Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Dazzling Diamonds Finished

Last weekend I finished quilting and binding my Dazzling Diamonds quilt for the Boston Modern Quilt Guild's mini quilt challenge at the Lowell Quilt Festival.  You can read all about how I designed this quilt here.
I'm REALLY pleased with how it came out.  This might be my best machine quilting work thus far. It's also, easily, one of my favorite quilts, although I feel like that's claiming you have a favorite child. 
See what I mean?  It's far from show-quality machine quilting, but I still think it's awesome. 

Before I got to work on machine quilting this, I used a printed version of the quilt and tested some designs for each different section.  I tried a bunch of combinations and settled on what you see above and below as my first choice.  I also had a second choice for each section.  Why?  Because I needed to see if I could actually quilt what I wanted to.  Sure I've done straight lines before, and pebbles.  But I needed to make sure I could quilt the pebbles on such a small square.  It was also my first time doing the figure-eight quilting motif.  By planning, I was able to relieve some of the stress that I associate with free motion quilting.  I was able to practice the quilting on some scrap fabric and batting before jumping to the quilt.


I really love how the back of the quilt came out.  I love when you can tell what the quilt pattern is by looking at the quilting from the back.  As usual, I used just one fabric on the back as opposed to a pieced back.  While I love the look of some pieced backs to quilts, I have always preferred to use a single fabric for the back.  In this case, I think it really shows off the quilting.

I will say that over the past year, my confidence in my machine quilting skills has grown exponentially.  Practicing really does help, and I've been practicing for quite some time now.  One of the things I love about quilting is the ability to try something new and move out of my comfort zone.  Last year I really spent some time learning needle turn applique.  This year I've really honed my machine quilting skills.
The fabrics are all Kona solids and the thread is all So Fine! by Superior Threads. I love the way So Fine! thread blends with the fabric but you can still see the quilting details.  It's one of my favorites. 


Fresh Poppy Design



13 comments:

  1. That came out AMAZING Jen! The quilting really highlights the quilt design and colors.

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  2. Awesome!!! You FMQ is lovely, it's definitely a skill that requires a lot of practice but once you get over the hump you can do anything. What are you going to master next???

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  3. I love the bold colours, and the straight line quilting gives the design a 3D look.

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  4. Popping over from Quilt Story. LOVE your quilt, and fantastic machine quilting--it looks really great!

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  5. Wow! That's beautiful! Love the quilt and the quilting.

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  6. Gorgeous quilt - really love the colours and your fab FMQ!!

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  7. Love it!! The colors are amazing and the quilting is stunning! What is the pattern you used?

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  8. I'm so in love with this! Awesome colors and amazing quilting!

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  9. I love solids and this turned out great! So tempted to copy it!

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  10. Incredible quilt! Love the popping orange, lime green and aqua against the gray.

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  11. I saw that you're a contestant for the sew-vivor competition ~ I look forward to seeing what you sew!

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  12. Congrats on your Sew-vivor selection!! Your work is beautiful. Good luck to you!

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