Friday, May 29, 2015

Hands2Help Charity Quilt

This sweet little quilt is going to the Canadian charity Because You Matter.

I posted about how the design evolved here.

I know I will be making another, not sure if it will be in time to send off with this one though, but rotating every other strip set block to create a woven effect. This was suggested by a couple of readers, and I think it is a great idea!  It was too late (and I was too lazy to unpick the already-sewn blocks) when I got the suggestions.

I did something I've never done before on this quilt, as well as something I haven't done for some time.

Something I've never done before is stitch in the ditch on my Bernina before loading it onto my Avanté. I've read that Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict does this fairly regularly.  I wanted needed to on this quilt because I had "Franken-batted" the batting a fair bit!
Empty bag!!! A good thing.  I mainly used this batting (that's 3 quilts in a row, all for charity) and various smaller pieces of it and some Warm 'n Natural for this quilt. No affiliation. It's just a lovely soft, drapes-well batting. :-)

A few of the back with the vertical lines ditch-stitched

And the front: I stitched vertically on either side of the columns of strips blocks, as well as in the ditch between the border and the quilt top
From here I loaded it onto the Avanté, once I trimmed the bottom edge and made sure the top edge was square. 
Top edge pinned the first time...
Then realized the bottom edge wasn't squared, so unloaded, squared it, then reloaded.  When will I learn/remember?

Ready to quilt!
And tout fini!  Something I haven't done for some time is single fold binding.  I had no choice; I had mere inches left of the pink text fabric. 

I thought the backing I'd picked up might be a little too strong for the softness of the front, but now it's done, I think it's fine!  It's a really soft, albeit a little light in weight, cotton.
So today after I'd washed and dried it, I took a few more pictures since it was sunny and not storming!
 All kinds of crinkly quilty awesome-ness in the bright sun
close-up in the shade - can you see the word I randomly quilted?  "hugs"
I did a loops and leaves and flower all-over meander
I was surprised just how hard it was NOT to echo-quilt the stars or dot-to-dot quilt the geese, and not do swirls in that lovely white negative space...but time is of the essence, so all-over meander it had to be!
I really love the batting, I may have said that before, and this soft backing just makes for such a soft and snuggly quilt.  Hopefully the snuggles, softness, and healing thoughts of comforting a child that I had while stitching this all will be felt when whoever is the recipient holds onto this.

This is all that's left!
I never did use the bottom novelty fabric in this one, but I'm sure it will find its way into yet another quilt.  I'm very happy that I put such a dent in the leftover strips and pieces from the original quilt.

Stay tuned for a pattern for how to make this quilt.

Quilt Stats:
Size: 38.5X42"
Pattern: Original design
Fabrics: scraps from my stash + purchased backing
Batting: the majority is Pellon Nature's Touch 100% cotton scraps + a couple pieces ofWarm 'n Natural
Threads: pieced with Gutermann; quilted with Robison Anton Rayon
Quilted on my Bernina (ditch-stitched) and FMQ on my Avanté


Linking up:
Can I Get A Whoop! Whoop!
TGIFF
Finish It Up Friday
See the buttons on the sidebar! Lots of inspiration.

11 comments:

  1. The textures of the quilting are so lovely. I agree about the backing. I might have thought twice about such a bold pattern, but the final effect works beautifully!

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  2. It's absolutely lovely! What a wonderful gift to wrap around a child!
    I love seeing start-to-finish here's-what-and-why posts about quilts. So fascinating watching a quilt grow!

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  3. What a sweet quilt! It's going to make someone very cozy!

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  4. Such a sweet quilt! beautiful from front to back!

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  5. Love your quilt, and love the backing. I love bright colors

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  6. Sweet! I love how your all over meander was a combo including hugs, leaves, and flowers. I need to do that sometime.

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  7. Crinkly quilty awesomeness indeed!! This turned out awesome! So interesting that you SITD prior to loading it... that seems like such a great idea! So in the end, did you find that it was worth it? And do you SITD on your long arm typically? So many questions! LOL

    This quilt is sure to be loved! And the hugs added in? Seriously cool!! :D

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    1. Thought I'd respond here, because I meant to comment on doing the SITD first on the DSM. I liked it because of the pieced batting, which had one large piece and then a column of several smaller pieces stitched together. This allowed me to spray baste to keep them in place; I found once on the longarm that even with zig-zag stitching the pieces together, they could go a little stretchy/wavy. So yes, it definitely is a good idea. I still do SITD on my longarm in some seams, not all. I just read on Christina Cameli's blog this week
      http://www.afewscraps.com/2015/05/fmq-weekly-should-you-stitch-in-ditch.html
      an interesting post as to why you do not need to, but I still have been doing. I think it really is a personal preference, and probably something I was taught years ago that I could really let go of!

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  8. Great idea with the stars. I'm sure it will be loved. Thanks for linking up with TGIFF.

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  9. Ooh that is a super easy, simple, and scrap friendly pattern. I really like the floral backing. It is indeed lovely and cuddly. Sending hugs to you!!!

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  10. Yes I can see "hugs" stitched in there, what a beautiful touch! Oh what a gorgeous colourful quilt but such softness to the colours. It will be very soothing and healing for sure.

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