Monday, August 10, 2015

Which Way North?

Presenting Which Way North?, which will shortly be winging its way north to its new owner.

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I can’t tell you yet how I came up with that name, but I can say that it has nothing at all to do with that little maple leaf and Canada being in the northern half of the continent.  It does have to do with an oops in my quilting design, and that’s all I will say until the recipient has a stab at figuring it out!

For now, just a few more pictures, since my hubby was kind enough to hold it up for me at the park at 7am this morning. 

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My husband had a lot of say in the design of this quilt.  I made a Pinterest board of airplane quilts and asked him what he liked. Well, he liked the propeller on one plane, but not the rest of the block.  Another had a nice fuselage, but otherwise looked more like a robot than a plane.  That other one had a nice tail, but was otherwise too squat.  And so on.  In the end I tried to note what he liked about each block and incorporated that into my version of an airplane block.

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When it came time to quilt the quilt, he had ideas about navigation diagrams.  Hmm.  They were a little trickier.  They would end up looking like a scribble and have very dense quilting in some spots and very very light quilting in others.  So I picked the circle part of those diagrams and ran with that shape, which turned into all those concentric circles in the background.

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I planned to just quilt straight lines in the border, but before I started hubby asked if I could quilt numbers.  Why?  Runways are numbered, don’t you know. I quilted numbered runways.  You can see the start of a couple of intersecting ones there in the border.

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Here’s another one.  I’m quite pleased that I managed to free motion quilt on the traced lines so my numbers look crisp and not wobbly!

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Another picture just because.

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And the back.

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And the requisite “quilt with feet” shot.

Finally, just in case you think I actually went out to the park before breakfast just for a photo shoot, I’ll admit that someone had to drive a teen to early morning cross country running practice there anyway!

17 comments:

  1. A delightful quilt, and the quilting looks really good!
    I like the maple leaf in there, and you have me curious about the name. : )

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  2. Brilliant quilt. I love the explanations of the quilting and that pop of colour from the maple leaf is wonderful

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  3. What an awesome quilt!! The planes are fabulous, it was interesting to hear how your husband pointed out attributes and you were able to just whip up a very good looking plane! The numbers on the borders were a fab addition as well. And that checkerboard border? Definitely worth the teeth grinding! ;)

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  4. A fabulous airplane quilt. Who knew airplanes could look so good. I love the addition of the maple leaf.

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  5. That came out beautiful! Love how you quilted it. I'm curious on the name.... can't see anything other than the maple leaf to get the north from... hope he figures it out soon!

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  6. Which Way North turned out Fantastic! The design is great and the quilting takes it up even higher. All of your ideas work perfectly together. Love seeing the back of the quilt as well. Kudos to your hubby for being help in displaying the quilt. The early morning light is good lighting to photograph your work. The recipient should be so happy!

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  7. That is just beUtiful! Perfect colors, design, quilting.......congratulations!

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  8. wow this is fabulous. don't you love how our hubbies help us like this. I am always talking to mine, and he (just like yours) comes up with things I would not even think of. LOL your quilt is just fabulous. I really love those airplanes. Thanks for sharing.

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  9. I love the quilt and the quilting is pretty awesome too--great finish!!

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  10. As the old song says, "It's marvelous; wonderful!" Each step you took in the process took you straight North to the top on this one (as usual). I love it! ---"Love"

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  11. Great quilt! And I love the idea of the runway numbers! The concentric are perfect too. You did a wonderful job on the quilting!

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  12. Great name for a terrific quilt! Gosh it has turned out well. I love all the stories behind it too. The runway numbers were a clever addition.

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  13. This is so terrific Joanne! You and your hubby make a fabulous team! The quilting is so perfect for the piece too.

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  14. Totally love this quilt. Especially how much input your husband had in the making of it. And love the little bit of red.

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  15. This turned out fabulous Joanne! I love the back, love that maple leaf, and the numbers for the runways is such a "only a pilot would get that" touch! Love how much input he had in this quilt, reminds me of Judy's Shock Waves quilt with the Sacred Geometry idea her husband contributed. Love the quilt with feet shot. I just said to someone that is the only time my husband has ever been pictured on my blog, and it has only happened once in almost 2 years. :-)

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  16. That is a wonderful quilt and I love the quilting. That little maple leaf is adorable. I will be anxious to hear the story behind the quilt.

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  17. Great quilt - great design - great quilting - great story! I loe the addition of the maple leaf on it too.

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