Quilts 2011

22 November 2011

Time for background audition for my quilt based on LRStitched's Mod Circles Quilt....  Excuse the less than desirable pictures.  They were taken at 3am when insomnia hit.  Much like the writing of this post!

 Light Grey

 Charcoal Linen

White

After taking the pictures, I left them on the kitchen counter and headed back to bed.  In the morning I asked my husband and son what they thought.  Husband said light grey or white.  Son said charcoal or light grey.  Since light grey got two votes, that's what I went with!

The process of putting it together involved cutting 10 inch squares of each:  front of each block, batting, and the backing.


On the front I traced around a leftover plate from our son's birthday party (my printer wasn't cooperating to print stuff out to the pattern's scale so I had to abandon the pattern's circle template).  I marked on the block the top and sides at the half way points and then eye-balled the marks on the plate to line up with the marks on the fabric square.  Not only did I draw the circle on, I also marked half-way points next the circle too.  I used a Clover White Marking Pen... can I say this thing is A-MAZING?!  It works on light and dark fabric.  It leaves a white mark that disappears with the heat of your iron or you can use water.  That pen was a popular requested "Can I borrow it?" item at the quilt retreat!


Then I placed the six "leaf" shapes around the circle, making sure leaf points met at the marks on two of the sides.

At this point I spray basted the batting to the front and I used my machine's blanket stitch to go around the outside of the leaves and then I did the inside.

After getting that part quilted, I spray basted the backing fabric on.  (I could have added the backing to start with but I didn't like how the button hole stitch looked on the back - personal preference.)

Then I quilted around the circle.  I moved my needle over as far as I could to the right (so it would be about a half inch from the edge of the pressure foot to the needle.)  Then I lined up the edge of the pressure foot with the outside edge of the leaf applique.  I made multiple circles to fill up the square.

At this point, I squared up my block.  Ended up making them 9.5" x 9.5" squares.

Some I did hand stitching on at this point, but then I decided I could do that at home, sitting in front of the tv.  I wanted to get more blocks put together!

To join the blocks, I followed this tutorial:  Quilt As You Go (This is Part 4, showing how I joined the blocks.)   I finally found it in my browser history... I was starting to think I had imagined the whole thing!

Here's the back of the quilt...


And here's a view of the front...


I'm getting there!  Only 2 more rows to go and then add the binding.  And do a bunch of hand stitching. Okay, I have quite a bit left to do now that I see it all written out... But the end is in sight!!

Linking up...
Fresh Poppy Design

11 comments:

  1. Love this quilt! I really like the grey background.

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  2. I love the color choice and looks like I need a new marking pen! Wonder what you have planned for those two extra blocks on charcoal and white? Pillows? Great quilt!

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  3. that is a gorgeous quilt!! I absolutely love love love the way you quilted it!

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  4. ok, this is really clever! I like your background choice, and your 'leaves' are terrific, but honestly, your quilting is what is putting this lovely quilt over the top! And your hand-stitching....well, we can all tell you've put alot of thought and care into this quilt, and it sure shows! Very cool.

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  5. I love it. The light gray was definitely the right choice!

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  6. Well done, I love your fabric choices and hand stitching : )

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  7. It looks great so far! LOVE the quilting!

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