Little Rock meets NYC

Scraps from my Central Park jelly roll +

Arkansas Crossroads block pattern =

one lovely pillow cover

With envelope back where the print matched before I put the pillow form in.

The fun thing about having two sewing machines around (remember, one is "for the girls") is that when I get bored with quilting when I'm right in the middle of the quilt, I can leave it on one machine and pull out the other to play with scraps.

This really is square in real life.

And note to self: Do not attempt to fussy cut fabric with the one brain cell I have left after 9:00 p.m.

Central Park Quilt

It's done!  Beautiful, spring-like colors for an almost-spring-like day.  (The weather is just teasing though . . . it's supposed to snow tomorrow.)

Can you see the seam on the back?

Now can you?  Check out this post to see how I did it.

No hand-work for me.  This is machine bound following this tutorial with some modifications.

Fabric: Central Park by Kate Spain for Moda Fabrics and Kona White

Pattern: Flipside by Rachel of p.s. i quilt

Finished size: about 58" x 58"

And now a joke from my 3rd-grader: "What did the thread say to the spool?  I'm all wound up."

Happy quilting!

Central Park Top Done

After a few days of spring-like weather, old man winter reminded us that he is still in charge . . . at least for a few more weeks

5" of snow definitely warrants some spring-like quilt colors.

Pattern in based on Rachel's (of p.s. i quilt) Flipside quilt.

I had fun fussy cutting the corner stones.

Love the colors of the Central Park line by Kate Spain for Moda.

I experimented with "pressed open" seams.  I've always been a "press to one side" kind of gal.  It seems like everyone has an opinion on how it absolutely must be done.  I think it's all a matter of preference.  Although it took longer to open up those seams, I found that my seams didn't warp as much, nor did I lose as much fabric into the fold of the seam.

A taste of spring on a wintery day.

Basting and quilting will commence this afternoon.

Pattern Matching

I bought a length of this beautiful large scale print from the Central Park line (by Kate Spain for Moda) for the back of my quilt, but wanted to match the print since a mismatch would be pretty obvious.  Here's how . . .

Purchase enough fabric for the length of your quilt twice, plus a little extra to match the print.  There are ways to calculate this, but I just got lucky ;).  Cut it in half across the width of fabric so you have two full-width pieces approximately the same size.  Lay them side by side and do an approximate pattern match.

Fold the right piece over onto the left one.

Fold back the fabric to a chosen spot in your print.  I used the edge of the yellow cornflower, the tips of the blue "puff ball", and pieces of the green leaves as "matching points" down the length of my fabric.

Line the prints up along the edge of the fold and pin it.  Lots.  Lots and lots of pins while matching the prints down the length.

Now, stitch through all three layers (the two from the folded piece of fabric and the one below).  Stitch as close to the fold as you can.

You are actually stitching on the "back" of your piece.  A majority of your fabric is to the left with right sides together.

See how matchy, matchy it is already looking . . . and this is still the back!

Now trim the excess fabric down to about 1/2" on each side.  In the photo below, the main pieces of fabric are under the cutting mat.  Look at the leaf part of the print to see the stitching.

Now open your main pieces and give it a good press.  I still need to press the piece below, but you can already tell how the seam will disappear when it is ironed and then quilted.

Doesn't it make your perfectionist heart sing?

Distracted

I took a little walk through "Central Park" today.

Tomorrow I will be good and get back to Joe's quilt . . . promise.

quilt pattern seen here