13 December, 2011

Waves


Waves
72'' by 72''

The 36 patch that I started as stress relief is now finished. Thank-you to Amanda Jean for the inspiration and instructions. It stayed a project that caused me no stress. I worked on it when I felt like it, I played around with the quilting, and the colours always brought me calm. Aside from the, ahem... challenge of basting it.

I had a lot of fun playing with fabrics for this one. All blues, greens, greys, and beiges. Half were from a pile I'd just finished with and the other half I pulled from stash as I needed it. Only one was used twice, and that was by accident. It was with intention that I pushed the boundaries of value work in some blocks. As you can see, some blocks are high contrast, and others barely register a contrast. In one block the colour is used as a light, in the next as a dark. This will always be a quilt with a lot of dance, regardless of what you choose, but this one really jumps around, even with the calm colours.


The back also came from stash. Actually, most of the fabrics in the back were ones I'd held aside for the Water quilt I was working on forever (and have since put aside permanently). I love that big dot!

Can you see the quilting pattern here? It's all wavy and I did it with my walking foot. It was an experiment to see how tight I could make curves with the walking foot. Each "wave" takes two of the 2'' squares in a block. That's pretty tight. You could do it free-motion too.


This is one of my favourite blocks in the quilt. I matched fabrics as I went, with no overall plan. Without trying I put two gorgeous organic fabrics together. One from Birch and one from Daisy Janie.

Once I get a label on this it will be popped in the mail. In the end I've decided to give it as a wedding gift. We went to the wedding over a year ago! And yes, I am always that bad at giving gifts.

The colours match their living room perfectly. It's the living room in a stunning old house in an old community on the East Coast. The couple is stunning and their eyes are bluer than the ocean. I think it will be hard to live up to all that beauty with this quilt, but hopefully it can blend in.

And hopefully they have less snow on the quilt when they cuddle.

26 comments:

* elizabeth * said...

it's gorgeous! love the snow shot!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

It's beautiful. I'm glad you found a way to baste it. The colors are so soothing. Maybe I need to try that once.....

Francis Paul said...

what a beautiful quilt! i love the colors, so 'beachy' :-)

'Fijne feestdagen' as we say in Dutch :-)

Amy said...

This is a beautiful quilt (I have that big dot in my stash as well!). And I think it's perfect that you are giving it as a wedding gift. Something made with this much joy and this little stress can't help but bring joy to the giftees as well. A wonderful choice!

Josie McRazie said...

LOL I am a horrid gift giver! The worst I ever was...I made an afghan for a very dear friends wedding, it sat close to finished for two years,it was kind of a standing joke between the two of us!! then I pulled it out and began to do the last round and sat it asside, I ended up giving it to her for her divorce party...oops! But she loved it just the same! LOVE your 36 patch! he couple will be pleasanlty pleased!

Lisa said...

Love those colors!! Your quilt is beautiful.
I am just finishing up a wedding quilt for a couple that have been married 18 months! and now they are expecting a baby, I will never get ahead! Haha.

Julie said...

I am not very fond of 9 patch- I guess there is too much going on, but your's is great. I think it must be the great color combos. I actually took a big relaxing breath, unconsciously, while looking at it. Almost makes me want to try one! I am sure the couple will love it.

Mary said...

What an absolutely beautiful quilt. Well done!

Rachel Slote-Brown said...

Beautiful quilt. Great fabrics.
Jealous of your snow.

Cynthia said...

Love the wavy quilting! So nice to work on project just because you can!

Kathy S. said...

Wow! So simple yet so beautiful. Great quilting. I love the way the fabrics played nicely together. NICE!

Julierose said...

Such a lovely quilt--I am going to definitely adding one of these to my "to-do" list for the coming year....Julierose

Live a Colorful Life said...

Really beautiful. I'm anxious to be done with Christmas sewing, so I can put my 36-patch together because all the blocks are done. Love your choice of quilting design (and the snow pictures rock!)

Jennifer said...

It's so beautiful! I love how you played with the values too. As I am looking out at day 3 of drizzly rain, I especially love your snow pictures!

Jennifer :)

Suzanne said...

Wow! It's so beautiful and against the snowy background...ah! I love it. It's so peaceful!

Shelley said...

This is fantastic! Such coothing colors (I never use these colors, but am sooo drawn to them lately) but lots of movement. Great photos, especially in the snow :)

karen @ badlandsquilts said...

Great quilt...It will certainly be a cherished gift!

Eileen said...

Beautiful quilt and I love the snow shot very cool.

Alison V. said...

How beautiful! The snow shot definitely makes it sing.

Elaine M said...

Wonderful quilt. Love the colors. The couple will be happy with this lovely gift.

Amanda Jean said...

your quilt turned out lovely! there IS so much movement in this quilt, even with the subtle colors. i'm glad that it remained a non stress project throughout. that's a feat at times, isn't it?

the backing and the quilting are just lovely! this will make a tremendous wedding gift.

thanks for linking up!

Katie Z. said...

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

Go-Go Kim said...

Beautiful quilt ! I love the color combination!!!!

Anonymous said...

I also enjoyed reading up on the basting challenge. The airsoft community calls feet in the picture "tactical toes". Hahaha.

Heather said...

SO gorgeous!! The colors look fantastic, and with the snow behind them... too pretty for words. They will LOVE it. No matter if it's a little late. ;o)

Little Penpen said...

THAT is one beautiful quilt!! Love the snow pic, too!!