Unity is far from perfect, but I learned a lot during the construction of this quilt. I perfected stitching an accurate quarter inch seam by the time it was fully constructed. The quilt has a couple of puffy parts because I didn't have that down early on. I'm eternally grateful to Trudy, she was still able to deal with those imperfections with the quilting. My version is a bit different from Bonnie's. I used a different block for the last full pieced border. One because I didn't really like Bonnie's version and two, the Four X Star block has a lot fewer pieces. By the time I got to that point, I was ready to just be done.
One of my "rules" for Bonnie's mystery quilts is that the fabric has to come from the stash. The black with the colored flowers has been in the stash for years, so it was the first pull. The other goal for Unity was to use a color palette that was new to me. That's how the yellow and green were selected. This quilt has always made me think of sun flowers, so that's what I stuck with as the name (the Latin version)
The green made such a good frame for the rest of the quilt that I stuck with that for the binding.
The backing was purchased during one of Connecting Threads end of year sales.
The photo doesn't convey the colors really well, but it does show off the quilting. Since this quilt had so many piecing problems I told Trudy to keep it simple.
Unity wasn't one of my better executed projects, but I learned a ton. I will be rejecting any background fabrics that ravel very badly. That's one reason why it took me forever to finish this project. I tried early on to fix some of my piecing problems, but the background fabric didn't take well to being unstitched and then restitched. I had to replace a few pieces of background during that process. Then clean up of the top was really a nightmare due to all the loose strings on the back. Even with all the problems, I'm happy with the finished quilt and very glad to have it off the UFO list.
Linking up with Design Wall Monday and Patchwork & Quilts.
12 comments:
I admire your effort. I gave up on Bonnie's mysteries several years ago. I have recently discovered that prepping fabric with a 50:50 starch mixture goes a long way in reducing fraying.
the quilt looks good. I do like Bonnie's patterns but I rarely make them, just too many pieces
Helianthus looks beautiful! Sorry about the background fabric raveling so much, it's not fun at all to have to replace pieces. Cute label ;)
Thank you for sharing this pretty finish.
Congratulations on getting Unity finished! I think it looks great. It's a larger quilt, isn't it? Do you have plans for how you will use it?
Some fabrics fray a lot more than others. I just used prints from the same line / manufacturer, and one of them just frayed a ton. The others all seemed fine. I wonder if the weave of that bolt was just off?
Your Unity quilt is beautiful, Kate - congratulations on the finish! Helianthus is the perfect name for it, too. I have had a similar experience with fraying fabric and it is so frustrating! Most of the time you don't realize it's going to do that until you start handling and cutting it. The sashing and border fabric was like that for my Rainbow Neighbourhood quilt. I was so glad to get all the raw edges enclosed on that one!
Whoo hoo!!! it is beautiful!!
and just in time for the cooler weather!
Fabulous. A lot of work in this one. I like your explanation of your color selections. Perfection in a quilt is never my goal. Instead, I try to learn something from every quilt, and it seems as if you learned a lot with this one. Congratulations and a pat on the back to you. Beautiful work.
Unity is stunning, Kate. Well done ! How wonderful that you used the fabrics that you already had in your stash. It makes the quilt even more special.
Congratulations on this gorgeous finish! Bonnie's quilts are never quick and easy, but so satisfying when they are done. I love that you named it for sunflowers, because that is what I think of when I see it. Fantastic job!
Hooray! I've admired this all along and I'm so happy that you're happy with the result.
Congratulations on this finish! Sorry it was such a nightmare, but it turned out to be amazing!
What a great quilt - love the bright green and yellow together- congrats on the final finish! (Jennifer in Indy)
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