Laugh and happiness quilt - all done

So here it is the finished 'Laugh and Happiness quilt'. I finally finished it yesterday evening. And guess what ? Finally I am also really happy with it. I quilted it in one continuous circle starting in the centre. I was a bit apprensive about it at first as I have never done this before but really it was a breeze and it gives another dimension to the quilt.
All I need now is my mother to love it (but if that doesn't happen I think I'd be quite happy to keep it after all :-) ).

 

For the back I chose a print from Fabric Freedom in London called 'Chocolat'.  It is a beautiful dark, rich chocolaty colour with a floral print. It wouldn't have been my first choice but again I chose with my mother in mind.

  

The binding is from the 'Punctuation Collection' from American Jane for Moda. Both, back and binding fabric are from my local quilt store. The binding is a lovely blue pinstripe cotton that contrast well with the top and back. I wanted something that wasn't earthy or brown but would fit well in the overall colour scheme.

Quilt size: 60 x 70 inches (152 x 178 cm)
Fabric for the top: Pure Sweetwater from Moda (bought online as a layer cake in the US but can't remember the shop).
Pattern: Dresden plates with superb instructions via QAL from Lynn

Wadding: Hobbs 100 % cotton
Quilting Thread: Guetermann Sulky 30 variegated col 4036

Other entries regarding this quilt can be found here and  here and here.

Laugh and happiness quilt -progress report-

Finally.... I managed to finish this quilt top that I started rather a number of weeks ago (actually almost months) together with Lynn and lots of others who joined in Lynn's QAL. God only knows why this one is dragging its heals. This is very much unlike me as I usually start a quilt and finish it in good time. I don't really do UFOs, they would drive me mad and this one was almost turning into one. 

I think one of the reason why I am procrastinating with this quilt is that I really, really like the Dresdens as a single pattern on a mini quilt like this:

But I have realised that I don't much like to use this pattern in a repeat on an entire quilt. I can't really put my finger on it but I think the single Dresden looks perfect to me and if it wasn't for the fact that I had cut all fabric for the remaining 3 Dresdens I would have left it as a single perfect mini quilt. The reason why I joined the QAL was actually Lynn's perfect Sherbet Pip Dresden mini quilt. Whereas with the Single Girl quilt for example I felt the opposite way and thought that one single ring looked lost. I don't think there is a reasonable explanation for this. It is just personal taste.

But I still think that my 'Laugh and Happiness' quilt has turned out to be a really elegant quilt top and I have my mother in mind as recipient because these are all her colours. I added a border at the top and bottom to stretch it a bit because this will make it easier to snuggle up under on the sofa (which I am hoping she will do). My mother, although a very talented knitter is not as convinced about quilts as I am and doesn't really know what to do with them.

I think this is because quilts aren't all that popular in Germany (but that is changing fast). She loves woollen blankets though and I don't really see that it is such a stretch to a quilt.....

But I am determined to make her love them. Hopefully this one will do it.

Laugh and happiness quilt (formerly known as Monochromatic Dresden)

I have rename this quilt to 'Laugh and Happiness quilt' inspired by the writing on the fabric and because Monochromatic Dresdens really sounds a bit Ueberposh. Last weekend I managed to finally get to terms with the Dresdens from Lynn's QAL. I had sewn the ring together some two weeks ago but that was to soon after finishing the Single Girl quilt and I sort of couldn't face this one. I needed to have something easy and fresh to do in between which is why I started the Springtime Quilt. Sometimes I think quilting is a bit like eating. When I eat something really spicy or savoury then I grave something sweet afterwards and visa versa. This I think is to balance out the flavours  or some other process that is going on in ones (maybe only my) body. And quilting it is a bit like that (for me anyway). If I make something really colourful with strong bold colours (i.e. very strong flavoursome food) then I grave to make a quilt with lighter brighter colours afterwards (i.e. eat something light like fruit).  Now, that is not to say that the Pure fabric from Sweetwater is heavy because it isn't but it isn't light either. I wonder if this is just me being very weird or does anybody else feel that way too about foot and quilts ?

So last weekend was the weekend to get back to the Dresdens and I did that with gusto. It was much easier than anticipated. At first when I finished the circle it didn't lay flat so I was a bit concerned that I did something wrong with the templates but then I stitched some of the pieces with a more generous seam allowance and this did the trick. The inner circle and outer proofed little problem then and the whole thing lays pretty flat now. I think what makes it standing out is the half inch sashing as it really frames the block fantastically. I absolutely love this block and it took me by surprise how beautiful it is. I am going to make 4 in total for a sofa sized quilt but the remaining three have to wait until I return form the US.
Please no detention Lynn !

Happy sewing
Judith

One "Single Girl Quilt" done!

Yes people it is done. Weeks of joyful stitching, a few days of not so joyful quilting and the quilt is finished. And I love it, it really has grown on me over the past weeks and truly has become MY quilt and that means this one isn't going to be a present or sold or anything, this one is MINE. And how fitting it is, a single girl quilt for a single girl (well......not quite girl anymore but we let that go for the moment).

