Thursday, November 7, 2013

A Quilt Finish

I don't have a name for this quilt.  It's going to be a Christmas present for a friend of mine.  You might recognize the fabric.  This same friend gave me yards and yards of this fabric a while back.  I've made a few projects from it including a pair of pillowcases for her.  Whenever I visit and she has those pillowcases in use it just seems to brighten up the room so nicely that I thought she might enjoy a matching quilt.

I really enjoyed this project and am pleased with the outcome.  The pattern isn't original to me.  I found a picture on Pinterest which links back to this link.  I like the secondary pattern that comes out and the large pieces compliment the large print.  I've yet to make any pattern more than once, but this might be one I make again.  Variations in light and dark, width of the solid colors and border or no border give different looks to the pattern also.  There are examples of some variations at that original site.
 
I even enjoyed the free motion quilting this time AND....the binding!  It seems like on my machine polyester threads work better for FMQ than cotton.  I think perhaps they take the directional stresses a bit better? (Just a guess from someone who knows little about the whole thing)  And for the binding I sewed it on the back and machine sewed it down on the front using just a plain old straight stitch. I might like it better than the zig zag and fancy stitches that I've used in the past. And since the stitch was straight and I used the straight stitch foot and single whole plate it was easier to keep everything looking nice and even.  The thread contrasts on the red binding but matches the backing and it's stitched so that the bottom thread hits inside the back binding.
 
The colors sort of scream Quilts of Valor and Alycia, if your reading this....I had so much fun on this one, maybe they'll be a QOV one for 2014.
 
Here's a few more pictures.  I found this great backing on sale at the Quilter's Corner near Richmond.  It has become our half way stop when we go to the beach.  It's definitely worth the stop if you're ever in that area.

 
 



6 comments:

  1. It's absolutely a perfect pattern for this print! The backing is so cool! What a wonderful job! I LOVE it! And, so will she!

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  2. Great quilt, Nina and lovely colours too! I think this would be a great pattern for a pink quilt ... hmmmm :)

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  3. Wow, I love you machine binding and this quilt is wonderful. I never even thought of sewing the binding to the back and sewing it down on the front for machine stitching the binding. I may have to try this tomorrow on the football quilt I need to make.
    This is a beautiful gift and she will love it.

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  4. What a lovely way to use a large print, it really shows it off well. Your friend will love it I'm sure.

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  5. Great quilt. It's not always easy to do justice to a big print I find.

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  6. I've been seeing this post in feedly for a few days (or longer?) and keep clicking to keep as unread so I could come and leave a comment.

    I think you did a really nice job with this quilt and the fabric. The pattern looks complex at first glance but when I stopped to really look at it I realize it's a very easy pattern. I don't think I would ever have thought to make those blocks to create this quilt. But it's perfect for the large-scale print.

    The fabric on the back almost looks like it's hand-woven using large threads. I think it works perfectly for the front.

    Nice job all the way around, Nina!

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