Embers | Grey Cat Quilts

Blogger’s Quilt Festival – Modern Quilt Entry: Embers

17 05 2015

For the first time ever, I’m able to participate in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy’s Creative Side. It’s been a very good year for me to be finishing projects. For the Modern Quilt Category, I am submitting Embers:

Embers
75″ X 75″

I started piecing the blocks for this top just as Swoon fervor was quieting down, in August of 2013. I re-drafted the block, bringing the finished size to 16″, down from the 24″ called for by the pattern. I wanted more blocks, and more variety in fabric. I’d decided early on that the blocks would all have some combination of pink, yellow, and orange. I also knew that I’d use Kona Coal as my background fabric – it’s my go-to neutral, and I loved the way the colors glowed against it.

I pieced as I felt the urge, and had a completed quilt top by November of 2013.

The top languished from that point on. I’d been frustrated by attempts to do FMQ on my home machine, and didn’t feel any ambition to get past the mental block.

This year, however, I am following along with the 2015 Finish Along, and A Lovely Year of Finishes. Just the impetus I needed. In February, I made arrangements to use a friend’s mid-arm machine, and FINALLY quilted this up.

I decided to play with the quilting, and tried a meandering flame design.

The backing ended up a touch more scrappy than I planned – I’d ordered the same print in two colors. Upon receiving the yardage, I discovered that the red was actually in two separate cuts. Rather than try to match the pattern, I decided to piece in a panel of orange fabric.

The backing didn’t quilt up nicely – I ended up with a sizable pucker that I didn’t find until I’d finished quilting. I used a black batting, and the batting was very heavily textured. The texture resulted in a lot of friction, and the batting clung to the backing, even on the frame.

So, the quilt isn’t perfect, but I’m very happy with it. I learned a lot about my batting choices, and about quilting on a mid-arm. I gained a lot of confidence, and feel like I might be ready to tackle more complicated quilting.

Embers – Photographs

28 02 2015

I got a chance to take photos of Embers after the end of my shift today.

Details for this quilt:

Measures: 76.5″ X 76.5″ after washing and drying.

Swoon block was re-sized down to 16″, and no yellow, orange or pink fabrics were repeated in the top. Kona Coal was used in the background.

I’d ordered three yards each of the same print in two colors for the backing. However, when I opened the package, I discovered that the red print was in two separate cuts. Rather than mess about with matching the pattern, I opted to insert a yard of the Matilda chevron print in orange.

I attempted to evoke the idea of flames in the quilting. Halfway into the quilting, I realized that it would have worked better if I tried to do a sort of cartoon candle flame – it would have made traveling easier. Regardless, I think the quilting worked out well, and I’m getting more comfortable with machine quilting on the frame. I might be ready to try something more complicated than the all over designs I’ve been working with.

Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags: Embers, February
Categories : 2015 Finish Along, A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015, Completed Quilt

Burning the Candle…

20 11 2013

I stayed up last night, way too late…

I finished those Swoon blocks on Monday, and nothing would do until I finished the top! So, I stayed up until about 2:30 AM last night, and sewed, and sewed, and sewed.

I’m calling this quilt ‘Embers’, when it’s done.

As you know, I reduced these blocks to 16″ finished. I then used 3″ sashing between them, bringing the finished size of the top to 79″ X 79″. Each fabric in pink, orange and yellow are unique. I don’t need to buy any of these three colors for a very, very long time. My background and sashing are done in Kona Charcoal.

I’m pondering quilting already, but I’m definitely planning on doing part of it in a fuschia-colored thread, because of the way it just glows against that deep gray.

I’m tickled by how different this top is from Sunsets and White Beaches. Even though they use the same colors (pink, yellow, and orange), and even a good number of the same fabrics – they’re such strong contrasts!

It’s about time I get to quilting, instead of piecing, don’t you think?