Sunday 6 May 2012

Folksy Chevron Quilt


I finally finished my chevron quilt! I'm so excited!


It was made to exactly fit the strange dimensions of our Ikea guest bed. The bottom drawers pull out to make a double bed, but the quilt I made is designed to just fit it as a single bed, mostly so the room looks good for the majority of the year when no one is staying in it.


Again, I didn't use a pattern for this quilt. I just made enough blocks to test the width and could then figure out how many I would need to fit the length. The pieced blocks are half squares, so the only real difficulty is making sure your points don't get cut off when you're attaching the rows of chevrons together. My new machine made this process much easier than it used to be with my reliable, yet basic, Brother machine.


I decided to quilt along the chevron pattern and I am happy with the end result. The quilting was really difficult to keep the lines straight in the center because the bulk of the rest of the quilt under the machine's arm required a little more pushing and pulling on my part. Had the lines been straight - side-to-side - this would have been easier. However, the zig-zag pattern added just enough difficulty to make me skew the lines so much that the stitching had to be ripped out of three rows. I then had to re-do the quilt sandwich and re-do all the safety pinning for more than half the quilt. Not a happy moment. 


I'm thrilled with it! The look is interesting and colorful, yet clean and modern. As I mentioned before, with the pocket pillow I completed first, the fabric is from a retro print Anthology line that I bought as a collection of around a dozen fat quarters.


The binding is a mix of two similar shades of Kona green from my stash that I alternated, mostly because I didn't want to go out and buy more fabric, and also for a little something different. I also hand-stitched the binding.


I knew I wanted a tangerine color for the back - something that would be bright, happy, and unexpected from the front. The fabric is Kona cotton in Cheddar. Mmmm....cheese - what's not to like there? I love how the uniform color really shows of the quilted lines on the back.


And that's it! Our guest room is another step closer to having better personality. My plan is to do one or two body pillows to set against the wall so the bed is more couch-like and we can sit in there for a little reading retreat.



Now, on to tackle the walls and the mis-matched furniture on the other side of the room!


We'll be enjoying the rest of our Sunday with a heap of kids books and some of the nice light that we've been getting late into the evening.


 Have a great rest of your weekend! 

1 comment:

  1. What a beautiful quilt! I love chevrons-- such a timeless pattern.

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