Quilt of Many Colors

I’ve been planning to make a modern quilt since way back when I first got bit by the quilting obsession bug.  But I had too much going on–sewing and otherwise.

I don’t like unfinished projects.  I’m okay with two sewing projects going on at the same time.  One that’s hard and will take awhile to finish–like a quilt.  And an easy one–like tea towels.  But before I start anything new, one of those has to be completed.  So it was a while before I got to start on the modern quilt. 

But I was looking for inspiration and designing it in my head way back in September.

I love the Hopewell Quilts with their simple lines, large blocks of color, and striped binding.

 

I found this quilt on Pinterest.  Not a Hopewell Quilt but again, solid colors and straight-line quilting.

I decided to design my new quilt following the above style because I wanted to pull all of the colors out of my bedroom into one piece.  And there are a lot of colors in there.  Pinks, grays, blues, golds, browns.  Plus every piece of furniture is a different wood or metal.  I love it. It’s very homey and cozy and dark and full of things I love. And mine.  But I’m not ready to show it to you.  Maybe someday.

And here’s the finished quilt:

Since I was keeping this quilt and didn’t have to worry about screwing it up, I wanted to try some different methods. I used Mar Bella Minky Cuddle Plata from Fabric.com for the backing.  I love the softness of Minky but I’ve had issues with it before–it’s very slippery.  I was expecting it to be hard to work with but it was wonderful!  Easy to quilt, forgiving, and made the quilt extra cuddly.

Most of the dark fabric on the front of the quilt is Moda Bella Broadcloth that I also bought from Fabric.com.  The happier colors are from “American Made Brand” that I picked up at our local quilt shop, Tomorrows Treasures. 

I wanted the quilt to be “nap size”. It’s just too difficult to make a larger quilt with my sewing machine.  Maybe after I get more skilled I’ll be able to handle a bigger size. I made a rough draft and then used graph paper to get the correct dimensions. The finished size was 62 1/2″ by 50 1/2″ 

I really wanted black striped cut on the bias for the binding.  This appears to be a very popular choice for quilters but not readily available.  I eventually backordered the perfect black stripe designed by Timeless Treasures from Hawthorne Threads.  It arrived in just a few weeks.

I tried a different method to attach the binding but wasn’t pleased with it so will go back to the old way.

 

While I designed it for my bedroom…

it is so soft and comfortable, that it’s usually on the sofa.