Bella Patchwork in Arcadia

aka "On Backing a Quilt with Minky"



 Marking another long-standing WIP off my list! I decided to back this one in double-sided Minky Fleece (and I skipped the batting). As much as I loved putting together the top of this quilt--Aradia is one of my favorite lines, I got to put some honey bun strips to use (!!), and Elizabeth's Bella Patchwork pattern is fabulous--I truly hated the quilt assembly process.


I confirmed my suspicions: Minky is e.v.i.l. I had a heck of a time basting this quilt, and as a result the quilting is pretty dreadful. The 60-inch-wide double-sided minky was not quite wide enough for this quilt (which finishes around 62x75), so I had to piece it together for the back, which left a big lumpy seam. I wasn't sure how hand-stitching the binding would go on a Minky-backed quilt, so I attempted attaching it by machine, and I'm just not very good at that!


Now. Despite my many grumbles, I can assure you that this will be the most-loved quilt in my house because, after all, Minky is crazy soft and cozy. I just won't rush to back another quilt in it any time soon.

Scrappy Swoon (brought to you by WIP Wednesday)

My major accomplishment this week (other than running a half-marathon...I like to casually drop that into conversation as frequently as possible...I may or may not be wearing my medal as I type) was finishing my Scrappy Swoon quilt back/top. It's going to become the other side of my Hideaway Swoon that will live on my guest bed, and I'm thinking this will be a truly reversible quilt.

 

Now, in the interest of keeping it real, I noticed a big oops after I pieced it together the first time. But, after some together time with my seam ripper (and perhaps a few naughty words), I got it sorted out.


 

My main objectives with this quilt were to bust through my leftover Hideaway fabric and create a back to my Swoon quilt. Dunzo and dunzo. Bonus: I'm pretty much in love with it. Now, it does need to grow a little bit to be big enough to back/front my Swoon quilt. I'm thinking I'll just slap a grey border on it, but I'm open to suggestions!!

Big thanks to Jennifer at the Hopeful Homemaker for the excellent Scrappy Swoon quilt-along!!

 I'm linking up to WIP Wednesday!

 

Monkey business

We love Luke's kindergarten teacher. She's going on maternity leave next week, despite my protestations. Her classroom theme is monkeys, so I made her a quilt using leftover bits I had on hand from this one.

 
 I put this quilt together using the Charm Squares Baby Quilt pattern on Sew Mama Sew.

 

The fabric (Hooty Hoot by Riley Blake) is well-suited to fussy cutting, so I was able to highlight some of the cute critters.

 
I even had enough fabric leftover to piece a back.


 Luke always likes to help me tape down my quilt backs for basting. This time, he did it himself while I was out of the room. His technique needs a little refining, but not too bad!