I went to a quilt retreat this past weekend with the Austin Modern Quilt Guild. We went to a cute little ranch house in Wimberly, Texas. It is just a 30 minute drive from my home. There were huge tables for each person to use for our machines, large ironing boards and irons, big cutting tables with cutting mats and wall sized design boards for every quilting station.
I spent Friday night and all Saturday working on the quilt tops for Ashwin and my sister, Liz. I even got the top for Ashwin’s quilt basted, so now all I need to do is knock out the actual quilting! I promised some pictures when I had gotten them completed, so without further ado.
I have officially decided to call this quilt “The Boyfriend Quilt.” I used 6 of the original 9 blocks in the P2 QAL without modification. One of the blocks was a choose your own, for which I used the Dutchman’s Puzzle block. I modified 2 of the original blocks, the top middle block and the bottom right block, because I wasn’t in love with the original designs. Finally, I had Ashwin choose the last 3 block designs. Also, the original quilt design called for a light colored sashing, but I decided to use the binding fabric as my sashing. I love how it turned out. Now the hard part is deciding how to quilt it. Any suggestions?
My sister purchased some charm packs in Awesome by Sandy Gervais for Moda Fabrics last Fall. When I told her that I was going to start quilting, she mailed them to me. When I first got the charm packs, I wasn’t in love with the fabric. I decided to use them to make a stacked coin quilt and Liz chose brown sashing. After finishing it up, I have to say that I really love the way this quilt turned out. And I love the fabric too. It makes me yearn for those beautiful fall colors and cooler weather.
I have scheduled an appointment at a local quilting shop to learn to use the long arm quilting machine. They will teach for free and then its just $15/hour to rent. I plan to try quilting this quilt as my first long arm project. I am really excited to learn, but the closest appointment wasn’t until September, so I have to wait a little bit longer.
Please let me know what you all think of Quilt tops #2 and #3.
I think the stacked coin quilt top looks really great. Makes me think of autumn with those warm red and orange colors. Brown as sashing was a good choice!