9.17.2008

Mini Booty Complete!


My Miniature Booty II swap partner received her quilt on Friday, so I can talk more openly about it now! First and foremost, I was delighted to have a little challenge with Rose Marie as my partner. She requested colors of blue, green and yellow, and, from visiting her blog, I could quickly see how much she enjoys applique. (And does it beautifully, I might add.) Her pics are better than mine, so be sure to click through to her blog to see them. (She said all kinds of crazy-nice things about the quilt too, which are only half-true, but I appreciate them anyway!)

I had already fallen for the shape of the tulip in a pattern from the fall Quilt Sampler magazine, and this was the perfect opportunity. I was going to do some detailed fill background quilting to set off the simple shape (reality soon intervened...)

A trip to my stash revealed the perfect fabric combination; a few minutes with EQ6 resulted in a plan, and off I went. I put the top together really quickly, then worked on my Mariner's Compass block for the birthday swap.

Then my back went goofy. And I couldn't do anything. For what felt like forever.

When I could finally quilt again, I quickly realized I had to simplify my quilting plan. I ended up doing lots of echo quilting around the applique -- which really mashed down the background and made the tulip a little puffier than I would have liked -- then radiating lines in the lighter blue. A simple kind of loopy half flower thing in the checked fabric with some stippling, and I was done. And gee, at that point, I was only three days late.

Of course, I still needed binding. I had to get a little creative there, since I didn't have anywhere near enough yellow fabric to make a double binding. I ended up cutting the strips as wide as I could afford, then cutting a wider strip of the light blue. I strip-pieced them together, then folded in half to get the binding. By cutting the blue wider, I didn't have to worry about getting it on perfectly so the seam was the edge. I did the hand stitching in Harrisburg PA at the PA quilt national extravaganza (whatever) show, and managed to mail only 10 days late. WHEW.

Coming soon... pics from Harrisburg and the goodies I bought there :)

3 comments:

Vicki W said...

I saw that on Rose Marie's blog - it's absolutely beautiful!

antique quilter said...

I love applique tulips.
Beautiful little quilt, great job!
can't wait to hear about the quilt show...
I had to pass on it this year.
Kathie

Rose Marie said...

..... and what I said was absolutely true about the quilt .... it is gorgeous and I love it! Thank you for the explanation about the binding, I wondered why it was two different colours. That is a neat tip for making the most of what is left of scraps.