Storm at Sea Quilt: 2008 - 2013

It only took me five years to complete this king-sized bed quilt!  The problem?  It didn't fit on my quilting rack, so I had to hand-quilt it in a quilting hoop.  Also, between 2008 and 2010 I was working 80 hours a week, between 2010 and 2011 I was busy writing a novel, between 2011 and 2012 I tried to sell two houses and moved, sold, donated, or threw out a lifetime of belongings collected by five different family members including myself, and between 2012 and 2013 I'd been battling a slew of bad luck.

After a series of health related scares, I promised myself I would make finishing this quilt a priority.  I suppose that makes completing the quilt all the sweeter, but ironically, we now live in one of the hottest states in America and no longer need quilts for our bed.  I started such a huge project because the bed quilt given to us as a wedding gift was deteriorating beyond repair, and we were freezing during the winter months despite having the fireplace going, having the heater cranked up, wearing multiple layers of clothes, and laying under several layers of blankets.  I didn't care for the dimensions of the king-sized quilts available through stores, so I decided to make my own and make it generous enough to cover our chins and our toes and each other all at the same time.

Historically, whenever I get down to the last few inches of a major project, something goes very wrong and those last few inches take me hours to complete.  So, when I got down to the last few inches on this quilt and realized that I was feeling shaky between being hungry, being tired, and needing to go to the bathroom, I decided to take a break rather than to push it.  Once refreshed, I returned to the quilt to sew the last three inches of the final seam on the border, and I ran out of thread.  Typical.  But... I could deal with it, because I had already taken care of my body by resting and eating.  You can't change history or bad luck, but you can change the way you deal with it.

With that said, here are pictures of the final product:

The reverse side is supposed to be more traditional waves...

I had a hard time keeping the dogs off it each time I spread it out somewhere to work on it.

I ran out of blue fabric, so I used a fabric with seashells in sand to represent the beach...

It seems I'm always running out of something when it comes to quilting, but I view it as just one more opportunity to come up with a creative idea to substitute something else for what I need.

At Least Someone is Making Use of the Quilt

Since the king-sized Storm at Sea quilt was too big to machine quilt on my rack, I've been hand-quilting it in a hoop.  Scrappy likes to burrow under the hoop and snooze.

Sandwich Phase

I finally finished the last 16 Storm at Sea blocks needed to get the top of my king-sized bed quilt to a comparable size to the backing.  The backing is still 6 to 8 inches longer around the edges, but that's okay, because I'm planning on using that extra backing fabric for a border.

There's just one problem...

The entire quilt is wider than my quilt rack.  Here you can see fabric overflowing down the side of the quilt rack.  Normally, I would pin the backing and quilt top to muslin leaders and roll them up on rods, but that won't work in this case.

Plan B?

Put the sewing machine away and hand quilt, just using the rack as a place to drape the fabric. I'll probably start by tying the backing, the batting and the top together just to keep it stable, and then I will use a wooden hoop to draw sections of fabric taut for more intricate hand-quilting. Any guesses on how many more years this phase will take?

Backing Finished, But...

I finished piecing together the backing to my Storm at Sea king-sized bed quilt, and was able to finally put the ironing board away. No more freezer paper! Whoopie!

I laid it over my bed and was a bit shocked by it's length and width. I added a few inches when I took my measurements last year, because I wanted to fold the edges over and use the backing for the border to speed things up.

However, my measurements of the top must have been way off, because when I laid the Storm at Sea top over the wave backing, the backing was way wider than the top. The length is workable, but I'm going to have to make 16 more Storm at Sea blocks to get a better match in size. Of course, I could just cut the excess off the back, but that would make my scrap stash unmanageable and I actually would like the quilt to be wider and drape over the edges of the bed.

So, I doubt I will meet my goal of getting this quilt done before this winter. I may have to give myself another year. If I didn't have two jobs, I wouldn't need an entire year, but spare time is something that comes around so rarely for me. The only reason why I was able to finish the backing this week is because I'm on vacation.

