Friday, May 21, 2010

Blogger's Quilt Festival!

This is my first year participating in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival, and boy, am I excited!!




This is Something Blue, which was finished just after Christmas, 2009.

(Why yes, that is my messy office. Thanks for noticing! :P )

A dear friend of mine's daughter was getting married to her high school sweetheart on January 2, 2010. I've known the family for about 5 years, and when I found out that the couple was engaged, I started to think about a quilt. Because really, in my opinion, every bride should get a quilt for a wedding gift. And then when I found out they were going to move to NC from CT right after the wedding, I thought harder. The couple was young (just 20), moving in to live together for the first time. I knew that their favorite colors were blue and green, that he was not a guy who would tolerate a whole lot of floweriness in his home, and that she had quite a modern style.

Enter the stacked coin quilt.

This is one of my favorite quilts for a variety of reasons. I love the design, and can totally see myself making one like it in the future, this time to keep. I essentially looked at a bunch of photos of coin quilts, then sat down and drew it out on some scratch paper, gave measurements for the dimensions, and went to town. Honestly, I'm finding I'm mostly incapable of following a pattern to the letter, so most of the time, I just work off of what I like and move on from there.

The fabrics are some of my favorites: KJR by Denyse Schmidt, dots from Kaffe Fasset and Amy Butler, Lizzy House, Joel Dewberry, Jennifer Paganelli... I chose to sash the long strips with cream instead of white, and I loved the result.



For the quilting, I chose straight lines in the solid stripes, at varied widths. And for the stacked coins, I chose to do a diamond pattern, giving a sort of argyle feel. I LOVE the way it turned out--it was a snap decision that I have never regretted. It gave some added interest without making more work--it actually went quite quickly, and the whole thing was quilted in a weekend. (For me, that's mad fast!) It's also the largest quilt I've machine quilted on my little Janome--48" x 66" after washing and drying. Might not seem so big to some, but it was a good challenge for me! It also gave me an idea of my limitations--I don't think I'll be quilting anything bigger than a twin on my home machine!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Can't wait to visit you all and see your gorgeous quilts!

48 comments:

janet said...

Lovely quilt, such a perfect wedding gift. I see you are a vegetarian, me too:)

Anya said...

Love those colors...The binding really pops!

Rebekah said...

What a pretty quilt! I love the fabrics you chose.

I saw "librarian" in your link on Amy's site and had to stop by. We have a lot in common...I just finished library school, am from Connecticut and am a vegetarian :)

Abby and Stephanie said...

Very pretty. Blue and green is my favorite color combination.

Mom said...

What lovely colors!

margaret
www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

Kimberly White said...

A LOVELY quilt! I really like the fabric choices and the way you quilted it! Thanks for the inspiration.

Unknown said...

Oh Meg I love it, I love the modern fabrics, and the straight line quilting! Very striking indeed!

Lisa said...

So Lovely! I agree, every bride should get a beautiful quilt.

Pattilou said...

Your story about how to choose for a wedding gift shows great intropsect. The choices you made are awesome! Great finish! ...and the quilt in my small picture is a quilt I did for my nephew when he married!

AnnieO said...

Blue and green are great friends, and with that added cream, they are in love! Terrific quilt and a lucky couple that get to enjoy and use it. Thank you for sharing your quilt's story :)

Marika said...

Very beautiful Quilt work

Quilter Going Bananas said...

Love the fabrics you chose for a gorgeous stacked coin quilt!

Carol said...

I like it.

Jolene said...

LOVE this quilt. That couple is so lucky to get such a beautiful gift.

Anonymous said...

Its a wonderful quilt. I love the modern feel of it.

Kathy said...

It is a nice quilt for a wedding gift. Thank you for telling about your process of making it.

Valentina said...

What a GORGEOUS quilt. a true beauty and a wonderful gift for a young couple. Thanks so much for sharing!
Valentina from Cyprus

Marie said...

Beautiful Quilt

Alexis said...

What a lovely gift! You put a lot of thought and care into it, and it shows!

Megan said...

No way! I'm a vegetarian quilter/librarian, too! What are the odds? I'm a big fan of your stacked coins quilt - the modern fabrics are gorgeous!

Lynn Koeppen said...

Love it! The binding really works!

Magnolia Designs said...

LOVE that quilt, it is gorgeous. Love your choice of quilting, it makes it so special. Perfect gift for a newly married couple, I'm sure they treasure it!

The Calico Cat said...

lovely quilt - great fabrics!

Jenny said...

what a great quilt. stacked coin quilts are my favorite...among others! what a great gift!

Leslie said...

this is very beautiful

Katie B said...

Gorgeous quilt! What a wonderful gift for the newlyweds. Love the quilt in your header too!

Mary said...

Great colors. I like stacked coin quilts.

Rose said...

I bet they loved it! There are so many quilts I intend to make some time and the stacked coins is one of them.

See my entry HERE.

Karen said...

Great idea for a wedding quilt. So many great fabrics. You certainly made a wonderful quilt.

Emily said...

It's beautiful!

beth said...

A great quilt! LOVE the quilting you did on this one.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful colors!

Rose Hughes said...

Love the color!

Laurel H. said...

This is a beautiful quilt! I checked out your Project Linus posts (because I do a great many charity quilts myself) and just about fell off my chair when I saw your "reverse stash buster" post, it was so funny! I have to follow you now, you know. :)

Stephanie said...

Lucky newlyweds! This quilt is gorgeous - I love the design and color combination.

Randi said...

Love the blue coin quilt.

Plain Ol' Vanilla said...

Oh I like this very much. I really want to do a stacked coins quilt someday soon. There's a simplicity about it that I love but with enough fabric variations to keep it interesting.
I have no doubt the young couple will treasure your gift to them.

Joyce

Sandra said...

What a fun quilt and a great way to showcase your favorite fabrics.
Come see my antique quilt entries
http://utahquiltappraiser.blogspot.com
http://starleyquilts.blogspot.com

QuiltSue said...

A beautiful quilt, I love it.

Allie said...

Beautiful quilt! I love the colors you have used. Such a great gift!

Unknown said...

Great quilt, I am inspired now to finish one I have by that pattern.

Di~ said...

I just absolutely love this quilt!love love love it! great job!

quilthexle said...

Wonderful quilt - what a lovely present for a wedding! The binding is so perfect - congratulations!

quiltmom anna said...

It is a beautiful quilt- such a serene looking quilt- I am sure that it is well loved by its owners.
Hope you are enjoying this wonderful festival- some really beautiful pieces to view.
You can find me here: http://quiltmomsjourney.blogspot.com/
Regards,
Anna

Anne at Film and Thread said...

Love the quilting and love the binding! Lucky couple to receive this!

Personalized Sketches and Sentiments said...

Beautiful quilt! What a wonderful neighbor and friend you are! Did you say you did this in one weekend?

My first quilt that I found out of a magazine that said "Stitch a quilt in a weekend"...still is not completed! that was in 1992! and then I still have many others...waiting... I am a novice quilter and so would love to try free motion quilting...once one of my tops are finally finished!

Blessings & Aloha!
(still trying to make it to more great blogs on this Quilt Festival. Hope you can take a peek at mine and if you do please leave a comment on my post, so that I know you were there :o) so glad to meet you!)

Mary said...

What a wonderful gift! I will have to try one of these....love the simple pattern. Really beautiful!

Eileen said...

lovely colors and i love coin quilts--am making a flip a coin quilt. nice to make it for someone else when you loved it so much. have a great day