Chicopee Herringbone:: BQF Spring 2013

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

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. 

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. 

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. 

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!