Quilt festival spring 2014 - my bed quilt

It’s festival time! A huge thank you to Amy and to all the sponsors for making this fantastic event a reality once again.

My quilt for the big quilt category is this one - a double bed quilt that I started in the summer of 2012 and finally finished in February 2014.

Fabric: Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry and Kona fabrics. 80/20 batting and cotton background
Techniques: EPP, machine pieced blocks, machine quilted by Diane
Size: 95x95 inches

I have (selfishly) kept the quilt and it is the first thing I see when I open my eyes in the morning. Call me crazy all you want, but looking at the colors in this quilt makes me very, very happy… I also like the combination of traditional and modern blocks that somehow came together in this.

When I started I had no idea what I wanted to make. I was inspired by the Ferris Wheels EPP and had some FQ’s of Lark fabric on the shelf. I thought they would be perfect for the FerrisWheels, because the fabrics are quite different both in design and color and expression.

So I EPP'ed to my hearts delight. By August I had more than 1x1 meter. However, at that point I wasn’t too keen on making more EPP, so I decided to add a border. I choose the Lattice block from the book ‘Modern blocks’. I started making the lattice blocks in October 2012 and Bee Europa chipped in with some of the lattice blocks in the early spring of 2013.

 

When the lattice border was finally a reality in the summer of 2013 the quilt still didn’t feel finished, so I decided to add yet another border.

After much consideration I finally selected the ‘Pongo Stick’ block, which was funny enough originally the block I considered instead of the lattice block ((also from Modern Blocks)

 

 

With the final border on the quilt measured 95x95 inches. The thought of quilting such a large quilt on my old Pfaff and ruin it with my lousy quilting skills didn’t strike me as a terribly good idea, so I decided have it long armed quilted – a new first for me. I brought the quilt to Sweden, where my family lives and the wonderful Diane worked her magic all over it. Not a day goes by where I’m not happy about that decision. The quilting looks fantastic (and wasn’t as expensive as I had feared it would be). In February 2014 I made the last stitches on the binding and was finally able to put the quilt on my bed.

(Picture taken by Diane)

Behind the scenes
It’s a big quilt and very, very difficult to photograph. I thought the bench at the lake would be a good spot to take a picture and literally help to elevate the quilts, so we all went for an evening walk just as the sun was going down. But... even with the boys standing on the bench they couldn't quite lift it off the ground.

When taking the pictures I managed to sneak behind them and got this photo. It makes me smile big. It feels like the boys are growing up so fast, but in reality they still need a little help holding up a quilt this size.

Anyways, enough about this quilt. Thanks for stopping by here. There are so many other wonderful quilts to see and so much inspiration to be found, so be sure to visit lots of the festival blogs too.