Monday, November 21, 2011

Little Apples Improv Quilt - Done!

First off, I've got a winner to announce!  The winner of the Kona color card and two patterns is:


Commenter #19, Jessica from Sew Crafty Jess!!  Congratulations, Jessica, I'll send you an email shortly!

Did you have a good weekend?  I really did.  I finished up a quilt and I am really, really happy with how this quilt turned out.  After picking out these fabrics, and buying many of them in Salt Lake City during the Sewing Summit back in early October, I kind of hit a bit of a wall, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with them.  Aneela Hoey's illustrations used in the larger scale prints in the collection are just so darling that you can't just chop them up at will.

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When I matched up my Little Apples prints with my Kona card, I snagged a few half-yards of the coordinating colors to add to the mix, and that was when I decided to go forward with a log cabin inspired improv piece.  I went about chopping my solids into strips of varying widths (1", 1.5", 2" and 2.5"), and fussy-cut 16 charms from my Little Apples fat quarters and half-yards.

The blocks came together really quickly, and as they multiplied on my design wall, I wasn't sure if I ought to add some sashing between the blocks to give the eye a less chaotic place to rest, but ultimately, thanks to some helpful Twitter and Flickr friends, I wound up skipping the sashing and piecing the blocks all together.  I think all the chaotic bits of color are part of what makes the quilt top visually interesting.

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I did stick to my comfort zone when it came to quilting - I went with a simple, all-over stipple.  I really need to get out of my stippling rut one of these days, but I do enjoy actually doing it.  It feels natural to me, after all these quilts I've done this way.   That being said, though, I think that's going to be one of my quilty New Year's resolutions, to try more quilting techniques.

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I bound this quilt using the same Kona Olive color I used in the quilt, but I did make a bit of a boo-boo - notice how skinny the binding is?  Totally an accident.  Instead of cutting 2.5" strips like I usually do for my binding, I cut 2" strips, but I made it work.

DSCN8184


The baby who will be receiving this quilt hasn't been born yet, but he is on the way and I'm excited for him to arrive so I can share this lovely quilt with him!!   Happy Monday everyone!  I'm linking up with {Sew} Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations, drop on by to check out some recent modern sewing finishes

Quilt Stats:
Name: Little Apples quilt
Size: 40" square
Fabrics: Aneela Hoey's Little Apples collection for Moda Fabrics, Kona Olive, Kona Bahama Blue, and Kona Coral
Quilting: All-over stipple in Gutermann white thread
Binding: Kona Olive
Pattern: Improv-y log cabin, totally made up on the fly

21 comments:

  1. Very cute! I like the play on negative space with the aqua :o)

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  2. Adorable baby quilt! Love the way the strips are a bit offset.

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  3. Ooh great job on this, turned out great, love the improv look! Still trying to decide what to do with my Little Apples FE bundle..

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  4. Cute! What a fun choice for these great prints.

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  5. It looks great Elizabeth! Love the fussy cut centers, I love that you didn't use sashing, I love all all the solids play together around the fussy cut centers. Great quilt!

    And thanks for the giveaway, I never win anything, haha :-)

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  6. A fun quilt & I'm glad you didn't add sashing. And (oops) I always do 2" binding...just what I was taught and have always done. Seriously, do you think that's old-fashioned??

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  7. Super cute! Those colors play so well together in an improv style!

    Jennifer :)

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  8. It's absolutely lovely! The colors and the design are fantastically unique.

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  9. That is absolutely adorable!!!

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  10. Completely fab. Love it, skinny binding and all!

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  11. ooh=love this=one of my favorite little apples projects yet=way to go!!!

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  12. I adore your style on this one--looks perfect without sashing!

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  13. Nice colors and I love the improv blocks! Good choice to forgo the sashing.

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  14. I love this - great improv! I'm so glad you didn't use sashing, this makes it much more interesting and different and really highlights the improv! Love the skinny binding too :)

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  15. Wow, this is one adorable quilt. Love it!

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Thank you for leaving a comment for me! I appreciate each and every one of them and try to respond when time allows. Your comments totally brighten my day :)


Welcome! I'm Elizabeth, mom to a mood teen boy and a chatty six-year-old girl and I sew for my sanity. Let's get to quilting, shall we?
The Epic Sampler BOM Club kicks off Oct 1st
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