Blogger' Quilt Festival Entry

This is the second time I have submitted an entry at the Blogger's Quilt festival over at Amy's Creative Side. If you are visiting this blog for the first time welcome. This year I am entering an improv quilt that was a recent finish. I just blogged about it in my previous post but here goes for those of you who haven't seen it.

The blocks were made as part of a workshop where we had to pick scraps from a brown bag and had to use every piece of fabric we pulled out. At the end of the exercise I was left with one big block which I cut the block into four blocks in a slightly staggered manner. The strip to the right balances out the quilt top.

The quilting is inspired by Jacquie Gering's recent quilt. I quilted it using a wavy stitch on my Bernina and a walking foot. I love the texture it produces.

A close up of the block

This also happens to be my first signed quilt. I added the lettering in the binding itself. I also used lump less binding for this quilt which gives a nice finish to the quilt. I am definitely going to use this technique again.

You can read more about this quilt here.

Improv quilt entry #40

Random fabric scraps and Kona bone

size 56" x 65"

Throw Quilt Category

Last year's entry

A Friday Finish

It's been a while since my last quilt but am glad to have finished one more. The process of making this quilt started a while back when I made some improv  blocks with my quilt guild. The blocks had very humble beginnings. You blindly picked from scraps thrown together in a brown bag and used whatever you pulled out. In due course some of the blocks were given away, others exchanged and the rest evolved into this.

I was left with one big block which I cut up into four pieces in a slightly off centered fashion. Then added a few colored strips here and there to balance out the quilt top. For the backing I used more leftover scraps from other projects. I also added a very skinny strip to the top left for some visual interest.

I was wondering how I should quilt it when I saw this post on Jacquie Gering's blog. I knew instantly that the wavy quilting would be perfect for this quilt. I used stitch #4 on my Bernina and the walking foot to produce this effect. The wavy lines are quilted 1 inch apart. I absolutely love the texture it gives the quilt. You will see a lot more quilts quilted this way in the future. 

Labeling a quilt is a concept I have long struggled with. I wanted something that would enable me to sign the quilt but not interfere with the design of the quilt. I considered a lot of options. Scoured the internet for the perfect label, tried to print and embroider my own labels but in the end a dear member of my quilt guild Robin Buscemi provided me the perfect solution. Use the alphabet on my Bernina to stitch a message on the binding. It's perfect. Subtle, non intrusive and yet enough room to say whatever your heart desires. It adds a nice artistic touch. So here is my very first signed quilt.

While making this quilt I realized I do not like to work under any imposed timelines. I produce my best work when I work without any duress when I truly feel like working on the quilt. However I realize one can only have this luxury when quilting is pursued as a hobby. When it's ones livelihood...matters are a bit different.

Linking up to: Finish it up Friday & TGIFF

Sneak peak

It's been very quiet around here lately, but I finally have a finish. I will blog about it soon in more detail but here is a sneak peak.