Last finish of 2010

I can't believe I never wrote about this quilt.  My lovely friend Ebony is working on launching her line of patterns, under the name "QuiltPossible!" She is specifically focusing on making patterns that have rotary cutting directions as well as how to use your AccuQuilt Go! cutter as well.  I don't have a die cutter but I volunteered to be a pattern tester for the rotary cutting directions.  I've never tested a pattern for someone before.  I had a deadline to finish the top by September 30, which I did.  I found a small error in the instructions but luckily I was able to report back quickly. The quilt is a bowtie pattern and definitely out of my normal palette for colors.  Ebony said we could use whatever colors/fabrics we wanted, so the choice was all mine.  I feel like with quilt fabric, it is so easy to get stuck in a rut, always using the same colors, or at least all "bright" colors.

My DH really likes this one because he feels like it is more "masculine" than what I usually make. I am not crazy about the colors but I am still glad I pushed myself out of my comfort zone a bit.

For the quilting, I decided to try something different.

 

In each place where the blocks come together, I made a free hand flower. Then I outlined each "bowtie" to add definition.  I really love how the quilting turned out.  It was a lot less wonky than I thought it would be!

What's really neat is how you can see the quilting on the back.

 

Very cool. It was definitely fun to test out someone else's pattern and give them feedback.  I've always admired the quilt tester (Laura Boehnke) from American Patchwork & Quilting--she does some great stuff using different color schemes to really help you see the possibilities of a quilt. Hopefully Ebony can use my finished quilt to give people an idea of the options.