Flowering Snowball is Quilted!

Flowering Snowball  90" x 99"

I've been trying to quilt all my recent quilt tops myself, 

but this one was just too big for me to handle.

Thanks to the talented Sharon and her long-arm machine, this one is DONE!

I love the stitching she did--fresh, yet traditional--just the look I wanted.

I made the top last summer, in a quilt-along with Molly Flanders blog.

I used up most of my retro look fabrics,

and threw in a few large prints to add variety.

In the end, I just had to add more contrast.  

Luckily, I found this Anna Maria Horner fabric on sale for the back.

Voila!

You can see more Flowering Snowball quilts from 

last summer's quilt-along here.

Flowering Snowball Top is Done! Plus a Pin Trick.

Phew!  I've been working on this all summer, that is, during the little snatches of sewing time I've had.
Many thanks to Mary at Molly Flanders Makerie for giving us the pattern and quilt along!

  

This quilt top is a nice big queen size--99" x 99"--the biggest one I've ever made.  

That's 121 9" blocks.

I made each block a different color.

I love the combinations of prints where the blocks intersect.  

I wanted it to have a retro look.  

I used 1930's reproduction fabrics from my stash and several Denyse Schmidt fabrics.  

I added a few larger contemporary prints for variety.  

I completely enjoyed sewing the curves and matching up the seams.  

Not always my style, but it's fun to pay attention to precision sometimes.  

The curves and matching seams required the use of pins. 

Here's a trick I learned from a friend many years ago.

Place your pins pointing northwest as you sew.  

Then you can sew right up to the seams you're matching and 

easily pull out the pin from under the pressure foot.  

There are many more beautiful Flowering Snowball quilts over at Molly Flanders blog.

Click here to see the round up!


If you want to see more about my process, click here.

I ordered my templates here.

  

Halfway There

I've made 53 blocks out of the 100 I'll need for my queen-size Flowering Snowball quilt!  

The more I make, the more I enjoy it.  

Actually, I've made several more, but edited out and unpicked many.  

The black and gray ones had to go.

You can see lots more beautiful Flowering Snowball quilts here.

My "Spring Equinox" quilt has been hanging at the Edmonds (Washington) Conference Center.

It's been in very good company with some other gorgeous quilts for the last few months.

I can't believe how small it looks on these large walls!  It's queen size.

It's coming down next week, and there will be a fresh collection of quilts there.

This is lunch recently with a friend who has a bountiful organic garden.  

Almost too pretty to eat!

Sunset seen from the ferry in the San Juan Islands.

Ah, summer!

Cutting and a Cool Trick

These are some scraps from cutting the Flowering Snowball blocks.

The remainders were tulip and leaf shapes.

When I got tired of cutting, I'd slap them on the wall.

Hmm, another project?

Here's the collection of "blades" so far.

I cut a bunch of red centers, then thought to test for color-fastness, 

even though this fabric had been pre-washed.  Yipes!  I chose a different red.

Do you know this cool trick?  

Spray the fabric with water, put a paper towel on top, and iron until it's dry.

If you get color on the paper towel, you know it's going to run.  

I've sewn a dozen blocks so far, with a goal of 100.

It was so beautiful on my walk this morning,  I just had to snap a photo.

Happy Solstice!

Flowering Snowball

I intended to spend the rest of the year quilting flimsies and finishing other projects.  

Then Mary posted this Flowering Snowball Quilt Along, and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

I thought it'd be a great opportunity to use my retro ditsies that have been on the shelf for years.  

That's finishing something.  Right?

I ordered the templates here.  My blocks are 9" finished.  

So far, I've only cut them, and I'm having a wonderful time.

So there's my summer project.

And here's my summer companion, with her new haircut.