Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Dogwood Blossom Quilt

It is with jumping-around-my-sewing-room joy that I reveal my latest finish, my Dogwood Blossom Quilt ...

This quilt top was designed by Rachel Hauser, of Stitched in Color.

I started this quilt top at the end of 2013, before I began blogging. It was my first adventure in applique, and as far as applique goes, it’s very me. I love the bold graphic nature of the dogwood blossoms and the orange and cranberry and pink of the petals that compose them. I wouldn’t say that the applique was difficult. It was, however, time consuming and, as a result, easy to brush off for faster and higher-priority projects. (You know how that goes!)

To celebrate this finish, I’m entering this quilt in the applique category of the Blogger’s Quilt Festival.

If you’re visiting from the quilt festival, you should know that I’m a fairly new quilter, so many of my posts examine techniques I’ve tried out—for piecing, quilting, binding, you name it. In case you’re interested, here’s the nitty-gritty on this quilt ...

Fabrics

Fabric for the petals came from my scrap bin. Perhaps most note-worthy is the two Free Market Fancy fabrics (original run)—my last, last bits of them!—that are used in multiple blossoms. The petals are appliqued to squares of Kona Snow. The sashing and border are a soft cranberry from French General.

I'm crazy about the polka-dot binding. I definitely need more polka dots in my stash!

Applique

I sketch-stitched each petal to the Kona Snow backed with a stabilizer. The chocolate-brown thread and imperfect-on-purpose stitching gives the petals a little character, I think.

Quilting

I started quilting by ditch-stitching in a cranberry thread along the sashing and border. My original plan was to FMQ around the blossoms, but all of my attempts were seriously ugly. In the end, on the advice from someone at my LQS, I used my regular piecing foot to echo-stich around the petals. The lip from the edge of the applique helped keep that foot on track. I really, really like the results. I didn’t really, really like turning my quilt around and around, however, which is why I echo-stitched just once around the dogwood blossoms instead of two or three times. : )

The quilting is best seen on the pieced back.

There’s a lot of inspiration on display during the Blogger’s Quilt Festival—I highly recommend checking it out! To view the other quilts, go to Amy’s Creative Side. Voting opens on May 22 and wraps up on May 29. The other quilt I’m submitting, Oh Christmas Tree, can be found here.

http://amyscreativeside.com/bloggers-quilt-festival/

Linking up to Let’s Bee Social, Needle and Thread Thursday, Finish It Up Friday, and TGIFF...

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14 comments:

  1. what a lovely quilt! I really like the dark brown thread that you used to stitch down the petals.

    Did you stabilize the petals before you appliqued them down? I want to try some larger applique projects but haven't had the nerve yet.

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  2. YES. I love this. (And not just because it has pink.) And the binding? I'm pretty much swooning over here. Nice finish!

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  3. Beautiful job!! I can't believe you had to stuff and turn all of that under your machine as you echoed the flowers! It looks amazing! Congrats on getting it done!

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  4. what a beautiful quilt, such a lovely colour. i think your quilting looks great, you shouldn't be so afraid!

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  5. Beautiful quilt! You did a great job with color, fabrics and the quilting!! Kudos to you!!

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  6. I love polka dots as well, and that binding is perfect. :) Awesome finish, it looks fantastic!

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  7. What a wonderful quilt. Your "allegedly" imperfect sketch stitching looks awesome. I've always been a fan of this dogwood shape long before I knew what it was called. There's something about those gentle cures with the hard points that just flows so well. Good luck in the festival, I'm going to love touring all the entries this weekend and coming across all my bloggy friends' entries!!

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  8. So pretty, now I want to make one!

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  9. This is lovely. Good luck in the festival :)

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  10. Yay it's done! Now you can enjoy it. :D I think your outline stitching is perfect. Keeps it nice and drapey too. :)

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  11. So beautiful, I love this pattern. Thanks so much for linking up with TGIFF!

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  12. Beautiful finish! I love the colors. Good luck in the festival. Your work is gorgeous. I came to quilting from regular sewing, too, and I think it's a plus. You already have control of the machine and you know most of terms already, so just enjoy!

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