Hadley Quilt

I finished stitching down the binding on my Hadley quilt a couple of weeks ago.

 

If you've been following the progress of this quilt, you've probably seen the front already (in this post). I'm really happy with how the front turned out - basically, for each row, I stacked five fat quarters and sliced them into four fairly even strips, creating improv curves as I did so.  I then trimmed the resulting blocks into nice even squares.  This trimming process left me with quite a few offcuts, which I used on the other side.

For this side, I really wanted to push the retro vibe I was getting from the Hadley prints.  At first I thought I would just set the pieced strips in the cream background fabric, but they didn't look quite right so I ended up framing them with a teal shot cotton.  Technically, this side is the back but I think I like it just as much as the front (and maybe more...).

All that negative space meant that getting the quilting right was important.  This is a pretty big quilt (70" by 84") so I wasn't that keen to tackle it myself.  Instead, Sue Burnett quilted it for me using a digital pattern we found together.  I think the figure eight design is very characteristic of Denyse Schmidt's quilts and I thought it was right just with her fabrics.

For binding, I used the same teal shot cotton that I used to frame the strips on the back.  It's a Kaffe Fassett shot cotton and super soft.  I don't know if I would want to use it for ultra precise piecing, but it makes the most lovely, almost silky, binding, and is a delight to hand stitch through.

Finally, I thought I should include a photo of my quilt holder for these photos.  My youngest brother held this quilt up on his own (I made another quilt the exact same size recently, and my friend Lyndy and I could barely hold it up for photos working together - 84" is 7'!).  I think he is pointing at a speck of dust he wanted me to pick off the quilt.

Quilt Stats 

Pattern: my own improv-ish design

Finished Size: 70" by 84"  

Fabric: Hadley Fat Quarter bundle designed by Denyse Schmidt for Free Spirit Fabrics

Backing: I think it is Michael Miller Cotton Couture in Soft White

Binding: Kaffe Fassett Shot Cotton in Jade

Pieced by: me

Quilted by: Sue Burnett

I will be linking up at finish it up Friday at crazy mom quilts.

WIP Wednesday

I got my Hadley quilt back from the long-arm quilter this weekend, so this is a nearly finished WIP (but a WIP all the same).  Since I used Denyse Schmidt fabric to make a Denyse Schmidt-esque quilt, I decided it needed to be quilted a la Denyse Schmidt as well, with that figure eight design she uses on a lot of her quilts.

 

I am completely and utterly in love with the quilting.  It was done by Sue Burnett using a digital quilting pattern and it turned out even better than I expected.

 

I really wanted to make this quilt double sided, and as much as I like the front, I really can't wait to reveal the "back", which I haven't shown yet.  The quilting in cream thread looks particularly nice on the cream fabric I used on the back.

Now I just need finish binding this quilt and then find the perfect place to photograph it!

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced:

By the way, if you're looking for my giveaway, it is here and still open!