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This is a fabulous pattern. It is so very thorough and laid out so well. I’ve seen lot of new versions of the traditional granny square pattern. While this is the only one I’ve tried, I highly recommend this pattern.
I bought mine directly from Camille in her Big Cartel Shop. I see there are a few shops on Etsy that carry it too.
For the background, I used Kona in white. This is my ‘go-to’ white fabric that you see in almost every quilt I sew. It’s a pure and true white.
Most of the other fabrics in here are from a line by Erin Dollar called ‘Arroyo.’ These are linen & cotton blend fabrics with what seems like a screen printed ink. While I like the Arroyo line fabrics, I was a bit surprised at how thick the ink was on the linen. Do you see the fabrics with the herringbone type print? I slowed down whenever sewing or quilting through those prints. The linen plus the heavy ink was thick enough to change my stitch length a bit on my sewing machine as it chugged through. (I sew on a Singer Quantum 9960…nothing super sophisticated or industrial. I’m sure a higher grade sewing machine wouldn’t think twice about sewing through the ink.)
The minty green floral I added in is Magnolia Study Fresh by Bari J. It’s from her Bloom line. The soft pink is Kona’s Pearl Pink. It’s a precious pink.
If you’ve read much of my blog at all, you may notice these colors are a bit more muted than I tend to use. This was a quilt I sewed for my younger sister for Christmas. (I sewed this Chamomile quilt for my older sister for Christmas. And this Farmhouse quilt for my mom.) My younger sister helped me pick out fabric, and it was a good opportunity to stretch my creative thinking. Combining fabrics is my favorite part of the quilting process, but once you throw me a bit outside the circle of colors I usually use, it becomes a bit more mind boggling. This one stretched me a bit, but I’m so happy with how it turned out.
The backing is also the linen / cotton blend from the Arroyo line. It’s an off white print with scattered white dots, but the white dots are hard to see in this picture.
This is a heavy quilt, and it’s a BIG quilt. The finished size is 70 inches by 79 inches. I quilted it on my standard sized sewing machine. It was a doozy even just to straight line quilt it.
I initially pin basted this quilt, but once I started quilting it, I had so much trouble with the fabrics shifting. It looked awful, and I was so frustrated. Fabrics were pulling and puckering everywhere. After my dear husband helped me unpick all the quilting (I had done just ten or so passes), we re-basted with spray baste. It was TOTALLY worth the ten dollars for the spray baste. (My husband later told me that he was preparing himself to buy me a new sewing machine right before Christmas if that’s what it took to get this huge quilt finished.)
Here’s a horrible picture I posted on Instagram after asking for a bit of help from that community.
Thankfully the quilting community stepped up and gave me tons of tips for straight line quilting a large quilt. This was a reminder that I have learned a lot about quilting, but I still have a LONG ways to go.
I hauled this quilt and my sewing machine and my cutting mat and many other sewing supplies to my in-law’s house right before Christmas. I parked on the dining room table in the midst of the holiday family festivities. If I was going to get the quilting even close to finished before Christmas, I’d need to work on it there. I finished all the quilting, but the binding had to wait until after Christmas.
I gave it to my sister on Christmas without the binding. Isn’t that the life of a quilter?! I’ve learned we all have too much fabric, we all have too many works in progress, and we all wish we had more time to sew. 🙂
After much deliberation about which fabric to use for this quilt (I won’t tell you how many times my sister changed her mind), she said we nailed it. After she looked over it on Christmas morning, she said she loved it.
Your quilt reminds me of a vintage quilt top that I bought at an estate sale. I wish I had a picture of it to share with you but I’m recently retired and took advantage of my new found freedom to spend a month in sunny Florida.
Hi Mary, oh how I love a good vintage quilt! How fun for you to find one! I’d love to see a picture of it once you’re back from Florida! Lucky you. 🙂 Vintage quilts are so inspiring to me!
Hi, Kelli,
I did a bit of quilting years ago and have an unfinished baby quilt I started when our firstborn was on the way. I tried to use a quilting hoop but the fabric shifted and bunched and I got frustrated. Then he was born and……well, you know how that goes! I’d like to try again. Do you just pin/spray baste and then quilt it on the machine? How do you get the middle of the quilt (ALL that fabric?!) to the needle? I’m unsure of how to proceed!
Thanks for any help you can give. I’m glad I found your site.
God bless!
Lori
Hi Lori, great question. I don’t have a huge arm on my machine so getting all the fabric under that machine is tricky. But it’s amazing how big of a quilt I’m able to quilt…I’ve done a queen. So first off, using the spray baste made my life so much easier. On our tile floor, I laid the quilt back and used masking tape to keep it from moving. Then I did sprayed the baste and added the batting. Then the quilt top. I wouldn’t hesitate to use pins, too, if the quilt is really large.
I tend to straight line quilt all my quilts right now. I run a basting stitch (long stitch length) across the top of the quilt to keep the top from shifting. Then I roll the entire quilt up quite tight. I start on one side of the quilt and begin quilting down the quilt. When straight line quilting, I always try to go the same direction across the entire quilt so the fabric always pulls in the same way.
You can see at the very bottom of this post what my sewing machine looks like when I quilt. I remember I added a picture down there once for another reader who asked about quilting: https://www.thewillowmarket.com/a-throw-sized-quilt-made-with-five-inch-squares/
Hopefully that’s a bit helpful! 🙂
Kelli,
Thank you so much! I’m going to start with a pillow cover to get my “sea legs” back, then finish the baby quilt and go from there. I’m inspired!
Would you believe I sew on a Montgomery-Ward (a now-defunct company that you are probably too young to remember!) sewing machine that my mother or grandmother had and still works? I love that it still works and I’m able to kind of connect to the past that way.
I also am a retired teacher/hobbyist artist who paints in oil and watercolor so I have plenty of interests but would like to add some sort of quilting onto the list. I’ll be checking in here to see what new things you’re doing.
Again, thanks!
Hi Lori, I’m glad you’re inspired. 🙂 Creating is such a blessing…especially doing a project from start to completion! Believe it or not, I do recollect the name ‘Montgomery-Ward,’ but I think you’re right that it was a bit before my time. That’s amazing that your sewing machine still works. What a treasure to be sewing on the same machine as your mother.
Thanks for your sweet comments! -Kelli