Hit a Snag

It's my unintentional M.O. to get down to the wire on a big project and then have some freak problem that sets me so far back that I lose my enthusiasm and either put the project on the back burner for a while (since it causes me too much aggravation) or abandon it all together.

The backing to my Storm at Sea quilt was supposed to just be rows of waves deepening in darker hues toward the bottom. However, now that I'm close to finishing the bottom, I discovered that I cut the last few rows two-feet too short. At first I thought, "No problem. I'll just sew on two more feet of each fabric."

However, upon surveying my stash, I discovered that I didn't have any more of these fabrics. I would have to use something different. I then came up with the creative idea of making an island with a lagoon way out in the ocean and tack those fabrics onto the missing two feet of ocean.

I didn't want to shape the island and lagoon like a real island and lagoon would look, but I wanted to keep it abstract like the rest of the quilt. I decided to install it in blocks instead of curves. Unfortunately, I put the second section of the island on the opposite end of the row from where it should have been and had to correct it by cutting off the existing seam and resewing it on the other side. That resulted in the island's seam not lining up with the lagoon's seam, so now this island is going to turn out even more abstract than I had planned...

I'm at a point where I don't care anymore. I just want a nice, new warm quilt for my bed this winter. Since this is the back of the quilt, we probably won't look at it much anyway.

Sometimes you just have to take a deep breath and say, "Oh well."

Still Chipping Away at My Waves

I'm still chipping away at making my waves for my Storm at Sea quilt backing.

I have six more rows to go.

Once this is done, I can sandwich the batting between the quilt top and the backing, quilt it together, and apply the border.

This project has taken so long that I don't think I'm going to get fancy with the border. I'll just pick a fabric, scallop the edges, wrap it around the sides and sew it on. I think I might actually get this quilt done by this winter. One year overdue isn't too bad.

On a Roll Now

Now that I have finally figured out the engineering aspects of how to create the backing I envisioned, I'm on a roll. I fold the seam over freezer paper, iron it all down, and pin it to the piece I want to overlap.

Then I sew it on using an over-edge stretch stitch. I felt that if I just used a straight stitch, I'd probably not catch the entire length of seam. Plus this wider stitch allows me to cover up the points where I would rather there be curves. If I don't clip the curve just right, it comes out as a point, but I figure I've spent too many years working on this quilt to be a perfectionist now. I just want something warm on my bed that hasn't been shredded by our dog's toenails.

Next I tear the freezer paper off. I have never worked with freezer paper before, and am pleased with its ease of use. It's easy to cut, easy to iron on, easy to sew through, and easy to tear off.

Once that layer is done, I start all over with the next strip of fabric to make beach waves overlapping other beach waves.

By George - I Think I've Got It!

I gave my attempt at creating waves on the backing one last try. Since the shape of the waves had already been cut out of the fabric, I had to cut the freezer paper along the seam, leaving room to fold the fabric over. I had to pin the freezer paper on as I cut it, and then lay the monstrosity on the ironing board.

The first thing I noticed was that the seam wouldn't fold over unless I cut slits in the hills and dales. The next thing I noticed was that right where the seam folded over at the slits, the hills came out pointed. Perhaps I should cut a V shape instead of just a slit for better results. However, I wasn't too concerned, as I can sew over the points to create curves with the thread.

I also learned that I should remove the pins before ironing each section, because if I barely touch a plastic pinhead with the iron, it melts.

It's all a learning process.

More on How Not To Make Curves

I'm down to my last day of my holiday vacations and still haven't had the time, energy or inspiration to quilt. However, I knew if I didn't do SOMETHING, I'd feel very disappointed in myself. Finishing this Storm at Sea bed quilt has been on my To Do List for well over two years. Every year I say I'll do it over my winter break, since I'm usually busy working with my horses whenever I have time off in the other three seasons. However, I've been sick with a series of health problems throughout most of my time off. Today, the last day of my time off, was the first day I started feeling 100%.

