Friday, May 17, 2013

Chicopee Herringbone:: BQF Spring 2013

This is one of those quilts that I can honestly say I enjoyed every aspect of making it. 

Herringbone, on rail

About this time last year, I joined a group of ladies on Flickr called Always Bee Learning. The focus of this bee was to challenge ourselves to try new sewing techniques or blocks.  I loved trying all the new blocks everyone used for their months, but when it was time for me to be the "queen" I really had no idea what to suggest. I'm not generally a fan of anything too intricate or fussy so I was worried that my choice of this Herringbone block from Bijou Lovely would be a little boring for my bee mates.Thankfully they all seemed eager to try this block, so I sent out my packets of Chicopee and away we went. In no time I had received their blocks and got to work piecing the top. 

Untitled

I had already decided that this would be a lap quilt just for me, so I added several more blocks to bring it up to a good snuggling size. Since these blocks create a bit of waste when trimming, I also asked my friends to make a small improv block with some of the scraps to use on the back. 

Herringbone, back

After getting the top completed, I was really excited to finish this quilt and nearly decided to just use yardage to make a simple backing instead of piecing together the scraps, but in the end I am very glad that I did. This Paisley print is one of my favorites from the line, so I knew I wanted it for the backing. I also like how the black Ladder Dot  frames the crazy scrappiness. 

Herringbone, by window

For the quilting, I simply followed the vertical zigzag of the blocks with random spacing between the quilting lines, using a light aqua Gutermann thread.  I also used the black Ladder Dot print for the binding.

Quilt Stats:
Dimensions: approximately 60"x72"
Pattern: Herringbone blocks, tutorial by Bijou Lovely
Fabric: Chicopee by Denyse Schmidt
Piecing: myself and the talented ladies of Always Bee Learning
Quilting: myself, on my domestic machine

 My previous Quilt Festival Entries:
Fall 2012: Jill's Quilt
Spring 2012: Baby Isabelle's quilt
Fall 2011: Carrie's Kaleidoscope

Special thanks goes to Amy Ellis of Amy's Creative Side who organizes this fabulous festival twice a year and to all the amazing sponsors. I can't wait until the kids go to bed tonight so I can sit back and gaze at all the quilts!



33 comments:

  1. I really love this quilt - every single thing about it! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Just gorgeous my dear! The back is really fun too.

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  3. They did a great job of spreading out the fabrics to give distinct X's and diamonds, it looks fab

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  4. I really like your use of Chicopee, Toni! It looks fantastic!

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  5. it is beautiful, I love the quilting, the binding, all of it. Thank you for letting me be a part of this excellent quilt, I hope you snuggle under it a lot.

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  6. This is so beautiful Toni - gorgeous fabrics and Ii love the secondary patterns the blocks make too!

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  7. Wow!!!! Love this so much Toni!

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  8. Super gorgeous and I like the back ; )

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  9. oh I love how this turned out, and THE BACK! wow. Great job Toni!

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  10. I don't know which side I like better! Truly beautiful quilt! Thanks for sharing it with us!

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  11. Fabulous! I love the fabric... I think I may have gushed over that same line on your blog before. :)

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  12. Fantastic quilt! Love the colours

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  13. What a great quilt! The top is beautiful but I really love e back :)

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  14. Toni it is really beautiful...love the colours that jumping out at me,

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  15. Looks great Toni! Happy Snuggeling ;-)

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  16. This might be the prettiest herringbone I've ever seen!

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  17. WOW! I was wondering what the herringbone block would look like in a quilt and this is stunning - love it!

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  18. What a beautiful quilt. Chicopee is one of my fav DS lines.

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  19. Toni, I love it! Chicopee is a great line and the herringbones are perfect for it. Stunning!!

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  20. Wow! This quilt is super fun! I love the herringbones with the fabric. So lovely!

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  21. Love, love, love the herringbone!

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  22. I love both the front and the back! The front is really striking, and the back is super cool with the scrappiness. You keep making awesome quilts! :)

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  23. Cute quilt and great fabric choices! Love it!

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  24. Your quilt is so striking! I love it, and I may even like the backing best. Thank you for sharing it.

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  25. As much as I love the front, I actually think I like the back better! Who knew?? Either way--you've got a winner right there.

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  26. book keeping is the old technique, now a days the data is stored in computer which is easy.
    Estetik

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  27. I love this quilt! Just curious, what fabric requirements did you use? I have a FQ bundle but I don't think that will be enough

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