This bee was an Instagram-based bee that ran from June 2016-January 2017. We had seven ladies in our group and rotated quilts each month. This was my starter block:
And this is what my quilt looked like when it came back to me:
I passed along the quilt to my sister who worked with my mom over Christmas to finish the quilt top for me. Here's the finally finished quilt top:
Instead of adding more block sections to the quilt, they added two black borders surrounding a pieced middle border. It's a fun frame that adds a good balance to the quite busy center of the quilt.
Now the quilt is approximately 68" x 90", so I think it's ready to be quilted and finished. I've had the backing fabric for this set aside since before this bee started and it was the inspiration for my color scheme. I bought about 8 yards of this fabric on clearance at my LQS a few years ago so that it would be big enough to back whatever quilt I ended up making.
I pieced the backing and I still have two yards of the fabric left, so I can use it to make matching pillows. The print is a little too big in my opinion to try to bind the quilt, so I'll be looking for something to bind the quilt once I am able to quilt it.
My initial idea is to quilt each person's different section with a different filler. This would be less involved than my Stash Bee Star quilt which had different motifs in every star, since it would need only eight different motifs -- one for me, one for each of the six ladies in the group, and one for my mom/sister. What do you think of this idea? Is it kind of crazy, or is it a good homage to each of the people that worked on the quilt? I am really interested in making quilts with more meaning and I think this could be a fun way to accomplish that.
Sharing at Let's Bee Social and Needle and Thread Thursday!
Go for it! (the quilting) - definitely not crazy and full of meaning. I'm sure they would love it too, if you show them! It looks amazing already. You must be thrilled.
ReplyDeleteI think your quilting idea is really lovely and a great way to keep more memories stitched into the quilt!
ReplyDeleteI understand your sentiment for wanting to quilt each individual quilter's section differently. However, the end goal of the bee quilt seems to be to have a cohesive quilt rather than 7 mini quilts pieced together. So, I'd consider letting the design influence the quilting regardless of the origin of the sections.
ReplyDeleteWow!! Were you amazed to see the way it looked when it came back? It's stunning!
ReplyDeleteI love your backing fabric. I definitely would have purchased that. No advice on the quilting. It will speak to you when you're ready.
ReplyDeletePat
I love those bold borders! They are strong enough to contain the exuberance of all the blocks :)
ReplyDeleteThat's gorgeous, Alison! I especially love how the color palette for the top is all solids pulled from the backing print. The borders tie everything together and ground the assorted blocks beautifully. Love it!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing quilt!! I love how modern it looks! Your idea of using different motifs for each section sounds perfect!!! The backing looks fun too!! I look forward to seeing it finished!!
ReplyDeleteOh, those blues and yellows. What a fun quilt!
ReplyDeleteWow, that border really changes the look! I love it! Super stoked about this quilting idea, and I'm looking forward to seeing it in action!
ReplyDelete