Swirled Spring
Here it is… to date, this is the largest project I have finished. Which is a little disappointing for a blog that has “quilting” in the title. But I promise, there are many more quilts in the works. Right now I’m working on or have bought the fabric for four more quilts.
Okay, back to this guy. I began working on this quilt a few months after I discovered that cute and pretty quilts exist, I didn’t know that a quilt could be made in fabric other than brown and purple batiks! Since I already had some sewing experience, I was confident that I could make a quilt of my own. But I didn’t quite realize how big of a project it would be.
Quilt Beginnings
I wish I could say for sure, but I think I started this quilt around late 2021 or early 2022. Which means I had been sewing with my machine for about a year and half, making small projects like aprons, pouches, and pajamas. When I was first discovering the quilting world, Jena Brandvig, at Quilting in the Rain was one of my favorite quilters. She has a beautiful vintage style that drew me in when I first discovered quilting. Not exactly my style anymore, but I still love this quilt made from her pattern. I used her Loyal Heights free pattern, made of traditional blocks.
Finalizing the layout of the blocks.
Previous to this quilt, I had made one mini quilt out of stash fabric, as a sort of test run to make sure I could quilt. Yep, I can quilt. The quilt pattern makes thirty blocks, using fifteen fat quarters. I aqcuired the fat quarters over time, as I was making the quilt. To start, I bought the background fabric and four or five fat quarters at Joanns Because I didn’t even know about my local quilt shops! Later on I picked up fabrics at my local quilt shops, two or three fat quarters at a time. The last few fat quarters were purchased online, from the Love Note fabric collection by Moda.
As I was fretting over how much the backing was going to cost me, I stumbled upon a 108” bolt at Joanns. There was barely enough left on the bolt for my quilt, but I was able to make it fit - and only paid $17 for the entire backing. Score! The batting, also from Joanns, is 100% cotton. Because it is a 100% cotton, that batting gives quilts a gorgeous, very crinkled texture. Mine came out of the dryer looking very cozy!
Making the Quilt
Over the process of sewing this bed sized quilt, I progressed a lot in my sewing skills. My piecing got more accurate, I chose higher quality fabrics, and my pressing improved as the quilt blocks came together over the months. This was the quilt in which I learned to quilt.
Squaring up before binding.
For the quilting, I knew I wanted to do free motion. Sending it out to a longarmer would be too expensive, and a walking foot wouldn’t give me the organic design that I coveted. Melanie’s FMQ (Southern Charm Quilts) really inspired me, I love the texture and cozy vibe of her quilts. After a few failed attempts, I knew I needed to take a class if I wanted to have sucessful FMQ. Thankfully my local quilt shop, Blossom Quilting, had just the class I needed. I eventually decided on a background design of swirls, with custom quilting in the center star and border.
It was not easy fitting this large quilt through my small domestic machine. I ended up getting gloves for quilting, and they were a huge help. There are quite a few loops and even a couple of thread nests on the back of the fabric, but I finally decided that I was okay with those small types of mistakes.
My binding is from Mama Said Sew by Moda. I love the way that the dark, contrasted binding frames the quilt design. The binding was first sewn on by machine and then attached to the back side with big hand stitches using perle cotton. While I was sewing the quilt on my machine by day, I worked on the label at nights. I really love the way a hand embroidered label looks, even though it can be really time consuming.
I learned so much over the course of making this quilt, and I love getting to see it on my bed every day. This is just the start of my quilt obsession, so keep on the lookout for my next quilt posts. I’ve got a rag quilt, two mini quilts, and a few quilts-in-progress to share soon!
Project Overview: Swirled Spring Quilt
Time: Over a year
Cost: Somewhere around $200
Pattern: Loyal Heights from Quilting in the Rain (free!)
Size: appx. 77”x90”
