Friday, May 13, 2011

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: Spring Edition

I love the Bloggers' Quilt Festival that Amy hosts each Spring and Fall. It's an opportunity to check out so many beautiful quilts and be inspired all over again!

I've decided to showcase my Be Yourself quilt. The name comes from an Oscar Wilde quote: "Be yourself. Everyone else is taken."


I made this quilt for my daughter earlier this year. The project actually started ages ago when I bought a charm pack and some yardage of Authentic fabric. I knew I wanted to make the OnlyChild a quilt with it, but I didn't see a pattern I really liked.

I started off with the plan of making some kind of Chinese Coins quilt. I carefully cut the charm squares in half and sewed them together in long strips.

Then I stalled. It just wasn't what I wanted to do. I put it away to percolate for a while. A long while.


When it came out of hiding, I envisioned something entirely different for this quilt. I was inspired by some square-in-square designs I had seen around the internet but I didn't want it to be too even and monotonous looking so this is what I ended up designing.


The quilting is completely straight-line all across in one direction. I didn't worry too much about perfectly even lines; I just used the walking foot on my sewing machine as a guide and reoriented my stitching at every long seam. I'd seen this quilting technique on lots of projects but I'd never tried it before. It worked out great and looks pretty cool.

My daughter loves this quilt. It's not too girly (the last one I made her had a lot of purple in it) and will fit with any decor so when (if) she moves into her own place, she can use it as a throw in the living room without it looking like a little girl's bed quilt.

If you want to see more of the Bloggers' Quilt Festival line-up, head over to Amy's Creative Side.

20 comments:

Jane said...

I love your quilt! And the quote? Love it, too! I didn't know that one!

Teresa said...

really nice! I like that it came from a scrapped idea for a quilt, and turned into something totally different. I love the close quilted lines ALOT! Thanks for sharing

What Comes Next? said...

I'll say it again, Rachel, this quilt is fabulous! I love your design and the straightline quilting is perfection on it!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful quilt Rachel and i love the colours,well done

Julie Fukuda said...

I love this calm simple design and the quilting is perfect because it doesn't detract. I had wished to post and made a trip to the park to take a picture but once the blogger got back up and running, my computer is down.

Loves to Quilt said...

Great Quilt, I love it!

Barb said...

I just love this quilt, glad you are showing it...

Becky (My Fabric Obsession) said...

I love it, so beautiful! Very sophisticated too.

Sandra said...

Great job, Like how it is just a bit freeform but not crazy. And the diagonal color placement is very graphic. Kudos
Come see my entries #211, repro cheddar orange stars and #215 antique 1850 applique flower garden

Lynne said...

It's gorgeous; thank you for inspiring this novice.

Debbie said...

Very nice! I love how you modernized your original idea. Great for your girl to have a non "girly" quilt.

stitchinpenny said...

I love the quilt. It is a great combination of neutrals and straight line quilting to make a very striking quilt.

Eileen said...

Great and love the quilting. Wonderful design. Glad your daughter loves it...she should as it's really well done. Thanks for sharing and have a great day

BJ said...

Great quilt. Love it.

Karen said...

The design you have chosen is a great fit for this fabric. I love the way your quilt has turned out! It was worth the wait while you decided what to do!

Esch House Quilts said...

Great quilt! Authentic is one of my favorite lines. I love the quilting too :)

Sarcastic Quilter said...

I think this is a great quilt and I can see why she likes it.

Loves to Quilt said...

Where can I find this pattern? I MUST find it before I go nuts!!!

Thanks!

Unknown said...

I can see why your daughter loves this quilt. It's fantastic!

Sherry said...

I love that fabric line. Your quilt is just wonderful!