Tuesday, April 29, 2014

A Lovely Year of Finishes- April is Elementary!

Yay for the end of April, and hopefully the last of the never-ending winter!
I had some fun with my April project.
It all started with a bundle of Eclectic Elements by Tim Holtz, and a few Textured Solids ( really wish I had used more colours).
I made a big pile of Plus blocks which finish at 11"

These blocks are really quick to do, and chain piecing makes them even faster.
I had a few extra blocks after picking a layout I liked, and decided to incorporate them into the back. Which made me remember that Sarah @ Sew What Sherlock? has converted the pieced X and + block to a paper pieced block in three different sizes! Yay Sarah!
So. I made a few of those as well, and a backing was born!
They grey I used for the back is a really nice linen that I got a couple years ago at a local fabric shop.
I had an idea for the quilting the Plus portion of the block right from the start. At a Quilt Show, I bought a really nice variegated spool of thread by Sulky. I haven't used anything but Aurifil for over a year now, but didn't have the colour I needed.
I think my machine has become an Aurifil snob!! I had terrible problems using this new thread. While I had Aurifil 50wt #2600 in the bobbin, I had constant breakage of the Sulky. I used a 90/14 topstitch needle that usually works really well me, but not this time! I then realized that the Sulky was a 30wt, which may have been the problem! 
I used my FMQ foot to avoid turning the quilt so much, so the lines are very organic!! Oddly enough, I had less thread breakage going side to side, rather than up and down.
Once I was finished the Plus sections, I switched to Aurifil, and heaved a sigh of relief!
I do love the colour of the variegated thread though! Yellow, orange, green and a bit of purple which adds a real pop of colour.
  In all the background corners (4 per block), I did a FMQ leaf.
Here is a bit of it on the back, with some thread that needed to be picked out! I had a lot of this on the back!

It took me a whole day to bury all the darn threads.

 Sure don't like that part!
The stripe binding is another print from the Eclectic Elements line, and I think finished off the quilt so nicely.


I tried something new! Labeling quilts just never gets done, so I decided to try a method I saw in somewhere land!
I folded a 6" block into a triangle and added it to a bottom corner and it was sewn in with the binding. I added a decorative machine stitch across the fold of the triangle and hand stitched it to the back after the binding was on.
I think it turned out pretty well, I just need to work on my hand writing next time!
This afternoon I went out to the backyard in my boots to take some pictures!



Elementary measures 57"x68"

I'm happily linking up with Shanna & Melissa.


11 comments:

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

The back & front both look wonderful! Linda

Benta AtSLIKstitches said...

I hope the snow does go soon !!! Gorgeous quilt, and I love the label idea!

Celtic Thistle said...

Great quilt! Have never used Sulky threads before but it sounds like maybe I should stick to Aurifil. Like your label too, would love you to link up to April's New to Me link party:)

pennydog said...

Lovely lovely! I think I even like the back most with the different sizes :D

Tricia ~~ Handmade Whimzy said...

The plus block is one of my favorites. The colors that you used are very interesting but they work well in the end. Love your back too.

CitricSugar said...

It turned out so beautifully - I loved seeing it the other day! The way you used those fabrics....

Karen said...

So much work but definitely worth it. It is a wonderful quilt with great fabrics and quilting.

Carla said...

Fabulous quilt! Great use of that fabric line.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

The back and front of this are both gorgeous! Is that still snow in your feet photo? Happy May :)

Wendy said...

such a great quilt, love the plus blocks! I might be wrong here, but I was told not to use Sulky as it's for machine embroidery, not for functional sewing such as quilting.

Belinda said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! I love everything about it.

11 comments:

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

The back & front both look wonderful! Linda

Benta AtSLIKstitches said...

I hope the snow does go soon !!! Gorgeous quilt, and I love the label idea!

Celtic Thistle said...

Great quilt! Have never used Sulky threads before but it sounds like maybe I should stick to Aurifil. Like your label too, would love you to link up to April's New to Me link party:)

pennydog said...

Lovely lovely! I think I even like the back most with the different sizes :D

Tricia ~~ Handmade Whimzy said...

The plus block is one of my favorites. The colors that you used are very interesting but they work well in the end. Love your back too.

CitricSugar said...

It turned out so beautifully - I loved seeing it the other day! The way you used those fabrics....

Karen said...

So much work but definitely worth it. It is a wonderful quilt with great fabrics and quilting.

Carla said...

Fabulous quilt! Great use of that fabric line.

Janine @ Rainbow Hare said...

The back and front of this are both gorgeous! Is that still snow in your feet photo? Happy May :)

Wendy said...

such a great quilt, love the plus blocks! I might be wrong here, but I was told not to use Sulky as it's for machine embroidery, not for functional sewing such as quilting.

Belinda said...

Your quilt is gorgeous! I love everything about it.