Wednesday 10 September 2014

The long awaited ABC quilt wrap-up

Hello lovely friends!  A long time ago now, I promised to post a final wrap up and link party for those people who stitched along with me and made ABC quilts from the book S is for Stitch.  I finished my first quilt for the wee man, and then in a moment of weakness decided to make one for Princess as well.  That has been finished too, and is hanging on her wall.  It is sugar overload - and there is no other way to describe it.

So - not the best shot, but you can see the log cabin pattern!

It is hard to take a good picture of the whole quilt in her room, so here are a bundle of close-ups!

M is for mermaid

For the binding, I used a thin stripe in sage green and cream that matches the spot fabric I used for the embroideries.  A Spotlight special, which was even better!

For some of the blocks, I added new designs - including M is for Mermaid, and U is for Unicorn.  Princess tells me that she doesn't like the mermaid's hair, because it looks like an ice-cream.  Right, because that's what I was thinking of when I did it?!

Q, R, V and W

This is first time I have tried hand quilting.  I machine quilted first, in the ditch of the blocks, and then I hand quilted with variegated thread in the middle of the first strip of the log cabins.  I ended up being a lot more consistent with my stitching near the end.  And, to be honest, hand quilting wasn't that painful!  I used this Sarah Fielke tutorial as a guide.  I may even hand quilt again ...

I, J, N and O

I used a mix of all sorts of fabrics for the log cabins, and then split them into blue/greens and pink/purples. Those of you with a keen eye for liberty lawn will notice there is even a few strips of my precious liberty stash included.

U is for unicorn - because every alphabet quilt needs a unicorn

And some Heather Ross wild flowers and briar rose. Princess doesn't know how lucky she is!

X marks the spot
For some blocks, Princess decided that she preferred the embroidery from the "boy" section of the book.  This included "X marks the spot" which is one of my favourite uses of an X block.  No xylophone here!

S, T and X

With the onset of Frozen, the snowflake has become a favourite too.

The quilt is on the wall above Princess' bed.  It is all very pink friendly ...

Yes I must replace those thumb tacks with a proper hanger at some point ...

This quilt was such a lot of work, but I have been very, very proud of finishing it - all the embroidery and then the blocks too.  The log cabins were made with 1.25" strips, so that the blocks finished at 8" once they were sewn together.  It was a labour of love, but I am pleased I did not rush it in the end.  Also, I have learned to enjoy embroidery (who would have thought, right?!).

So, if you have finished your quilt too (or even the top), link up and show me.  The link party ends on 14 September, so that will have to be the last date.  Hubby will randomly pick a winner, who will receive an unexpected treat - so make sure I can contact you.


   

    An InLinkz Link-up
   

15 comments:

Julie said...

Princess is a very lucky girl - I see a lot of lovely handcrafted goodness in her room.

Karyn said...

Very pretty. And such a good match to the cool curtain fabric! Good work

Leonie said...

It's simply gorgeous Liz - beautiful work and such a lucky girl. Who wouldn't we thrilled with it? Just gorgeous!

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

She will treasure it forever! It's gorgeous! Linda

Tanya Quilts in CO said...

Thanks to your sew along, loved making the boy quilt and have been very tempted to start on the girl version, but seeing how adorable your's is absolutely convinced me to make one. I am going to stop at the quilt shop tomorrow to find a background. Can you post your mermaid and unicorn designs, so I can use them too? Good for you for sticking with it and even hand quilting it. This will be an amazing heirloom! Well done!!! I linked mine up too.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous - great job!

liniecat said...

So So beautiful!

jenni said...

Oh, it's beautiful!

DeborahGun said...

It is such a beautiful quilt Liz. You amaze me that you got two of these quilts finished :-) Thanks so much for organising the sew-a-long, and for letting me link up a quilt top at the end! I will get it quilted - promise!

Tilkunviilaaja said...

Ooo, this is precious! I'm proud of you for making this! I'm also glad that Princess appreciates it!

Frenchie said...

I just found your blog this morning and OH MY GOODNESS that is a beautiful quilt. I love it! Is there a patter for the embroidery?

Frenchie said...

As I was reading more of your blog I found the ABC BOW and have just purchased Kristyne's book. Thank you. Can't wait to this quilt, maybe 2. :)

kristyne said...

Liz, I don't even know what to say. Your quilt is absolutely gorgeous!!! I most especially love how you came up with your own designs for some of the blocks. Outstanding. :) You make me so happy. great big hugs, Kristyne

Glinda ♥ said...

It's delicious, Liz! So many 'quickies' (which I love too), it's fabby to see this slower project finally finished. It's an absolute treasure :)

Dona said...

Absolutely beautiful! Stunning.