I finished a Christmas quilt in time to actually use it for Christmas! I think I started it early this year, abandoned it and finally dug out the almost finished blocks a few weeks ago to get 'er done.
Fabric: Countdown to Christmas by Sweetwater for Moda Fabrics. I was lucky enough to pick up a bundle of this fabric after Christmas last year. And even luckier that another shop had some yardage still left for me to bind it.
Here's my favorite part: the quilting. I free-motion quilted a paisley pattern all over the quilt. Technique found in Angela Walter's book Free-Motion Quilting. It was a bit tricky to figure out where to go next and how to get there. You have to plan ahead a little bit, but once I got the rhythm down, it was pretty simple. I could see how this would be very easy on a long arm quilting machine, but it's a little tricky on a domestic machine because you can't always see where you've been and where you're going. I got myself into corners frequently, but eventually figured out how to get out of those easily too.
I love the texture the quilting created.
I'm playing roulette a bit with the backing. I bought flannel sheets at Target when they were on sale for $20 a set . . . that's two quilt backs for $20! This one was a red flannel set and I washed it 5 times, using salt and vinegar to set the dye. I would throw in a piece of my background fabric in each load. The first time around it was very pink. By the 5th wash, it didn't look too pink anymore . . . I'm hoping that it was just fuzz from the flannel making it look pink at all. Cross your fingers for me. The flannel will make a nice cozy, cuddly quilt, but I hope I don't regret the red.
Bound in the red and white stripe from the Countdown to Christmas line.
Finished size: 64" x 80"
Finished Date: November, 2012