I didn't have the time to deal with freezer paper, pins, and pressing, so I tried sewing the waves onto the beach freestyle, turning down the seam of the curves as I sew. It didn't work. The fabric is still puckered. Once I rip the thread out, I'm going to have to resign myself to reading my quilting books on the subject of quilting curves, using that freezer paper and pins, and pressing a lot. If I hadn't already cut the strips for the waves, I'd abandon this design and just do something simple with a straight-stitch for the backing.

We need a new bed quilt. The dogs have managed to shred all of our old bed quilts with their toenails. Plus I'm cold at night. I've had chills off and on and am constantly shivering in the bedroom. I can't seem to get warm enough despite piling many layers of blankets and quilts on top of me.

If I abandon the curvy wave design for the backing, I won't take my quilting to the next level. I want to be able to do more with fabric and can't let a lack of time constantly be forcing me to take the easy route. I think I'll just have to take my time with the project and shoot for having it on our bed next winter.

On another note, there's something to be said about having your own space to quilt. I've got a husband and two kids home for winter break, and even when I put the ironing board in the corner of the family room, I've still got people and dogs tripping over me. The hassle of always having to shift here and shift there to make room for other bodies while I'm working on a large quilt causes me to lose my enthusiasm for the craft. Ultimately, winter break is not a good time for me to plan to quilt. Neither are weekends. I'll either have to take a vacation at a time when no one else is home and it's warm enough to put the dogs outside, or I'll have to just wait until I retire to get serious about quilting.

I had my time to quilt when the kids were young and I was able to stay at home with them. Until I can stop working full-time to pay the bills, my fabrics will probably remain on the shelf collecting dust. There. I said it. Now I just have to accept it.

How Not to Make Curves

So much time has passed since I completed the top to my king-sized Storm at Sea quilt. I had originally hoped to have the quilt done by Christmas of 2008, and here we are two days away from Christmas of 2009, and I still don't have the backing pieced together. I blame my real job, the one that brings home the bacon. It has been sucking up 10 to 16 hours a day of my time this past year, leaving me very little time to finish quilting projects.

However, now that I have a few days off from work, I had hoped to at least finish piecing the back before returning to the office. I put together what I thought was a simple pattern of curvy waves, however once I started sewing from memory, I realized that it wasn't as simple as it seemed.

I was taught to sew when I was in middle school, 30-some years ago. I remember my teacher having us put the right sides of the fabric together, double-stitching the seams, and then cutting out notches her 1/2 inch, like this:


However, what I forgot was that we were making pillows at the time, not quilts. When I tried to turn the fabric with the right-side up, I found that no amount of ironing would get this curve to sit flat. It's great if I want a bumpy quilt with 3-dimensional waves that actually stick out with stuffing, but that might be uncomfortable to lie on.

So, out came the quilting books that discuss the art of sewing curves into flat quilts. I know it's not rocket science, but I still don't get it just looking at the pictures and diagrams. I'm actually going to have to take some time to read these books. I have so many other things to do this week that having to give up time to read through some books seems so daunting right now.

From what I can tell, it looks like I'll need to use freezer paper, iron over the seams and do some top stitching like with applique. This project is going to take a lot longer than I anticipated. What do you think? Should I abandon this project temporarily and shoot for finishing it for Christmas of 2010?

Forming Waves

I'm embarrassed to say that it took me ten months to start on the backing for that Storm at Sea quilt I've been constructing for our California King-sized bed. The majority of that time was just spent hashing over ideas on what to do. I don't like to just slap a few solid pieces of fabric together for backing. I want to do something creative, but not as time-consuming as it took to make the front of the quilt.

I thought waves would be appropriate, but am worrying that I may not be able to sew curves together without any puckering. If I have a hesitation over any part of a project, everything comes to a standstill until I wait for a better idea to come along. I tired of waiting after ten months and started tackling large pieces of previously used fabric to cut them down into rectangles. These pieces had odd shapes since I had cut out smaller pieces for the top using templates. I worked with two layers of fabric at a time, pinning them together. I then divided the rectangles into three strips.

