I had a finish this week! Remember I did some pattern testing for Sarah of Sarah Goer Quilts? I was able to quilt and bind it over the last week or so. The quilt is just adorable. If you would like a copy of this pattern, click over to Sarah’s blog and sign up for her newsletter. I just read the second newsletter and I am enjoying them.
This quilt has been a multi-faceted project for me. It began with pattern testing the new pattern for Sarah. I made the quilt with fabrics from the Fiesta Fun line (which I just happen to carry in my shop!) I chose the Fiesta Fun fabric so I would have something to display the brightly colored fabric. When I looked at the quilt top, I knew it would be a fun one to quilt. The quilt is filled with big open spaces to play with. At about the same time Fil-Tec provided me with a lovely spool of white Glide thread to play with.
I decided to quilt the floral block and the striped blocks with the white spool of Glide. Wow. I loved it! Glide is a polyester thread with a very pretty sheen to it. It was a dream to quilt with – honestly, just amazing. It is very clear where the thread earned its name – I felt very little pull when I was quilting. I will absolutely stock up on a few more colors. Ok – back to the quilting. For the floral block, I basically outlined some of the flowers and leaves. Very simple and quite fun. For the striped blocks (made with the adorable Happy Streamers fabric from Art Gallery) I followed the pattern of the stripes, stitching on the white space between the streamers. When the fabric is as busy as this Happy Streamers is, I think it works well to keep the quilting simple.
Then I worked on the green background. I used a spool of Mettler thread to quilt this because I had a spool that worked well. Honestly though, I am not a huge fan of quilting with Mettler. It gives off quite a bit of lint and I fight the tension more when I use Mettler. But I had a good time quilting this. For the inner border I used large, free form flowers.
On the outer border, I did a an organic wavy vine with small flowers, bumblebees and butterflies.
For the bees and butterflies, I found inspiration at The Inbox Jaunt. Lori Kennedy has a vast library of tutorials for different quilting motifs. I think the bees and butterflies are so cute. Some of the butterflies are a bit lopsided, which adds a lovely touch of whimsy to the quilt (right?). Finally, on the block between each section of directional fabric, I quilted a cross hatch pattern.
The backing was cut from a sheet that I thrifted a long while back. I think the bright, primary colors work well with the top.
The binding is a cheerful print from Art Gallery, Squared Elements in Mandarin. Guess what? I have it in my shop! 🙂
I am happy to call this one done. Bright and colorful, perfect for these gray, rainy days we have been having. (But I am not complaining. I welcome the rain!!)
I would like to thank everyone for your support of my shop. I really appreciate it. The discount code for Needle and Foot readers is good for just a few more days. Enter NANDFREADERS15 follow meand receive a 15% discount on orders of $5.00 or more. This code is valid through February 12th. Next week there will be a giveaway on Instagram. If you , keep an eye out for that. If you don’t, now might be a good time to start! 😉
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Bright, cheerful and springlike! 🙂 Congrats on a lovely finish!
Thank you Deb. I do love the colors in this quilt. 🙂
I use Glide a lot-my preferred thread for my longarm! So glad you were able to try and like it too! A fellow IB ambassador;)
That is interesting Vicki – This is the first time I used it and I was quite impressed by it. Now I need a few more spools in different colors!
This is really fun, Bernie! A nice finish. I’ve not tried Glide thread, but it’s definitely going on my list. It is so much fun to hear about all the activity going on in your quilting life. You are going to have a remarkable year!
Wendy, thanks so much! I was really pleased with Glide. Looking into ordering some for my shop – it was a breeze to quilt with!
I love the quilting you chose to finish out this quilt. The design does afford for some fun negative space options!
Thanks a bunch, Yvonne. Seems like I haven’t quilted anything for quite a while so it was fun to sit down and practice again. I very much enjoy it.
Your blog looks different. Did you give it a haircut 😀
The quilt colors are just so springy and bright. And that orange just fits perfectly. Looking forward to more pictures.
I did update the blog! I got a new logo and changed things around a bit. Hope you like it.
I did put a few more pictures on the post. We have such lovely blue skies today – quite the contrast to yesterday’s crazy storm!
I love the fabrics you used. This is so bright and pretty!
Thank you Cathy. It is a really cheerful little quilt.
Can’t wait to see the whole quilt! The quilting is stunning Bernie – love the sheen on that thread. Love the fabrics too, and yes that sheet is perfect for the back.
I just updated the post with a few more pictures. Today is just gorgeous out – clear blue skies.
Have a great weekend Linda!
It’s a great little quilt Bernie and it looks great with the fabric you chose. Very nice job on the quilting as well.
Oh Bernie, I love everything about this quilt! Colors, design, quilting. Outstanding!
I’m glad to see you still have time to quilt, Bernie! Your FMQ on this is adorable. I was going to say that I hoped to see the whole quilt, and then when I checked back, there it was! I have some real stash envy going on here. I love how you can showcase what you have in your shop. What a dream come true for you!
Oh how wonderfully bright – perfect for spring!
I think so too. It will be so nice to start working with these fabrics!!
Great quilting. It’s a wonderful finish.
Hello Bernie,
Those are such big, bold prints. Keeping the quilting relatively large scale has really let the prints sing. The bees and butterflies are a lovely touch.
Thank you for linking up with Free Motion Mavericks!
Love, Muv