Friday, November 8, 2013

Bangles...

When I flipped through Sarah Fielke's book,  Hand Quilted With Love, the first time, the gorgeous "Bangles" quilt caught my eye immediately. Oh no, Y-seams. Yes, every seam is a Y-seam. I decided I'd just enjoy the picture in her book. No curling up with this quilt on the sofa. But then I saw this one and this one. Armed with some encouragement and inspiration, I set out to make my own Bangles quilt!

I started with the beautiful prints from Blythe, some coordinating stash fabrics, and the pattern. The quilt uses templates and I decided it could be rotary cut with my hexagon ruler {I added painter's tape to mark the exact lines I needed} and a freezer paper template.



And to my surprise, I found that I rather enjoyed all those Y-seams. It was a slow process, but not a difficult one. Actually a rather relaxing one.


And I so love the result. The colors, the intricate-looking design, the play of pattern...
Love it all...



I'm always a bit afraid to start quilting on a quilt that I love so much. I ended up doing a back and forth wave on the print fabrics using a yellow Aurifil thread which seemed to blend nicely with all of the colors. I was able to stitch from edge to edge across the quilt by quilting half a "bangle" and moving on to the next one. Starting again on the edge, the second halves were quilted.


In the white hexagons, I quilted a flower motif. I drew this freehand with a disappearing marker. You could easily do this without marking, but I like having a line to follow.


The back is several pieces from the inspiration line. I hadn't planned on using the darker floral piece, but found it on my recent trip to Virginia and couldn't resist adding a bit. It's so beautiful...





We're enjoying an amazingly colorful Fall this year. I couldn't resist sharing how nicely the berries on my Beautyberry bush compliment my quilt. Every Fall I'm in awe of them. Living proof that we can make beautiful quilts, but only God can make the beauty found in nature.


Enjoy the season!

14 comments:

  1. This turned out beautifully! I love the dark binding on it, it really make the quilt pop, and those flowers in the centers of the bangles are wonderful! Thanks for the lovely inspiration!

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  2. This is so beautiful, and I love the way that you quilted it!

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  3. What a beautiful quilt, I love all of the different quilting you added to the blocks.

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  4. This is so lovely! I felt similarly about the sewing being somewhat therapeutic, but in the end I was glad that quilt wasn't any bigger because by the time I was done I was really done with y-seams for a while!

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  5. it is stunning - I just love it :-)

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  6. wow thats awesome,well done.xx

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  7. this looks fantastic , im working on one at the moment. love the quilting

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  8. Gorgeous! I have the book too, but haven't had time to start a new quilt. This one will have to go on my list!

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  9. This is a beautiful quilt - love your fabric choices too. Well done. That book is on my neverending wish list ...

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  10. Gorgeous Gorgeous Cindy ....love the bangles and the backing is fabulous. Marie (mlismore@optusnet.com.au)

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  11. It's really gorgeous. Congrats!

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  12. Loved seeing this one at the STLMQG meeting this weekend. Such a beautiful quilt!

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  13. Cindy, this is exquisite! The colors are so beautiful and vibrant and your quilting sets it off so nicely.
    Amanda

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  14. It is beautiful! I keep going back to it just to look at it. It is soothing...

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