Welcome back for Week 3 of the Piece and Quilt Hop Along. For those just joining–my friends HollyAnne, Vicki, and I are quilting along in Christa Watson’s new book Piece and Quilt with Precuts. If you need to play catch up, start here.
Squiggles Quilt
I’m so excited to show you my finished Squiggles quilt! As I mentioned last week, the wavy line quilting went quickly and was so relaxing. And unlike so many people, I LOVE to hand bind my quilts. It gives me a great excuse to sit down with a cup of tea (or wine, depending on the time) and binge watch my latest show. During the making of this quilt, I was loving Victoria and our whole family is getting a kick out of watching The Office together. We have actually taken to calling that time our family “Office Hour”.
A few specs on this quilt: The pattern is Squiggles from Piece and Quilt with Precuts by Christa Watson, the fabric is Creekside by Moda, the batting is Warm and Natural, and it was pieced and quilted with Aurifil 50 wt. color #2000.
I presented my college-bound daughter with a stack of quilts and asked her if she would like to pick one to take to school with her. This is the one she chose. It made me happy to place it, folded at the foot of her bed when we moved her in. When we said goodbye I told her, “Anytime you need a hug, just wrap yourself in that quilt. It’s a hug from me. ” The ultimate in Mama Love.
Modern Marks Fabric
Now, on to the next quilt! I was lucky enough receive an early shipment of Christa Watson’s new fabric line from Benartex, called Modern Marks. This fabric so perfectly represents Christa’s style. The colors are spot-on, in this luscious, fully-saturated way. I could not way to cut into it!
The next quilt on my list from Piece and Quilt is called Dot ‘n’ Dash. Here is Christa’s beautiful version.
I can’t wait to see this remade in Modern Marks! Instead of the solid gray, I’m using a jelly roll of low volume gray prints on white fabric–I think it will look fabulous!
Quilting Practice
Honestly, what with finishing up one quilt and starting another, I didn’t do as much machine quilting practice this week. Part of the issue is the mental hurdle of taking the piecing foot off of my machine and setting it up for free motion quilting. I know in reality, it only takes a couple of minutes–but some days it seems like an insurmountable obstacle. My dream is to someday have enough space to have both machines set up at the same time. One for piecing and one for quilting. (sigh)
Anyway, I didn’t do a ton of practice, and it shows. I practiced some more crazy eights, because I want to quilt Dot ‘n’ Dash using that motif, and then a flower motif, and some wishbones. Not my best, but it all counts as practice, right? And just like all of Christa’s books, she gives you wonderful instructions on how to do each motif.
Remember, if you are sewing along with us, remember to use the hastag #pieceandquilthopalong on Instagram to share your work. We’d love to see it!
