Thursday, April 16, 2015

Irish Chain Quilt-a-Long Finish

Today, I would love to share my finished Irish Twist wall quilt.  I made this quilt during the Irish Twist-a-Long designed and hosted by Melissa Corry from Happy Quilting.



As usual, Melissa's pattern is beautiful and her instructions are very detailed and clearly written.  I love her quilt-a-longs and was so excited to have a chance to join another one of her quilt-a-longs.  I decided to make the wall size version (about 30" x 30") as decoration for my sewing room.  My 5 year old daughter had other ideas and claimed the quilt as soon as saw it; so the quilt is going to go live on the wall in her room :)

For fabrics, I used a whole bunch of Bonnie and Camille fabrics on a Kona Navy background.  I think most of their past 5-6 collections are represented.



I made a couple of changes to the pattern mostly due to the fact that I was making the small wall quilt instead of one of the larger versions.

1.  I made the X blocks straight instead of wonky.  If this was a larger version and there were more X blocks, the wonkiness would have looked more intentional, but I was afraid that having only 4 X blocks in my version the wonkiness would look more like messiness.


2.  I eliminated the pieced blocks and replaced them with the appliqued petal blocks.  I really was excited for this quilt along to try some applique because I have only really tried it once before so I decided to use 5 petal blocks instead of the 1 petal block and 4 pieced blocks. 


For the quilting, in the background I used a dark blue Aurifil thread to outline the petals and fill in the areas with some tiny stippling.  I used a light cream Aurifil thread for the Bonnie and Camille fabrics using a wishbone pattern on the petals and a back and forth squiggle in the X blocks.






I finished the quilt off with a scrappy binding.  Thanks for looking!
Here are my work-in-progress posts for the quilt:
X blocks - February 17, 2015
Petal blocks - March 25, 2015

I am linking up the Irish Twist Quilt-a-Long finish post:



I am linking up to Link a Finish FridayWhoop Whoop FridayThank Goodness Its Finished FridayFinish It Up FridayFabric Frenzy Fridayand Show Off Saturday @ Sew She Can.









30 comments:

  1. I love the changes you made! I can see why your daughter nabbed it! It would be great for a tea party in the living room on a rainy day!

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  2. I absolutely love the way you quilted this!!! So fun that you made the little outline around all of the piecing. It looks like faux piping!! Just awesome ;) Your quilt turned out just gorgeous and so fun that your daughter now has it in her room ;) Just fantastic!! So glad you enjoyed the QAL ;)

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  3. It looks awesome Cheryl! I love the bold colors you used. It is going to be great on your daughter's wall.

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  4. Your wall hanging turned out great, Cheryl! You would never know that you were new to applique. Impressive work! The navy background really works well, too.

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  5. What a delightful quilt; no wonder your daughter wants it. Your meander is very tight--a nice effect, but very time consuming. Well worth it. Claire aka Knitnkwilt

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  6. Beautifully done, Cheryl! The dark blue background really makes those prints pop right off the quilt! Your applique is awesome!! It certainly doesn't look like you are a novice. Makes me want to give it a try :) What stitch did you use for the applique? It looks fabulous!

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  7. what a lovely quilt! The use of navy as a background makes the petals and lattice really stand out.

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  8. I'm impressed at home you changed the pattern. Very nice work.

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  9. Lovely wall hanging, the navy background really makes the petals pop!

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  10. Really like this. I love Melissa's QALs too. The changes you've made are perfect!

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  11. Love the colour palette and your quilting is spectacular. I once heard a FMQ quilt snob say how boring she thought the meander pattern was. Silly quilt snob. Yours looks fab!

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  12. It looks great, Cheryl. I really like your choices for quilting, and I think your decision to make straight and not wonky X's was a great decision.

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  13. Aw, what a lovely quilty mom you are. :)

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  14. Great pattern, great color choice for a very successful wall hanging!

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  15. It's no surprise your daughter claimed this - its adorable! I really like the blue for the background; it makes those prints just pop!

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  16. Gorgeous! I am not surprised that your daughter claimed it for her room. It will look great with the new quilt on her bed :)

    -Soma

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  17. I love the colors and design of this quilt. Looks great!

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  18. Love how the stippling makes the petals stand out. You did a terrific job.

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  19. This turned out beautiful! I love it!

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  20. A beauty. I love your quilting.
    Love from Amsterdam

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  21. That is neat! Great quilting and texture!

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  22. I can see why your daughter was quick to claim this! It's gorgeous! Such happy fabrics - they are beautiful against the dark blue background. You did an amazing job of the applique and the quilting is perfect. Nicely done, Cheryl!

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  23. Love your stitching - what size stitch do you use! It looks perfect!!

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  24. I love that you used navy for the background>it sets off the colors so nicely! :-) hugs, H in Healdsburg

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  25. I love your navy blue background and the way that your quilting makes the pattern really pop out!

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  26. Love the Navy background. Navy looks great with everything. Daughter has good taste.

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  27. Awesome, love the dark background!

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  28. Awesome, love the dark background!

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  29. Beautiful quilt. You are a very talented artist. We, at the guild, admire your work, and are always happy when you share your creations. I, too, enjoy Melissa Corry's website. Deb P.

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  30. I just found you and am looking around. I gasped when I saw this; it is just stunningly beautiful.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!