I’m not really in a bind. I’ve just spent part of the last three days binding two quilts. I really enjoy the process of finishing a quilt by hand-stitching the binding. I’m not bothered by the amount of time it takes; I’m content with either sitting in my sewing room listening to music or settling down in the TV room with a movie I’ve watched so many times I hardly need to look at the screen. I did some of each over the weekend.
My movie of choice was Lonesome Dove, with Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. It’s actually a miniseries from 1989 based on (and very faithful to) Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, which I have read not once but twice. I had this picture on my bulletin board at work for many years:
I never noticed before how many quilts were used in Lonesome Dove. Watching this beloved movie again while working on a quilt of my own making was a double pleasure.
Here’s a look at Sunrise Bow-tique, one of the quilts I bound over the weekend:
I wrote about the quilt top in a post last month called Batik Bowties, which you can read here. The top features bowtie blocks with machine appliquéd knots. In the alternating blocks I used an ombre fabric that gradates from pale yellow to burnt sienna.
Nancy Stovall of Just Quilting quilted an allover design of spirals, some with sun rays emanating from them, very much in keeping with the colors and name of my quilt. I’m so pleased with her quilting! Here’s a close-up:
I found this fabric in my stash that seemed perfect for the back:
This close-up shows more of Nancy’s quilting:
I still need to take photos of my other newly-finished quilt, Cosmic Kaleidoscopes. I hope you’ll stop by later this week for a look at it.
Hi Dawn,
Your quilt looks lovely all finished! Nice going! Can you tell more about how you choose names for your quilt and how you label them?
Thank you!
Vickie
Thank you, Vickie! Naming my quilts isn’t easy — I usually wait for inspiration to strike (and it is sometimes slooooow in coming). I love wordplay so I often experiment with alliteration and puns. I also like to name quilts after songs or book and movie titles. I probably would have settled on “Batik Bowties” for this quilt but because I’m teaching a class on it, I needed to find a name that would make sense for someone not using batik fabrics. “Bow-tique” plays around with both “batik” and “bowties.” I have Geri Grasvik, the owner of the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego, to thank for “Sunrise,” which perfectly captures the way the ombre fabric gradates from light to dark.
I love your fabric, wish I could take the class !
I absolutely love that miniseries! And the book – which I’ve only read once, years ago – has been sitting on my bedside table since summer, waiting for a re-read. 😉
Your quilt is wonderful — the gradation of the background is really beautiful. And it gives me hope, as a new quilter, to know that some people LIKE binding. I cannot stand it. Maybe it will grow on me over time… *grin*
Oh Dawn, it is beautiful!! I am so intrigued by how the quilting changed the whole flavor of it. To me, the bowties are more prominent now than when I first saw it on the design wall at Pine Needle. I wouldn’t have guessed it was an all over design until you said so because of how the design lands in each of the Ombre squares. It looks like fire to me when looking at the top as a whole. Which is perfectly suited to the fabrics. It looks awesome! Great job!!!
What a perfect movie to watch while sewing! Your quilt is beautiful!!
Let’s have a movie date this week.
Anne