My first quilt finish of 2020!
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| We're standing on chairs to take this picture! |
Details:
Of course, most of the work was done in 2019 when I participated in Gnome Angel's 100 Days 100 Blocks. I've followed that sewalong for a few years but never joined in until she announced a new pattern, the Kinship Fusion Sampler, and I just could not resist! (I really have a weakness for sewalongs and block of the month programs.) And the best part is, I really did it! I posted one block a day for 100 days. And then I finished the quilt! I'm super proud of myself, in case you can't tell!
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| The fat quarter bundle separated into color groups. I didn't use the two gray prints but I did choose a gray solid for the background color. |
I had bought a fat quarter bundle of the Square One Farmer's Market fabric from Craftsy with no plans or projects in mind, I just really loved the colors and prints in the line, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to use it. I envisioned doing an ombre quilt but I didn't want to stress over the perfect fabric placement, so I did a some quick math and figured out how many blocks I would make out of each color (there were 18 total fat quarters: 5 purple/pinks, 5 red/oranges, 5 yellow/greens, and 3 blues, so I figured my ratio of 100 blocks would be 28 blocks each for the purple/pink, red/orange, and yellow/green groups, and 16 blocks for the blue group.) I made a checklist so I could keep track of how many blocks of each color group I made, but then after totally overthinking that part, I just made blocks within each color group and didn't stress about it. I did mix in some fabric from the other color groups sometimes to help with the ombre, but didn't over plan it. It got harder as I made more blocks because I was running out of fabric so I incorporated some solid scraps that I had, and I ended up making more red and purple blocks and less blue blocks, just based on the fabric I had available.
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| The back is made from lengths of some of my favorite fabrics from this line. |
The pattern comes with two different layout options which are both great, but I wanted to keep the blocks individualized so I thought I came up with a different layout option, but once I drew it out on graph paper to make sure I had a good balance of colors, I realized that I had just used the layout on the cover of the quilt pattern! So much for being original!
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| I like to piece the quilt label into the back of the quilt. |
Sewing 100 different blocks is a big project! The 100 Days 100 Blocks sew along runs from July 1st through October 8th. During the 100 days, I went to a quilt workshop and had to stay in a hotel. Since I was all alone and had my sewing machine with me, I worked on some of these blocks in the evening in my hotel room. It was so peaceful. I have two young boys and don't generally travel much, even before this whole shelter in place thing started. I still very fondly think about two quiet nights in a hotel, all to myself, sewing and watching reruns of Friends! There's a joke among quilters that goes something like, "On Saturday nights, I like to party! And by party I mean stay home and sew." And that joke is so accurate for me!
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| When I'm trying to find the perfect layout, I'll send pictures to my sisters to get their input. I have to push aside all the toys to make room for my design floor. |
Once I had all the blocks finished in early October, I needed a little break, and there were a few baby quilts to make, so I put this aside until November. I really wanted to finish in 2019 since it was the 2019 100 day project, but finding sewing time in November and December last year was tough, and I was also being a little bit of a perfectionist about this quilt. Once I had the blocks made, I got nervous I would mess it up somehow when I put the top together, or quilted it. When I get stressed about a quilt, I tend to not work on it. Putting the top together wasn't inherently difficult, it was just hard because I wanted it to be perfect. It was tough to decide how to quilt it - I wanted an overall quilting pattern because this quilt is all about the patchwork for me (most of my quilts are about the patchwork, and the quilting is just something I have to do to get a finished quilt.) I have quilted several quilts with lines of serpentine stitch which I love to do because it is both easy and looks great, and for someone who doesn't love the quilting part of quilting, that's a great combo. But I was worried that wouldn't be special enough for this quilt that I had put so much time and energy into! In the end, I did decide to do the serpentine stitch because finished is better than perfect, and I didn't want to let this sit any longer. In the end, I'm glad I did. I have a finished quilt and it is practically perfect. The flow of colors in the ombre effect works for me, and the quilting doesn't district from the patchwork and gives it a great texture.
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| Texture! |
The sashing and binding are both a grey solid from Craftsy. I quilted this and finished the binding in January. I had to wait until another adult visited our house before I was able to take a picture, because the quilt is so big it took two people to hold it up! I'm pretty sure this is the biggest quilt I've ever made! I used Warm and Natural batting and I love the weight of it.
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| I actually made the heart block (block 100) first, just to make sure I had enough fabric for it because it was my favorite and I knew it would be in the center of my quilt. |
I am just so happy with how this turned out! It's so colorful and I love the blocks and just looking at it makes me happy. Who could ask for anything more?
