Thursday 3 December 2015

Squid Ink and Sorbet Quilt

I keep feeling like I haven't been that productive this year, until I remember that I have a backlog of quilts waiting to be blogged...

First up, this one which I'm calling my Squid Ink and Sorbet Quilt.  Back at the start of the year, we decided to do a group challenge to celebrate my local guild's 30th anniversary, using the bear paw (or hand of friendship) block.  All the lovely scrappy bear quilts on instagram might have factored into the decision as well...

Squid Ink and Sorbet 

This is my version - I wanted to work with a colour scheme I hadn't tackled before, and chose darkish grey prints for the background, to contrast against a bright selection of pink, aqua and mustard feature fabrics.  

The idea was to make one block a month for the first nine months of the year, but I have to say, it didn't work out that way for me.  I've discovered, through trial and error, that I really prefer to work quite intensely, almost in a production line way, on one quilt at a time (which is not to say that I don't have lots of quilts on the go at once, but rather than I'm usually actively working on only one of them at any given time).  It just feels more efficient to me!  In the end I made the last five blocks and assembled the top in a burst of activity at the end of September, and then sent the quilt out for long-arm quilting.


I spent a bit of time agonising over the quilting pattern for this quilt, and in the end went with Anita Shackelford's Modern Eccentric design.  As usual, Sue Burnett of Busy Bee Quilt Shop did the quilting for me, and I talked her into using a pink thread on the front of the quilt and an off-white on the back (it's generally not a great idea to use different colours in the top thread and the bobbin, but you can get away with it if they're close in colour).

Squid Ink and Sorbet

I just had to use this lovely Tula Pink Freefall fabric on the back of the quilt.  It's sateen, and has a lovely hand.  It's hard to see in the photos, but the quilt is bound in a grey and white striped fabric - gotta love those striped bindings.

Lots of people in the guild made quilts using this design - you can see a nice selection of them here.

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12 comments:

jeifner said...

Its beautiful! A great way to showcase the bear paw!

Lucy | Charm About You said...

Oh that's so pretty! Love the scrappy background too. Fabulous colours and name :)

SarahZ said...

What a great finish! And this is the first I have seen with the gorgeous free fall backing...it really is a perfect match!

Sophie Zaugg said...

Love the background ! And the quilting design is perfect.

JB said...

Stunning!

SeeMaryQuilt said...

Great color scheme. I love that all the fabrics are so busy, but the colors really bring it all together.

Pink thread was definitely the right choice!

Serena @ Sewgiving said...

Great colour combo! Love that you tried something new to you ... it suits you :)

Judy @ Sew Some Sunshine said...

These colors are beautiful, great fabrics in this quilt, and the pink thread looks so good, I love the quilting. I like how your sashing is scrappy and doesn't fit the blocks perfectly, that looks so good.

Gemini Jen NZ said...

Very effective use of your fabrics and I like your choice of the quilting design too - great work all round!

Tami Von Zalez said...

The Bear Paw pattern is one I want to tackle and the use of color with the grey background has me INSPIRED!

Pinned it, saved it on my Feedly ... and I especially like the image with the hands and feet to show off the quilt. Made me smile.

Am one of your newest followers ...

www.thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

Tami Von Zalez said...

May I have permission to repost your Squid Ink and Sorbet image and link back to you?

NickiJ said...

Absolute gorgeous. I love all the different fabrics you have used. It makes it come alive, you must be so proud.