Finally Finished

Yes, this was quilted back in July, but I finally got the binding done. One more to check off for the year! I'd have to quilt full-time the rest of the year to meet my original goal, but maybe I can get one or two more done... maybe!

Jungle Wonder

This is a little lap quilt I started some years ago, using the technique in the book One-Block Wonders. It's sort of like a Stack and Whack, but instead of putting each kaleidoscope grouping separately, you arrange them next to each other, grouping by color or pattern. I wasn't all that happy with how it turned out; it seems to me that the fabric needed to have some calmer spaces and it was too busy overall. It could have been improved by a different fabric, or by using some solid black as spacers between the hexagons, but I really didn't feel like ripping it all apart. So I just put some plain black borders on it and some simple quilting. And it's not bad.

I quilted wavy lines along the seam lines, and into the border. And once in a while, a wavy spiral in a hexagon for some added interest. King Tut Malachite thread on the top.

The back is a marbled dark green, with a strip of flowery fabric that matched color-wise if not the jungle theme. So Fine Forest thread matched pretty well.

Rail Fence

I'd about given up on getting good pictures of this quilt, so I'm just going to post some so-so ones. In addition to not having a good space to hang quilts for photography, I think my camera gets confused with all the prints and doesn't know what to focus on.

Close up of the quilting. I did all-over hooked feathers. King Tut Autumn Days thread was used on the top, and it blended with a lot of the fabrics.

The back. I used one strip of a busy feather print, and the rest is an olive green Dimples print. Thread was So Fine Olive, batting was Quilter's Dream Blend.

Side-lit close up of the back shows more quilting detail.

As Promised

Here are a couple of pictures of the most recently finished quilt, City Harbor. I posted about it earlier, it's a pattern from Cherri House's book, City Quilts. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

For the quilting, I attempted the Dwirling pattern from Dawn Ramirez' DVD, Pajama Quilter Reloaded. It was fun and easy to do. I did get stuck echoing the waves too much of the time so that in places it looks a bit like mattress pad quilting.  But other places I got more swirls and changes in direction in so that looks better. And it was really the first time where I felt I could move while I was quilting, instead of having my feet planted, quilting as far as I could reach (and lean), and then stopping to step sideways.