'Chicago, 2007' QST Quilt--Entry for Blogger's Quilt Festival 2015

'Chicago, 2007' 

Quarter Square Triangle Quilt

Stats: Made from a 100% cotton mixture of 

whatever was in my scraps and stash when I 

started, plus a few special fabrics found just 

for this quilt. Contains more than 180 different 

fabrics. The final dimensions are 85"x95". 

The batting is Fairfield's 50/50 

bamboo/cotton blend. 

This marks the first time I've entered 

the Spring 2015 Blogger's Quilt Festival

at Amy's Creative Side.

Nomination for viewer's choice runs 

May 15-21, and voting May 22-29. 

Winners are announced May 30, 2015.

I encourage you to visit, and see the 

collective talent of quilting bloggers

from around the world. You can 

find me in the large quilt category.

The setting triangles and pink backing are

both from Tula Pink's Acacia line. The sari

fabrics are cottons from Amy Butler.

Several years ago my youngest daughter and I 

made a trip to Chicago to visit a dear friend, 

Betty. A seasoned tour guide, she told us 

there were a few things we must do while in the 

Windy City. One was visiting the Bahai Temple.

I've visited this sanctuary many times with her, 

and it's one of my favorite places. Popping up in 

the midst of a residential neighborhood, it stands 

like a beacon shining its light. It was my young

daughter first visit, and as she was quite taken in 

with it, we spent hours there.

Its gardens are amassed in flowers,

and the colors and lights are 

reflected in the pool.

Photo from the Baha'is of the United States

Another of her goals was to find a lehenga 

choli for my daughter so the 3 of us headed 

to Devon Avenue. Devon Avenue is a 

melting pot of mom and pop stores, groceries, 
and restaurants from many ethnic groups. We 

sipped mango lassis, and ate Hungarian 

pastries fresh from a beehive oven while the 

wind whipped by us on the sidewalk. We 

eyed up bolt after bolt of sari fabric, and my

young daughter tried on half a dozen little 

dresses before finally deciding on this one. 

That evening we sat in the garden of 

their brownstone enjoying Peruvian takeout 

and wine while reliving our perfect day. I
have frozen those memories in my mind.

 I believe that one day deeply imprinted

my mind and senses, and is expressed

in this very quilt these many years later. 

It wasn't until I was making the binding that 

it came together. My thoughts have been 

filled with memories of my friend these past 

months, and my longing to see her since
she's moved so far away.

Whether we realize it or not, something in 

our psyche guides our choices when we design. 
I believe it is important for me to focus on 

what is good, and beautiful, and true. Our
art and creations become an expression
of our consciousness at that moment. 

This quilt started as a simple experiment in 

making half square triangles, then continued to 

quarter square triangles. Visit these recent 

posts documenting the creative process, and 

 the many changes of direction.

Monday Musings

Friday Progress

I've Moved Out

When Do You Sleep?

Thankful Thursday

The Great Debate

QST Progress

What's Next? Dealing with It.

I spent the morning with my domestic Janome

 FMQ the setting and corner triangles using 

my favorite pink Aurifil thread, #2425.

I turned the machine so I could work from

the end feeding smoothly through, and not 

have to push the bulk up and under it. I used 

a small, portable table to help support the 

weight of the quilt as I stitched, moving

it as necessary from one side to the next.

This is a very heavy quilt.

The pink Aurifil shows up nicely on the teal blue.

I ran into one small problem. Although I allowed

3 extra inches on the sides of the backing, I had

only 2 on each end to spare before quilting. The

long arming took up quite a bit of that, and left

me 1/4" short on this end. I trimmed the other

end as it was a match with the pieced fabric,

and sewed it to my short end. It was a pretty

close fit, but I was lucky.

 I love to machine stitch binding on. Or should I

say, I hate binding quilts by hand? I do. Here's

a trick. Sew it to the back of the quilt first, then

bring it to the front, and stitch it down. I used a

pale blue in my top thread to match my binding,

and a fushia in my bobbin to match the backing.

If you're careful to pin, pin, pin the front,

it works beautifully.

I was a little bit off where I sewed my

tag on, but I made sure to have it sewn

into the binding to make it extra secure.

I was cautioned against sewing on my binding

by machine, but it seems to be lying flat. I 

always cut my binding fabric perpendicular to 

the selvage, and that seems to be key.

This is a memory quilt sewn with love. 

Come on, Doxie girls.

Let's have us a snuggle,

and ring a friend today.

Creative Space Tag continues with
Judy at Quilt Paradigm. She's put a 
lot of time in analyzing her space,
and how she uses it. Wait until 
you see her design wall!

This also is a finish for
my list made for Adrienne's
2015 Finish-Along On the
2015 Finish-Along On the Windy Side.

Linking up with~
Blossom Heart Quilts
Val's Quilting Archives
Sew Can She
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Crazy Mom Quilts
Quilt Shop Gal
TGIFF
LAFF
Free Motion Mavericks

Thank you all for the linking

opportunities.