So it's time to stop procrastinating about writing posts. I have a lot of finishes to tell you about. While I haven't been good at writing blog posts this year, I have been good about getting long-awaiting projects crossed of my To Make list.
A number of years ago, 10 years prior to be exact, I cut up a bunch of fabrics in preparation for a class at a LQS, which sadly closed a couple of years ago. The colors I chose to use were a variety of green prints.
along with this mix of blue prints.
plus all of these orange prints for just the right amount of pizazz in what might otherwise be a boring palette.
This was the last picture I took of all the pieces before the class.
Let's just say that the class was not a success for me at that time. I remember there was a lot of seam ripping and disappointment but I also remember that I knew I could make the blocks correctly and had planned to do that at some point once I got back home.
Well....the whole project bag got put on the shelf and there it sat, waiting and waiting until the spring when I finally took it out and got started. I was determined to get it finished and gifted this year. Once I reread the instructions and took my time, the block pieces came together nicely.
Here's the first block completed. I mixed up the orange prints for the star points instead of using all the same fabric to give the whole quilt a lot more visual interest.
This is a block progress photo. 16 blocks done and only 20 more to go.
Once the blocks were finished, it was onto adding the sashing and then sewing the blocks together into rows. Paying attention to the sashing placement for each block was important to have the blocks line up properly in each row. There might have been a little seam ripper use during this stage but thankfully, not a lot.
The final steps were to add the pieced borders, which again required a lot of close attention to get them to turn out right.
It finally got loaded on the frame for it's finishing treatment.
While it's a really pretty quilt design, it definitely needed quilting to bring the whole thing to life.
I try to remember to take a pic of the in progress stitching so I can make sure I like the design choice, which I did. For this one I picked the Cascade pantograph and Glide Military Gold for both the top and the bobbin. As others have said, Military Gold is one of those colors that works so well on quilts that you wouldn't expect it to.
Off the frame. I'm thrilled with how this turned out.
I love the softness of the curves in the panto design. It suits this quilt so well.
Getting it's full pictures wasn't easy as this is a big quilt. It finished at 97" x 97". I binder clipped it to the frame of our gazebo and it still drug on the patio a bit. The colors are a bit off though in the photo since the background looks a bit yellow instead of the soft orange that it really is.
The texture is just so pretty and I was so happy with the way the color placement worked out. It really keeps your eye moving across the whole quilt nicely.
For the back I used a fun orange print that I had a whole mini bolt of which I purchased from someone locally off Craigslist many years ago. Of course, with the quilt hanging on the gazebo frame, the sun shows through the blocks on the front.
Maverick, who truly loves exploring outside as much as possible, gave his full approval upon completing his inspection.
My sister Marianne was thrilled with her gift and I was happy to have another sibling quilt done and gifted. There's one more sibling quilt to share with you in a future post.
If you are interested in making your own version of this quilt, the pattern is Hollywood Boulevard from the book Scraps by Judy Martin.
The book is out of print now but you can purchase the e-book from her website. If you do choose to make your own version, I'd love to see it when it is finished.
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