Woo-hoo! I finished the first of the three FMQ practice baby quilts.
All those scrappy 2" squares were totally begging to be quilted using Elizabeth Hartman's orange peel quilting. As I said before, this was my first try doing this kind of quilting and it. was. stressful!
I was too stiff and tense, gripping my quilt sandwich way too hard which kept distorting the stitches and made for some very uneven peels :(
Thankfully it did get better and a little easier with each row and my peels started looking a bit more uniform.
After all the quilting and attaching the binding on, I let the washing machine and the dryer do their magic and they did not disappoint. The quilt got such a nice crinkly texture and the quilting, while not perfect by any stretch of imagination, looks good enough.
I pieced the backing using some solids and print fabrics from my scrap bins, and attached a green solid binding by machine. Lately I've been attaching my bindings by hand but since this was a practice quilt, I thought I'd practice the machine binding, too.
That part, I must say, went really well and I'm quite happy with how the binding looks. Even the corners came out nice and pointy. I'm thinking attaching the binding first to the top of the quilt and then machine stitching it in the ditch from the top might become my go to way of finishing the binding off.
Finished size of this quilt is 45" x 45" and I used Katy's tutorial which you can find here.
Thanks so much for stopping by. Svetlana
I think your quilting is wonderful, I also love the colours you used for this quilt, it's beautiful.
ReplyDeleteWashing is a fantastic way to hide little mistakes; this is why I love cotton batting and I always wash the quilts. I don't know how big are your squares; I think it is easier to quilt this pattern on small squares.
ReplyDeleteI really love this FMQ pattern and I've used it twiceso far, it's just so easy to get into, but mine is wonky too and my first one is a show quilt- doh!
ReplyDeleteLooks great. I love how the wash erases all of my FMQ mistakes. I also love to machine bind my quilts on the front of the quilt top. So quick and no carpal tunnel!
ReplyDeleteFabulous! I really want to try that quilting pattern, it looks wonderful! a very pretty quilt :)
ReplyDeleteIt looks beautiful! Someone told me have a glass of wine before fmq to loosen up!
ReplyDeleteVery pretty. Gotta' love that washing machine magic!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations! Your fmq is beautiful, and I love that little quilt. Way to try something new.
ReplyDeleteI love the colors in this quilt! And good job with the quilting. I've also wanted to try that pattern for a while, but I've been too scared to sit down and just do it. Thanks for the encouragement.
ReplyDeleteIt looks great, especially for the first try :) When I tried orange peel quilting, I found that there were some wobbly parts but the overall look of the quilting kind of covered that up. Especially after it had been through the washer and dryer.
ReplyDeleteThanks for showing your quilting, Svetlana...it looks so nice on that quilt. I have been considering that pattern for a twin size postage stamp quilt that I just finished...you may have convinced me to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteI think it looks great!! It's amazing what a good wash and dry can do isn't it? I have been wanting to try some orange peel quilting too but have been hesitating for the reasons you mention. Good on you for going for it!
ReplyDeleteWell I think you did great! Good thing that washing/drying quilts is so forgiving.
ReplyDeleteIt looks fabulous - you should have seen my first efforts! You do have to relax as it does get the best results but at the beginning it is all about eye, hand and foot control - bit like learning to drive!
ReplyDeleteI love the quilt - what great colors for a baby to be around! The FMQ turned out really great for a trial run! The great thing about anything we do is that we get better and it is fun to know/remember the beginning when we just started something new. I always thank my washing machine and dryer for their contribution - making everything crinkly and homey to disguise the little imperfections I see when I look at my own stuff. Great job!
ReplyDeleteFrom where I'm sitting, it looks great!
ReplyDeleteI have plans to do FMQ "drills" too. Charity baby quilts are a great idea! Though, seriously, if you hadn't said you were practicing I would have thought you'd been doing this for years and years! Great work.
ReplyDeleteOne word: GORGEOUS!!! Ok, two words - AMAZING!!!
ReplyDeleteHow pretty! The quilting is spectacular.
ReplyDeleteSvetlanko, je nadherna!!! Moc se ti povedla!!! A kombinace vsech tech barevnych ctverecku je proste uzasna! :)
ReplyDeleteSvetlanko, cim to je, ze se po vyprani udelala takova struktura? Je to tim, ze latky pred sitim nejsou predeprane, nebo je to "jen" tim prosivanim? Je to moc krasne!!! Nadherny efekt. No, dekou udelas obrovskou radost, rozhodla jsi se pro velmi krasnou vec! :)
Mej se krasne a ja se tesim na dalsi deku :) J.
I love this quilting design -- so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI think it is fantastic. None of my FMQ is ever even or smooth. So I would be pretty happy with the result
ReplyDeleteIt looks great even before you washed. Now remember:
ReplyDelete1. Nothing is wonky, it's organic
2. If a blind man on a trotting horse won't notice, it's fine ;o)
Svetlana, it looks wonderful! It's hard to believe that it's your practice version, I think it looks great. Plus, I've noticed that I'm usually my harshest critic, and when I step back suddenly the quilting looks a lot better. I know what you mean about it being stressful-- I did orange peel quilting on one of my quilts last year and it was harder than I thought it would be, but I love the results.
ReplyDeleteYou did the stitch-in-the-ditch binding for that??? Well, I'll say you're expert at that already. I think that technique looks infinitely more difficult. The quilting looks fantastic, too. Way to go!
ReplyDeleteI think the quilting looks wonderful in both the before and after washing photos. I think I'm going to try that quilting design on my next quilt.
ReplyDeleteBravo, what a great job. The quilting looks great.
ReplyDeleteA really cheery quilt. Perfect for a child. I'd love to try the orange peel quilting, too. Don't have a right project by now (but maybe I just do a practice sandwich and turn it into a doll quilt, hmmm, that's an idea). And I'm thankful that you don't write "everything went fine". That doesn't make me feel that I'm the only one who has to learn the hard way. :) I'm glad your petals became better and better each round 'though.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a great finish! The quilting looked great, even before you washed and dried it. Sounds like you've learnt some important lessons about FMQ and it will get easier and easier the more you practice. Carry on - you're doing brilliantly :)
ReplyDeleteThis is such a bright and cheery quilt--great job on the FMQ.
ReplyDeleteI think it's beautiful and I love the solid color you picked. It looks like taupe/gray on my screen. Really nice. I'm scared to try the orange peel....eeek.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely turned out great! There's just nothing like a scrappy squares quilt. Love. I think the quilting rocks!
ReplyDeleteI love your quilt, you did a really great job babscorbitt@Gmail.com
ReplyDeleteit's perfect in every way. I love the bright citrus colors and the orange peel quilting is on my learn to do list
ReplyDelete