Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Allie's Quilt

 Another recent finish was this graduation gift for my son's girlfriend. A week before her graduation, I was cleaning up my sewing area and rediscovered this fabric. I knew it would be perfect for Allie, so I started cutting and stitching.


 I started with 3 mini charm packs of Kate Spain's Paradiso line. The mostly blue squares were combined with Kona Snow for some yummy 9-patches. Those were set on point, and alternated with plain square-in-a-square blocks with Kona Bahama blue. Very simple piecing. The points were extended around the perimeter to complete the design. I used every bit of Paradiso yardage that I had for the borders.


I absolutely love quilting a continuous curve (aka orange peels). It's an effective design for the 9-patches, so I marked a grid in the alternate plain squares to repeat the design. I normally don't do any marking but it was necessary on this one and well worth it.

Below, you can see the Angela Walters-inspired quilting in the large triangles. You can also see what happens to my thread when I use a needle that is too small! I was using Superior needles and thread and they very quick to respond on Instagram with some suggestions. The right size needle was all I needed.
 

 Allie and Pete came in just as I was finishing the quilting (the day before graduation). I asked her if she liked it and told her it was hers! Surprise!

 

Check out the awesome texture on the back!

 
I used an ombre on the back. It is light at one selvage and dark at the other. I pieced it along the light edges so it glows in the middle! 


I found out toward the end that Allie loves flamingos. I dug deep for this paper pieced pattern by Margaret Rolfe. In a previous quilting life, I used to shrink all these patterns to make lapel pins. It was fun to be reminded how much I enjoy tiny paper piecing. We've known Allie since she and Pete were six or seven years old. I'm hoping she'll stop calling me Mrs. Craig soon!
 

 I think she likes it. As soon as she got home, she put it on her bed and sent me a picture of how well it matches her decor.



Allie's Quilt
60" X 77"
Started May 1, 2017
Completed May 20, 2017
Delivered June 20, 2017
Pieced on Singer Featherweight
Quilted on Bernina 153
 

4 comments:

Robby said...

What a terrific last minute inspired gift. I have a friend's daughter who will be 30 soon (and I've known her since she was 8), I'm still Miss Robby even after I invited her to address me more as an equal. She said it would just feel like I was a different person if she changed what she called me, and then she hugged me. I think it's ok.

WoolenSails said...

That is a beautiful quilt and love how the border fabric sets it all off.

Debbie

margaret said...

this is a beauty. It will be treasured I am sure if only by marking a pattern on the quilt made quilting it easier! No way can I do that. See you pieced it on you featherweight must get mine out and give it a run too

Dollandesign said...

What a nice quilt you have made!

Dollandesign