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Friday, August 2, 2013

Springtime Blooms...in the Summer

The Beast is finished!  Although now that it's done, I should probably start referring to it by its given name- Springtime Blooms.  I finished the binding this afternoon, and I hate that I'm a little late to the Friday Finish parties (hangs head in shame)- but better late than never!


Thanks so much to everyone who gave name suggestions.  The name Springtime Blooms is kind of a mash-up of lots of the ideas that were given, and since the fabric is called Spring Magic by April Cornell, I decided to throw part of that in there too for good measure.

To keep the quilting from adding to the busy pattern, I decided to quilt with a simple meandering, but I did use soft pink thread and I just love it!  I think it looks so sweet with the little pink dots in the backing fabric.



The backing fabric is Marguerite by Riley Blake in Yellow Scallops.  There is a little shop near me that makes applique t-shirts, bunting, and other fabricy gifts.  They aren't a quilt shop, but they do have a small (but awesomely cute) selection of fabric.  They also happen to be right next door to my nail salon, so I always pop over there when I get a pedicure.  And boy, am I glad I did last week!  I found this fabric on clearance for $3.00 a yard and it just went perfectly with it.  Score!!  I promptly bought the rest of the bolt.



I picked a dreamy shade of aqua for the binding, with the hope that it would bring out that color in the quilt even more.  The pink, yellow, and apple green are so "in your face" that I wanted to bring the aqua out a little bit.  I wanted the binding choice to be a little less expected, and I think it worked.



I had a couple of personal quilty victories on this one, which is good after the initial seam matching annoyance.  First of all, I managed to quilt this gigantic thing on my regular home machine (even though it was slow going) without a single pucker on the backing- not even a tiny one!  That's a first for a big quilt for me, and enough to make me jump up and down, y'all.  Seriously.  Jumping up and down.

Secondly, I managed to use every single scrap of this fabric in this quilt.  It began as a 40 FQ bundle, and even though the quilt finishes at 80 x 100 inches (a generous queen size), I still had plenty to piece into the backing.  So nothing goes back into stash (or even scrap).  YAY!!



All in all, I still don't prefer making bed-sized quilts.  I much prefer quilts that are the perfect snuggle size- about 60 x 60.  But, at least I know that I can make one this big and still have it come out looking decent.


Next week, amongst first week of school stuff, I'm getting down to business on the other two memory quilts made from my grandfather's shirts.  If you missed those at the beginning of the summer, you can check out Western Kaleidoscope and Bricks and Mortar to see what I'm talking about.  After all of this girly sewing, I have to get back into the manly quilt groove.


43 comments:

  1. Great finish Kelly! Love the aqua binding...It's Perfect!

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  2. Your quilt is absolutely beautiful, and you picked a good name.

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    1. Thank you Deborah! I'm so glad you like the quilt and the name I chose. Thanks for visiting!

      :) Kelly
      ps- you're a no-reply blogger, so I'm responding here!

      Delete
  3. Now that is worth waiting for! Sorry you missed Friday, but you can always link it next Friday! Love the binding - that colour just makes it. And the pink quilting thread was a perfect choice. The pieced backing is beautiful, too! Congrats all the way around, Kelly!

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  4. It is beautiful Kelly! And no puckers - yay!!!

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  5. It's amazing Kelly! Congrats on a great finish!

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  6. Wow, you weren't kidding about finding the perfect backing for it! And not one scrap back into stash, talent, my friends... this is what talent looks like!
    Great work Kelly, it's so pretty!

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  7. Beautiful! I love the back..I need to start doing some pieced backing...

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    1. Thank you Linda! It took me awhile to start making pieced backings, but now I almost always do them because I like it so much. It's so fun to use up the scraps, and also fun to do a little improv sewing with whatever size pieces you happen to have. I'm so glad you like it!

      :) Kelly
      ps- you're a no-reply blogger, so I'm responding here!

