QM Scrap Squad: Bonnie’s Caribbean Vacation

Oops. Didn’t look so great to me. Too busy. Time to make a change. I purchased a couple of yards of a mottled red to go in the center. I tried making another sample block or two.  The less busy fabric really helped. I also attempted to draw the block in EQ7 so I could print out a color copy, but I never got the colors placed in the right location. I tried hand coloring and still didn’t get it right. I made a sheet with my color substitutions but I did that wrong, too. I started on the units despite this problem.

This was a great quilt to use chain piecing. I stitched lengths of 20 units and then doubled them up twice so that I could clip between the units, several at a time. After ironing I pinned them in groups of ten – an easy way to keep track of how many I had made.

 

As I put the blocks together I realized I hadn’t gotten the colors correct on the last drawing attempt nor on my substitute list. The weirdest part was that I hadn’t followed my own instructions correctly either—so I had the right number of pieces in the right colors. Definitely dumb luck. I was so grateful to have the correct number and color of blocks!

Because this block needed certain colors in certain positions I posted my “recolored” drawing of the block next to my sewing machine and I checked it frequently. Luckily I didn’t have a lot of  frog stitching to do: rip it, rip it!

As I was piecing, I thought about the backing. The queen size quilt needed over eight yards of fabric and two long seams. Not my idea of fun! I found a great Christmas-green wide backing to use instead.

I loaded the project on Ruthie, my longarm, and thought about how I wanted to quilt it. I knew I wanted something special in the center of the blocks, but I hate to start and stop a lot. I found the solution in a simple heart-shaped leaf pantograph. I used the leaf on the borders and then did a stipple with loops in the center of the quilt. When I came to the center squares I quilted hearts in all directions. Sometimes I echo quilted them, sometimes I used only a single heart. It worked well to soften the straight lines in the quilt.

Because I use Renae’s Red Snappers™ to load my quilt, I was easily able to turn the quilt to do the side borders. (Available from quiltsonthecorner.com)

In no time I had the binding on and was sewing it down by hand. There was a waiting period before I could get pictures of  the quilt – we were having cloudy weather. One beautiful Saturday I hung it from my deck railing and got a picture of most of it. It’s hard to take a picture of a queen size quilt.

I decided to use one of the sample blocks for my label. I took the block apart and substituted muslin in center. I added my info and backed it with muslin, right sides together. I stitched the edges, cut a small slash in the center of the backing fabric and turned it. I ironed it flat and hand sewed it on the back of the quilt. I quilted around the center block making sure I didn’t catch the front of the quilt.

It’s been a great year and I’ve made more quilts this year than I have in several years. I wish the incoming Scrap Squad members a year as great as ours has been.

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This Christmas version is so much fun! Please join me in thanking Bonnie for a job well done on the 2012 Scrap Squad. Just one quilt to go from the 2012 team. Stay tuned!