After months of cutting and sewing and hand-quilting, it is complete! May I present... my first quilt EVER!
As I've mentioned before, I used the Playground pattern from the book Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley, although I'm sure this simple block is generations old. New to me, though. :)
The hand-quilting took a long, long time. Probably somewhere along the lines of an hour and a half per block, so...25-30 hours? I managed to spread it out over a few months, working on it in the background of other projects. I used Americana Quilting Thread in baguette and stitched a quarter of an inch on the inside of each colored piece per block, including both triangles and squares. I did not quilt in the center "blank" square of each block, or in the long strips between squares.
Here are some details.
Special Fabrics
While some of these prints come from my stash, there are two that I chose specifically for the newlywed recipients of this quilt. Like my husband and I, they have great love for two of life's finer pleasures: coffee and wine. (Not together. though. Ick.) I found two fabrics that managed to fit the criteria well...check it out!
Other fabrics included are ones from my stash, leftover from gifts for family, friends, and some of my favorite projects, like pieces from yardage purchased for this skirt:
I like the mix of light and dark tones of this quilt. Since I don't know what their apartment looks like, or what colors are actually their favorites (wait...I think I actually do know that) I went for neutrals in a range of saturations, and I think it worked out well.
I really like the binding fabric - grey with a hint of purple or something, which looks particularly tranquil against the lighter blocks in the pattern.
Breaking Binding Rules
Since this is my first time making a quilt, I went with my own common sense and advice from the book on all things except one point. Despite the clean look of slipstitching binding to secure it, I was not about to slipstitch like, 20 feet of material. Seriously, folks, I read that I thought Camille, you CRAZY!! Instead, I stitched in the ditch to secure the binding. It looks good for the most part.
Admittedly, I need a bit more practice with this stitch. Or...I could just get that particular pressure foot for my machine...
Dedication
Since this is a wedding gift to two special friends, I wanted to commemorate their day somehow. I decided to make a little note in the corner of the backing fabric.
I picked out this blue and yellow fabric months before the wedding, so imagine my surprise when we showed up on June 5 and the accent colors were light yellow and light blue!!! Ah, FATE. How magical you are.
Here's a pretty photo of the backing, binding, and topper together.
I have to send this baby across the Atlantic Ocean to London, something that I am a bit nervous about doing. Months of work...don't fail me now, mysterious mail services...
I spent far too long figuring out how to fold it perfectly for a proper unveiling when J and N open it. This is what I came up with, and I'm rather happy with myself. :)
I know the quilt won't serve them well in the coming months, but perhaps by fall the London fog will warrant some warmer bed/couch coverings.
After much thought I'm going to publish this post before the quilt arrives across the pond. Part of me is afraid it won't get there, and the other part is so excited to be done with it that I just want to share it with everyone. :)
I sense more quilting in my future, but perhaps not for a little while. ;)
