Hearty Good Wishes

This week I cut, pieced, quilted and bound two quilts. Two complete quilts in one week! The first was a practice piece that I used to practice my freemotion quilting. I had 5.5" squares of solid Kona cotton in my stash, and a big pile of solid black Kona (of which one can never have enough). I had signed up for Leah Day's Craftsy class on 50 Freemotion Fillers...so I whipped this up in two days:

Then I spent Wednesday chaining chevrons for my Celtic Solstice:

After Bible study Wednesday night, I came home a little wired on sugar and caffeine, so I went ahead and cut the pieces for the Big Ten quilt I was commissioned to make this month.

It's very satisfying to have neat stacks of fabric ready to sew! I hopped up Thursday morning and began by stitching up the accent squares:

Then I began the process of design decisions. Mainly I wanted a fairly even distribution of color and value, and to avoid having the same fabric side by side.

Once the design is satisfactory, this pattern stitches up pretty quickly. Accurate cutting, and a consistent quarter inch seam, and lots of ironing keeps the work neat. I took a break to go to dinner with my daughter, son-in-law and precious Gingersnap (granddaughter), then cut and pieced long directional borders, and attached them for mitering. I decided it was pretty important for the ships in the border to float upright.

Friday morning, I pieced the gorgeous flannel backing fabric--Wool & Flannels II by Primitive Gatherings for Moda. It is so thick and soft.

With a finished quilt 86x106", it took 8 yards of backing fabric. I cut three 2 2/3 yard pieces, and seamed two horizontal seams.

I chose "Ebb & Flow", a design by Hermione Agee, to quilt. My computer makes fitting the design to the quilt so easy. I did baste the leading edge, since I had to start the quilting pattern above the edge of the quilt to minimize unquilted space. Please note, Quilters...this is why your longarm quilt artist asks you to provide ample backing fabric!

Once I got started (around 10 am) then it was just a matter of not stopping. I stood over the quilt all day...

...and finished late afternoon. Another note, Quilters...DO NOT CUT IT THIS CLOSE ON BATTING. Whew.

I got my binding attached Friday evening, but it took nearly all day Saturday, with lots of starts and stops of life interrupting, to get it topstitched down.

I quilted the top with mocha Glide thread, and the back with navy. It's my new favorite quilt! I know it will be beautiful in its new home, and last for years. There is nothing so satisfying as producing a good work.