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  8. Gorgeous quilt Kelly love the fabrics and the backing fabric. Thanks for sharing..........Marie

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    1. Thanks Marie! I'm so happy you like it. I like the backing too!

      :) Kelly
      ps- you're showing up as a no-reply blogger, so I'm responding here!

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  9. Absolutely beautiful!
    The binding is a top choice.
    Gunilla

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  10. Way to go!! I love, love, love the aqua binding!

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  11. What a beautiful quilt Kelly and those fabrics are so neat! What a score on the backing fabric too!

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  12. It's beautiful Kelly - I have been hoarding some April Cornell for a while now. makes me want to get it out and use it up!
    Hope school is going well.
    xo jan

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  13. A beautiful finish!! You've really inspired me to make a DFP quilt. I've never seen a scrappy one before, and it looks great!! Good score on the backing too, I love the soft yellow.

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  14. So pretty and I love your label too :)

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  15. Congrats on getting the Beast done! It is so pretty. Also awesome deal on the backing!

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  16. Beautiful! I love the soft pink thread you picked it looks so wonderful especially against that backing! Also I love the aqua binding, definitely a good call on that one :)

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  17. Hello Kelly, I am visiting from TGIFF. Congratulations! bed size quilts (80x100!!!) are a beast to handle, baste and quilt, and yours came out perfectly. I love the softness of the colour palette, and I have to agree with the choice on binding. Lovely quilt!

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  18. That is huge! Loving the pink stitches, too! It must have felt so insanely good to get that sucker finished up. It's gorgeous. I hope you're keeping this for yourself.

    I agree about making bed sized quilts. It can be such a PITA.

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  19. Lovely quilt. Love the colors of your fabrics, how the colors 'work together'! Compliments!

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  20. this is stunning! i love these colors :) you are such a quilting goddess this summer - send me some of this mojo!

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  21. This looks way better than decent! It's gorgeous and I am envious that you used all 40 FQ's. I might have to try the same thing with one of my bundles I can't seem to decide what to do with.
    Amanda

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  22. Congrats on finishing a large quilt well! Not only that it is so pretty! The aqua binding worked out great bringing out the aqua in the fabric.

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  23. Love the aqua! It works so well. I was waiting to see what you'd do for the quilting on this one as I have a finished disappearing 4 patch top and I haven't decided how to quilt it yet! Looks lovely with the meandering stitch so I might steal your idea :-)

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  24. What dreamy colors. I love this quilt and the back is gorgeous, too.

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    1. Thank you very much Pat! I'm glad you like both the front and the back! I was pleased with the final result, too!

      :) Kelly
      ps-you're showing as a no-reply blogger, so I'm responding here!

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  25. Oh Kelly, this came out so great! Love the thread and the meandering suits it so well. A great summer finish for sure. And way to go on using every piece...a feat for sure:)

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  26. Absolutely beautiful. Love the acqua!
    Silvana

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  27. Love the quilt Kelly! It is very pretty and the back is lovely. Congrats on quilting it on your home machine - my favorite!

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  28. This just beautiful. I'm super impressed with the fact that you did it on your domestic machine, and that you have no scraps leftover! Wow--amazing!

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  29. Very nice! I do love making big quilts, but you can only use so many! This is lovely and no scraps or stash? You are really good at planning!

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    1. Thank you so much! I really just plan out my quilt top, and then every last bit of fabric leftover goes into the backing. Even if I have to improv piece different sized scraps! I'm so glad you like it!

      :) Kelly

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  30. What a fun quilt! I really love that you used every bit of your 40 FQ's in it. I also love that you bought the backing (which is absolutely perfect, btw) for $3/yard. I love to find a really good deal. The pink thread you picked for quilting is perfect too. Beautifully done! Congrats on a fun finish and thanks for linking up!

    xo -E

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Thanks so much for your comment and for visiting! I read and appreciate every single comment, and I reply to each one as soon as I can. If you don't hear back from me, you might be a no-reply blogger. :)

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