Finished Quilt and Some Blocks

I finished the Harvest Diamond lap quilt.

I just had to hand stitch the binding down today. A quilt in just over a weekend - I could have finished it in a weekend if it wasn't for things like laundry, making meals....

Feathered wreaths in the large diamonds and

large meandering for the background.

I tried a new wool batting for this quilt. The one on the left is Hobbs Tuscany wool - my favorite batting, and the one on the right is the one I tried. It is much thinner than the Hobbs batting, although I can't really tell it is just because the Hobbs is fluffier. I usually buy the Hobbs batting for around $25/meter, and the new one was $19/meter (from Marshall's in Winnipeg).

Update - I forgot to mention that because the quilt was so thin, it was very easy to quilt - it fit under the machine beautifully and it was easier to maneuver. Also it is easier for new machine quilters (on DSM) to quilt with less puffy batting - so this works well.

I guess the determining factor if I use it again will be how it washes. The Hobbs wool washes beautifully.
I used flannel for the backing and the quilt came out to a nice weight.

Today I made some blocks (8½" - 8" finished). Beth (at Love Laugh Quilt) asked people to help her make quilts for Japan (here is the link for all the information and block instructions), I'll get these in the mail tomorrow - they need to arrive by April 4th, 2011.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!♥

Harvest Diamond Quilt

Yesterday was National Quilting Day (probably in the US - but any excuse to quilt!!) so I decided to challenge myself to see how much of a quilt I could get done in a weekend.

I started this layer cake quilt yesterday and I have almost finished machine quilting it. The pattern is "Diamonds at Large" from the book "Layer Cake, Jelly Roll & Charm Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lintott. The quilt is 45" x 60".
The layer cake (Saltbox Harvest by Deb Strain - Moda) was on sale at Hamels (the first time I ordered from them and I was very pleased).
It is so wonderful how fast a quilt goes together when you start with a layer cake (jelly roll, charm pack...).
I have made this pattern before (shown here), and it is one of my favorite patterns because it just uses one layer cake for the quilt - border, binding and all!

The binding is all ready to go.

I free motion quilted (on my DSM) feathered wreaths in the nine dark diamonds, with a plain copper coloured Aurifil thread. (My Feather Tutorial)

I made an oval template to trace the wreath shape, using the iron out white Clover pen.

In the rest of the quilt (the background) I quilted a large "puzzle piece" stippling. I thought the larger, round shapes would compliment the feathers and the fabric more than a variation of "McTavishing" (which seems to have become my "go-to" background filler).

I am using this lovely variegated Aurifil thread and a #80 Microtex needle for the stippling.
This lap quilt is to be a gift for a friend later in the year.

10pm - just the binding to hand stitch on the back - it'll wait 'til tomorrow.

You may have noticed that I added a button to the bottom of my posts - to print any post as a PDF (I wish I had found this earlier in the Quilt Along). The button is from the website Print Friendly ,and not only can you add it to your posts but you can put any URL into the website and turn it into a PDF - WOW!! A huge thanks to the people at Print Friendly!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!!♥