DianeLoves2Quilt: Masquerade Quilt Is Complete

Friday, October 16, 2020

Masquerade Quilt Is Complete

Technically, Masquerade was complete after the label and binding were attached (previous post 10/14/20); but after nine years in the making, and nine posts throughout the process, the quilt deserved a tenth post dedicated to its completion. The king size quilt also needed a hanging sleeve in order to be photographed. It is the largest quilt I have ever made. I am proud I made it totally on my own – no sub-contracting for the quilting. At 88" x 92" it is too big for even my 6'4" husband to hold up for me, and so here is Masquerade, displayed on a rack, indoors, with additional lighting from a high intensity lamp.

We initially tried for the natural lighting of outdoor photographs but the wind was battling us. I had to time a shot when the quilt was vertical and not moving and orient myself relative to the quilt so that at least one view was looking straight on. Harder yet, my husband is concentrating in this photo on keeping the entire contraption from blowing over; 56 square feet makes quite a sail. Gale force winds are not required to topple over the frame, only a persistent breeze. Angling to optimize the sun for lighting often works at cross purposes to choosing a direction that minimizes the forces of the wind. Advertising banners often have holes or slits in them to allow the wind to pass though. Obviously I was not about to do that to Masquerade.

I have a greater admiration for photographers. I will spare showing you images from my many failed attempts due to 1) legs of the stand blocking the quilt, 2) the camera tilted too much to level the photo afterward by cropping, 3) parts of fingers over the lens, 4) blurred image because of the quilt moving, 5) blurred image because of me moving. But, I did get one almost straight-on outdoor photo during a lull in the breeze while no cloud was passing over and obscuring the sun. The Seuss striped binding was an experiment for me and I like the results. It brings spots of brightness to the edges of the quilt both in this outdoor photo of the front and the following indoor photo of the back. I do love the backing fabric, also. Its history, having been designed by a blind artist, is told in my post for 9/16/20 and in my post for 8/21/17 when I bought it.

Indoor photography is easier, if I could manage the distance. Off to the far right, out of view of the shot, are the stairs. I crouched on them to be at the right height and far enough away to get a meager selection of straight-on photos. There is however, a traffic-blocking feature between rooms. That inconvenience may be offset by the "privacy screen" feature created next to the kitchen eating area.

I am pleased, and proud, and relieved to have finally, finally, completed Masquerade. Begun for my daughter's wedding in 2011, I told myself if I did not complete this quilt while confined indoors during the pandemic, I never would. The quilt's design has changed from the original expectation, but so have the times. Several quilters in my guild are noting pandemic on their labels but I do not want a strong reminder of this period in time. I am waiting for this social distancing to pass, sooner rather than later, I hope. I think the name Masquerade contains the concept of mask. This double entendre can be a subtle history marker while placing all those masks in a party and upbeat light.

Nine years may sound like a long time but, as I look back on it, it was really two months of concentrated effort after a "gap of giving up" that was just shy of nine years. My husband claims I would be remiss if I did not admit that during those two active months, the quilt was affectionately referred to as "the quilt from hell". (Or perhaps sometimes, not so affectionately, as seen in my 9/25/20 post about skinning a quilt.) Not willing to allow another "gap of giving up" to occur, I doggedly pushed ahead to completion.

Below are links to the nine previous posts in chronological order by their publication date. They document the fabric acquisition, fussy cutting of the hexagons, piecing, arranging, re-designing, more solids cutting, supplemental piecing, re-arranging, sandwiching, FMQing, un-FMQing, more FMQing, labeling, binding, and photographing. My daughter may like to someday read a blow by blow description of this quilt in the making. She was always so encouraging to me during our phone calls these last few months since its resurrection. She patiently fielded my creeping progress reports in which I kept saying "I'm still trying to figure out ___", "almost there...", or "in the home stretch now...", among other "the check is in the mail type" platitudes. Masquerade, the admittedly sometimes "quilt from hell" has, upon completion, officially become the "quilt from my heart". I fervently hope she and her family will use it and enjoy it for many years to come.

10/19/2011 mask-quilt.html