Saturday, July 19, 2014

Friday Finish (on a Saturday): Chicopee Crosses!


I really love this quilt.  I think it's because it's a combination of all the things that I normally love, mixed with a lot of firsts.

It's one of the first times that I bought a whole line of fabric to use together and actually used it.  (Sorry fat quarter bundle of Comma that I love but has been on my shelf for a year.)  The recipients have a lack of color in their lives, and I wanted to give them some rich color, but not blow their minds.  So Chicopee was perfect.  There's that amazing citron, but also navy and dark green.  It's low volume in some prints, but loud in others.


And to balance all the color, I used Essex yarn dyed black linen, which is the first time using linen in a quilt.  I absolutely love the texture, and that the neutral isn't just a boring solid (though I still love a solid).  I'm a little nervous because I started using 1/4" seams before I realized that the weave was really loose.  I'm planning on just quilting it to death so there's no chance of critical fraying.  And I didn't realize there was so much stretchiness in the fabric until I started pressing.  Again, I'm going to quilt it to death, which solves all problems.


Last first, it's the first time my quilt math really worked out the first time.  I was trying to figure out what pattern to use with these fabrics, and a quick Google search of Chicopee quilts brought up this Crossing pattern by KelbySews.  It was perfect, but I wanted the color to be on the crosses, so it didn't make sense to center them in the middle of the block and have all the seams be linen to linen.  So I changed the block to be a cross in the corner with two large borders of linen on top and a side.  Little change, but I managed to calculate out everything, including seam allowances, and it worked the first time.  Nothing ever works the first time for me!

So now I just have to quilt and bind it, but I'm not sure whether I want to use the backing options I already have, or search for something else.  I'm letting it simmer for a while until the choice becomes clear.

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday!

6 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the finish and for quilty math working out the first time! Yay! The linen looks great, and you solution to heavily quilt it sounds like it should help hold everything in place.

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  2. I am in awe. I have yet to have the math work out LOL This is absolutely beautiful! I went and looked at the pattern, I like yours better :D

    Quilt it until it screams "I GIVE!" haha I'm in the quilt to death mode these days too. Hopefully it won't simmer for too long because I can't wait to see how you quilt this!

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  3. I love it too! Chicopee is gorgeous. I just have a charm pack waiting for me to figure out what to do with it! It looks perfect combined with the linen.

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  4. Those look like pluses to me...and your math worked out perfect = Ikea numbers!

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  5. Looks great with linen. Well done!

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  6. Very nice. I am visiting from Crazy Mom Quilts. I laughed at your description of the recipients and how you wanted to give them colour without blowing their minds! Ha! I have had similar troubles with bundles (yes, I had that bundle of comma too!) but I made a decision several months ago to split the bundles. Yes. split! put in the stash by colour and start using the fabrics in miscellaneous projects. So liberating. This said, your Chicopee quilt is wonderful - I love a line of fabric that does not scream "matchy", and DS succeeds every time.

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Go on! Comment! I love reading what you think! -m