I finished sewing the last bit of binding on the Free Play quilt last Tuesday.
I love this quilt.
In the end, I went with a loopy quilting pattern. I marked a grid on the quilt top with a water soluable pen and used that as a guideline when I free motion quilted it. For the backing, I stuck with solid Kona Snow, which I also used for the binding. There is just something about all that white, negative space that makes the improvisational patchwork piecing sing.
This quilt was intended as a gift for Emily all along. I knew that I had a short window of time to make it for her before her birthday and I could not settle on what I wanted to do. As an incentive to get sewing, I decided that playing with fabric for an hour a day would get me going and I am so happy I went with that approach. The free play allowed me to jump in and make without over thinking. I felt extremely invigorated and creative while I worked on this. It was only after the majority of the blocks were pieced, that I started to make deliberate, calculated decisions on how it would all come together. And at that point in the process, I could see what the framework and composition of this quilt needed to be. As a bonus, being creative while quilting opened me up creatively and spilled over into my painting class. I was able to finish a painting that had me stumped before. Seeing that translation of playing was really cool.
This is just superb. In every way!
wonderful job! and you’re so fast!
I love it.
i wish everyone could see it in person. it’s just extraordinary. and i LOVE the kona snow border and back. AND the loopy quilting. excellent choices. xoxo.
GORGEOUS!
I love this .
Love the quilting you chose. This is the best kind of creating.
I can’t believe how cohesive it looks now that it is all finished. It is so hard for me to create without organization, straight lines, planning, symmetry…. so I can see what a valuable lesson it is to just let go and PLAY. Well done.
It is so stunning! What a special quilt. Wish I could see it in person.
I don’t blame you for loving it – it’s gorgeous. It has a very modern art aesthetic to it, as though it’s been hung on a gallery wall….
Excellent! And yay for opening the door to creativity 😉
So striking! I would find it hard to give that one away.
Mercy, that is a pretty quilt! I so enjoyed following your process and end result, I hope you share more like this in the future!
love it love it love it.
this post is the best! I missed you at kcw, but I see you were doing it all along 🙂
lovely pattern you stiched there! and since you wrote about kona cotton oyster ans snow, I´m addicted 🙂 but I never know, do you prewash the fabric for the backside?