Notting Hill Mistress

When Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill line came out a couple years ago, I fell in love. It was the first, and so far since, fabric line where I loved each colorway and each print. All of it.

I had to have it.

I had to make a quilt out of it.

For me.

So, I bought FQs and a few half yards and then I pondered what to make. And pondered, and pondered. I wanted to show off the fabric and everything I thought of was not appealing to me. I just couldn't bring myself to cut the fabric.  A year of pondering later, I finally decided I didn't need to cut it. That patchwork would be perfect! Someone will need to explain to me why this light bulb took so long to turn on one day.

I cut 10" squares, placed them and

sewed.

Keeping to the concept of showcasing the fabrics, I quilted diagonal lines in each square. They are about 1.5" apart.

I bound the quilt in an orange polka dot and then set about looking for a place to photograph it. I love this quilt It had to be a perfect spot.  Of course, I couldn't find one for a while until I remembered that I had 40 acres of beautiful, raw land and it should work.  (fyi, I used Aurifil 50wt white thread on the top and Bottom Line cream on the back. I'm going to brag a bit on myself here, too. This quilting is done free motion and without a stitch regulator! Whoa, I feel good now that I look closely at it.)

I first took it out at my neighbor's place where one of the horses promptly rubbed his head all over it. I am a sucker, I just let him (of course, it was the back of the quilt so I wasn't too concerned about it getting dirty before the photos).

After I washed it and it got all crinkly, I hung it again on the frame for our fire pit.

I just love this quilt and it's mine, all mine!

Cheers!
Beck

Quilting for Another

So I have an announcement. I've been thinking about offering my quilting services for others but I wasn't sure if I'd really enjoy it.  I love quilting for me but would the stress of quilting for someone else in a certain timeline make me a little crazy? (Crazier than I already am.)

I decided to offer it up as a giveaway prize for the #sweatnsew entrants (the Instagram healthy & fitness peeps that support each other during their efforts to get healthier - open to all, if you are on Instagram, by the way).

As it so happens, a friend I had already met in real life, Safieh, won and sent along this beautiful top with the request for baptist fans.  I did have a few moments of heart palpitations when I unfolded the top and saw how pretty it was. Honestly, what did I get myself into? After a few minutes, I realized I was up for the challenge. I would not ruin it, I told myself.

I asked about thread, thinking that with the prints and grey, a pink would be pretty. Safieh gave me the go ahead so I loaded her up on the frame and got going.

I would post little sneak peeks on Instagram along the way but I did not want to post the entire quilt until I had approval from the quilt owner and frankly, I wasn't going to ask that until after she saw it.

 I used Auriful 40wt thread on top and Superior's Bottom Line in the bobbin.

Once I finished it up and pulled it off the frame, I got a good look at it and really liked the overall quilt pattern the top design. Thankfully, Safieh also loved how it looked. Talk about  a big "phew".

So, here's my before presentation to quilt owner shot.

Here's a photo borrowed from Safieh's Instagram post (in other words, her photo and credit goes to her - @safieh) showing the quilting a little bit better than the photos I could get.  In this photo, it's fully bound and I believe washed.

This experience clinched it for me. I am going to offer quilting services. While a little stressful, I really, really enjoyed it. It won't be long now before I post a page with some pricing information.

Thank you, Safieh, for trusting me.

Cheers All!
Beck