fancy a picnic?

I got my picnic quilt finished, just in time for some gorgeous spring weather! We spent the last couple of days down in beautiful Southern Vermont, and those few hours in the car provided a perfect opportunity to work on the binding on this quilt.

(finished up the binding while enjoying some sun on the deck)

This patchwork quilt is made up predominately of lovely Denyse Schmidt prints – some Flea Market Fancy, a little Katie Jump Rope, and lots of her newest line for Joann’s. I love how well they all work together, and I think they’re just fabulous in a simple patchwork design.

I used 3 1/2″ squares and it’s definitely the largest patchwork quilt I’ve made to date, finishing at about 70″ square, which I think will be the perfect size for the three of us to relax on this summer.

I used one of the large plaid prints from the DS Quilts line for the backing. I didn’t use it in the quilt top, as I thought the pattern was a bit too large, but thought it would be an ideal backing for a picnic quilt. Unfortunately, and what you can’t see here, is that the piece I bought seemed to not be printed quite straight, so it doesn’t line up quite as well as I’d like, but that’s ok — who’s looking at the back anyway?!

Unlike other quilts I’ve made in the past which I thought would be used as picnic quilts, this one actually will get used outdoors! And in fact, we tried it out straightaway, enjoying our morning coffee and scones out in the park.

I’m looking forward to many more!!