Thursday, March 19, 2015

Two of My Favorite Things

A finished quilt and a sunrise!
My first finish for the Q1 Finish along!
2015 Finish-Along
From "Happy Stack"...
2012-ish?
2013
I followed this free pattern by Jeni Baker of In Color Order.

I even assigned each of my fabrics to each of the fabrics in the pattern, from darks to light, as best I could.
2014
I decided to change the arrangement slightly to accommodate my limited machine quilting skills. 
Since I still can't free motion quilt...I have no feed dog cover or darning foot...
                           
                    I went with a fairly close zigzag quilting, with the lines just under an inch apart.
                             

                             
You all know how much I love my choice of backing! It is as if by not actively looking for a backing, I was just using my "fabric peripherals" and this came along perfectly! 
                             
Another first for me was machine binding to both front and back!
This is not the optimum choice for me usually, but I really wanted to try it, and this particular quilt was just suited for it.  I took Jeni B.'s advice to sew s l o w l y, and I am happy with the results.
                              
This pattern is called "Fly Home".
In commemoration of our frequent moves since 2007, I think I may call mine "Back and Forth"!
Or maybe "Mont-iana".
Or "Big Sky Hoosier"?
"Which Way Is Home?"

In any case, it is finished! 
                             

Some Quilt Stats:
Pattern: Fly Home by Jeni Baker
Finished size: 56" x 72"
Fabrics, with what detail I can remember:
Garden Party by Jane Dixon in red, brown and green
Terrain by Kate Spain in blue
Echo by Lotta Jansdotter in brown
Pearl Bracelets by Lizzy House in semi-sweet, because I ran out of the brown Lotta and this was a really close match
Pearl Bracelets in Peach and Cotton candy
Green and light blue polka dots of unknown designer
A couple pieces of Comma by Zen Chic in green, for the same reason as the pearl bracelets...I ran out of the green dot, and filled in with the Comma
Black and white gingham from Joann's
Glimma by Lotta in rosey cheeks for the backing
A quirky combination of fabrics, but I think that is all of them :)

What about "West Midwest"?
Okay I'll stop now!

And try for one more Q1 finish!
                            
Wish me luck!

Happy to link up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts!

edited to add:  the official name of the quilt has become "Happy Mail"...the result of some fun with friends on FaceBook, who thought the geese looked like envelopes, maybe even love letters.
Between the "Happy Stack"origins and how fabric mail is happy mail and news from home and friends afar is also happy mail, and sending love through quilts is also happy mail...well you see how it is :) I love it!



8 comments:

Fran said...

What a great quilt! I love the quilting :-)

Gina said...

Yay for a finish, your quilt turned out lovely!! It. Reminds me of envelopes :) so glad to see you working on your dresden, I can't wait to see what you have done with them!!!

Lorna McMahon said...

Congratulations on this beautiful finish! I love the prints you chose for your geese and that backing fabric, too. Wonderful job on the quilting. Perfect binding. Wow! This is gorgeous!

Carla said...

I like your fabric choices very much, Sarah. What time was the sunrise anyway!! Now that's planning ahead!

Cassandra said...

This is really charming! I particularly love the choice of gingham for your binding. It looks really dynamic!

Mad Cat Quilts said...

looks great!

Rachaeldaisy said...

What a wonderful quilt, I love your fabric choices and the way you made your white triangles point in different directions. I wonder which name you'll choose, maybe you could put them all on the label.

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side said...

Beautiful!