Blogger's Quilt Festival 2012

I've decided to participate in the Blogger's Quilt Festival this year!

Follow that link and go see all the other participants great quilts!

According to the guidelines I can share any quilt as long as I write a new blog post about it. Okey doke. I thought of sharing other quilts that I have made and posted about previously, but since I have finished this quilt and not written a blog post for it, this is the one.

It's been so long since I even photographed this I'm having trouble even remembering what to say about this quilt. Let's start with I LOVE THIS QUILT! I love every fabric in it. I love the quilting. I love the thread I used for the quilting. I love the binding. My three favorite colors combined with the batiks to make a quilt that just makes me warm and happy to look at it. I wish I could keep it.

This is the second time I have made a Picture This quilt from Atkinson Designs' book Happy Hour. It is a simple pattern with big blocks that work up quickly and when combined with fat quarters in fabrics you love turn out a really nice looking quilt.

Made for my new nephew, Cam, the first of the 'next' generation in our family, it took me until his first birthday to actually finish it. The top was finished for months, but I became distracted by other things and I finally got back to it, pieced the back and quilted it in time for, well. In time for him to not be an adult yet. It is on the large size for a baby quilt, so he'll be able to use it as a lap quilt for a while. (If I can part with it. I will. I really will!)

This nine block quilt required eighteen fat quarters and after cutting there are enough significant scraps to get another quilt top from, the instructions to do so are in the book. Both times I've made the quilt I have used that 'top' as the back of the quilt.

This is the first quilt I have ever quilted if you don't count a couple of table runners and a small holiday wall quilt. One was free-motion practiced quilted and the rest were either stitch in the ditch or straight line. I always said that putting the fabrics together and piecing were my favorite parts of quilting and I was happy to pay a long arm quilter to finish my quilts. This was a fun challenge for me. The straight line quilting runs parallel to the contrast fabric in each block which made for a lot of turning and each block was quilted individually. There are three quilting 'patterns', one has narrow spacing, one wider, and one is a combination of the two. I went for the illusion of straight lines and didn't attempt exactness in the spacing. I was often using my walking foot as a guide and it turns out that the needle on the machine I used isn't centered so well to my walking foot. Once I realized that I had a decision to make and I decided that from a distance........

From a speeding train..... ;)

I can tell you one thing, I used to say that I was only straight line quilting it, as if that was some kind of excuse for quilting or a cop-out. I'll never say it again. I also used to think I would never use those variegated quilting threads because for some reason, in my mind, they looked tacky. Where do I get these ideas!? I'm a convert! I love straight line quilting and I love those threads! I used three different colors when quilting the quilt, but the same one in the bobbin.

Twenty blocks make up the lap sized quilt in the pattern book and I downsized it to twelve for the baby/toddler size I was going for. It made it harder to come up with a pleasing layout and looking at these photos I can see one thing I might have done differently. Oh well! Stuck with it now.

Well, I'm not using it, but I still haven't managed to part with it. I will. I have been collecting the fabrics to make another or a similar lap sized quilt for me......

2012. Nine. This was a good excuse for me to finally blog this quilt. I've got a lot of other things to blog as well, hopefully that will be happening. Remember my last post? I'm on a sewing machine cover roll and that is always fun to watch.....

 

Comments

[CitricSugar]

Beautiful! I made a mediocre Happy Hour a few years ago but yours is really lovely - the quilting alone is incredible!

[Carole]

It's beautiful and I love the color combo - those are the colors of my living room now, in fact. Your quilting looks fantastic and you know what we always say in our quilting group - done is better than perfect. I know that's a hard concept for you but honestly, the quilt is gorgeous and I don't see how you could have made it any better!

[CyndiG]

I love the quilt. Have you seen the (baby)quilts Pam has made for my grandkids?

[Kim]

I have always loved this quilt....so pretty and perfect for a little boy!

I may have to go take a look at the Quilt festival. I actually finished quilting the top of my quilt yesterday...

[Queenie Believe]

Beautiful quilt both front and back!!
Have a great day.
Always, Queenie

[Shanti]

Love that quilt. I'm away from the machine for a few weeks but I have a new top waiting at home when I get there.

[Robin]

What a fabulous quilt! I love the way you used the "second quilt" for the back-- what a great look. And the quilting is divine. Thanks for sharing! :)

[Stephanie]

Those colors together are very cozy. LOVE the quilting, good for you!

[Laurie]

I can see why you don't want to part with it. Such harmony in the colors. The thread stuff is lost on me...I don't understand other than different bobbin, top colors.

[Manise]

It's beautiful and your nephew is lucky to be getting it. As you said , you have scraps for another, then you can do the thing you wished you had done differently on the next one. :-)

[Diane Webb]

Hi,
I liked your blog and I personally invite you to join http://www.coollectors.com - The World's Free Collectors Zone.
We will also be happy to cooperate with your blog such as adding its link to our site.
All the best,
Diane
info@coollectors.com

[nike shox pas cher]

Gracias por compartir tus pensamientos. Realmente apreciamos sus esfuerzos y estoy esperando tu próximo post gracias una vez más.

[Brenda]

I have that book and want to make that quilt, especially after seeing yours. I've been playing with straight-line quilting also, and I like to use low-tack painter's tape to lay my lines out. It doesn't leave any residue on the fabric and you can reuse it several times before it loses it's stick. And I love variegated threads, too! It's weird how they compliment the quilt and blend into the background, while they make the quilt pop and seem to add another layer of color all at the same time. I think they make not-so-perfect quilting look really artsy and professional. I have a pattern for a sewing machine cover that is similar to yours that I got from the book "1-2-3 Sew!" I want to sew panels of selvedge together to make the stripey bit in the center.

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