Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Saturday, July 11, 2020

It's a finish!

My Book Club Hand-pieced QAL quilt is completed!

35 x 35

Many, many thanks to Kristin at Simple.Handmade.Everyday and Patty at Elm Street Quilts for sponsoring their second QAL, designing the blocks and giving great instructions, tips, and tutorials to help all of us learn more about hand-piecing!  I enjoyed participating for the second year in a row, and learned a lot.  

I keep trying to decide which block is my favorite - maybe this one?


Or this one?


Really, I enjoyed making all nine blocks, even the ones that required templates and curved piecing!   Another fun addition to the QAL this year was that each block represented a character in a favorite book of Patty or Kristin's.  Some of the books I had read, others I hadn't - all of them sounded interesting!

I decided this quilt needed a scrappy binding, so I cut whatever 2.25 inch strips I could get out of the leftover pieces from the blocks and sewed them together.   Sewing the binding on the front of the quilt was the only time my sewing machine got involved!

Maybe this one's my favorite block?!  

Pretty in the morning light - 

Many evening slow-stitching hours were spent working on this quilt, 
including hand-quilting along most of the seam lines of the blocks, 
sashing, and cornerstones.  My husband and I have gotten to be good friends with Special Agent Gibbs and the NCIS gang (courtesy of Netflix) while I've worked on this project! 

The red Ikea chair in our living room is where this quilt will live for now.  


Linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching,  






31 comments:

Linda said...

This is beautiful! I love the red, and the scrappy binding is perfect for it. It looks bigger than the one I made last year. I think my fave blocks are the curved ones.

Vicki in MN said...

Congrats on your finish, it is so pretty on your red chair. Scrappy binding was definitely the way to go. You did fantastic on the hand stitching, you quilt lays so flat.

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Great finish! I like a red and white quilt, your scrappy binding is perfect.

Gretchen Weaver said...

All the blocks are lovely, I can't pick a favorite. Great job!

maggie fellow said...

great job - it looks amazing

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

your quilt looks great - I love the red/white combo. I loved NCIS until the last two or three seasons when there have been many cast changes but the first 10 years or so I loved so you have plenty of fun shows to watch - which season are you up to? I'm watching a rather silly show right now called Alias which is old (1990's) is is action CIA type but it is not to be taken seriously for sure.

Jayne said...

Love!! Each block is amazing and makes it hard to pick a favorite! I'm picking them all!

Kate said...

Congrats on a really beautiful finish! It has to feel good to have hand stitched all of the blocks and finished it off with hand quilting. Looking forward to seeing what you'll start next.

Jill said...

Congrats on a wonderful finish! Love it. So much hand work. The scrappy binding is perfect. Great job!

Sylvia@Treadlestitches said...

Wow, this is lovely! Such great colors and interesting blocks! I don't know which one is my favorite either! And it goes perfectly with your red chair.

The Joyful Quilter said...

It's finished? It's finished! Congratulations on doing such a beautiful job on this project, Diann.

Marly said...

This is classically beautiful Diann; I like the limited colour choice. It's certainly a recommendation if Patty hosts another hand sewn project next year. I considered this too, but couldn't face the prospect of yet another QAL, and hand-sewn at that. Rightly I judged I wouldn't have enough time this year. It's very tempting to join in next year, or even go back if this one is still available.

Deb A said...

I just love how this quilt came out! So classic in red and cream. I have a feeling I will do similar for the quilting on mine.... which might be up next in the queue. I keep telling myself I will not make a whole scrappy quilt of that flowering snowball block.....

Michele McLaughlin said...

Congratulations! You know that I am crazy for this quilt and so admire you for tackling it in red (working with red makes my eyes crazy sometimes)!!! I just love this quilt so much! You did a magnificent job!!! Spend some time today just admiring it and patting yourself on the back!!! Whooo hoooo!

MissPat said...

Congratulations on finishing your second hand-piece and hand-quilted project. It looks great on your red chair and the scrappy binding was a good choice. Will you now tackle another hand-pieced project on your own or what for the next QAL?
Pat

piecefulwendy said...

I wondered whether you would hand bind it or put the first step on with machine. You know which block is my favorite! How neat that you have a chair just perfectly made for that quilt! Enjoy your finish!

Karrin Hurd said...

Gorgeous finish, I love this quilt!

Jenny said...

I've never done hand pie big, so congratulations on completing your SAL, it looks so nice!

Jenny said...

Meant to write hand piecing of course, but the spell check thinks it knows better!

Patty said...

Beautiful quilt! I love that you went with red and white. Thanks for being part of the QAL and sewing along with us!

Mari said...

Congratulations! This quilt looks beautiful, and you must have so much patience to hand piece and hand quilt it. I think for sure I would have been too frustrated to finish. It looks wonderful, and great with that chair. Happy finish!

Cynthia Brunz Designs said...

This is such a sweet little quilt. I can see why choosing a favorite block is hard. Thanks for sharing with Oh Scrap!

Louise said...

It is so, so lovely! Classic in red and white, and filled with many happy hours of stitching. So many great blocks in this one, too. Congratulations on a wonderful finish, Diann :)

Preeti said...

That is a darling finish, Diann. A chic chair, a comfy pillow and a beautiful quilt - if that is not an invitation, I don't know what is :-D

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

A lovely quilt! The red & white combo is refreshingly different.

chrisknits said...

It is fantastic!!! I love it. Great job all around.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

It looks so soft and the kind of quilt I like to have near me on the sofa incase I get a chill! Your piecing looks so exact and the quilting just brought it to life! Congrats on a great finish!

Kim said...

Oh, what a beautiful finish and how beautiful your quilt looks sitting on that fabulous IKEA chair. Every single block is a triumph!

Cathy said...

OMG, that turned out so beautifully! (And I can’t believe I missed this post). One of my all-time faves of yours and it’s definitely the cutest finish (in my humble opinion) of that pattern. Way to go, Diann!!

Jasmine said...

What a beautiful little quilt. I love how it turned out. It looks right at home on that chair.

Quilter Kathy said...

It's gorgeous and looks perfect on that red chair!
Great job!