Showing posts with label wedding quilt. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wedding quilt. Show all posts

Thursday, November 27, 2008

"Ooooh! What kind of quilt is it?" "Overambitious."

My good friend and honorary big sis Gwen was getting married, and I wanted to do something really special for a wedding present. Thus:


Isn't it pretty?? And absolutely perfect for them.

I should mention at this point that the skill level listed for this pattern was "Advanced, or a VERY DETERMINED beginner." I decided I could be VERY DETERMINED. However, what I neglected to realize was that this quilt consists of three hundred very complex blocks (paper-piecing For The Win!) that turned out to take me at least an hour each. I didn't get the pattern until three months before the wedding... and I'd have to work six hours a day on it to finish it in time.

Oops.

So now I'm shooting for the first anniversary. :P Not that I regret picking that particular pattern; by the time it's done it will be gorgeous, and Gwen and Hongyi are worth it. However, I draw the line at hand-quilting. I don't love them that much.

On to the construction details:
This is a queen-sized quilt, and therefore uses a crapton of fabric. Look at all the pretty colors!!











(Bother. Where did my pictures of the yellow set go?)

Each block is paper-pieced. Paper piecing rocks. It means I can do absurd blocks like this:


without having to be stupidly obsessive about cutting everything just so (and then crying when, despite my best efforts, I didn't get it quite right and the blocks won't go together.) Not that I don't try:





Bag of pieces waiting to be trimmed to size

I would like to put in a good word at this point for equiltpatterns.com. A huge selection of awesome art quilts and blocks, and very clear, well-written patterns. That pattern cost me, what, $6? Downloadable as a PDF, too, which is essential since I have to print out a pattern piece for each block I make. 'Cause I'm doing this:






And then I end up with these:









I'm totally making progress! Really I am!