Indie Symmetry Quilt : :

It's the first day back to school for my kids, I can hardly believe Summer vacation is already over! I never handle these big events well so, I'm extra grateful to have saved this new quilt to share here today rather than trying to fit blogging into our busy day yesterday. I needed something exciting to blog about!



Having this big, beautiful Indie quilt finally finished is honestly the most excitement I've felt since I began quilting! It's almost a King size quilt, measuring in at 90"x104"! It's made in all Indie fabrics, a collection by Pat Bravo for Art Gallery Fabrics, in a simple symmetrical layout of both large & small, square & rectangle cuts of fabric. When I sketched out the pattern more than a year ago, I was inspired by a few quilts I had seen at my most favorite store, Anthropologie. These Indie fabrics go so well with that colorful, bohemian style!





It's on our bed now, along with my favorite Indie pillow, and a few more cozy layers of bedding that I've been collecting to go with this quilt throughout the year. A work in progress still, but I like how our room is starting to come together.





The quilt top was originally made about a year ago for Pat to use in her Indie promotional ads and video. Then just a few weeks ago I finally pieced together the largest quilt back I've ever seen and shipped both the top and back off to Sew Shabby Quilting, a professional long-arm machine quilting service I was recently introduced to. For this quilt, keeping with it's pattern of squares and rectangles, I chose their Square Dance .01, a perfect pattern match in my opinion! Melissa did such an amazing job!!



The back is finished in the Indie Afro Fusion in Dusk print and the binding is Dynasty in Saffron, my two most favorite fabrics in the collection!





Because of it's large size photographing this one was such a challenge, but we still managed a few fun shots! I'm so grateful for my husband and kids for being so awesome and careful when it came to taking these last photos!

I still have to finish up tutorials for a few of my other quilts, but I'm curious how many of you would be interested in making a quilt this size? And, if taking the time to share the pattern at some point would be a good idea? When it comes to making a quilt this big, I love the large piecing myself, and don't feel disappointed at all with the symmetrical look as opposed to making up a quilt this size block, by block. What do you think?

Wishing you all a wonderful week!  ♥  Maureen

Symmetry Quilt : :

Oh did it ever feel great to finish this quilt. My very first finished quilt. Yippee! I took a hundred photos to celebrate. Wanna see...

Here's a full shot. I used my widest washi tape to hold it to the wall. The I jumped up on my new stool to snap a few shots before the tape gave out. It was really quite funny. Of course I would have preferred to hold it. To take it outside to a beautiful spot to photograph (there's lots of those in Potter County), but it's been pouring rain on and off for at least three days.



I used a sort of random striping of the fabrics that make up the quilt for the binding. Surprisingly, I absolutely loved making it. Adding it to the quilt, not so much. I turned to Rachel's instructions for help.



I used a decorative stitch that my machine offers for the quilting. You can see the stitch clearly here and how I simply followed the seams. Oh, these bright fabrics against the old wood, LOVE.



It's backed with my favorite, super cuddly Folksy Flannel print. It is the best feeling. Please make yourself a quilt with this flannel, just so you can hug that warm, puckered softness to your chest and feel very accomplished and proud.



These are the only photos I got of my girl with her new quilt. She wouldn't stand still because she was so happy. I'll take that over a perfect picture any day!



Finishing a quilt really doesn't feel like anything else, does it? I don't really know how to describe it. It's kind of a major undertaking. I know that, by quilting standards, the quilts I like couldn't be simpler or less sophisticated, but honestly, no matter how you slice it (literally) -- it's a big, BIG project. When I see really fancy quilts on pinterest, flickr, my favorite blogs, or at the quilt shops, I often stare in complete awe, because if you've ever finished one, you know that, well . . . they don't make themselves.



But it's all so worth it. I know I'll make many more. Can you have too many quilts? I don't think so.

p.s. There's an awesome fabric giveaway (here's a peek) happening here tomorrow, so please do stop back!