Then next step will be to sew the three strips of each fabric end to end to span the width of the quilt. I will then pin two strips of different fabrics together and cut out a wave shape. At that point, I suspect I will thoroughly consult some of my quilting books on curves, then begin sewing. Hopefully, all the strips will add up to the length of the quilt once they are sewn together in waves. If not, I'll add a sandy beach.

I'm planning on making the backing several inches wider and longer than the top, so that I can wrap the borders over from the back to the front. That way the border will have waves too.

Storm at Sea Piecing is Complete

I finally finished piecing the top of our king-sized Storm at Sea bed quilt. I laid it over our bed to get an idea of the coverage. Each block was 12"x12". I put it together 6 blocks by 8 blocks, and pieced it randomly. I tried to keep the same fabrics away from each other, but couldn't avoid it in a couple of instances.

The hardest part was getting all the points and edges to meet while sewing it together. Because I pieced it over a period of about a year, it was hard to stay consistent with my seam allowances. If you don't cut each piece exactly like the other, and don't use the exact same seam allowance, there will be variations that result in points and edges not matching up.

The next step will be to assemble a backing and patch some batting together to make it wide and long enough to cover the dimensions of the quilt, and then sandwich it all together on my quilt rack.

I made sure that the quilt will hang well over the sides of our bed, because my husband and I tend to fight over the covers. This length will allow us each more than enough material to keep us warm.

48 Blocks Later

I finally finished the 48 Storm at Sea blocks I needed to put together a king-sized quilt. The stack is 7-inches thick.

Let me introduce you to one of my sewing machines: My old New Home. Now let me introduce you to my worst enemy:

The bobbin casing. For some reason I can never get the bobbin case to pop into its socket. I have to push and push while moving the needle up and down and maybe after five minutes of struggling it decides to go in. For that reason, I dislike it when I run out of bobbin thread.

I'm very unlucky in the sewing department. I'm surprised that I've worked in the field of fabric art for as long as I have, because Murphy's Law is in full effect when I am sewing. I got down to the last few stitches on the last block, and the bobbin thread ran out. Had that extra few inches of thread been there, I could have been done for the night. Instead I had to tack another half hour onto my sewing time while I prepared half a dozen bobbins with thread and then fussed to get that bobbin case to pop in.

Why do half a dozen bobbins need to be threaded? Because it saves me the trouble of having to unthread and then rethread the top thread each time I need to wind another bobbin. Once I get that tension set, I don't want to mess around with the threading.

Now all I've got to do is make a decision on how to join those blocks together. I was thinking of blending dark to light based upon the darkest hue in the block, but realized that some blocks might fit or match the seams better than whichever shade is next in line. I'm thinking I should join them up in a semi-random fashion, the only two deciding factors being if the seams match well and that the greens are spread out. The majority of the quilt is black, white, blue, and purple, but there is some green to make it pop. Since the green stands out, it has to be placed in a balanced manner.

Most Recent Storm at Sea Blocks

Yes, I'm still working on that king-sized Storm at Sea quilt. Here are some recent blocks I created. It will be a while yet before I piece all the blocks together. Winter is always a better season for quilting, since it is too cold and wet to be outside working with my horses.

Storm at Sea Progress

Because there is such a long blog pause between completing each of my quilts, I thought I'd post on my progress. Here are some Storm at Sea blocks that I recently completed. I'm making a quilt big enough to cover the top and sides of a California King mattress, so I have to make A LOT of these.




To help me out, my daughter gave these fabrics to me as a gift for Mother's Day:



She has shopped fabric stores with me often enough that she understands that I am not just looking for blue, teal, and green fabrics, but I am looking for fabrics that have movement that either mimics water or could be construed as water in an abstract sense. She did a good job in picking these out.