Thursday, July 9, 2020

First finish of the year!

Finally, I have a finish.

This is a quilt that I designed called "Spring Ahead".  This quilt was designed to teach applique to guild ladies.  Each month, we worked through the different blocks using a different method of applique.  What is good for me may not be good for another person.  They were taught that you could use different methods on the same project.  They were also taught to change the pattern if they were not happy with it.  Heck, I do that all the time!  At the end of the guild year, they were asked what was their favourite method.  Needle turn applique.  I'm just so happy that the ladies learned how to tackle applique and not to be afraid of it.
Now, let's look at the blocks.

Here is one corner.  They could do this border or they could just have straight strips of borders.  A few actually did this border.  Bravo to them!
I loved designing this block.  Simple, but effective.  Circles were interesting to teach.
This was fun to design also with a bit of embroidery.  Heck, all the blocks were fun to design.
Stars were interesting.  They were shown how to round out the inward points to make it easier to applique.
The circle with the loops .... they could embroider the loops instead of appliqueing bias strips.  This one was a bit tricky for newbies.  For the star, they could make just a regular star or be adventurous and follow my design.  A few did.
Just something a bit different for this flower.
More fun blocks!

Now, call me quirky but I do a bit of machine quilting after I get my quilt back from the LAer.  The main blocks have been stitched in the ditch around the perimeter of the background blocks.    Also, all my applique pieces have been hand quilted around the outside of each piece.  I do like my applique to look grounded.  See next photo.
  
Can you see what I mean in this photo?  So, a tad quirky, am I!  LOL
What in the world in that string doing hanging from the end?  My quilt was doing the wave at the bottom and by stringing a piece of knitting yarn through the binding, it helped to straighten out the wave and it is now nice and even.  That bit of black was just snipped carefully away and viola, no more wave!
Some outdoor photos.



So, now my quilt is finally done and now I can enjoy it even more.

Quilt details:
Top designed and made by:  Rose Marie Castonguay (me!)
Machine quilted by:  Kathy at Kat's Quilts using Gothic Vine quilting design
Quilt started:  September 2016
Quilt finished:  June 2020
Quilt size:  56-1/2" x 71-1/4" (size before quilting, washing and drying:  58-1/2" x 74")
Batting:  Hobbs 80/20 cotton/poly

With all the doom and gloom news about Covid-19, I thought you would enjoy a bit of eye candy.

Cherish your day, cherish your life!

9 comments:

eloidastitches said...

What a lovely quilt. Totally enjoyed reading about the applique options that your quilt guild members had, and the challenges the different designs presented. Great job!! Truly a fun read. I have recently tried a couple other methods of doing applique, and am finding what works best for me. Hats off to the ladies who also did the applique border, that was a lot of extra practice!!

Frog Quilter said...

What a beautiful finish. Kudos to you. Enjoy it!

Jennifer said...

What a lovely happy quilt - so cheerful for these gloomy times! Interesting to see how many members did their own thing, they will be more confident to do so in future too.

CountryGal said...

I am in love with this quilt!! Any chance there may be a pattern for sale?? And thanks for the "wave" tip!!

Julie Fukuda said...

I like those fine prints that read as solids. So colorful without being overdone.

Kyle said...

Every part of this quilt is gorgeous!!

Gretchen Weaver said...

Your quilt is beautiful, your design is great! Thanks for the eye candy!

Christine said...

This would make a great book of blocks for beginners!! It's so bright and cheerful!

Chookyblue...... said...

It's just beautiful.... Love all the dissent blocks and the quilting is beautiful also.....
Definetly lovely eye candy.....