Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Vivid

This finish is a bit of a final farewell to the Mid-Century Modern Bee. Oh I've many friends among them, and that won't change, but most of the blocks that make up this quilt were made for me by them, and since then, I'm no longer a part of the bee. But back in April 2014, I chose the Rolling Diamonds pattern by knottygnome crafts, and as requested, I received a bright, colorful mix! Except when it came time to finally put the quilt together, I needed a few more blocks. My friend Sharon/smbrendle graciously made me one, and I made a couple more. Aren't they fun?!

I know 'just' 16 blocks make a relatively small quilt - only 48" square - but I really liked them as they were, and it seemed like I'd waited long enough to finish this one up.

I searched in my stash for a backing and settled on a green Dear Stella ticking stripe. Quilting in a simple grid resulted in a soft, comfy quilt, and the Aurifil 50 wt #2021 (Natural White) I used was subtle enough to tie everything together and not make too much of a statement. Binding is from "Wish" by Valori Wells Designs and I went off on a limb doing a machine-stitched binding. I used Rachel/Stitched in Color's tutorial, which was really fun for a change, and seemed to fit the playfulness of this quilt. I used the same Natural White thread, and even though it's pretty obvious, I like it just fine. The only thing to note is that Rachel uses a 3/8" seam to sew on the binding, which obviously dipped into my block points a bit. I could have easily adjusted that, but was so focused following instructions, I neglected to. Otherwise, though, I'm quite pleased. I still totally consider myself a hand-binder, but for now and again, I think I'll revisit this technique.

So there's an end of an era, so to speak. Thanks to the Mid-Century Modern gals for the fun time we sewed together!


14 comments:

  1. Vivid is amazing! Thank you so much for the link to the free pattern. We are working on a charity quilt drive and are trying to come up with lots of quilts that are made from our stashes. This design is perfect.

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  2. That's a great quilt to remember bee members by. Too bad you don't get to keep it.

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  3. I too have blocks like this from a bee and have to still make one last one I believe... it's been two years now where I only had to make the one LOL... love yours!

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  4. what a sweet quilt! and your machine binding looks great.

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  5. I am a hand binder too, but have learned to bind by machine just in case. It never hurts to learn a new skill. Love the quilt! Very cheerful.

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  6. I think I need to try that machine binding technique! Thanks for allowing me to be part of this amazing group! It looks fabulous! I hope to have mine from 2014 finished in the next few days!

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  7. What a bright happy quilt! Looks great! I've been wanting to try that zig-zag binding - maybe on my next one!

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  8. So colorful!! And a good size too. My first finished quilt is a colorful one that measures 40x40 and my 6 month old granddaughter has been playing on it pretty much since she could play! And she loves to reach for the colors and try to grab them, even though there's nothing to grab. It's fun to watch her little hands work at it! Love the zig zag binding; I may give that a try.

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  9. I love the point of interest with having the zigzag stitch on the binding!

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  10. The colors in this quilt are so vivid and make for a beautiful finish.

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  11. I really love this quilt - the pattern, colours and especially that zig zag finish on the binding!

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  12. I love the vivid colours in this quilt!

    *Visiting as a member of the official 2015 Finish-Along cheerleading squad*

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