Saturday, June 8, 2013

Imagination, Squared

Taking a quick break this afternoon while the kids are napping to share my latest finish for the Imagine Circle of Do Good Stitches. (Sidenote: Anyone know how to make the actual "squared" symbol?)

Imagine Circle, April 2013
 In April, I asked the members of our circle to make this paper-pieced Square-in-Square block by Tamiko using a palette of navy, coral, yellow, aqua, and white/grey prints.  I was so excited when the blocks started coming in, because they were all so much fun. I didn't specifically request fussy cuts for the centers, but several people did just that and made some seriously cute blocks. Isn't this one from Amanda sweet?

Seriously, @mysewcialhour ?!? The cuteness is killing me. I might "forget" to put these in the quilt... 

I didn't take me long to get them all sewn together. I had originally planned to use this Ikea numbers print for the backing, but a few of the blocks came in too small to fit well with the others. Since that would have made our quilt a little smaller than desired, I went ahead and decided to add the borders to bring it up to a better size. I really could not decide on what to use, but chose to go with the Ikea fabric. I still haven't decided if it was the right call, but it is growing on me. 

dGS April 2013, back 

I thought that using more of the numbers print would be a little much, so for the backing I used the other blocks along with quite a few of the greys in my stash, plus some Kona Azure, Kona Ochre, and the coral which I believe is Michael Miller. It is pretty wrinkly in the photo, but I didn't have time to really get it photo-shoot ready. I have to take my pictures when the resident quilt-holder is available and this time of year, that is pretty rare!  

Untitled

For the quilting, I thought it would be cool to highlight one of the blocks and the surrounding star shape. I had a hard time choosing, but in the end decided to focus on the Itsy Bitsy Spider block because I thought the surrounding prints made the star pattern stand out a little more than the others. I quilted double lines around the star, then echo-quilted single line a few inches apart in the rest of the space. It didn't really turn out as I had hoped, since the front is busy and the quilting kind of gets lost. 

Overall, I'm pleased with how the quilt turned out. This is my third one for the Imagine Circle and I am already plotting what to do for my fourth. If you have any spare time to join, I highly recommend putting your name on the list for do.Good Stitches. I'll be sending this one off to our charity, Threading Hope, which benefits underprivileged children and families around the world.

17 comments:

  1. Very nice. I'm jealous of the print with the fish in the bag. I think it's out of print, and so darn cute!

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  2. It's fabulous! And a brilliant solution for the odd blocks ; )

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  3. I think the text print looks great - I love absolutely everything about this quilt - well done xxx

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  4. It looks fab, and love the numbers border

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  5. The blocks are gorgeous - I've pinned the pattern so thanks for the link. It's a fab quilt Toni!

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  6. So awesome!!! It is a really lovely quilt!

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  7. Oh, wow!!! Love this one Toni!! Your border choice is definitely cool.

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  8. Really nice, Toni! And so colorful against those black/white borders!

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  9. Toni I love this! It is kismet coming together like that...thanks for sharing!!!

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  10. I love the way you decided to quilt this -- it looks so cool from the back! The border print makes it look a mega zakka, which I think is great. :)

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  11. Wonderful quilt, Toni! Sure wish we had an Ikea in our city as I've seen that great fabric used by others too.

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  12. Beautiful quilt! I can't wait until the Ikea in Kansas City opens. It will still be a drive but so worth it to get some of their awesome fabric!

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  13. It's so amazing! I love everything about this quilt. :)

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  14. I love this quilt and I'm upset with you for finishing it so soon when I still have last Novembers to quilt from our group...whatever...

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