Friday, May 18, 2012

Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

I couldn't decide which quilt I've finished recently that I wanted to enter in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I thought that the Windows Quilt might be visually stunning, but I've decided on the Ruby Hexagon Quilt, instead.
 As part of the entry, I'm supposed to talk about why I made it, why its special, and what I learned.
 I made this quilt for a friend who was expecting her fourth child:  a girl after having three boys!
 She chose a hexagon and diamond pattern and the Ruby line from Moda.  I made it happen.  I did all the math myself! Oy.  But it worked out!  The hexagons were machine pieced into chains and then I hand pieced the diamonds in.
Why do I love this quilt - it is a demonstration of all my quilting skills - including things that I never thought I'd try before.  I really enjoyed the hand piecing parts of the quilt and am thrilled with how much precision you can get!  This quilt has a lot of inset seams!

The backing is flannel and so soft, perfect for a baby girl!  I free motion quilted flowers and leaves with my domestic machine.  A pattern that I made up myself.  The hexagon on the back is the label - we were still waiting for the arrival when I was taking photos of the quilt.
 What did I learn?  Well, I learned how to hand piece, and I think I was pretty skilled at it by the end of the quilt!  Perhaps it was the hand piecing that reinforced the idea that sometimes you have to slow down and take the time to get things right.
 After all the work I put it in, it was definitely one of the hardest quilts to give away - but it couldn't have gone to a better home!
 
Amy's Creative Side





18 comments:

CitricSugar said...

Love this quilt - and thanks for sharing what you learned!

The quilting is lovely.

Cynthia said...

This is so cute! I love the rows of diamonds in between the hexagons. And I can't believe how awesome your machine quilting looks...very impressive! Great work!

Anna V said...

Precious.

Mrs A said...

That is beautiful, great quilting, its fun doing different patterns yourself, well done!

Julie said...

This is so cute! I love your fabric choice!

Barb Neiwert said...

What a nice job you've done with this quilt - excellent! I'm sure they will love it.

Mom said...

this is so sweet!

margaret gunn
www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

Sarcastic Quilter said...

So pretty!

straythreads said...

very nice and there can never be enough pink in the house after 3 boys
Ann

The Thompsons said...

It's adorable and I love the back - the quilting is also great!

Anonymous said...

What a nice quilt! I love hand piecing -- I find it relaxing.

sonia said...

An amazing pattern! Congrats! Very creative. Love the colors too!

Brynn said...

What a lovely quilt! Ruby is one of my very favorite fabric lines, and what a great way to show it off :)

Heidi Grohs said...

It's a GREAT choice!!!!!

Eileen said...

what a marvelous pink quilt for a little girl! it's just beautiful. love the fabrics, front and back. hexies are so cool--one of these days i'll actually get brave enough to try one. like that you did the handpiecing, too and your quilting is perfect. thanks for sharing and have a great day

Simply Sandy said...

I love this fabric line and worked up great in this baby quilt. Lots of work went into this and it looks amazing. I really like your flower quilting.

grendelskin said...

Nice work! Your quilting is beautiful. It's nice to see a girl-baby quilt that is made with girlish fabrics rather than babyish fabrics! She'll still be able to use it when she's older, and that's GOOD.

Mary Johnson said...

I was just thinking about how difficult it must have been for you to part with the quilt! I am so in love with it, I can hardly bear to think of Lucy taking it with her someday! ;-) I can't thank you enough for sharing your amazing talents with us. The quilt brings a smile to my face every single day.