Years ago, I am not even sure how long ago, my daughter started constructing this quilt top. She chose fabric with geometric patterns on them in what I would call warm autumn colors. Each block was made up of contrasting colors, usually a dark with a light. This fabric reminded me of the color pallet of Ikea textiles. Each square was modern, neutral symbols, with 2 two-toned triangles. It is a straight forward construction with many possibilities for laying out to get a random design or an intentional formal quilt design.
I was thinking the blocked squares were placed randomly in order to make up the body
of a quilt. Since I was in a season of finishing projects,
I asked if I could finish this one…. Just to get it done. I grabbed my daughter’s oldest daughter and
we made a summer project of it, to get this quilt done and ready for use.
It was simple enough, we
laid out the squares that were remaining, in order to complete the last row.
My granddaughter helped to lay out the squares that would complete the last row. I got out my square ruler to make sure the remaining squares were “squared up.” Just by double checking each small block, when the last row was assembled and added to the quilt body, every corner would align up. This makes for the best “intersection” where the fabrics all meet, at the corners. Together we sewed these squares into a row, and attached the last row to the quilt body.
I also checked my fabric stash, that every quilter has, to see what I had that would make a nice framed binding for this quilt.
One of the best ways to bring a textile piece together, whether in garments, handbag-totes, or quilt construction, is the durability and “one of a kind” element that stitching the layers brings to your project. My granddaughter chose this medallion motif
2525-garden-bunnies-block-2 by Donna Kleinke of One Song
Needle Arts.
She liked the design and the repeated pattern with the shapes that it created by being placed together side by side.
That is what she chose.
It wasn’t until we were stitching it out on the quilt frame, that we came to notice, each block had six bunnies running in a circle.
When we realized that we had not even seen the bunnies until we were stitching out our second row, we just laughed together!
Which has made this project even more enjoyable for us.
Our quilt stitched out on
my long-arm, with my granddaughter watching along. It was fun to see where the bunnies would
show up on different parts of the quilt.
Do you see him too on the golden triangle?
A word about the border
and binding.
The border is bigger than
I would normally add on but we wanted the quilt to be large enough to be used in
the living room, on the couch, at my daughter’s home. I had sunflower fabric that was left over
from another quilt, that fit perfectly with this project. The circle of the sunflowers, can soften the
strict lines of the geometric fabric designs and the triangle shape of the
blocks.
The binding is a warm
yellow 1930’s reproduction fabric. It
is my custom to buy the whole bolt when I find a good deal and a pleasing
fabric pattern. So, I had this on hand to make a complimenting binding which frames and
finishes the edges of our quilt.
My deal with my granddaughter is that while I blind-stitch the binding to the back of our quilt, she reads to me. It really sets up precious memories as we sit together.
Comments