Blue Hawai'i

Yay! She's alive! And, yay! She has a completed quilt to show! Double yay! Mayhap I've been starting on the spiked eggnog a little too early today! Things have been a smidge busy around here lately, and rather than post pictures of something that is in progress, which would take up more time, I thought, why not wait until I have something done? Then it will be like a mini-present for anyone that actually reads this!

And so, I have for your viewing pleasure, the Hawai'i quilt! Long story short, a family member of mine grew up in Hawai'i and has since moved to a very cold place and has been having some mobility problems due to arthritis. And, I just happened to come across a layer cake of rainbow print batiks, and wham! A quilt was born!

I used this pattern from Moda Bakeshop (love this site!). I got all of my cutting done at once, then sewed in my spare time on it for about a week; the top came together really quickly. I then spent a night basting it and quilted it over a weekend. Then I machine-bound both sides of the binding, just to have it done quicker. I used Red Pepper Quilt's tutorial on binding (found here) and I love the method she uses to join the beginning and ending strips of binding together.

 

 

I think my favorite part of this quilt is the back. The front is lovely, but the back is what seems the most colorful and tropical. If I got it in the mail, I would make sure the back is what would be draped over the couch for everyone to see. :)

 I'm so glad to have this done before the holidays start. Last year at this time, I think I was still piecing a quilt I was going to give my mom and I definitely remember quilting the darn thing on my machine for three days before Christmas! I feel so accomplished, I think I need to take a break to bask in my victory :)

 

I quilted it with an allover swirly flower pattern. It was my first time quilting flowers and I definitely improved by the time I got all done! I am totally going to do this pattern for more quilts in the future!

 

Hope you have a great week!