little low. I had to use a different bobbin thread to make sure I didn’t run out. The bobbin thread was 409 Smoke:
They don’t look close at all here, but with balanced tension, it wasn’t a problem. So here’s the full view of Mary’s quilt!
Isn’t she purty? 🙂
I think my favorite block here is Violet’s Dream:
I used the quilting to define a star in the center that mimics the star in the center of Castle Garden. Most of the block was quilted in Misty Blue, except for the feather at the top and on the left. The blue really blends into the darker fabrics, but would have been more distracting on the lighter prints. I ignored the seam lines in the trapezoids and used a quilting stitch called Ribbon Candy in those. To create the star, I just stitched lines close together, back and forth across the fabric.
The blue thread was used the most, so I stitched all the blue first and then went back to stitch with the tan color. To keep the unquilted blocks from distorting, I used straight pins to pin-baste those areas.
Sometimes when I am custom quilting, I use so many tools that the quilt top gets littered with them. I thought this was a fun shot to show all the stuff that ends up on my long arm while I’m quilting.
In the beige squares, I used a couple of rulers and a water-soluble pen to mark out a design, echoing some of the lines from King’s Crown.
Can I toot my own horn for a second? I’m pretty proud of my feathers these days. Do you know how hard it is to feather in a circle?
I used Orange Peels in the HSTs and flying geese to finish it off.
I kept Mary’s Block really simple, using L’s and e’s in all of the triangles and in the center square. In the squaring strips, when I quilted them with the original density (see the pencil sketch above) I thought it looked unfinished, so I added another set of them, staggered in the open spaces. I think it creates a neat secondary design.
Castle Garden is a huge block, but I broke it up with feathers, L’s & e’s, and ribbon candy.
Inside Mary’s quilt is 100% Wool Batting by Legacy. The thing I love most about this wool is that it is pre-washed, so the shrinkage is pretty minimal. I think Mary would appreciate the lushness of a wool-batted quilt – it’s not the cheapest batting out there, but it’s a fantastic choice for wall hangings, year-round quilts, and quilts that will hang in shows. I posted about wool batting a little while back if you’re interested in learning more about wool.
Here is a shot of the quilt back:
Now, let me tell you right now. Yes, that center panel is centered on the piecing, for the most part, and no, I didn’t plan that. I actually try to do off-center backs because when you try to center them it doesn’t work out all the time. Also, it’s much easier to center something side-to-side on a long arm, because I can control that part and the sides are always visible to me. Top-to-bottom centering is much harder because it’s hard to know where a quilt will land when it is finished. But when it works, it’s pretty cool. 🙂
I really hope you’ve enjoyed this quilt along and reading more about the sample quilts! I’d once again like to thank my friends Trace, Jax, and WenR for piecing the other three sample quilt tops so that I could focus on Lady Mary. And now with all the quilts finished, I can put the finishing touches on the pattern (photo shoot is being scheduled this week) and get that out to everyone!
See you at 1!
I don’t remember if I specified a particular quilt kit but if still possible I would like Lady Mary.
I ordered the 4 special different centers, Lady Edith, Lady Mary etc. Also ordered a yard of the Downton Abbey fabric with the castle. I didn’t specify if I wanted die cut pieces but if possible I would like that as well.
I know you are busy so when you find an extra minute and can answer me or just go ahead and do what this memo says is fine with me. There is no hurry – I am far behind in my quilt making and this will have to be in a bin for a couple of months till I can get to it. Thank you.
I cannot find the red fabric for the Lady Mary quilt. Does anyone know who might have it?
try Mamas Quilt Sop in Independence, LA
Not sure you got my question
How long have you been a quilter? Where do you work?
re. the P.S. I can tell you that (sadly) the blue marks do come back. I’ve seen a satin quilt block ruined when the heat of ironing brought back the maker’s (thought they had disappeared) quilting lines. I also had them reappear on an embroidered shirt after it was washed and put through the dryer. There is now a product that claims to remove the marks, but I’d rather choose a different marking tool than chance it.
The Downton Abbey Mystery quilts have been lovely, and you’ve shared a lot of very helpful tips, for these projects and belong. Thank you!
Regarding the blue marks: I am one of the most skittish people when it comes to marking on quilts. My #1 marking method is plain, unwaxed white chalk. And that’s great for darker fabrics, but it’s absolutely frustrating to see on lighter fabrics, not to mention the chalk dust.
So markers scare me. Absolutely. But I have been converted to using the blue pens on my quilts. The caveats here: I only use water-soluble pens, and I use a product called Blue Line Eraser as my first line of defense, and then the marked quilts go through the wash afterward. I am careful not to apply heat to marked or erased areas before they have been washed.
I don’t use the air-soluble pens, because it’s easy to forget where you marked (not to mention variations in humidity can make them disappear faster than you want) and you can heat set those before they’ve been washed.
Thanks for the pen info! good to know
Thank you for this post and photos on how you planned out the quilting of Mary. You really thought it through and thoroughly and have given me new ideas for free motion and breaking up blocks.
This is one of the most educating 3.5 months I have lived in the past 10 years. I have learned so much and met some lovely people through the DAMQ project and have you to thank, Ebony.
I can’t believe it is over, that I have 2 quilts to show for the short period of time and am so energized to continue this stream of activity.
See you in a few hours,
Chris
PS…. the blue pen….. have you EVER seen the marks reappear in the future? I have wanted to use this pen but heard that heat will bring them back long after they have disappeared but don’t know if this is true. I think I will buy one and do some tests of my own…..