Ribbon Box Quilt - WIP

Last year I had finished this Ribbon Box Quilt top and finally decided to start quilting it.  When I picked my fabrics for this quilt I was certain that the prints and colours I had selected would work perfectly with the design of the quilt, but when I had finished piecing it, I was not entirely sure if I had made the right selections.  Because all of the fabrics are light to medium together with the white background fabric, I don't think that the ribbons 'pop' as much as I had hoped.  

In the end it is a really pretty quilt and together with some beautiful textured quilting I think it will look great!

I had decided to quilt a rather dense (small scale) stippling in the background, the idea is to have the background area lay a little 'flat' and hopefully that way once I quilt the ribbons they will pop and stand out.

With all of the stitch in the ditch complete and the background quilting done it is time to move on to the 'ribbons'.  I just love quilting swirls!!!  I think I am going to use three or four different designs within the ribbons, its hard to decide which, but so far the swirls looks great!  Maybe some large pebbles and curvy lines will work well too... I just want to have fun playing around with different textures.

So far...I think it looks great!

If you are interested in the making your own 'Ribbon Box Quilt', you can find links to the pattern in this POST I shared.

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Great Granny Squared #4 - Final Touches

I am finally done quilting my Great Granny Squared table runner.  I just love this little quilt, it's fun, bright and I am very happy with the scrappy look.

The pattern is from Lori Holt's (Bee In My Bonnet) book Great Granny Squared .  I am very tempted to make a set of three quilts to hang side by side, the same way as is featured in one of the pictures.  

I used a very simple swirl design to quilt it.  I was aiming for texture instead of custom, detailed quilting.  I was scared it would distract from the granny squares blocks if I had quilted tiny different designs.  It's the first time I quilted a design at a larger scale and was pleased at how fast it got finished.  Quilting larger designs was a bit tricky on my home sewing machine, as movement is easier (for me) when quilting small designs, but this is a small quilt, so there was very little drag or limitations. 

I am however a bit undecided regarding the binding.  While I was busy making this quilt, I was so sure that the blue with red strawberries would look great, but when I folded it over the edge of the quilt to see what it would look like, I am not entirely sure it works well.  Now I have two choices, and I can't decide which looks best.... any thoughts?

   

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A Quilt for Kayleigh

Kayleigh's little quilt is finished, and I LOVE IT!!  

As I mentioned in last week's post my little girl is turning 3 on 18 April, and I wanted to capture a little something of her within the quilt.  I did not have anything specific to work with, she has no favorite colour yet, not one single toy that stands out, or one specific movie I could use as inspiration.  

But I really wanted to have something to remember her at 3 years old, so I decided on her hands.  Trapunto was the best technique to really make them stand out.  It was the first time I've tried it, and I really love the effect.  The design really pops.

April is mid autumn here in South Africa, and in our region, Cosmos flowers spring up everywhere.  These flowers are also a wonderful reminder of Kayleigh's birth date.  So we took all of these pictures just outside of town between all the pretty colours... I think the quilt blended in perfectly in the background.  Even the blue sky and puffy white clouds helped bring out the colours of the quilt.

She had a lot of fun running around between all the flowers, its at times like these I wish I can freeze time.  She is at such an adorable age, everything is an adventure.  She has no fear!  She is such a loving child eager to give us all hugs and kisses, and she's very funny.. and even at this young age I already know she has a strong personality and she's very strong willed.. 

I used all of my favorite free motion quilting designs in this quilt.  Swirls and pebbles in the center and feathers inside the border.  I also quilted figure 8's within the white sashing borders. I admit, those corners proved to be a bit tricky, not one ended up the same....

This little quilt finished at 52 inch square.

I think she will love her new quilt, especially as she grows each year, comparing her little hands to those of when she was 3....

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Summer Solstice Quilt - Finished!

This is one of those TA-DA moments.  So be warned, I have LOTS of pictures to share :-) 

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest finish.

I am really proud of this quilt, from designing, cutting, piecing, basting, quilting and binding, it was a fun quilt to make.  I mainly used the same free motion quilting designs throughout this quilt, which includes swirls, pebbles, some dot to dot diamond variations and in the border an arch/cathedral window type of design.  

The finial dimensions after quilting is 65 inches x 85 inches.

If you'd like to read up on the making of this quilt, it can be found HERE, HERE and HERE.  I designed this quilt myself and the pattern is available in my Craftsy Store, its also displayed on the left sidebar of my blog.

Source: Summer Solstice Quilt via Marelize Ries on Craftsy

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