I finished up the bright wall hanging today.
It is 21" x 25". The pattern is from a tutorial from Mary & Patch (she has some great patterns and tutorials on her blog, and an amazing portfolio of quilts).
Here is what I did-
I pieced the two layers with different size strips ranging in cut sizes from 1+1/4" to 2+1/2". Since I wanted the wallhanging to be a rectangle, the strips for each layer are different. For the bottom layer I pressed the seams all in one direction and for the top layer I pressed the seams open. I used mainly remnants of fat quarters and scraps, so lots of the strips are pieced (all those seams are pressed open).
For the bottom layer I machine quilted in the ditch with the walking foot. That is why I pressed the seams in one direction for this layer - I don't like stitching in the ditch over an open seam. I used matching coloured Aurifil thread for the quilting.
For the batting I used one layer of cotton (sturdy and flat) and a half layer of wool batting (puffy).
For the top layer I tried out different sized squares of paper, and decided on 3" squares.
I cut my pieces of fabric to 4", and arranged them before starting to sew. After sewing the holes I realized I would have preferred the holes closer together.
I used 3 strands of embroidery floss to stitch a long running stitch through all the layers.
This was the hardest part of the whole thing - the tutorial recommends just having the binding holding the two layers together, but I wanted the top layer secured.
For the binding I used leftover pieces of strips, cut to 1+3/4" (single layer binding), joined with a straight seam (usually I piece binding at a 45º angle).
Painted Thread Sally (Crafts, Cavies and Cooking), and my son pointed out that it is the colour of a watermelon - Holey Watermelon seems an appropriate name.
It was a really fun project to make, and I see lots of potential for other projects (different shaped holes, different sized holes, more embroidery, two dramatically different layers....)
Photos from around -
The day started foggy, so there was some amazing hoarfrost.
I put this picture on my photo blog, but it is so beautiful I had to add it here.
Another amazing sunrise.
Can you tell puppy walking happens at sunrise and sunset.
Some more tracks,
and tunnels were added to Molly's race track.
It is hard to photograph a running puppy.
Here she is coming out of a tunnel. I am amazed how much she loves running in and out, and around.
Don't worry about the tunnel collapsing, the snow is hard packed, like cement. Plus, she is never outside alone.
All the best!♥︎
