As promised, I took some pictures of my quilt.  This is a twin sized quilt.  The scalloped edge along the stitched circles marks the edge of the mattress.  So, when on a bed, the view of the ball pit and the bounce line will be very visible.  The border spaced balls will fall on the overhanging quilt border.

Because the background is dark, it is hard to get a good photo that shows the stitching. However, I used a light tan for the backing. Flip over the quilt, and the stitching is very visible.  After finishing the long-arm quilting, I felt that the stitched balls were getting lost in the background and hard to see.  So I added a decorative stitch edging to these stitched circles. I think it really helps make the circles stand out more both on the front, but especially on the back, of the quilt.

This quilt was a lot of fun to make.  Certainly the most stitch edged applique that I have ever done.  I have so many other ideas for quilts to make.  Time to get sewing again!

Today is National Quilting Day.  And, how did I spend my day – quilting, of course!

I was actually able to finish a quilt that I started a few weeks ago. The lighting at the time I finished binding the quilt was not adequate to take good photos.  So, I will post the finished photos tomorrow after I am able to take some nicer photos.

However, I did take photos along the way as I worked on this quilt.

I have named the quilt “Bounce”. The idea was inspired by the vinyl upholstery fabric on the chairs in the staff lounge at Children’s Hospital Surgery Center.

A little over a year ago, we were also considering this fabric for our office remodel.  When I brought a sample of the vinyl to show our staff, one person commented that it looked like a quilt pattern.

Ultimately we selected a different fabric. But, the idea of making a quilt stuck in my mind. A design was created that took the circles of the fabric and replicated them in an applique pattern that looked like balls bouncing in a ball pit.

This winter, I was able to start working on the quilt. This has been a really fun quilt to make!

Using scraps from previous quilts, I first cut out 124 circles measuring 3.25″.

These circles were then appliqued onto white cotton fabric using my collection of Gutermann thread (50wt).

From the appliqued fabric, I then drew and cut circles that overlapped the appliqued circles so that the resulting pieces looked like balls. This double applique approach really made this quilt easier to applique than it appears to be.  Basically I was only having to stitch circles each time, rather than partial circles.

For the background of the quilt, I kept debating between tan and sky blue.  Then, one day, while looking for backing for another quilt, I found some fabric that looked like denim and thought that would be a nice background.

Final pictures tomorrow….