Something Blue (and Yellow)

One of my best friends and her new wife just celebrated their wedding in California, and I made my way out to LA with an oddly sized quilt stuffed into my carry-on.

The pattern name is Magic Carpet, and the digital file is available on Craftsy for you to print right off of your computer.

http://www.craftsy.com/pattern/quilting/home-decor/magic-carpet/141085?_ct=fhezusj-tujqyb-fqjjuhd-ydifyhqjyed&_ctp=141085

Choosing the color theme for this project was tricky. I've always gravitated towards blue and yellow, but it's a more traditional color scheme, and that made me a little nervous when making a quilt for non-traditional people. However, it all worked out, they loved it, and I did too!

This pattern was pretty easy to make. I cut and assembled the quilt top in one day - it's essentially just piecing the squares or rectangles into strips (making sure you're doing so in the correct order) and then sewing the strips together.

After making the top in one day, I designed and assembled the backing the next day. I could have used a pieced solid backing, but that's way too simple for me, so I sewed some of the extra strips together to make a focal point down the center of the back. It's not super fancy, but it adds an interest point to the back of the quilt and still ties in the color scheme.

I took the sandwiched quilt to the fabric store and put it on the longarm machine, choosing a swirly design to contrast with the geometric design of the pattern. Then I used a decorative stitch to sew the binding on.

I digitized a personalized label with the quilt name, me and my friend's names, and the date of their wedding, stitched it out on my embroidery machine, and hand sewed it on the back.

Here's a picture of my friends with their new quilt (they're holding up the back, but that's ok).

As you can see, this quilt is HUGE for a throw. But I rationalize it by saying that it's a two-person throw. No fighting over who gets more quilt or whose feet are sticking out from under it.

Overall, I am thrilled with how this quilt came out. It was easy to make, fun and quick to assemble, and has a really interesting 3-D look to it (add the more traditional colors and you get a nice fusion of old and new)!