Blogger Quilt Festival

Almost a year in the making, but what better time to finish my sampler quilt than the week of Amy's great Blogger Quilt Festival . This time it feels like I really have something to show off!

This quilt is also special because it is the first one I get to keep!

I designed it to go in my living/dining room to match all the yellow and grey in there. But to make it a little more interesting, I decided to go with a sampler design. I thought this would be a good way to expand my knowledge base of quilting in a shortish timeframe.

I tried to go with the widest variety of types of block. So there is some paper piecing, hand stitching, applique, improv and of course standard piecing. I was fortunate and grateful to all the kind bloggers out there who generously post ideas, pictures and all important tutorials that I was able to use to pull together such a stunning variety of blocks. There are some old school blocks in there two like this 9 patch tutorial but with the simple colour scheme I think the overall look is modern.

Although I really enjoyed making this quilt, the time involved was way more than I had anticipated. Not just in sourcing all the different blocks but then working on each for the first time. But the thing I think held me back the most was the quilting. How was I going to pull all these different designs off?

I decided I didn't just want an overall design, so again much research was called on and finally I got this baby quilted! Once I had started doing the different designs to emphasise each block, I became more confident in the look I wanted to achieve. I reckoned as long as this was a sampler quilt, then I should sample as much different types of quilting designs as I could manage. 

There were some blocks where I was just totally winging it. Some I liked better than others. But overall I am proud that I gave each technique a go and I think I got the mix right between simple outline quilting and some heavier free motion quilting.

My first ever feather attempt

Trying out all the different stitches on my machine

For the nerds among you here are it's vital stats:
Block size: Aimed for 12" (probably trimmed a bit smaller, all due to my error!)
Overall Size: 56" x 72" (or as I like to say big enough to snuggle under in front of TV - and maybe even room for two!
Filling: Bamboo wadding

The back - almost as pretty as the front

Very Autumnal