First Big Finish!

Admittedly it took a little longer than I hoped, but my Good Fortune Quilt is officially complete! This is my first large-sized quilt, measuring 63 x 72 or a generous throw size. I finished it late last night, and pulled it out of the dryer early this morning. My mini-me hasn't stopped cuddling it; I think she's almost as happy as I am! And a huge thank you  Fresh Lemon Quilts for the great pattern!

I'm going to put together a coordinating throw pillow or two to match (I still have an embarrassing amount of scraps from this project!), and then I'll begin plotting my next big quilt. I splurged on a fat quarter bundle of Tula Pink's Salt Water which should arrive in a few days. If I can overcome my fabric hoarding instincts I'll be cutting into it very soon.

Lessons Learned

I hit a snafu with the binding...I realized *way* too late that I hadn't squared up the quilt very well and there were a few places where the binding "missed" the quilt top. It took me four days to rip out some 6,000 stitches (!!), but now that it's done I'm glad that I took the time to re-do it. Also, instead of doing the back by hand I followed Red Pepper Quilt's machine binding tutorial. It's a little tricky, but I finally got the technique down in the end. The result is super sturdy -- with two cats, a dog and a toddler this quilt will be no stranger to the washing machine :)

Machine Binding - Red Pepper Quilt's Style

WIP: Good Fortune Quilt

I started working on my first large quilt shortly after I gave into enormous temptation treated myself to a new sewing machine. Previous to that magical day, I had been using a Singer from college. While it was a fine little starter machine, it was pathetically unfit for accurate piecing and free motion quilting. The day my Janome came home, not only did the quality of my sewing improve, but so did the speed! I had no idea what I was missing!

Scrappy zigzag backing in progress

I've been steadily working on this quilt through a series of other projects, but it's really beginning to come together! I started with a layer cake of Kate Spain's "Good Fortune" and coordinating solids, and then added additional prints from my stash. I followed the pattern for the Lemon Squares from Fresh Lemons Quilts, and choose to highlight the purple, green, and aqua colorways in Good Fortune. If I did it again, I think I would use more of the aqua. Oh well, live and learn.

For the backing I decided to do a scrappy zigzag. It took FOREVER to piece it out of 2.5 inch squares, but I really love the outcome. I think I actually love the back more than the front!

I choose a largish stippling for the quilting. I'm still not perfect at it, but my free motion skills are definitely improving... I just need to find a way to stop obsessing over every little mistake I make!

I hope to finish quilting it tonight, and maybe bind it over the weekend. I haven't been able to commit to a fabric for the binding. I'm torn between a turquoise argyle, a dark purple floral from Good Fortune, and a multi-colored fabric that's heavy on the orange. Maybe it will speak to me once it's finished being quilted!