Third Saturday of May 2022

My most recently completed quilt is Quilt by Number. I chose to display it for May's Hang Your Quilt Day; the colors are appropriately spring-like. Details about this quilt are in my 5/12/22 post titled Quilt by the Numbers - Finishing.

Details about the FMQ of the circles and diamonds are respectively in my two posts

5/2/22 Quilt by Numbers –Diamond FMQ Begun and

4/9/22 Quilt by Numbers – Circle FMQ Begun

Beginning April 2020, my quilt guild members began a tradition of hanging quilts in the front of their homes on the third Saturday of the month as a source of enjoyment for the community and as a thank you for the essential workers during the pandemic. My initial post about this practice is in my blog post dated 4/22/2020.

UPDATE:
I just checked out my front window to assure myself that the quilt had not blown over in the wind. It hadn't. It kind of tickled me to peek out and see it from this vantage point. This view reminded me as I walked by that my hard work did finally pay off (despite my self-critiques during creation).

Quilt by the Numbers - Finishing

All that is left on my Quilt by the Numbers quilt is the labeling and binding. I made my binding during breaks of circle FMQing and diamond FMQing. The binding is calculated to be ⅜" wide and made of the same fabric as the backing.

Typically before I sew on my binding, I make and attach my labels stating my name, the year, and the title of the quilt. I have been referring in this blog to this quilt as Quilt by the Numbers, mainly because the Moda fabric line is called Figures by Zen Chic. The boldest, largest scale, of the numeral themed prints are shown in the next photo in six colorways. I got the idea for this naming from typical paint-by-number kits from my childhood. 

I have gotten so used to that phrase, however, that I think it will stick with it. By default the quilt's title will remain the same concept but shortened slightly to Quilt by Number. Here are the labels stitched diagonally to the two bottom corners. I thought magic binding with the inserted faux piping would not suit the busyness of this quilt and might truncate the corner points along the edges. A simple ⅜" fold-over binding would be better, placed so as to not clip those corners where blocks meet. I sewed the binding on by hand... all 272" of it. The attached binding complements both the front and the back.

Here is the finished quilt. First is an indoor photo with Quilt by Number clamped to the second floor railing. This view best displays the pattern, piecing, and color placement but tends to obscure the FMQ.

The next two photos were taken outdoors on a sunny but windy day. My 6'4" husband had a hard time holding that 68" span up 68" high so I snapped a couple shots as quickly as I could. The key feature shown by these side-illuminated views is the FMQ that I struggled with and obsessed over, only to have it barely show up due to the prints.

The back of the quilt shows more texture in the far-away and close-up views both. The distinction between the diamond FMQ areas and the circle FMQ areas is detectable.

Quilt By Number has been in process for over a year. I purchased the layer cakes in 2015, but did not started a quilt from it until six years later in 2021. Once started, I then set it aside until a final push for completion in 2022. I loved the colors every step of the way. I learned a lot from the FMQ and use of rulers. I think I am hooked on the convenience of layer cakes. This is its sixth and final post. Here are all the posts gathered in one list.

               3/5/21   QuiltByNumbers - Solution Pending
               4/3/22   QuiltByNumbers - Assembly and FMQ
               4/5/22   QuiltByNumbers - FMQ Decided
               4/9/22   QuiltByNumbers - Circle FMQ begun
               5/2/22   QuiltByNumbers - Diamond FMQ Begun
               5/12/22 QuiltByNumbers - Finishing (this post)

The completion of this quilt was not listed in either my 2021 nor 2022 goals. It was not even on my radar since it was not a "kit" and my focus was on reducing the number of kits lingering in my stash. There will be no 2021 or 2022 checkboxes for me on this one. But I still deserve kudos for finishing it. Even though it is large at 68" x 68", it does not quite cover either of our 72" x 84" California King beds but it can still be a topper.  As an alternative, I may display it on our full bed that measures 54" x 75". It feels good to be finished! I will not merely keep it folded up in a closet. I want it out where I can enjoy the victory... at least for a while.

Quilt by the Numbers - Diamond FMQ begun

After a few days away, I am back to the FMQ on my Quilt by the Numbers quilt. I have officially exited the honeymoon phase of this quilt. Five blog posts later about this quilt, I only want to be finished. Having completed the circle FMQ on my quilt from the Zen Chic Figures fabric and Kira pattern from my FMQ planning post (4/5/22), I now moved on to the diamond FMQ on the other half of a block. What follows might not make sense if you have not read my FMQ post about the circular FMQ (4/9/22), so let me at least repeat my terminology and the quilting pattern for a diamond portion of a quadrant. After all, it has been four weeks since I posted about this quilt, although I have been plugging away at it, in sporadic sewing sessions. 

I reasoned that the diamond half of the block would be easier since the circles would be corralled between straight lines, not arcs. This time I used 1.25" diameter circles (20 in the outer diamond) and 1.0" diameter circles (8 in the inner diamond), fewer than in the circle quartets. The diamond quartets are not much speedier to FMQ, though. I learned one still takes me close to an hour to FMQ. With 16 diamonds total – 9 diamonds center + 12 x ½-diamonds edges + 4 x ¼-diamonds corners –  I could optimistically expect to be finished in 16 hours. It did take me longer, especially adding in some time for picking out serious goofs. When the FMQ completion was in sight, I was relieved. Closeups are intended to show the details at different stages of the work in progress.

I did get better as I pushed on and here is a closeup of two full diamonds in turquoise thread against a backdrop of two different color ways.

Now I have to pick out my goofs, if I can relocate them. Most are slips of the ruler where lines were crooked if you looked closely enough and can be ignored. In the following photo is an error that definitely needed to be repaired. I stitched a diagonal line in the wrong place not spaced far enough away from the previously line above it; then I mistakenly inserted 1" circles instead of a 1.25" circles. The straight lines on four sides were a breeze to pick out, but those circles where stitches overlay stitches are a real bear to pick out. As you can imagine, it takes much longer to remove them than it did to put them in. Fortunately I did not make many of those type errors.

Finally, as I tackled the remainder of the 12 half-diamonds along the edges and 4 quarter-diamonds in the corners, I made one more unique goof. Whoops! My paper guidance template for the circular FMQ was on the surface of the quilting table beneath the quilt and I accidentally sewed the paper sheet on to backside of one corner of the quilt. Fortunately I did not need to pick out any stitches; the paper tore away easily.

The FMQ of the edge  diamonds was easier since I did not have a bulky portion of the quilt in my lap and because access was easier than those in the center. I was, however, bored of diamonds by this time. To amuse myself I kept playing the tune in my head from the classic 1953 movie Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, in which Marilyn Monroe sings Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend. It helped me forge on with FMQ of partial edge diamonds with a renewed positive attitude. If you do not want to watch the YouTube video, here are the lyrics to the song. They are quite amusing.

The FMQ is not be perfect, but the saying "aim for excellence, not perfection" comforts me. I may not be ecstatically happy, but I will at least be content; aiming for "excellence" got me to "very good". Once I wash this quilt and it puffs up, camouflaging where the glitches are, my sense of accomplishment will grow. In retrospect, I believe my FMQ plan on this project was a bit more ambitious than my present skill level but I am proud that I stuck with it and learned some lessons and some skills.

These diamonds were NOT a girl's best friend!