I was in charge of choosing blocks for our Do.Good Stitches group in April. Inspired by
THIS quilt by Kati at From the Blue Chair, I asked my bee mates to send me blocks with raw edge appliqued circles. I wanted raw edges so that the circles would fray a little in the wash, making them sort of 3D. And to make things super fun, I asked them to use their novelty fabrics to make an I-Spy quilt.
YOU GUYS! I never could have come up with something this awesome on my own! There are so many gems in this little quilt. I don't want to give it up! In fact, it's been sitting in my living room being loved while I waited for the right time to photograph it (SHHH, don't tell!). Don't worry - it'll be in the mail soon.
But seriously - the next time someone asks me what my least favorite part of the quilt making process is, remind me to tell them it's the photographing!
Anyway. I asked Vickey, our host, to send me a bunch of circles rather than the two blocks we normally ask for. I used a lot of those circles cover some of the seams between blocks and fill in some of the gaps to make the quilt look more consistent overall. But she sent me a TON of circles (thanks Vickey!), so I used the rest on the back.
I debated for a long time on how to do the back. I considered super scrappy, but in the end I decided to go with this cheap neutral solid because there is so much white on the front of the quilt. I glue basted the extra circles in a layout I originally hoped would look like bubbles being blown from a bubble wand. Not sure that's what I ended up with, but oh well. Instead of stitching these circles down, I just heat set the glue with my iron and quilted over them. I'm hoping they will still hold after many, many washings.
Here's our little "label:"
For the quilting, I copied Kati and did pebbles all over the whole thing. With a swirl snuck in here and there. It took awhile, but it wasn't too bad. The pebbles are pretty big and I tried to make some bigger and some smaller for more variety. It sure took a lot of thread, though!
I think the crayon circle is my boys' favorite.
Either that or the owl one...
For the binding, I rounded up all my novelty scrap pieces for a super scrappy I-Spy binding. :)
I hope some kid loves this as much as I do!
ETA:
I had to see what would happen to the quilt once it was washed. Let me tell you, it frayed a TON and it's super crinkly now. :)
I think this little turtle is my favorite. :)
As for the back, it held up okay. The little ones struggled a little bit since they weren't sewn all the way down. I even found one of the smallest circles in my washer after pulling this quilt out. Oops! Next time I'll either quilt tighter/smaller bubbles, or stitch the circles all the way down.
Quilt stats:
Started: May 2015
Finished: July 6, 2015
Fabrics: Various Novelty/I-Spy fabrics
Batting: Pellon Nature's Touch 100% Cotton
Finished size: Approx. 54" x 60"
Recipient: Junior's House
Methods used: Raw edge applique
Binding: Hand stitched to the back
