Friday, July 18, 2008

red cross quilt


After 16 months, it's finally finished. I first posted about it here.

You can see the inspiration quilt here. And a larger shot here.

It is for my oldest son. I finished it right after he went to bed one day this week, so I had it laying out, ready for him in the morning. (He was quite anxious for me to finish it.) When he saw it in the morning, he ran over, and got underneath and started snuggling up in it immediately. He loves it so much already. It makes me smile.

The quilting was a little more challenging than usual. First, I used red thread to outline each cross. Then I stippled around each cross-which is where is got sketchy. It's hard to evenly fill in the spaces without quilting yourself into a dead end. It's not very even and it's a bit bunchy in places, but I am trying to cut myself some slack...at least there aren't any puckers, so I am happy with that.

Since I haven't been buying fabric and this is out of my normal quilting color scheme (pink) I was doubtful that I would be able to scrape up enough backing fabric. But I found this post which inspired me to dig a little deeper in my stash and come up with a solution. I'm really really happy with what I came up with. I had just enough fabric. And as weird as it seems to say this, I love the drabness of it.

Here's a closer shot of the back....



For the binding I ran into the same problem...finding enough fabric in my stash that actually matches. I had a piece of solid fabric that was not quite large enough. So to add enough length, I added just 3 small sections of patterned fabric to the solid strips to make a piece of binding long enough to go all the way around. I like the bit of interest that it adds to the quilt.

It measures 54" x 72".

I improvisationally pieced (yay) the crosses, then added borders to make all the squares 9.5", so the blocks are 9" finished.

52 comments:

*~hj~* said...

I love it Amanda! I am sure it feels great to get it done! Maybe it will inspire me to finish the Funky Quilt! :)

Sarah said...

That is stunning. Isn't it gratifying when the recipient loves it as much as you do?

Tine said...

It looks great! And without buying any new fabrics too! You must have a huge stash....
I love the pieced backs of the quilts you linked to as well, I did a pieced back on a playquilt for the kids, and I ended up liking the back more than the front :-)
You can see it here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/80322373@N00/2323961282/in/set-72057594141798361/

Philigry said...

this is beautiful. as much fun as buying up new fabric is, I also think it is refreshing to use up my stash. I am glad your son loves it! so special.

Anonymous said...

dude. so awesome. so many great things about how this quilt came together. kudos.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful! Love how you quilted! The binding and the back turned out awesome too! And your son loves it-what is better than that?!?!

Anonymous said...

This is really lovely, and certainly worth all the time and trouble from my perspective!

jacquie said...

I love the combination of the straight dark quilting with the light meanders. Creates a wonderful juxtaposition...(how's that for artsy talk) I love the simplicity and the randomness of the crosses. Simply fab!

ranette said...

This is a great quilt and maybe it will be an inspiration to me to make one for myself :o)

Pattie D said...

Amanda,
I love you work...Great quilt! I love the color combinations, thank you for the link on backings...I have a quilt sitting here that needs a back, you have inspired me to see if I can make it work! Off to quilt my grandson's quilt.
Tricia

Sarah said...

Oh my gosh, I cannot express how much I love this quilt!! Absolutely gorgeous. If I wasn't fully committed (as in pieced-basted-ready to quilt) my master bed quilt it would look like this instead. Love!!

Anina said...

It's beautiful. When I first looked at the photos I thought you had tea dyed the backing fabric.
I love pieced backs although they do take a little more time to put together.
And I REALLY love pieced bindings.
So thrifty!

Linda said...

It is gorgeous! I can just imagine Z and his grin this morning when he saw it! It sure does feel good to finish up some of those WIPs doesn't it?

Tina said...

I love the simplicity of the design! And I love the idea of using what you have to make the quilt. It gives it such a wonderful look! Congrats! (my son is getting a quilt today too, shh! he doesn't know yet ;o) )

kat | Taylor Made designs said...

it's just beautiful Amandajean!
No wonder your son loves it.

Katie Jean said...

it looks amazing! I really like to back too!

Heather said...

Your quilts just get more inviting as you go. I think you should take the step from bloggy quilter to Quilt Designer. I'd buy your book!

Ann said...

Congratulations on finishing an already-loved quilt! The make-do-with-what-you-have binding and backing add wonderful and unexpected visual interest.

