I had fun finishing this little quilt. The top came together pretty quickly, since I was just trying to see what I could make out of that mini Carolyn Friendlander Doe charm pack, but then I debated for a while on how to finish it. I went back and forth about whether or not I should hand quilt it. Pros – it’s relatively small, so it wouldn’t be crazy to consider hand quilting… but there’s always that con – that I’m not totally convinced that my handsewing would hold a quilt together for the long run!
After staring at it for a few days, I decided that a mix of the two might be perfect. I started with machine quilted straight lines – alternating straight lines that were about an inch apart with one a quarter of an inch apart. It was first just a way to mix up the straight line quilting, but in the end turned out to be the perfect channel to keep my handquilting somewhat straight!
I matched some perle cottons with the solid color of each vertical band and spent a few evenings doing some hand quilting. It was more fun than I expected, and adds some great texture and color to the quilt!
On the back I used more of the Essex yarn dyed in black with a fun little strip of those improv triangles out of the solids used on the front.
The binding is a crosshatch in black, which was meant to blend in with the background fabric.
I’m glad I took the time to finish this one in a slightly different manner than usual. It was fun to try out some hand quilting again! While I don’t think I’d want to hand quilt a large quilt, I do think it would be fun to add some handquilting to other machine quilted quilts.
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P.S. I listed a few quilts for sale over the weekend. I typically only sell quilts once a year, so if you are looking to buy one, now’s your chance! They’re all listed here on Instagram, and I’ve already removed those that have sold, so those that are still pictured are available. An IG account is not necessary – feel free to email me at ashley at filminthefridge.com with any questions!
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