Friday, September 30, 2016

A Finish for My Foxes

Lately there have been more project starts than finishes here at From Bolt to Beauty. All that is about to change, though.

First up: a finish for my foxes. I started this little-girl-size throw, which I call Foxes and Flowers, over the summer and detailed the rationale behind the fabrics used here.


If you remember that second post, The Anatomy of a Fabric Pull, you’ll notice that as I laid the quilt out, I added more fabrics, especially some purple and cream selections. I also was deliberate with my fabric placement, lining up the higher-value 3½” squares so there appears to be little diagonal lines throughout the quilt.


Most of my quilts are larger throws. I could lay this smaller project out on my dining room table, saving it from a run-in with puppy paws. (To date, my golden retriever has yet to wreck a quilt project. Fingers crossed that that doesn’t change.) Now that I see the final product head-on, I would play around with the block layout; there are too many bold blocks—all those deep purples and bright oranges—toward the bottom of the quilt. Oh, well—I’m over it!

Some simple quilting finished this project off. I followed the seam lines of the 6½” blocks and then quilted some diagonal ones. This process wasn’t as smooth as it should have been. I tempted the tension gods by using different top and bottom threads and quilted under artificial light at night. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized my tension wasn’t quite right. Unpicking and requilting ensued.


But now she’s done and ready to be gifted. That’s a cause to celebrate in my book.

This was an easy and fun sew and, because it calls for different-size squares, a good way to use up scraps. Check out the pattern details at Stitched in Color.

This is the scene around here now that Foxes and Flowers is wrapped up: I have two quilts (this one and this one) at the long-armer, one almost ready to hand off to another long-armer, and three quilt tops that I’m going to finish myself. That’s a lot of quilt tops, and four of the six are for me. Some selfish sewing? Yes please!

What about you? Have you been sewing for yourself recently? I usually gift almost all of my quilts. It’s about time I grow the number living here at my house.

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

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24 comments:

  1. Such a pretty finish Michelle! I love this pattern but have never actually made one of my own!

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  2. I'm trying to get for me quilts finished too. I really like the colour placement and like that the lines made by the squares are not all going in the same direction.

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  3. I really love this quilt and the colours! Lately I mostly make slow quilts with lots of hand appliqué and such. There’s nobody in my family or circle of friends who love to receive a quilt, so I keep them myself. The simpler patched ones are donated to charity.

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  4. I'm so glad you're actually getting some sewing in for yourself! That's awesome! I think this is a lovely finish, and I look forward to seeing the parade of quilts you'll be showing us very soon! :)

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  5. A friend used the same fox fabric with a completely different color palette. Always fun to see different interpretations.

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  6. Lovely finish; does it have an intended home since you plan to give it away? I make a lot of quilts in a year for so many different reasons, and I actually have quite a stockpile. But making a new queen size quilt for our bed is definitely starting to be something I am thinking about.

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  7. Great color choices on this one. And the quilting looks great!

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  8. This just so adorable! It is a great color palette and perfect for your little foxes. :)

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  9. The first detail I noticed is the gathering of diagonals near the bottom, and I really like it; either gravity is pulling them down, or they're gradually escaping and floating higher, depending on changing moods.

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  10. Very pretty! I have been doing some personal sewing lately too. I'm working on a quilt which may be the very first one I've started with the intention for it to stay. Good luck with your "selfish" sewing!

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  11. It looks fabulous, you've got some gorgeous visual diagonals going on, along with the brilliant fox print!

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  12. My favorite part is the smaller square diagonals, all the different size squares make the blocks almost three dimensional. It's a great pattern. The fabric pull was super! Looking forward to the other finishes!

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  13. Love this finish! I like that you're turning into me with a million projects and I only have a few right now. Muahahahahaha

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  14. Curse those tension gods! The unpicking cannot have been fun, but the end result looks worth the effort.

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  15. Really nice Michelle - very cute foxes and a wonderful pieced backing!

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  16. What a lovely gift! It's a really nice a pattern too, congratulations on a successful finish - always nice to have one in the bag!

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  17. Nice, nice, nice! There is nothing worse than plowing ahead with something only to realize so far in that there was a problem! It turned out amazing regardless!!

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  18. I like the splash of color of the 4 patches - nice job

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  19. A very pretty finish! I love your colour combo!

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  20. I like the color distribution just as it is. The diagonal lines give it nice motion. Great color combination too. Claire aka knitnkwilt

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  21. Great finish. I love the colours. Sadly, I've been making too many quilts to keep. I'll never get a chance to use them all. LOL

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  22. Doesn't it feel good to have a finish! I also love doing smaller quilts.

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  23. Adorable! My favorite parts are those diagonal squares marching across the quilt. Hurray for you having some projects in the works for yourself. I give away most of my quilts, too, but I always have something going for me--usually a little something that I make at a more leisurely pace.

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  24. Love the colors in this quilt!! So pretty!! The quilting is awesome too!

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