Sunday, December 27, 2015

orange explosion



I've been at this quilting thing for almost 7 years now,
so I figured it was high time I made my mom a quilt!


I started this One Block Wonder 
using Joel Dewberry's Heirloom Roses in Citron.
I choose this particular fabric 
because I thought the colors would go well in Bill's TV room,
which is decorated sorta aztec-y.
I figured, even though the design didn't match,
the colors, would...


I choose the OBW design,
because I thought my mom would love all of the different flowers that were created.
And it just seems fitting;
when you start a OBW,
you have no clue exactly what your quilt will end up looking like.
And so it is as a mom.
You really have no clue
what all that love and hard work you pour into your children
will turn into.


and still I had some points that weren't perfect.

Ah well.
Nobody knows I'm not perfect
better than my mom!


Once I had the triangles all sewn together,
(my first mitered border)
then made the backing.


I spray basted the top to the batting (bamboo - it's quickly becoming a favorite)
and then proceeded to quilt,
(without the back)
in the ditch,
every. stinking. diagonal seam.
(I'd read that this was very important for OBW quilts, especially)


Then I added the quilt backing
and stitched in the ditch every-other vertical seam,
before proceeding with my real quilting,
a huge spiral
that began in the very orangest block
and moved outward.


I sprinkled in sections of hand quilting where it seemed right.


Like a good girl,
I knotted and buried the threads at all of my starts and stops..
I had a lot of starts and stops...


Then I added the binding
and alternated between stitching it on the back,
and hand-quilting the 1 inch ivory border.


I'd hoped to have it finished, except for the orange border,
(which I hadn't yet determined how I was quilting)


I considered bringing it with me,
but I didn't want to feel pressured to work on it
instead of snuggling Hadley,
and even though it's just a throw size,
it's kinda big to be working on
on a plane.


After getting back home,
I only had 3 days to get it finished,
because my family's Christmas celebration with my mom
was the Sunday before Christmas.


We watched a little more Netflix than normal ;-)
and I finished the hand stitching late Saturday morning.
Then I pulled the machine back out and
did two rows of machine stitching in the orange border.


It needed something more,
but I didn't think just another row down the center would cut it.
Plus,
I kinda wanted something triangular
in the border,
so after much debate and testing of stitches,
I used the triple zig zag.
I'm normally not a fan of the zig zag,
but I think it worked well here
to help frame the quilt
and pull it all together.


I tossed it in the wash Saturday afternoon,
a full 13 hours before we'd be giving it to Mom and Bill :-)


I love you Mom (and Bill)



I hope you love your quilt,
and even though you likely won't actually use it,
maybe somebody will snuggle up with it now and then...




linking up with Amanda Jean and Lee :-)



23 comments:

  1. Such a beautiful quilt! It is obviously made with much love for your Mom! <3

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  2. This has been, by far, my favorite. Has always reminded me of beautiful starfish on the beach. I would have had a hard time letting this one go. So beautiful!!

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  3. I love every inch of this quilt! The love bursts through.

    Nancy

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  4. I know she was thrilled to receive this colorful quilt! All the matching seams and pressing was so worth it! And I love the addition of the hand quilting.

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  5. This quilt is spectacular! What love you put in to it. And I love how you combined hand and machine quilting. Truly a striking quilt!

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  6. That quilt is amazing! I absolutely love the color choices!

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  7. "when you start a OBW,
    you have no clue exactly what your quilt will end up looking like.
    And so it is as a mom.
    You really have no clue
    what all that love and hard work you pour into your children
    will turn into."
    I can relate to this aspect of mothering! I've never tried a OBW nor have I ever heard of starting quilting without the quilt back, although I can understand the reasoning here. Your fabric worked beautifully for this OBW and as always I love your choice of hand quilting amongst the machine quilting. Your borders finish it off perfectly!

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  8. What a fantastic quilt, so much loving care went into it. I hope she will use it, or at least display it where it can be admired. Beautiful work!

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  9. Oooooo, I like it!

    Funny how the mistakes bother us, but no one else seems to notice.

    Visiting you from the Crazy Mom Quilts linkup.

    www.thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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  10. Oh WOW!! That is such a beautiful quilt and I love the way you've taken a pretty fabric and made it something infinitely more beautiful - what a lovely present for your mum 😀

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  11. This quilt is amazing and absolutely awesome! What a wonderful quilt! Congrats on the finish!

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  12. BRAVA!!! You handled the challenges of quilting and finishing this quilt with your usual skill and style, and it is GORGEOUS. If nobody snuggles it at your Mom and Bill's place it could come here for some attention, ya know...just a thought! Ha! It was a smart move to anchor the piecing (all those darn diagonals!) prior to adding the backing, and your spiral quilting is the perfect touch. Such a beautiful finish.

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  13. Fantastic effort and amazing work to put it all together into such a gorgeous, vibrant quilt -well done!

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  14. I love the way that turned out. I wouldn't have guessed it was the same block looking at it from a distance.

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  15. This is these most gorgeous one block wonder quilt I've seen. I immediately thought, based on the colors, that it was from Joel Dewberry's Heirloom collection, but coudln't figure out what fabric until I clicked to see the full post. Just stunning.

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  16. Oh my. This is lovely and one of the prettiest OBW quilts I've seen. I love the touch of hand quilting in the ivory border. That was special!

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  17. Amazing. I love it. Orange is my favourite colour.

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  18. What a beautiful fun quilt! I love the combination of aqua and orange

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  19. What a beautiful quilt. I love the hand-quilted touch you added to the outer boarder.

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  20. I just discovered one block wonder quilts and bought the TriRecs rulers to make one. Yours is just beautiful!

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  21. I'm having fun trawling back through your posts. What a fabulous quilt for your Mum. How have I never seen this fabric before. Well worth all the work and love that went into it. The Amish believe there should always be some imperfetions in a quilt, cos nothing is perfect in real life.

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