Wednesday, July 14, 2010 at 11:05AM The biggest reveal of the year
My best friend got married last weekend.
She's the pretty one.I've been looking forward to this day for so long. Not because I wanted her to get hitched, but because I'd been stealthily working on their wedding present for months. I can finally, FINALLY show it to you.
Ta da!
That is one big quilt. I'm not sure of the final measurements, but it completely covers the top of a Queen-sized bed and goes just a little over the sides. It's a monster, my biggest quilt to-date.
There are more than 35 different fabrics in this, and I don't think I made the same block twice. It seemed like I was piecing forever. The pattern is Square Dance from Bright Quilts from Down Under, but I did make a few adjustments. My squares are a little smaller and I didn't keep sister squares together (basically, you have pairs of squares that are reverse images of each other). I originally wanted to quilt circles of all sizes, but I ended up going with diagonal lines through each square. I'm really happy I decided to do that. I'm facing the fact that my little machine is just too small for more intricate designs and honestly, I'm okay with that. The colors are more important to me than the quilting.
The back is Kona Cotton in Papaya, and the binding is Kona Cotton in Hibiscus. I love both of these colors, and for some reason I bought way too much of the Papaya, so you'll be seeing that again, I think.
One of my favorite parts of this quilt is the label (shown here without writing on it yet). I had some extra blocks, so I sewed four together and then cut out a circle. Easy-peasy. Next time, I will use double-sided interfacing to attach it to the back - the stitching kept fraying and I think I sewed it on there three different times.
I'm very happy to say that the bride and groom loved it. I miss it already, but I'll just have to go and visit it as much as possible.
