Northern Lights Finish
This quilt was not as simple as I thought it would be. The pattern is written for the lighter version of the quilt, and of course, I chose to do the dark version. Somehow this was difficult for me to wrap my head around when piecing the top. I loved the star blocks! Lovely... and not too hard to put together. The cross blocks were another story. There are SO many seams that it's tough to get everything to line up nicely. I used lots of pins and starch to get everything to lay flat. The pattern does show which direction to press your seams to as you work. For whatever reason, when I printed the pattern, none of the photos/diagrams showed up. I simply followed the pattern directly from my laptop screen, but I do like a hard copy to reference.
Overall, for my first attempt at this one I am happy. I do love the Scandinavian look of the pattern, much like the fair isle sweaters. One mistake was my choice in backing. I wanted this to be a warm cuddly quilt for winter. I chose minky with the dots in a snowy white. Minky is not my friend to say the least... it moves. I pinned and pinned and checked, but ended up with a hot mess on the back and ripping out a lot of stitching.... NIGHTMARE. I followed the many tutorials on line, including those from the Missouri Quilt Company to guide me when working with a larger quilt and cuddly fabric. I used a serpentine/zig zag stitch for the binding and for outlining the star blocks. I also sandwiched this quilt with a layer of warm and white batting. It was just too heavy for my little Bernina and I to get finished. I keep thinking about sending quilts out once I've completed the top. Perhaps I should just stick with a nice quilting cotton for backs unless I'm doing a baby quilt? Thoughts?
This one measures about 60x60 and is available on etsy as a pattern from Cora's Quilts.
Happy Holidays:)
Jen
HI Jen, You left a sweet comment on my blog but you are a "no reply" blogger so thought I would respond here. Yes it is the Round and Round pattern and I too love it. This will be my second one.
ReplyDeleteI love your Northern Lights quilt, that back looks so cozy too!
This is such a beautiful pattern and the first time I'm seeing it. It does look like those sweaters. I've only done straight line quilting on minky fabric and quilts under 50x50. I wonder, from seeing the quilting on the back, if maybe you need to play with the tension on your machine a bit. (maybe you tried this already) What I find hardest with working with minky is hand stitching my binding on to the backside. Depending on the nape of the minky, some of the stitching lines from the front side just totally seem to disappear.
ReplyDeletep.s. Thank you for the lovely comment on my blog post. I liked including the process photos, but made sure they were small since they were just quick shots from the ipod.
DeleteWhat a beautiful quilt! Great execution (and that backing looks so soft!)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! I have long admired the Nordic knit patterns and when I first spotted this pattern, I was smitten. You did a wonderful version, Jen! It's so elegant and timeless. Sorry about the struggles with minky for backing - wish I had helpful tips, but never tried it for a quilt back.
ReplyDeleteThis is so striking! And very motivating, as I have a blue and white quilt in my near future...an Irish chain, quilt pattern of choice for my youngest :) Thanks for visiting Cedar Fork Stitches, and the nice comments :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I have had pretty darn good luck with polar fleece type backings...I don't use batting when I use fleece, but they make for really nice cuddly quilts, but not super bulky. I don't know how it compares to minky as I have never used the minky, but I find the fleece quite manageable :)
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