Something Blue

a.k.a. The Infamous Quilt

Of course, now that it is done, I feel bad calling it infamous. Now that it is no longer the bane of my existence, I rather like it.

Okay, so those who have been watching me for a while know what a nightmare this quilt has been for me. I suppose all the headaches were worth it though, because I’m quite happy with the result. Oh sure, there’s a ton I would change if I had to do it over again. But I don’t feel I have to do it over again.

So let’s see... this was intended as a wedding gift for some friends of mine. It’s still a wedding gift... it’s just a little late. Their eight month anniversary will be at the end of this month.

The bride’s favorite color is (at least it was) blue and the groom once commented how his wardrobe was made of three colors (blue, white, and black). My original intention was to do a gradient through shades of blue from black to white. That didn’t happen.

I ended up with four blue prints and a solid that I liked together and went from there. You can see what I was planning on doing here. [link]

After putting the quilt on hold for the holidays I recently got back to it. I decided to scrap all the ideas I had for the quilt over the holidays and to go with what I’m calling a half step bargello pattern. (Yay! No matching points!) I also decided that instead of quilting, I would tie the quilt. (Tufting)

I still ran into some problems, but other than the sewing machine turning against me when I wanted to put on the binding, none of them stopped me for too long.

I guess now for the technicals...

100% Cotton fabric
100% Polyester low loft batting
100% Pearl Cotton (3 shades of blue - for tufting)
All Purpose White Thread (Cotton covered polyester core)
Multi Colored (Blue Clouds) Machine Quilting Thread (100% Cotton)

All sewing was done on my 1930 Singer Sewing machine (or by hand). Tufting is done at corners of some of the squares. Knots are tied on the back (to give some visual interest to the white and to not take away from the front). Knots are what some sites called surgeon’s knots (fitting I thought as both the bride and groom are MDs – although I don’t think either are surgeons.)

The four prints were used in the bargello pattern, with the solid used at the top and bottom of the rows and as a border. All five fabrics were used in the binding. The backing is two layers of white cotton muslin as I was afraid one layer would be too thin.

Things I would change next time...

I would use a higher loft batting. Maybe a medium loft. Not sure if I’d go to a high loft.
I would plan out my tufting better.
I would use a print (or a “shaded solid) for the backing.
I would do a better job of attaching the binding. (I suppose only practice would take care of this one.)

Please full view. Full view shows quilt with white at top and the dark blue at the top. Also shows back.