out of my box quilt

Over the weekend I finished the binding on the "out of my box" quilt. I'm learning that having binding (or any type of hand stitching) is a wonderful thing at retreat. It is a nice break from stitching on a machine all day.

This quilt is made from 9 slabs, then it is pieced together in a rather traditional way with sashing and cornerstones. I love the mix of the two. The sashing adds order to the quilt and even though the black and white polka dot is busy, I think it works beautifully!

The orchid colored corner stones are one of my favorite parts of this quilt. They aren't very large, but they still pack a punch. I had enough scraps of fabric to cut 12 squares, but I needed 16 total.

So, I found a print that was similar in color and added 4 blocks in an alternate fabric and placed one in each corner. When you use scraps sometimes you have to get a little creative, but I love how it pushes you to find an alternate solution. The quilt is more interesting because of it.

The spiral quilting makes this quilt, doesn't it? I plan to do much more of it! I've gotten several questions about how it's done and I plan to write up what I've learned from my experience so far. But I'll save that for a separate post.

I am SO glad that I used a solid on the back so the quilting really has a chance to show off. It makes me think that making a 2 sided whole cloth quilt with just the spiral quilting would be a great idea! (Add it to the list, right?) I used a 70 weight aqua thread from Connecting Threads. Ocean mist is the actual name of it, and it's one of my favorites. It comes in a 3300 yard cone, so it lasts a long time! I LOVE that!

The quilt measures 43" square. Small for me, but a nice size to use as a class sample when I travel.  

 

This is scrap project #5. Only 96 more to go!