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Wednesday, May 29, 2019

On the Plus Side {Finished Quilt}

This has been a very busy month and I'm relieved that I was able to finish this quilt up over the long weekend!

But first, take a quick peek at the pictures I showed yesterday -- does anything look different in my final quilt?


Yes, I added a grey border all the way around the quilt. No, this wasn't a part of my original plan and I'm very glad that my spontaneous decision worked!

The main reason I didn't add a border when I was finishing the quilt top was that I wasn't sure that I had enough backing fabric to accommodate a border. After I finished quilting the black small plus blocks, I had the quilt laid on the floor and realized that I had enough backing and batting on all four sides to add a bit of a border. I cut 4" strips of grey solid and added them to the quilt using the quilt as you go method and used black thread in the bobbin so that the stitches would be less obvious on the backing.


In the grey areas, I did swirls with grey thread and in the orange plus blocks in the corns, I used a bright orange Aurifil to quilt wishbone-style loops.


For the binding, I used a yellow floral batik and did the binding entirely by machine.

Here's a full shot of just the back of this quilt.


The quilting with the black thread is nearly invisible in the full quilt picture above, but is visible below.


I'm not exactly sure what this quilt's future will be but for now it might get hung in my sewing room. While not among my most ambitious undertakings quilting-wise, I'm rather pleased with how it turned out.


As always, a big hip hip hooray to Island Batik for allowing me to be an ambassador and tasking me with these fun monthly projects and a special thank you to Hobbs Batting for providing all of us Ambassadors with lots of great battings and sponsoring this month's project.


As an Island Batik Ambassador, I am provided with samples of various lines of Island Batik fabrics, Aurifil thread, and Hobbs batting to use and share with you!

Quilt stats: 
Name: On the Plus Side
Pattern: Modified version of Cheryl and Paige's Modern Plus Sampler
Fabrics: Island Batik basics and solids
Batting: Hobbs 80/20 batting in black
Quilting: various free motion fillers, some threads Aurifil, some Connecting Threads
Techniques used: strip piecing, FMQ, machine binding
Size: approximately 56" square
Started: April 2019
Finished: May 2019

21 comments:

  1. Congratulations, Alison. It is a fabulous finish!!! I am glad you added the border. It would be horrible if the binding encroached upon the design.

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  2. I'm a tad confused. So is the back of the quilt also pieced? Did the black batting show under the light fabric on the top? Nice finish.
    Pat

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  3. You know I have liked this one all along, but the ending is just spectacular. I really like that you added the last gray border to make the big plus float.

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  4. I love the border, I'm glad you had enough backing to allow adding it!

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  5. The border is a wonderful addition! You came up with a perfect solution to allow that to happen. Love seeing the quilting on the back too!

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  6. This really turned out great and I love the quilting designs. It's like having 2 quilts in one. Thank you so much for linking up with me today.

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  7. It's beautiful Alyson. I like the quilting you used and no I have not finished mine yet.

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  8. That is gorgeous!I really like the way you set it.

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  9. I love it! The border really makes the big plus float nicely. Your quilting is fabulous on this piece. Congrats on the finish! :)

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  10. While I love the front and it's great colors, the back is stunning! It looks like thread art of some medieval design. Love it! Seriously, I'd hang it so I could look at the back!

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  11. What a beautiful quilt front and back! Great fun colors, congrats on the finish.

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  12. Congrats on a beautiful finish. The quilting worked out great. The black batting seems to work well with the gray background. I've used white and beige batting, but never black.

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  13. I totally agree with Emily - the back of this quilt is impressive!! It is stunning to see the quilting carry the pieced design on to the back. Well done!

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  14. Hi Alison! Oooh-la-la. What a fabulous finish. That quilting that highlights the design and fabrics on the front side really becomes the star on the reserve side, doesn't it?!! Wowee! Looks great. ~smile~ Roseanne

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  15. I never would have considered using black batting with a white background quilt. It looks like none of that black poked through while quilting so a thumbs up to Hobbs! Nice finish!

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  16. Very cool! I love the quilting details that show up on the backing. I must get my Modern Plus finished soon so I can see how it looks.

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  17. Nicely done! Love that orange. Thanks for sharing on Wednesday Wait Loss.

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  18. The border makes a big difference and to me it makes the quilt. Glad you added it :) Enjoy your finish!

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  19. Love this! And the back looks great as well with your beautiful quilting.

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  20. Beautiful! I love your take on the Modern Plus Sampler!

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