The post wash measurement is 52 x 63.

For the label I incorporated it into the backing design.  I used a Sharpie and wrote on the white fabric.

I don’t often get pictures of my finished quilts with their recipients, but I am hand delivering this quilt to the recipients tomorrow, so hopefully when I get back from vacation I’ll post some pictures of the hopefully delighted recipients with their quilt.

I love the colors, and I really liked how it turned out.

I marked this quilt for straight line quilting, and I have to honestly say that I’m not sold on marking my quilts prior to quilting.  I also used flannel for the backing, and while it is soft and cozy I’m not sold on it either.  If you use flannel, PREWASH it!!!  Even if you don’t prewash your fabrics, ALWAYS prewash your flannel.  Flannel shrinks so much more than regular quilting fabric, and the weave is bigger.  Once you wash it and it shrinks, it shrinks the weave, which makes the quilting stitches much more secure.

Does anyone get nervous when they put the quilt in washer for the first time?  I always hold my breath when I open the washer and hope and pray that when I open the lid the quilt is still in one piece.  Never before had I hoped and prayed as hard as I did when I washed this quilt, because it was such a labor of love, and from start to finish took well over 40 hours to complete.  It was such a relief when everything was intact!

The prewash measurements were 95 x 95.  The post wash measurement is 88.5 x 88.5.

Here it is in all its glory (it’s a queen size quilt shown on a king size bed).

In this center vertical row there are 3 blocks where I decided not to quilt over the painted flower, because I didn’t want the quilting to take away from the flower.  I thought that darker fabrics with the darker painted flowers needed to stand out and I thought the quilting would obviously compete with the flowers.  So the brown painted flower on brown fabric framed with cream, as well 2 and 3 blocks above this block are the ones I left the flowers unquilted.

I arranged the blocks so that on the diagonal starting from the top left all of the blocks are the same color…can you see that?  It might be more visible in the second picture.

]]> http://southernquilter.com/2010/03/urban-nature-quilt-and-pillows/feed/ 4 http://southernquilter.com/2010/02/spring-flowers-recap/ http://southernquilter.com/2010/02/spring-flowers-recap/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:10:59 +0000 Rachel http://southernquilter.com/?p=485 Spring Flowers is done!   And I LOVE it!!!!!!  For starters I used Camille’s Baby Mine pattern.  The pattern is a great deal because you get 2 patterns for the price of 1–a girl quilt and a boy quilt.  I wasn’t 100% sold on the flower applique pieces that go with the girl quilt.  So I hunted through my library of patterns and found one that I love…it’s called French Roses by Heather French.  Some day I’m going to make an entire quilt of French Roses (I even have the fabric for it), but since that’s down the road I figured I give the French Roses a whirl by substituting these flowers for the ones that came with the Baby Mine pattern.

The French Roses pattern  uses the soft edge applique technique, which I thought is perfect for a baby girl’s quilt.  I’m certainly in love with soft edge applique!

I’m so glad I made this modification.  I think the French Roses flowers are softer, more feminine, and just downright adorable.

The quilt measured 40 x 50 prior to washing and measures 37 1/2 x 47 1/2 after washing…perfect size for a baby.

Front

Back

Polka dot binding matches the inner border

Label: I used a piece of muslin, cut the edges with pinking shears, wrote on it, then soft edge appliqued it to the quilt

Fabric: Butterfly Fling by Me & My Sisters Design for Moda, the white is a white on white design with butterflies, the polka dots and some of the fabrics in the flowers are from my stash.

Side note: I started working on an improv project tonight.  I got everything out and set up (machine, ironing board, started cutting fabric etc.), then went to sew, and my sewing machine won’t sew! Grrrrrrr!  So I’m bringing it in tomorrow to get serviced, because one can’t have a non working sewing machine when one NEEDS to sew!

See the cherries

Instead of using a separate label, I decided to simply write on the back of the quilt.  I’m really liking this idea….it’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s permanent.

The post wash measurements are 33 x 41…just the right size for a new baby.

I think this quilt is really pretty and the new mama is going to love it!

Front

Back

If you remember I used the Sulky Blendables thread…see how nicely it blends

This is the back and you can see how nicely the thread blends into the blocks at the top, but in the rest of the white backing you can see the color variations, which I think looks really cool.  And since I used a light blendables thread it still hides mistakes on the white fabric.

p.s.: optimized for firefox.

The kit came with a layer cake, charm pack, and a jelly roll.

The concept is simple: layer cake, top with charm, top with 2.5″ square (cut from jelly roll strip), and this is an easy quilt to piece.  This was my first attempt at raw edge applique and I really like the fuzzy raw edges.  It’s so darn soft!!!

The backing fabric is from my stash, but it certainly looks like it’s part of the line.  I decided to straight line quilt this one, and straight line quilting was not nearly as enjoyable as an all over meander or stipple, but it did get the job done relatively quickly, and after washing it, I really really like it.

The binding is scrappy…I chose 7 strips from the jelly roll.  This was my first scrappy binding, and I love how it goes with the scrappy feel of the quilt.

Note: the kit calls for using 36 layer cake squares, but I went ahead and used all 42–making the quilt longer.  Since the charm pack came with 40 charms, I ended up using 2 5 x 5 squares from my stash and I also threw in some of that stash fabric for the 2.5 x 2.5 squares for good measure.

Post wash measurement is 54 x 64.

]]> http://southernquilter.com/2009/09/scruffily-snippets/feed/ 4 http://southernquilter.com/2009/08/its-snowing/ http://southernquilter.com/2009/08/its-snowing/#comments Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:10:22 +0000 Rachel http://southernquilter.com/?p=302 Here’s another finished quilt that I will be gifting later in the year.  (wink, wink)

I love the reds and aquas.

I love the pieced back of reds and greens.

I quilted this one with white thread, and the unwashed, and unlabeled quilt measures a 57″ square.

Front

Pieced back

Up close

Fabric is It’s Snowing by Deb Strain for Moda

ps: best to view in firefox.

If you remember I started with a layer cake, and because sometimes I think simple is best, I decided to just sew the 10×10 squares together.  You really get to appreciate the entire line this way, and I really do love the simple squares.

I absolutely love this quilt, and I’m so glad I bought 2 layer cakes, because this way I can make one for us too…but that will have to wait because I have so many projects I want to do!

So here is the unwashed and unlabeled “finished project.”  It measures as a 57″ square (prewashed).

Front

Back

Up close

Folded

ps: my website is best viewed in firefox…apparently ie doesn’t like my photos

Front

Back

For best viewing results use Firefox (internet explorer is having issues with wordpress…if anyone knows how to fix the problem, please let me know.  problem: pictures aren’t centered in ie).