Holly said...

Congratulations! It's really beautiful. I love that you were able to piece the backing and binding from your stash, thus keeping your no-new-fabric resolve. Good for you! And it all turned out just beautifully. What a great quilt.

Anonymous said...

This is so awesome, congratulations! I really like the way you figured out the backing. I'm tempted to do something similar sometime.

Sunny said...

It is awesome. I love the stippling and the pieced back. Great work as always!

lera said...

Another beautiful creation from the sewing machine of Amandajean.

Andrea said...

stunning!

sulu-design said...

Honestly, this one could bring tears to my eyes. It is that gorgeous. Your son's adoration of it makes it all the more special. That third shot of it, in that beautiful light, is just stunning.

Thimbleanna said...

Wow. It's just beautiful -- what a lucky, lucky little boy!

Jodie said...

I can't tell you how much I love this one...it has been haunting me since I first saw it.

Full of Heart said...

That looks really great! And I'm sure it's that much more wonderful when your son loves it a lot!

QuiltNut Creations said...

fabulous! and i hate to say it but with that quilting, i almost like the back better than the front! congrats on another finish

MichelleB said...

I love it - especially the back. You always do a fabulous job.

sarah, rsm said...

This is REALLY nice ... and I can't wait to see what masterpieces the 15 stacks from your previous post produce! I so love your quilts. Have you seen the one Dana is giving away at
http://oldredbarnco.blogspot.com/

Blessings!

Anonymous said...

This is lovely! I love how simple it is and how the quilting gives it interest. And I'm seeing pieced backings more and more (at sites I visit) and I think they're great.

And I'm glad the little guy likes it to!

Anita D. said...

I love the little assistants' fingers at the top of the full quilt shots.

I'm struck by how appropriate the "haunting" comment may be.

Nice work.

Cindra said...

I can see why your son loves it. Beautiful.

Karen said...

What a wonderful quilt! I love everything about it! What an accomplishment and you didn't need to buy more fabric.

Mama Urchin said...

I've loved this one since you started it. It looks so beautiful finished.

Unknown said...

Great finish! I too love the simplicity and detail of it. I'm always glad to pass a quilt off to my kids and watch them love it for the first time :)

dawnkristine said...

Great job here! Love all of it!

SuzyQSparkles said...

I like the fact that there is just so much background. It really gives the block design a chance to jump out at you!

Marvelous job using up scraps for the back and binding! :D

house on hill road said...

i love it!
you should be really proud of this one. it is amazing - the back is wonderful. really really great.

coryshay said...

love it love it love it!!
I'm looking for a really funky pattern for a quilt right now so I love yours!

Rebekah said...

this is gorgeous! I love seeing all of the special touches that you added. It makes me think twice about saying that I don't have enough fabric for a backing or a binding and that's a good thing!

Shanna said...

Another beautiful creation! I love it!! It is so nice to see your children get excited about things like this that you put your heart into making for them...I made 2 super easy quilts for my 2 girls after they went to bed one night and placed them on their beds. In the morning, they were so excited and couldn't stop talking about them! Great job!!

Anonymous said...

I love this! I have had my eye on the inspiration quilt and have been thinking about trying one out. I love the simplicity of the colors and the boldness of the pattern. You did a wonderful job and I adore the backing. So clever and so beautiful. I am sure your son will love it forever.

Anonymous said...

It's beautiful and the backing is just perfect for it.

Anonymous said...

The back looks as great as the front. Thanks for sharing pictures. Job well done.

Ulla said...

Great work! I admire your free motion machine quilting and the quilt design, including the backing. Until this summer I have always thought the backing should be of one fabric and preferably no seams at all. I've been mislead!

Emily Cole said...

I have given you an blog award - you are amazing!

Anonymous said...

Oooo! I love this! This would be perfect for my sister in law, I may have to rethink the quilt I had planned for her for Christmas! I specially love how you outlines the crosses with red stitching. Such a nice detail.

Berber said...

Wonderful quilt!

Leanne said...

What a lovely quilt.

Di said...

Oh wow - this is absolutely fantastic!! 16 months of work worth it!!

Amy said...

I love this one. I didn't realise it was red until this post. It looked a wonderful muted sepia. I was thinking that I'd love to try making one, but in red, so I was delighted to see that this really was red.