Poppy's Rainbow Quilt: A finished quilt

This quilt feels like an achievement.  I imagined it on Sunday evening and by Tuesday evening it was finished, and everything (fabrics, wadding, backing, binding) came from my stash.  I didn't have to purchase anything extra.  Somehow (rather insanely) this makes me think that this quilt was free to make.  Who am I kidding?

Anyway, this quilt is following in the footsteps of my other rainbow quilt and other quilts made predominantly with 2½" squares.  But I added some 4" strips to make this quilt a bit different and also to reduce the amount of cutting and piecing I would have to do.

Pink has made an appearance in my rainbow again.  I think most girls will appreciate this addition.  I opted for a low volume backing with light grey flowers and mint green leaves.  I found a grey binding which I think makes the colours on the front really stand out.  The observant will have noticed that some of my new fabrics from the Festival of Quilts have made it into this quilt.  This one quilt now justifies all those purchases!

As this quilt is for a little girl called Poppy I included a couple of Liberty prints with Poppies on them.  You can see a couple of them in the photo below:

I opted for some straight line quilting again.  I quilted tramlines along all the width seams.  I changed the colour to match the rainbow them.  I can boast lots of Aurifil threads to make this possible.

Quilt Stats:

Finished dimensions: 41" x 52"
Number of 2½" squares: 140
Number of 4" strips: 7
Approximately 100 different fabrics included (Many thanks to my friend, Amy, who donated 50 or so squares from her stash.)

Thank you for visiting!

Stash diving

I may have been sewing for only two years, but in that time I have amassed a fairly substantial fabric stash.  Even though I sew most days the stash keeps growing and growing and I keep needing more boxes and storage solutions.  Admittedly, it's a nice dilemma to have, but at the moment I seem to be developing a different relationship with my stash and I want to reduce it and enjoy working with all the beautiful fabrics I own.

My recent scrap quilt used scraps throughout, and I thought it was successful both as a quilt but also for getting the ball rolling at reducing the stash.  But now I'm looking at fat quarters and wanting to start on them as well.  Today I've started a log cabin quilt using these lovely fabrics.

The two white fabrics have been used in my Cathedral Windows quilt, but everything else is new and has been waiting for its day in the sun.  I've only made two blocks so far, but I love the way they have turned out and I know that it won't be long until they are a complete quilt to show on here.

It's quite a big deal for me to rely on stash for a project, but it is also quite liberating.  These fabrics are all nice on their own, but put them into a quilt and that's when they really get to shine.  I sometimes need to remind myself that I will get to enjoy the fabrics most when they are cut up and then pieced together.  Fabric is great but it's what you do with it that makes it cool.  Stash diving is a revelation.