Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Little Penguin Quilts Through the Year

Saturday, September 12, 2020

Almost finished!

 I have shared this project on the blog many times since I started it, and it's the true definition of a slowly stitched quilt!  After I learned how to hand-piece in early 2019 and finished my very first Hand-Pieced QAL project, I wanted to keep going and chose a block from the QAL to work on.


Four of those made this really neat star!

By January of this year there were five 12 inch stars, 
made of 20 of the original blocks!

Along the way, I had also been doing a lot of Gail Pan embroidery designs in a variegated blue.


So, I decided to combine the two types of blocks and ended up with this little quilt top


Over the summer, I got it layered and basted and started hand quilting.  Eventually it was just too hot to have a quilt in your lap and stitch on it, so I set it aside.  But this week, with our big chill (100 degrees last Sunday, down to 31 on Tuesday), I picked it back up again and finished the quilting!


Trimmed and ready for binding.

I love the five stars that appear if you follow along each diagonal!

Yesterday, I sewed the binding on by machine and got started on the hand-stitching.  That will be my slow stitching for this lovely Sunday, while football is on TV!

The binding is actually a swirly navy blue although it appears black in the photo.

It won't be long before this little quilt is completely finished!  Sharing at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.




















29 comments:

Michele McLaughlin said...

It looks wonderful Diann! I love the backing you used too! Have a fun day!

Linda said...

What a lovely quilt this has turned out to be. I like how the blocks put together form such a neat star, and your embroidery is the perfect touch. It looks so cozy in your sun beamed room!
I have on my "to-do" list to pick out an embroidery or cross stitch project before I pack all those supplies, so I can have something to look forward to escaping to when everything is in boxes!

Gretchen Weaver said...

This is a beautiful quilt! Happy stitching!

Libby in TN said...

LOVE. IT! Definitely worth the effort.

Carla A Few Of My Favorite Things said...

What a perfect combination and definitely a testament to what a few stitches here and there can do! I have never met a quilt that embroidery combined that I didn't like and what a great way to use those embroidered blocks!

Karla (ThreadBndr) said...

How lovely! It's got a cute vintage vibe that really appeals to me.

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

it turned out wonderful - amazing how the temperature dropped so much but nice you had something to work on and help keep the chill at bay

chrisknits said...

You always produce such lovely items!

Carole @ From My Carolina Home said...

Lovely combining your stitchery with hand pieced blocks. What a great little quilt!!

Ivani said...

Hi Diane!!!
What a nice blue stitching ♥
This quilt looks fantastic. Well done!!
Happy Slow Sunday Stitching

Deb A said...

Your hand piecing looks great. Hard to believe you have not been doing it for very long.

The Cozy Quilter said...

A gorgeous blue and white quilt! A lovely hand stitching project from start to finish.

Quilter Kathy said...

Such a gorgeous project! I love everything about it including the perfect backing fabric!

MissPat said...

This is such a wonderful combination of piecing and embroidery. The star blocks have a lot of dimension. And I love the backing fabric. Can't remember if you've mentioned that before.
Pat

Laura said...

That is such a huge temperature swing, Diann!

Love this blue project! What a great idea to combine the stitchery with the blocks! :)

QUILTING IS BLISSFUL, DI said...

What a lovely color and then to just have 2 projects in the same colors that played well together--makes for a great quilt!!! nice job--
luv, di

The Joyful Quilter said...

SEW close to a finish, Diann. LOVE it!!!

Jenny said...

It's a beautiful creation combining hand pieced blocks and the embroideries, slow stitching at its best. You must be so pleased with your gorgeous quilt!

Karrin Hurd said...

Love your beautiful quilt, of course I love blue and white quilts. Great work!

Kim said...

Oh my, those amazing stars and your sweet blue stitcheries are a match made in heaven. Truly, this is a most beautiful design you have imagined. Blue and white quilts are always a vision splendid!

PaintedThread said...

LOVE this quilt! Both the quilted blocks and the embroidery. It's a lovely combination.

Bonnie said...

Just so many great things happening in this quilt. I really like the mix of embroidery and the pieced stars. I keep thinking of doIng some embroidery but then I remember two knitting projects and all sorts of quilting UFOs. Maybe someday I’ll get back to embroidering. Yours is lovely.

piecefulwendy said...

What a lovely little finish, Diann! Perfect stitching for a Sunday, too!

grammajudyb said...

It's just perfect, Dianne! Somehow, I didn't remember that you were hand quilting this one. But you hand pieced it and hand embroidered it, so I agree, it needed to be hand quilted. It's so pretty!

grammajudyb said...

Please excuse the misspelling of your name. I'm using my Kindle tonight....it's being a bit troublesome!

Louise said...

Gosh that turned out so cute, Diann! I remember when you decided to add the embroidery blocks and it was the perfect way to go. Now look at it! I love it :)

Susie H said...

Thank you for taking us along on the journey of this little quilt! BEautiful!

dq said...

I am smitten by your embroidery blocks. I also love blue!

Deb said...

The blue Gail Pan embroideries are just lovely and those quilt blocks are wonderful.