Friday, July 24, 2015

simply luscious



I love this quilt.


I love everything about
this quilt.


It is truly
simply
 luscious!


It all started back in January when Melissa 


I visited Quilt Home
where I found Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile in citron 
on sale
for $5.96 a yard.
Seeing that it's normally around $15 a yard,
I snapped it right up.


I don't normally start a quilt with the backing first,
but - $5.96/yard AMH voile...


roughly a year ago,
and knew it would be the perfect pattern to go with my lovely backing.


I wanted bigger than a baby quilt,
so went with a 5x6 layout
(of 12" blocks)
so,
before quilting, washing,
and a tumble in the dryer,
the quilt measured 60x72.


Just perfect for a throw!


I chose 60 delicious fabrics that coordinated with the colors in the voile,
then paired them up


and decided if the pair would become a 16 patch block
or a wonky star.


the blocks were so much fun to make!


I layed out all the pieces (17) to a star block
and sewed and trimmed and pressed
until I had a completed block.


The 16 patch (strip pieced) blocks were mostly sewn up
as leaders and enders,
and went together super fast.


Because the quilt top was so luscious,
and the back was heavenly,
I decided to use wool batting.


I was hesitant to use the wool, because it felt like I was 'wasting' 
its luxuriousness
because I wasn't going to hand quilt it.


But then,
I remembered
the whole quilt was being created simply for the pleasure of it.
(I was originally going to name it 'Pure Pleasure'
but thought that sounded maybe a little too erotic for a quilt,
so when my friend, Nancy, referred to it as luscious  
well, I stole that as the name.)


And since the whole making of it was pure pleasure,
I decided it would be foolish of me
to not do at least some hand-quilting.


I pulled out my perle cottons and my silk threads,
and settled on the (silk) one that went best with my chosen binding,
(love netorious for bindings!)


I hand quilted diagonally across all 16 patches
and the corners of the star blocks
then free motion machine quilted  one huge flower in each of the remaining hexagons.
(the top and sides of each star block, with the hand quilting across the corners = a hexagon shape)


The 2,250 inches of hand-quilting took about 56 hours,
and the machine quilting took a little less than 2.


I attached the binding by machine,
and pressed and glue basted to the back last Friday
then spent time here and there over the next 6 days
hand stitching it down to the back.


I finished the binding yesterday morning,
then made a label (complete with a tiny 2" wonky star block :-) real quick,
sewed it on,
and tossed it in the wash.



Two hours later,
I pulled it from the dryer.
Heaven in a quilt ~ Simply Luscious.


No surprise ~ I'm joining the finishers over at Amanda Jeans :-)





8 comments:

  1. The colors and fabrics you've used on this quilt are outside of my usual comfort zone, but I absolutely LOVE how they look together. What a beautiful quilt! (Note to self: be bold sometimes in your fabric choices -- look how great they can look!?!) Your friend was right to call it luscious -- that's the perfect description. (PS - What a handsome quilt holder you have!)

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  2. This is really pretty and such a labor of love- I love it when bloggers praise their work instead of diminish their accomplishments... I don't blame you for starting this project with "backing first." It's a beautiful fabric. Great blend of fabrics on the front too.

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  3. I love your quilt. Your quilt holder seem to love it as well. Congratulations!

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  4. Um, could you have chosen a prettier combo of colors?!? I think not. It's gorgeous!

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  5. Oh I do love your quilt too!!! You did an excellent job choosing the fabrics and the quilting is wonderful!! I think I'll make one too.

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  6. Luscious is the word for it, it is absolutely gorgeous inside and out!

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  7. Oh, wow...that is beautiful.

    I'm so glad you used the wool batting. Life is too short to be thrifty with oneself ALL the time! What a wonderful finish.

    Thanks for the gorgeous photos - I enjoyed every, single shot. (Though I did find the shot of the chickens approaching the quilt a bit unnerving, now that I think about it! I just wanted to grab up the quilt and keep it safe! Ha!)

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  8. So pretty! Such a great way to show off lovely fabrics in a simple block design. And your model seems to love it, too.

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