Bloggers' Quilt Festival - Dappled sunlight

I finished my dappled sunlight quilt just in time (I finished handstitching the binding late last night) for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival.  If you've found your way to my blog from there - welcome!  Please feel free to take a look around.  I have lots of projects on the go at the moment so there is plenty to see.

Along with this quilt, I wanted to share a bit of my quilting story.  I made my first quilt back in summer 2006-2007 (yes, in New Zealand, summer is over the Christmas and New Year period).  Then, I had a long hiatus while I finished university and started my career.  At the beginning of 2011, I decided to take up quilting again to make a wedding present for a very long time friend (you can see a snap here).

Well, I caught the bug.  I took a sampler class at my local quilt shop to learn more techniques, and it was great.  But, I wanted inspiration.  My aesthetic preference was to make quilts with room to breathe - not too busy, or at least plain clear space between the busy bits.  I wanted to use white, and bright clear colours.

Although these preferences came to me naturally, I was sure I wasn't the only one thinking this way.  It took me a while, but eventually I found the modern quilting community online.  I have been lurking and reading blogs for a while, and decided to start my own, to document the quilts I make and to share them with like minded people who are interested.  That said, I think my best readers are my own family, who are not necessarily interested in quilting - thanks guys.

Turns out, blogging really helps me stay motivated to actually finish some of the quilts I start.  So, I wanted to share this quilt because:

• it is the first quilt I have documented the entire process for on my blog (click on the links for posts on the trimming process, the trimmed half square triangles, layout options, the complete quilt top and the quilting);

• making this quilt, I realised that I finally got the hang of a consistent quarter inch seam;

• the whole process from cutting to stitching on the binding took three weeks (and I spent A LOT of time on other projects over that period).  Six months ago, I would never have thought I could complete a quilt in three weeks; and

• I just like this quilt.  It's nothing revolutionary, but I like the colours, I like the pattern, I like how soft it is with quite minimal quilting, and I even like those crazy horses on the back.

Bloggers' Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures: 32″x 40″
Fabric: a charm pack of Sunkissed by Sweetwater,

Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Fog, cotton poplin horse print
and a DS Quilts print for the binding
Quilted by: Me, on my domestic machine

Best Category: Baby quilt, home machine quilted quilt