Wednesday, February 15, 2012

My String Quilt quilted and bound!

String quilt, quilted and bound
My first finished quilt of 2012, although the quilt top has been in my WIP pile since March 2010! This is also the last project I have to finish off  which is a great way to start off this year don't you think! I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to quilting this quilt. I guess because it is for us it was not urgent and I had other projects that actually had deadlines to complete by. Also I think because I love this quilt so much I was a little bit intimidated by how to quilt it without ruining the design. The free-motion quilting is far from perfect in some of the squares where I first started off but I quickly got better and figured out the best way of dealing with the bulk of the quilt as I was sewing. 

String quilt, back of quilt
I think I love the back as much as the front which is just made up of fabrics from  my stash that needed to be used up. I used a variegated thread in the bobbin for the quilting which mixes in with all those colours so it neither stands out too much or gets lost either.

String quilt, quilting detail
Here's a close-up shot of the decorative machine stitch I used. I really like the effect that this rainbow thread makes as you sew. If you're interested the decorative threads I have used they are mostly all by the Guutermann brand which are readily available in most places I think.

String quilt, quilted and bound
And here's one of my favourite shots of it taken on our back steps leading to our garden. Thankfully yesterday it stopped raining so I could take it outside for its photo-shoot. You can see more photos here on my flickr page. This is a true scrap quilt as it started off with a scrap swap with some ladies in the Old Red Barn flickr group. I added scraps from my own stash, used up scraps for the back and also ends of binding leftover from previous quilts and projects. It certainly feels good to have made a quilt entirely from scraps and of course it makes an interesting quilt to make and look at. I can pick out fabrics that were leftover from dresses I made my girls when they were younger and fabrics that are from a different era that were given to me from an Auntie, and even a couple of fabrics from the very first quilt I made. I have to say my stash is nicely getting depleted of fabrics I have had for a little too long.
Now I'm off to start a brand new project :-)



17 comments:

XUE said...

Me too! I love the back as much as the front too ! I guess this one will stay at home then, since the scraps have little stories. If I should buy a quilter's quilt - this would have to be it !

Katy Cameron said...

Yay for conquering all those WIPs! Love that colourful quilting too

Ariane said...

Wow!!! Your quilt is just gorgeous!!!! I Love It!!!!!

Unknown said...

Really Lovely work! Just fabulous!

Julie said...

Wow - absolutely beautiful - lovely bright colours.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

Sarcastic Quilter said...

This looks fabulous! I love the way it is quilted and the decorative stitching. Everything about it is so pretty

Kathy said...

I LOVE IT!

Susan said...

Hey, I'll be some of my scraps are in your quilt, that was from the first Porkchop Swap, right?

Your quilt is stunning! You should be very proud of it!

Deb Robertson Writes said...

I love this! your work is always stunning of course :) This is such a lovely quilt. I have a washing basket full of scraps, maybe I should make one :) Thanks for sharing!!

Leslie said...

this is a stunning finish!!! the back is so fun

Wendy said...

It looks great. The decorative multi-coloured stitching looks fantastic

Bec I am said...

that is truly amazing !!!!

Karen said...

FANTASTIC!!!!!!! The quilting is perfect! I bet it feels good to have it finished and used up some of those scraps. Oooooo new project...can't wait to hear about it.

A Time for Stitching said...

This quilt really is glorious! Although it's scrappy, the fact you have grouped colours together and used the same design for the blocks, gives it a designed look. The idea of scrappy binding is perhaps something I should consider seeing as I mostly use second hand scraps in my quilting.
Teresa x

Marina said...

"Beautiful" doesn't even come close. I love it! I'm so glad you're keeping it -- so often we create these gorgeous things then give them away. Lucky you getting to admire this every day! You deserve if after all that work.

Diane said...

This is beautiful! I have my papers cut and whites glued down and need to get started on mine one of these days.

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