My first quilt of 2011 is finished. I’m calling it Water and Sky.
I’ve wanted to make a quilt using this pattern for a long time, and this fabric was waiting for something wonderful. The birthday of a dear friend was coming up, and I wanted to do something special. She recently moved to the Pacific Northwest, a place where I lived as a missionary for 1 1/2 years. When I think of it, I think of water and sky, all the shades of blue and green that so captured my heart while I was there. I wanted to give her a gift of color, something bright and light during the cloudy gray winter months they get there. Thus, the pattern and the fabric came together in the perfect quilt.
It’s my first quilt made using all solid fabrics. I was a bit nervous about it, but I really love it.
I quilted it in wavy lines going horizontally across the quilt. I think it added to the overall feeling of water, clouds, and ocean waves while softening the more geometric piecing.
For a binding I chose a dark gray with polka dots. It’s from the Summertime collection by Barbara Jones.
I’m still working on machine binding. The back still needs some work for me to be fully satisfied, but I love how the front turned out. Instead of sewing in the ditch between binding and quilt top, I’ve begun sewing on the very edge of the binding. I was also more disciplined this time and paused to pin each side, stitching on the slowest setting for my machine. This quilt is definitely my best yet where machine binding is concerned. Honestly, I love the hand sewn binding best but I simply cannot do it right now. My elbow hurts too much when I try, and finding the time to sit and do it isn’t the wisest use of my time at this point. So I’m going to perfect this… eventually.
I pieced part of the backing as well. I’m pleased with how it turned out. In fact, I like the back as much as the front. This quilt was a lot of fun to make. It came together fairly quickly but was a great creative experience for me. I loved working with the solids. Because I added a wave of gray and some green from my stash, I have enough fat quarters from the same bundle to make a second quilt. I’ve got the pieces cut and waiting for some time to piece it all together.
I feel grateful to have squeezed in time to finish this project. It’s now in its new home, and I hope it can at least be useful. Happy Birthday, Jana!
Jennifer
