Wednesday, July 20, 2011

back, with a finish

I know! It's been forever! I have been doing a little bit of sewing this summer, and here's a recent 'big finish'.

I've been a member of the do. Good Stitches bee for the last 9 months or so, and have been having fun being a stitcher, making blocks for the Faith circle. A couple months ago, I also joined the Inspire circle (making quilts for my favorite charity - Project Linus), but this time as a quilter. Being a quilter means you get to choose a design, collect the blocks and assemble the quilt. My month was May, and I chose this beautiful quilt by Amy of Diary of a Quilter as my inspiration:


To make up for all the girly and toddler quilts I usually make for Project Linus, I wanted to make something for an older boy. I asked for blue and brown square-in-square blocks, with a touch or green and gray. They were to be either 12.5" or 6.5" square, or a mix of the two sizes. The members of my group made some really wonderful squares for me! To make it a larger quilt (those teen boys are big!), I made the equivalent of 7 more blocks (though most of them were 6.5" blocks, so let's say 2 big blocks, and 20 small ones). The final dimensions were about 54" by 72". It was pretty addictive to go through my scraps and stash, and to use fabrics I wouldn't normally pick out or put together. What a great stash-buster project!


As you can see, my layout is a lot more regular than Amy's was. I tried to do a random layout, but I just couldn't get it to look right! So, I gave up, and went for a more regular one. With all the variety in the blocks, it still looks pretty random! Many thanks go to Chara for helping me with the layout!

For the back, I used a large piece of this fantastic Katie Jump Rope fabric. I had picked it up at a Project Linus meeting, long before I planned this quilt. It was perfect! I bordered it with a medium gray - it doesn't quite match the lighter gray in the KJR fabric, but close enough!


I based the quilting on the diagonal print of the KJR print. After basting (using spray basting, as usual!) I took a kid's washable marker, and used a ruler to extend the diagonal lines into the border fabric. After that, I quilted it from behind. I've used this technique before, and I highly recommend it. It's super quick, and looks great from the front.


Sorry these photos kinda suck - I finished the quilt the morning of our monthly meeting, and was in a rush to get the photos taken so I could run off to donate it!


I wanted to do something special for the label, more than just the standard tag. The text reads "This quilt was stitched with lots of love, especially for you, by the members of the "Inspire" circle of the "do. Good Stitches" bee on Flickr.com, May 2011. We hope it keeps you cozy!"


I'm also pretty darn proud of myself for finishing it on time - the bee rules say you should finish the quilt within 30 days of receiving all the blocks. I think I got my last block in the middle of June, and the quilt was donated on July 10. Yay for me!!

8 comments:

  1. Good job! That looks fabulous and I like the colors you chose! I'm sure the recipient will enjoy it.

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  2. Yay for you is right. Congratulations on a great quilt. Older boys need quilts too.

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  3. Wonderful, beautiful quilt for an older boy. We often overlook those guys. You have been busy.

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  4. I like this a lot! Love the way you quilted it, too. Thank you for sharing the inspiration quilt. I like both of them, and the fact that they are quite different!
    ; )

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  5. What an awesome quilt! Love the random squares. That is perfect for an older boy. I like that you didn't add a border--that's the part I dislike about the inspiration quilt.

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  6. Evelyn, this looks so great! What an awesome quilt for an older boy!

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  7. I think it's awesome! It's way more random than you think it is too. I feel the same about mine = I can see the layout of it all because I did it, but I don't think other people can. Same with yours.

    What a great project for great cause too. Love, love it.

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  8. Holy cow-- that turned out SO COOL!!!! And look at you go... from blocks to done in under a month? Wow. That quilt is going to make someone very happy. :)

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