Monday, February 9, 2015

Tiles: A Quilt Finish!

It's been a long long time since I finished a quilt, but the day has finally come!  I had forgotten how wonderful it feels; the sense of accomplishment you have putting in that last binding stitch.  Ah, happiness.  


Clearly Sunday was not the prettiest day for quilt photography.  It was grey, wind-less and foggy.  Really really foggy. The kind of fog that you can not tell if it is raining on you or if that is just the cloud touching your arm.  Weird.  I can not remember the last time I took quilt-on-the-line photos when the quilt just hung there.  It makes for a boring photo shoot if I'm honest.


Tiles began in a class I took with Amy Smart at the Fat Quarterly retreat in July 2014.  The class was wonderful and Amy was incredibly nice.  She had some really simple tips and tricks for rapidly piecing a quilt, which are always handy.  This quilt is from her book Fabulously Fast quilts.  It honestly would have been a fast finish (not a 6 month finish) if I had two weekends to dedicate to it.  


The top is Kona Snow with a variety of scraps from my stash and the shop.  Its a bit more toned down than my usual in-your-face scrappiness, and I like that a whole lot.  The borders are two Denyse Schmidt prints I picked up from Joann's a long while ago.  I love these fabrics, so what better way to incorporate them than as statement pieces like this?  I think they work.  


The back is pieced with a floral that I used on my Swoon called Farmgirl's Garden with a coordinating yellow on yellow polka dot from Social Club by Moda.  They went together so nicely and the yellow coordinated so very well with the Architextures and Vintage Happy yellows on the top.  Ah, I love it when fabrics come together.  I used the scraps of the yellow dot to bind the quilt.


I quilted it on my frame using a pantograph by Golden Threads.  I don't know if you can see it, but this pattern is a wave with a loop nested into the crest of the wave.  Together they reminded me of snowdrop flowers.  It was a bit of a learning curve for me quilting this, but in the end I am SO glad I stuck with it and saw it through.  I love the finished look and learned a tremendous amount.


That's it!  A finished quilt that's already in use on the couch.  It's covered in thread from my current super top secret birthday hand stitching, littered with dog and cat fur and a bit wrinkled.  Already broken in and happy.  Woo hoo for quilt finishes!

Quilt Stats:
Name: Tiles (as it was called in Amy Smart's book)
Made for: use on my couch 
Fabric: Kona snow with Farmgirl's Garden and Social Club dots on the back.   The scrappy top is from Vintage Happy, Weeds, Happy Go Lucky, Flea Market Fancy, Architextures, Scrumptious, Gingham, Simply Style, Technicolor (and a few more I'm sure I am missing)
Thread: Pieced with 50 weight Aurifil cotton in 2600 and 2021.  Quilted with Aurifil cotton 50 weight 201.
Batting: Simply Cotton.
Size: 55 x 76 inches.
Quilting: On my frame with Golden Threads panto pattern.
Pattern: From Amy Smart's book Fabulously Fast Quilts, but really from my class at the Fat Quarterly Retreat in July 2014.

22 comments:

Tomomi McElwee said...

Very cute! It's a great satisfaction to finish a quilt, isn't it? Congratulations!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Beautiful! I see snowdrops too, very pretty pattern!

pennydog said...

Oh hurray, lovely backing picks too.

magistra said...

Congratulations! I have yet to have that wonderful feeling so I'm totally jealous. It's a lovely quilt and you made me smile when you described the threads, pet hair, and general life it was being subjected to. I know mine, when and if I ever finish, will go through all that, too, and you honestly made me feel better about it. It's made to be used by a real family. The perfect fate for a beautiful quilt. Thanks!

Teje Karjalainen said...

Hi Cindy! This is really beautiful! Lovely, lightful pattern for the bright, little squares! x Teje

Four dogs and one quilter said...

Love it! What a happy quilt. Would definitely claim it as mine for snuggling on the couch.

Sarah said...

lovely quilt cinders, the borders are perfect too. Hate fog and mist. in shetland it could last weeks!!

Ruth said...

I know exactly how you feel - was well foggy in Limerick too! Really like the borders framing your scrappy centre!

Katy Cameron said...

Yay finishes, it looks fab :o)

Susan said...

Very pretty! ANd I love the backing too! Yellow is such a sunny colour!

Lisa J. said...

This is a very pretty quilt. Great use of scraps. The construction looks quite simple but the result is great.

Annabella said...

Absolutely gorgeous Cindy - I love how flat and wrinkly it is and the pattern is stunning.

Sarah said...

It's fab Cindy! I love the scrappiness and the colours.

Judith, Belfast said...

It's beautiful C! And great to hear it's already in use! Jxo

Lynne said...

Woo-hoo! And a lovely finish it is too!

Unknown said...

Lovely quilt Cindy, especially love the borders you chose, everything is bright and cheery certainly brightens up that grey Sunday!!
Jodie

helenjean@midgetgemquilts said...

gorgeous, just gorgeous. Will look fab over the back of a couch

Aoife said...

I really love the quilting you did on this, it makes it look so soft and I totally see the snowdrop effect! Beautiful quilt to get to keep for yourself :)

Tina said...

Love it! Well done!

Leanne said...

It's lovely and it is nice to finish a quilt. You doing great with the quilting too.

Archie The Wonder Dog said...

I love it!

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

this quilt is what made me make the most recent quilt I am working on. It seemed perfect for my 3" squares that I had cut from all DS scraps. A beautiful finish

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