Monday, 1 July 2013

Giant Star Quilt - finished

I blogged about this quilt top way back in October last year – you can read the post here. I started free-motion quilting it not too long after that, and I got the central star part done quite quickly. Then it sat, and sat, and sat. To be honest, I kinda got bored doing all those pebbles in the background. So I decided just to get it done, and I used a couple of different (quicker) FMQ designs in the background too – loopy lines and big flowers like on Letty’s quilt.

Giant Star Quilt 

Now it is done! I made the binding ages ago using a whole spectrum of solid green fabrics, and I think they frame the quilt nicely. That almost offensively bright chartreuse colour is my favourite – I need to use it in my quilts more often!

Giant Star Quilt

The back is an Ikea duvet cover from Hong Kong which I unceremoniously hacked apart to use as quilt backing. I think it works well with the black and white sketch print on the front, but the fabric is not the highest quality and I’m afraid this might be a slightly fluffy quilt (the batting is my usual cotton but I don’t think it really enjoyed being quilted quite this densely – there is a bit of bearding already). Because of how densely this quilt is quilted (I used about 2500 metres (2700 yards) of thread in the quilting), it will make a nice durable utility quilt for around the house.

Do you ever get bored with quilting the same design on a large area of quilt? Any tips for getting past that?

This quilt is the fourth (and final) finish off my second quarter goals list - yay! I'll do a wrap up soon, and keep an eye out for my tutorial for a non-slip sewing mat, to be hosted by Leanne at she can quilt later this week.

she can quilt


Quilt Stats
Finished Size: Approximately 70" square.
Fabric: Garden Wall collection by Laura Gunn, Timeless Treasures crosshatch sketch in black and white
Backing: Ikea duvet cover
Binding: variety of green solids - mostly kona
Pieced and quilted by: me, on my domestic sewing machine.


Linking up with:

Plum and June Better Off Thread Fresh Poppy Design

and with Finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

15 comments:

Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation said...

Great quilt! Wow! that is some dense quilting! I'm pretty new to FMQ and right now, I'm in love with stippling, even though I know I should really try something else. I get really bored doing straight lines.

:) Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation

Erin @ Once Upon a Donkey said...

Soooo pretty. Love the prints - especially the large tropical one. And, yes, you definitely need to use more of that green. FUN!

Jessica said...

Ugh, bearding :( Oh well - it's completely gorgeous! Love the prints you chose!

Anna said...

I think the chartreuse is my favorite, too! It turned out great :) I have never gotten bored like that, but I have also never tried pebbles on anything larger than one foot square. I can imagine getting bored with pebbles, though!

Carla said...

A gorgeous finish indeed! Your quilting is fantastic and that backing -- brilliant

hydeeannsews said...

it's big, bold, beautiful! love it. bet it feels good to be finished. =) i know what you mean about getting bored with the fmq. good for you for powering through finally!

Melissa at My Fabric Relish said...

This is a beautiful quilt. I've been thinking of doing one giant block quilt and i might take the plunge soon. Thanks for the inspiration.

Susan at TheBoredZombie.com said...

Wow! I like it! The back is fantastic. I hope it holds up for you!

Erica said...

I love the pink thread on that backing!

Camilla said...

Yes I do often/sometimes get bored with the quilting. I quite enjoy the more uniform look of some designs that are quite dense. But doing them can be quite tedious! Maybe the solution is to send out those quilts?! Not that I ever have sent a quilt out yet and it seems a waste for a simple design I could do myself...Dilemma! Let me know when you have a solution!

MaterialGirlQuilts said...

Beautiful quilt and the quilting is fantastic!!
Amanda

heart of charnwood said...

There's no way to stop the boredom setting it, unless you choose a less dense pattern! Love the quilt- i bought the exact same duvet as a backing fabric, thx for the tip :o)

Elise Lea said...

Beautiful! Love the backing with that pink thread and the quilting (while you may have gotten bored doing it) is absolutely stunning!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for linking up with Let's Get Acquainted! I've never FMQ'd anything of that size, so no tips from me!

nicole said...

Just gorgeous! And i love the binding!