Gemstones is a Finish!

Never have I said good bye so many times. This is getting ridiculous. But last night I finished my Pretty Gemstones quilt. How could I leave and give it away without sharing it? There aren’t that many quilt finishes in a year (for me anyway) to skip one!  This will be a quick post, because you know, the wedding and all.  So much to be taking care of around here.

In all it’s glory, here is the first quilt finish of 2017! By the way, pictures were all taken indoors and late at night so they are not of the award winning quality that you have come to expect from me.  😉

This quilt was made with a pattern called Pretty Gemstones. It was designed by the wonderful Cynthia Brunz of Quilting is Better than Housework (which is absolutely true!)  It was published in McCall’s Quilting magazine in the January 2016 issue. The pattern is a breeze to make. I love a pattern with sashing. It means that my less than perfect piecing doesn’t make me go crazy because there are no corners or points to match. (I can be so lazy!)

I started this quilt last January as one of my Rainbow Scrap Challenge projects. But to be honest, I didn’t always follow the color prompts of the challenge. I was trying to use colors that are reminiscent of gems.  I think this came off quite well. There is are blocks which represent sapphires, rubies, topaz, tiger eye, amethyst and rose quartz. I skipped many of the suggested colors because they didn’t work for this project. I am pretty sure that is allowed but, if not, please don’t tell on me.

The sashing is done with Kaffe Fassett’s solid (the color is Ecru). I found it difficult to work with this fabric. It is a thin cotton and has a great deal of give to it. It became almost stretchy, especially the long strips for the sashing. Honestly, I doubt I would buy it or recommend it to a friend. (Sorry Rowan Fabric and Kaffe.) I had to starch it and while that helped, it didn’t completely solve the issue. This is the second time I used these solids.  The first time was in the jelly roll quilt I posted about here. I had quite a bit of trouble with awful stretchy waves in this project too. Part of the problem on the jelly roll quilt was I had to rip out stitches several times which distorted the strips. Now I also think it was this fabric. Seriously, it is very thin. After trying it twice, I doubt I would purchase these solids again. I have used Kaffe Fassett’s gorgeous print cottons and they are wonderful. It is this line of solids (and his stripes) that I am not a fan of.  For the backing I pieced the sashing fabric with a deep purple remnant that I picked up a while back. See the label on the back? I am trying to be more diligent about labeling my quilts. The purple fabric was also used to bind the quilt.

I quilted it with a motif of interlocking squares and rectangles of all sizes. This is the first time I have used this pattern and I loved it. The boxes are very forgiving. One interesting thing I noticed is that I can control the machine better with a square pattern than a round. Circles are more difficult for me to keep a consistent speed with as opposed to square. It felt more relaxing to quilt the squares.

On the plus side for Kaffe Fassett solids, they are quite soft – especially after washing. This quilt crinkled up so nicely after a quick rinse. No color bleeding issues either. Yay for Color Catchers!

Finally, take a close look at the quilt. See my rather silly error?  I didn’t catch it until about 1/3 of the quilting was done. Yikes!

I am giving this quilt to my new daughter-in-law’s parents. We wanted to bring them something as a thank you for the events they are hosting for this weekend’s wedding as well as to welcome them into the family. I hope they like it.

I am not going to promise this is the last post for the week. It probably is. But who knows?

Linking up with the lots of fun places. Check out the list at the top of the page, under Link Ups.

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(Note – I am a Craftsy affiliate. I am paid a small stipend for purchases made after clicking through the links on my site.)

23 thoughts on “Gemstones is a Finish!

  1. Yvonne @Quilting Jetgirl

    I agree that some of the Rowan fabrics are really thin and fussy to work with. Also, I call that quilting motif “robot” and found it was the first free motion quilting motif that I felt like I had really good control over as well. The quilt finished beautifully and I hope you have a wonderful time celebrating your son’s wedding.

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Yvonne. Glad it isn’t only me. It was just annoying to work with after a certain point. I hope the two quilts that I made with this type of fabric hold up well over the long run.

      Reply
  2. Preeti

    Well, gemstones is a lovely quilt. I saw no mistake – still scratching my head. But here is the bigger question – Wedding? I sure did miss your posts while I was on vacation. I remember you mentioned a grandbaby was coming but do not remember a wedding mentioned.

    Reply
    1. Nancy

      Rust block, fourth down on left side. I had a mistake in my grandson’s baby quilt and didn’t see it until viewing the photos from the shower. A little mistake makes a quilt more interesting and keeps the quilter humble.

      Reply
      1. Bernie Post author

        Yep! You found it Nancy. I was blown away when I finally saw it. How many times we look at these projects and it just doesn’t show up until it is really too late to do anything about it!! Oh well, such is life. 🙂

        Reply
    2. Bernie Post author

      Oh Preeti, we have so much going on in our family this year! My middle son is getting married to his gorgeous fiance on Saturday. They are so sweet together. I can’t wait for the wedding. I should have a fun picture to post next week. Nice to hear from you and glad you and Paul had a good visit in India and safe trip home again.

      Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thank you Cynthia! Now it’s time to start the next scrappy project! I also have the scrappy HST’s quilt top to finish up. Always lots of fun projects to work on!

      Reply
  3. JanineMarie

    Such a neat gift! And no mistake–it’s just a gem with it’s own sparkle. (I had to look really hard to find it, and wouldn’t have without the nudge.) I like how the square quilting makes another layer over the squares of the quilt pattern. And it makes great texture on the back.

    Reply
  4. Diane

    Nope. I did not see your “rather silly error” and I tried. Doesn’t that make you happy? I am giving thought to your idea that straight lines were easier and more relaxing to FMQ. I know my circles could use a lot of practice but I will have to notice if straight would be easier for me. Skill level or easiness aside, I think the FMQ pattern was perfect for the piecing design. A lovely, lovely finish… your new in-laws will love i!

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Well, I am glad the block doesn’t stand out too terribly. I am not entirely sure why the boxy shapes were so much easier. Maybe because I had to slow down at each corner to pivot for the next side of the square? If I slow down mid-circle there is often a little wiggle when I get going again. It isn’t as smooth? Just something to keep working on I suppose. ?

      Reply
  5. Diana @ Red Delicious Life

    Bernie, the quilt looks lovely! And I couldn’t put my finger on the mistake either. I kept going back to the rust block thinking it should have been a pink block, but then saw that with the color pattern, it was correct in being a rust one. It wasn’t until I saw the comment above that it was rotated the other way. My eye kept going to it but I didn’t pick up on why. I think it just adds visual interest.

    Reply
  6. Muv aka Lizzie Lenard

    Gorgeous quilt, Bernie! Really, I would never have spotted the upside down block if you hadn’t made me look for it. It’s not a mistake, it’s a visual surprise.

    Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!

    Love, Muv

    Reply
    1. Bernie Post author

      Thanks Muv. It was a fun quilt to give to my friends. They loved it and didn’t seem to mind the visual surprise at all!

      Reply

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