Big Bang is FINISHED!

I’m still working on the final version of the pattern, but I’m happy to report that it has survived two rounds of testing and people have been very supportive of my very first pattern. I’m so excited! I hope to have it ready very soon in PDF and printed forms.

I designed this quilt during Lent of last year, during my “no new projects or fabrics” discipline. I have found that I do some of my best design work during that period of time. The first year was really hard, but last year I actually enjoyed it. This year I’m even looking forward to it, which is bizarre. But I can’t wait to see what I come up with this time!

In any case, here’s “Big Bang,” which was unnamed at the beginning of October when I posted about it in my Finish Along goals for the 4th quarter of 2014. Every title I came up with was too obvious until I realized that “Big Bang” was perfect — it’s the first in what I predict to be quite a few patterns authored by me, and the title gives a nod to the nerdy side without being too obviously geeky or too cliche. I didn’t want my title to tether people to making their quilt with a dark background or the same fabrics I chose, because it’s interesting on other backgrounds and in other colors as well.

Big Bang Finished!

 

I quilted it very heavily to obscure the seam lines, and I chose contrasting threads for the outer borders to continue that illusion. It took a long time and lots of patience to quilt all of it this densely, but the effect was exactly what I hoped for. I could not be happier with the way it turned out.

Big Bang Border Quilting

 

 

Big Bang Quilting Closeup

For the back, I pieced together the remaining chunks of fabrics from the front (Anna Maria Horner True Colors and Dowry, as well as Moda Grunge in “Picnic” from the PB&J line). The binding is Moda Grunge in “Plum,” which seemed to set off the quilt perfectly without dominating the edge of it.

Big Bang with a peek of the back Back of Big Bang

 

This quilt and the process of writing the pattern was a huge growth experience for me. I learned how to use Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and relearned Photoshop to write the pattern. I’ve always said that I wanted to write my own patterns, but it was the insistence of some friends when they saw the quilt top in September that pushed out of the nest and forced me to try to fly. I will be forever indebted. They also became the first testers for the pattern, which was a huge gift of time and energy from them.

I will post details on where/when to find the pattern when it is finally complete. That should hopefully be very soon!

Holiday Placemats: Finished! (and a bonus!)

As mentioned in my Finish Along 2014 Post from October, I had quite a few things on my list of unfinished projects. Here’s one that I’m really glad to have completed!

I finished the Holiday Placemats! There are a set of 8, which can be broken into two sets of four. I especially love the candy cane binding that they each have.

Holiday Placemats, finished!

I also had a bolt of inspiration one afternoon and designed this 25-sided polygon. I’ve also designed an extension for it so that if the center is left out it can be made into a 44″-in-diameter Christmas tree skirt. An acquaintance is pattern-testing that for me and I will have the pattern ready to go hopefully by the end of January.

25-sided polygon (icosakaipentagon!) Holiday Table Topper Holiday Icosakaipentagonal Table Topper Holiday Icosakaipentagonal Table Topper, back

Finished: Holiday Scrappy Trip

I did finally finish the Figgy Pudding Scrappy Trip that I started in January 2013. Yay! All it lacked at the beginning of October was a binding, so I got that finished and took it to the Greene Street Market at Nativity for them to sell in the shop. It didn’t sell, so I guess I can stash it until next year when people are shopping for Christmasy stuff again. I don’t think I put it in the shop early enough this time… Alas!

image4 image5

 

In any case, I’m just really glad it’s finished.

I quilted it with Aurifil #2600 (Dove), which is absolutely gorgeous when quilted on white backgrounds. It shows up without being high contrast, so that the quilting can be seen but it doesn’t detract from the piece.