Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010

"Forgotten Charms" is the name of my latest finished quilt and my entry for the Blogger's Quilt Festival - Fall 2010.


Several years back, I purchased a charm pack that I fell in love with at the LQS.  At the time, I was thinking of making the fabrics into a patchwork bag or a cushion cover.  I didn't have many quilting cottons in my stash at that point, and I didn't have the budget to buy coordinating yardage to make my charms into something bigger.   Waiting and dreaming about what  I would make with the charms, they were put aside.


 Years passed and I would feel guilty that I still hadn't used those charms.   This past spring I joined Jacquie's Spring to Finish Challenge and these charms made their way onto my "to-sew" list.   I stumbled upon a scrap bag at the LQS that had fabrics that would co-ordinate with my forgotten charm pack and I started to dream up how I would stitch them all into a quilt.  Rather than cutting up the charms, I decided to frame them with the scrap bag strips.  However, this left me with a small quilt.  I turned to my friends in blogland to ask for their suggestions in how to proceed and received more than advice, I received an offer of more charms!  Amazingly, it just so happened that my lovely friend, Nicolette, had purchased the same charm pack years ago and she had some leftover she would share!  My finished quilt includes charms from her -  making this quilt extra special to me.  Thanks, Nicolette!


Leftover pieces from the front were stitched together to add the piece-y strip I love so much, to the quilt back.


Unfortunately, progress stalled out when I reached the quilting stage because I wanted to come up with my own design for it.  I didn't want to quilt it with straight lines and I didn't want to just default to stipple quilting.   I knew I wanted a curvy line design and I drew up my idea on paper. My trouble lay in transferring my design onto the quilt top.  I machine quilt on my domestic Janome and other than using painter's tape for the initial straight line guide for large quilts, I don't mark my quilts, I just freehand machine quilt.  I have a fear of using a marking tool that will not be temporary (even if it promises to be removable), so I was testing different ways of marking on fabric scraps to find something that worked.   I gave up.
 
Deciding that it was time to just finish this quilt, I began machine quilting a continuous, curlicue type design.  It's whimsical and I am pleased with how the curvy quilting offsets the linear design of the blocks and the texture it has added.  The surface texture I love, will only increase after I wash and dry my finished quilt.


Quilting complete, I wanted to keep up my finishing momentum - without another trip to the fabric store.  Determined to find something in my stash to use for the binding,  I pulled out some decorator weight cotton from the special  (otherwise known as the fabrics I bought that I have a hard time cutting into) stash.  This heavier weight fabric has a larger and more textured weave to it than the cottons used in the quilt, so I think it adds a little extra dimension to the binding. 

 
Finished just this week, Forgotten Charms will  now be the quilt I snuggle under to watch movies. 

Comments

  1. Yahoo! You did it! It’s even more beautiful with the quilting and the binding! I love your Forgotten Charms, great title for a quilt with a story! Love it!

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  2. Congratulations on a beautiful finish! I really enjoyed reading the story behind it too. Thanks so much for sharing it. :)

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  3. Ah, I love your quilt, the name, and the beautiful quilting. The colors are perfect together - I'm so glad you shared it!

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  4. Wow, you did a really good job of telling the story of this quilt.
    Inspiring, too! I also finally used a charm pack this year after having NO idea what to do with it. Now, I seek them in all kinds of places !

    This a beautifully timed finish, as the colors of this one feel just right for the cool weather.

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  5. It looks fabulous! Love the quilting you came up with.

    And you aren't the only one with a fear of marking pens *shudder*

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  6. I loved your story. I have some fabrics too that I love and are wary about cutting into them, so your story is probably about a lot of us. Your quilt is lovely, and I too love the back and the quilting is wonderful. I've used just cheap watercolor markers from Walmart and they have always washed out for me--but then I use them on smaller quilts that I usually give away. But, when I freeform quilt without using the markers, it seems to turn out better!

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  7. Not only is the fabric combination stunning, but I do believe that is the most beautiful quilting design I've ever seen! I'm sure this quilt will be a treasure in your family for a very long time!

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  8. It really is just lovely! I find that I am really drawn to the more free style quilting. But I think when i get to it I will have to start with some straight lines!

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  9. Beautiful quilt. Love the curly quilting. it does add softness to the straight lines. I am just now getting rhythm together with freeform quilting.

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  10. This quilt is so sweet, I just love. May it keep you warm and cozy on movie nights :)

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  11. This is a great quilt utilizing charms!

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  12. Lovely quilt and I enjoyed the story behind the name :)

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  13. I am totally impressed. The colors are wonderful but when I saw the quilting, I gasped. Totally great.
    I have to go back and admire it some more.

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  14. hello, quilting is something great, I never tried it, but I would love to do, may be sometime, your this quilt is beautiful, the colour combination is great, normally in quilting people go for bright colour but your neutral colours are fit for any room decor. very lovely.
    And thanks for stopping by my blog, hope you come again..
    Love
    http://craftaworld.blogspot.com/
    Farah

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  15. A beautiful finish, perfect for the cold season!

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  16. I LOVE IT... I just love how you put those colors together. You really have the gift, girl!

    I really like all the zigzaggy work.... that looks like it would be fun to do!

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  17. beautiful colors and the quilting just tops it off! :)

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  18. This is a truly lovely quilt- Congratulations for completing it- I love the combination of geometric blocks with curly cue quilting. Enjoy your time under the quilt.
    Hope you get a chance to visit some of the other quilters too. There are so many beautiful quilts in the festival.
    Warmest regards,
    Anna

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  19. it's just gorgeous! i love the story behind it. how wonderful that Nicolette shared some charms with you to finish it off. what a sweet addition to your quilt! the quilting is FABULOUS!!!!

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  20. lovely quilt with great design and fabrics. thanks for sharing and have a great day

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