Before I say anything more a huge Thank You goes to everybody in the Single Girl support group who helped with advice and comments. Girls (I think it were only girls this time) you rock ! And an even bigger THANK YOU goes to Nova, Katy and Megan for organising this quilt along. I have met so many people trough this and am truly grateful for having had the chance to participate.

So here is the run-down of the technicalities and my experience with the pattern. I have written about this quilt on numerous occasion over the past weeks( start here and then work forward..........) so I am not going to go into the nooks and crannies about the process any more.


Finished Size: 1,65 m 1,87 m (65x 74 inches) which is what I call Sofa size


Fabric: Klona (not Kona) for the rings. This is from a bundle called Hurricane and is sold by                Backstitch here in the UK. I used Kona in taube (bought at Simply Solids) for the background and Echino Madrigal in Brown for the quilt back.The fabric for the back is perfect as it it cut wide so I only needed to add a strip of Kona in chocolate brown to the sides.

Batting: Quilters Dream Select weight bought locally at Tikki

Binding: I decided to keep the colour of the binding in the spirit of the rings and just made one long strip from leftovers. This frames the quilt nicely on both sides and reflects the colours of the rings. 

Quilting: Quilted in variegated Guetermann Sulky 30 thread  in colour 4036 (also bought at Tikki). This has a wonderful sheen to it that works really well with the Kona taube and also with the Echino as it sort of blends in. Quilting took about 15 hours and 700 m of thread I think, I stopped counting at some point. I quilted in wonky straight lines on my Janome machine. The only reason why I said in the beginning "not so joyful" quilting is because it just gets boring after a while and it was doing my back in.

Experience and top tips: I found the whole process from the cutting out of the template to sewing the top enjoyable and I had only a few problems. If you ever attempt this quilt then you need to pay attention like a hawk to how you layout the individual pieces of the rings. I managed to sew piece "I" of every single ring upside down to its neighbour. Luckily it was on the side but still that did cost time and nerves.
 I added about one inch to the outside curves as I wanted a little bit of a bigger gap between the individual rings than the pattern suggest. I personally think the rings are to close together in the original pattern. Adding a bit more makes the sewing also easier (tip from the lovely Nova).
Do keep close attention to ironing as it helps to flatten the rings but I didn't have much problems with this anyway, however I know some people had.

And off the next project. I am working on the Monochromatic Dresdens with Lilly's QAL and also started to work on a new pattern and quilt that is called "Springtime" (more in the next days).....

Single girl quilt {front is all done}

Here is another progress report on the Single Girl Quilt. The front is done !! Hurray !!!
The sewing of the blocks came together quite quickly after I sorted out the upside down 'I' (see anger report about that here). The blocks are mostly flat but not entirely, nothing that a bit of ironing isn't going to sort out.

I decided to stick to a 9 block sofa quilt but I have 3 blocks left as I started out with a twin in mind. So I added another one to them so I can make a baby quilt (might actually make that for the Japan Relief, let's see).

Then came the agonising question about what to do for the back. When I started out sewing the front I was pretty convinced I would stick to the geometric theme for the back too, perhaps with some squares and a darker background but then I thought that this may take the whole geometric/rainbow thing a notch to far. So I decided on a brighter perhaps floral yet funky back. I went through my stash and looked at the "Coriander" print from Alexander Henry I bought sometime last year. I so love this print, it is fresh, funky, different, you name it. It deserves something really special to be paired with. So I thought I use that on my Single Girl Quilt as I am so proud of it but when I went to bed last night I got second thought about it (yes I know one should not exactly do that in bed....).

I want quilt it in straight line (like this amazing SGQ version)with fairly narrow lines with a putty coloured thread and that would not go well at all with my AH print. So when I got up this morning I had decided on another print.

And this is really really bad. I have had no Echino prints in my house so far and I kinda know that if I start there will be no stopping (I am seeing this all over blogland, once you buy Echino ones you are hooked). So I ordered at eternal maker the Matrigal in Brown from the lightweight Winter collection.

There, I did it and I am officially giving fair warning. I will keep harping on about Echino for forever and a day now. I just know it.

But this print really is perfect as it has a brown background that will go well with my quilting thread also turquoise, pink and a host of other bright rainbow colours that match the front very well. Can't wait to get it in the house and quilting over the weekend.

Happy sewing everybody

Judith

I must be mad

.....to join in another quilt along. Lynne from Lily's Quilts is doing this one and it is all about Dresden plates. So basically more curves.........don't ask why. Should be fun though.


                                               

I haven't decided on my fabric yet but I am contemplating "Pure" Sweetwhater by Moda as this would give it a monochromatic look.

Other than that not a lot of sewing happening this weekend as I am in Germany for a visit at my sister's spending time with her and my adorable nephew and godchild. And of course we did some shopping yesterday....mmhhh got myself a new handbag (oh dear anotherone).