Tuesday, June 11, 2013

do. Good Stitches Flying V Quilt


I finished this quilt a few weeks ago and finally took pictures today. This is definitely my favorite DGS quilt yet! Do Good Stitches is a charity bee I've been in for nearly two years. Every few months, I get to be the designer of the quilt my circle of the bee makes. 

This one was inspired by my friend Andie's minimalist flying geese quilt, featured in her awesome book. 



Of course, mine couldn't be quite as minimalist as hers, or else my group wouldn't have had much sewing to do! Instead of the standard 2 12" blocks, I instructed everyone to send me a strip of 12 flying geese units all joined together going the same direction and on a white background. They each finish at 6" x 3". 

I told them to block the colors together instead of mixing them all up, and to use this block for color inspiration:
Japanese + & x


They matched those colors pretty perfectly right? It's my most favorite block from my scrappy Japanese +&x quilt.  



So once I had everyone's strips in the mail and made my own, (second from the right side is mine) I added more white fabric on either side of the geese and joined them together, staggering one unit off with each one, and alternating directions. Originally, I imagined them all going one direction and all facing to the side of the quilt, rather than going vertically. But once I laid everything out, this way just looked much better. Flexibility is my middle name. (Actually, it's Elaine... I know you were wondering.)



I did straight line quilting, vertically just like the geese, about 1/2" apart. With all that white space, I knew I wanted to do heavy quilting. I think the simple straight lines are just perfect here. Always my favorite. 

The binding is the dictionary text print from Moda's Mama Said Sew, ordered a while back from Pink Castle. Except that one little spot where I ran out and had to use some Flea Market Fancy. (See? Jessica Flexibility McFlexyFace!)




The backing is all this pretty Vintage Modern print (Bonnie & Camille for Moda) from Sewn Studio on clearance. I just love the color.

I didn't wash this quilt before taking pictures, which is the opposite of my norm. I just wanted the smooth look for pictures, but I'll definitely be giving it a good wash-n-crinkle before dropping it at Project Linus this week. It's a good thing, because I've already got most of the blocks in for my next do good quilt!



16 comments:

  1. Beautiful! Love the dense quilting too!

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  2. I love this quilt so much, the colors and the design!!

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  3. This makes me want to make a quilt! (or somehow convince other people to make one for me)

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  4. Ah geez, I love this so much! Those flying geese all in a row quilts are always super alluring to me. Nicely done!

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  5. I love the colors and design. I have to choose a block for my bee next month. Perhaps I will use this idea? Hmmm, gets my mind thinking.

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  6. Great work! Thanks for sharing your beautiful quilt.

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  7. I love it! The colors and the white space make me happy.

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  8. it is beautiful - great job!

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  9. 6x3" strips?? This is really lovely. I really appreciate how its simplicity just makes it a stand-out quilt! Love the palette too! Very nicely done!

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  10. So, so lovely! The quilting looks fantastic. That's a lot of love!

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  11. Love, love, love. And the little bit of FMF in the binding is so perfect. Great job, J!! xoxo

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  12. I love everything about your quilt. Wonderful.

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  13. love the colors and design of this quilt! it's beautiful.

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  14. Whoa! I don't know how I missed this post (actually, I do, because I miss about 90% of all posts - you should see my blog list - whoops), but I LOVE THIS QUILT! It's so beautiful and simple and the colors are gorgeous! Nice work. Elaine huh? Never woulda guessed . . .

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