Julie's Quilt

In a truly shocking turn of events, my eldest turned 40 last week. It's official. She's now older than me. In my head.

To celebrate her birthday, I decided to make her a quilt with all new fabric. Such extravagance but she deserves it. She has 4 children, a husband and a dog. And she lives close by. I'm so lucky.

bias binding for the edge

Recently I've been attracted to modern quilts on social media and it certainly shows in this design. I used Kona solids in colors Julie likes, but mostly white. She loves white. This may be my first and last quilt made exclusively with Kona solids. The fabric comes in yummy colors but it is too dense for me to comfortably apply sashiko. I did add some but there might have been more if it was easier to needle.

Just a little sashiko

Making large quilts is always a challenge for me. I finish the top, and I'm finished but the quilt is not. I could hire out the quilting but I'm too stubborn to do that. This is only 50x60, so sort of at the high end of a large quilt for me.

Backing secured to the table

And somehow I always enjoy the process. It gives me opportunity to think about the last 40 years and how Julie has blossomed.

Batting in place over backing - low loft cotton - so soft

Even the pinning is zen-like, meditative.

I quilted it with mostly vertical lines. I enjoy quilting with a walking foot. I've never worked hard enough to master free-motion quilting. Plus I love regular geometric shapes. The quilting rows range from 1" to 2" apart.

I added a handful of diagonal quilting lines and the quilting was done.

After I attached the binding and a label, I washed and dried it. A wrinkled quilt is soothing to me.

It was a sweet process and I so enjoyed giving it to her. I don't know when or if I'll make another quilt. So many other satisfying projects call to me.