The Elephant Has Been Consumed

Yes, folks, I've finished quilting the large purple quilt. whew. I am tired. It almost got the best of me. It's jobs like this that make me wonder why I do this. Not because I don't enjoy quilting, I do. But when a "for-hire" quilt takes longer than expected, and when one takes a LOT longer than expected, I stress. big time. I charge by the hour, and as the hours tick by, I start to freak out. This particular quilt has MUCH more quilting than my usual "for-hire" quilts. This quilt has the type of quilting I usually reserve for my own work. When I agreed to quilt this particular quilt, I confess, I didn't realize what I was taking on. Look at this baby. It's HUGE! But it's done. Finally. Like eating an elephant. If you take it one bite at a time, eventually you get to the end. :)

Here's a close-up of the vines that I quilted over the entire interior of the quilt. First I'd quilted the wisteria/lilacs in purple. Then I quilted the roses in pink. Then I went back and filled in the background with vines. I have to admit, it's very striking. It's also not something I want to do again any time soon. :)

This is a close-up of the back. A very small portion of the back. I used a thread color called "Wisteria," and it was PERFECT. Imagine quilting this dense, over the entire quilt. We're talking 84" x 102". That's a LOT of quilting.

See these cones of thread? They hold 2000 yards. The one on the right is brand new. The one on the left is the one I used to quilt the vines. It was almost new when I started.
See these spools? They hold 500 yards of thread. The spool on the left holds all that is left of the FOURTH spool of "wisteria." I used a lot of thread. ($8/spool, $25/cone). Plus pink. :)
These are my quilting gloves. I wore the hole in the finger unpinning pins as I quilted. Time to buy another pair. They didn't have a hole when I began.

And I had to take my machine to Dr. Stu, because it got so noisy I couldn't hear myself think. I used it so much, the gears were no longer meshing. Good thing I have a back-up!!!

So. What's the point of all this?

Oh, I don't know. I guess I just want you to know that when we for-hire quilters are working on your quilt, it's not just labor that you're paying for. Yes, you are paying primarily for our time, our skill, and our artistry, but we also have to cover the cost of our supplies and keeping our machines in top condition. My out-of-pocket expenses resulting from this particular project will be close to $110...which is actually about the same percentage that comes out of my pocket for most for-hire quilts. I don't know if that interests you, but I find it fascinating... :)

And with that, I'm going to go to bed!!! Good night!!!