Friday, May 20, 2011

Round and Round (Full Circle Full Frontal).

It's done! My Robert Kaufman Kona Solids quilt challenge for the VMQG is complete. You've seen the pieced top, then the beginning of my concentric circle quilting. Now, I present Full Circle to you....

Full Circle by Poppyprint
Thank you to everyone who 'voted' for charcoal and celery binding. The results were about even, and as you can see, I decided on celery because I liked the look of the colour blocks floating on a sea of green.

Why Full Circle? Well, first of all this quilt was always intended as a relief quilt for someone who has suffered loss from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan; my hope is that this will bring them warmth and comfort as they work through their grief and regain their home, work and community (hopefully, one day, coming full circle in recovery). Secondly, after piecing the quilt top, I really thought of the west coast sunset. My mind then wandered to the Ring of Fire...the chain of volcanoes that geologically connects our west coast with Japan, and how it forms a circle around the Pacific nations. Finally, the quilt just seemed to be calling out for concentric circle quilting. I changed thread colours as I moved outwards from the golden squares into the rusty reds, dark brown/black, blue/purple and finally green. I kept the bobbin thread dark grey.

seam guide tutorial by Poppyprint

Full Circle by Poppyprint

After the kids were off to school yesterday and I walked into the dining room to begin darning in my thread ends (yes, I tie the top and bobbin threads with a double knot, then bury them into the quilt batting using a Fons and Porter gold-eye self-threading needle. I don't like the look of backstitching on the front of a quilt) and lo and behold the sun was shining through the window for the first time in DAYS. I moved the quilt around to line up the sun and the shadow of a glass star that hangs in our window over the 'sun' in the quilt. Pretty.

seam guide tutorial by Poppyprint


The back of the quilt is made up of a few 1/2 yard cuts I won at a retreat a few years back. They are not my really my colours, so they've been curing in my stash since the retreat. I was very happy to use them in this quilt because they are from a Japanese-inspired Alexander Henry collection and Kona charcoal goes great with them!

Full Circle by Poppyprint

After my last post, there were several questions about my process for the quilting. I took some photos and have used flickr descriptions to describe it all for anyone who is interested. Just so this doesn't become The Longest Post Ever, you can click here to take you to the Seam Guide Quilting Tutorial set on my flickr page. Click on each photo in the set for a description that explains how to quilt an entire quilt with parallel lines. You only have to mark the first line!

seam guide tutorial by Poppyprint

To all of you Canucks fans out there - enjoy tonight's game!! Go Canucks Go!!! And to all you Commonwealth readers, have a wonderful long weekend. I wonder if Queen Victoria had any idea we'd all celebrate her birthday by opening cottages, grilling steak and downing beer. Hmm.

Since I don't have a cottage, or drink beer, I'll be in the garden, pulling weeds to give the perennials some real estate for the summer....


38 comments:

Lesly said...

I just love it! I'm so happy you went with the celery binding - it does really accentuate the floating squares. And that's what that little doodah in the accessories tray of my sewing machine is for! Learn something every day! P.S. Go Canucks!

Tiffany said...

Wow - simply fantastic :) Love the contrast of the squares and the circle quilting ... just love it all :)

Cathy said...

It is striking! And hasn't it been a lovely thing to see the sun? Too bad we are back to rain again tomorrow.

Krista said...

It's amazing. It makes so much sense too to do the circles with the quilting guide! I originally thought you must have marked every line! That must have been a lot of work burying all of the thread ends though. Oye.

Emma said...

Beautiful quilt; it really does have a sunset-y feel. I didn't realise you had a QE 4.0 too; how do you find it for FMQing - did you get the thread-guide and take-up lever retrofits?

paulette said...

Wow!! Stunning quilt!! The circles are PERFECT on this quilt! Thanks for sharing how you quilted those circles!! I'm off to see your pics!! Thanks and enjoy the weekend!
P

Alisa said...

It's a beautiful quilt. I love the quilting! I can't say I'm a Canucks fan but my son sure is. And I'm looking forward to the Long Weekend too. Hope the weather stays good.

Katie B said...

This quilt is glorious! I'm in love, and the quilting is just perfect.

I need to find one of those self-threading needles...

Heather said...

B E A U T I F U L ! Bravo Krista!

felicity said...

I can attest that this quilt is in fact even more fabulous in person. Gorgeous, Krista!

**nicke... said...

i am in awe! it is perfect!!! i LOVE it!

dutchcomfort said...

The celery binding is beautiful, as is the quilt and the quilting! Perfect quilt!

Lynne (Lily's Quilts) said...

Absolutely wonderful Krista, really really magical

pinksuedeshoe said...

I love how this looks all finished. Love it. And I seriously need to do some looking into the tie and bury method! I think that it is completely genius. Must find this magic needle...

{Leila}Where the Orchids Grow said...

Your quilting is amazing love it!

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

Wonderful, Krista, the circular lines fit perfectly with the top. I am impressed how perfectly your lines are curving even with the space thingie on your machine!

Vivian said...

This is a really lovely quilt! I think the celery makes it "glow" for lack of a better word. And the stitching is the perfect complement to the design. Very modern indeed!

This will bring real comfort and pleasure to someone. Great work, great cause!

Amy Friend said...

I said it before but it is lovely. The quilting choice is wonderful. Someone will love it to bits.

Arita said...

It was even more beautiful in person. Thanks for the tutorial.

Shannon said...

What a serene quilt. With the circles, it seems very calming. I've enjoyed watching it come together.

♥Duff said...

ah yes, perfection. I remember someone commenting that celery binding would make it seem like it was floating and yes, it sure does. Thanks for taking us on the journey--I've learned something new. Love the way the circles radiate out from the sun!

Mette said...

Fantastic, Krista. It's lovely - you're very talented, dear friend.

Nova said...

gorgeous!

Kristen said...

Beautiful! I'm loving the design and the quilting!

Little Island Quilting said...

I have to leave a comment on here too because I think this is an 'aresome' quilt!

Sew Create It - Jane said...

Stunning quilt with equally stunning quilting! It is sure to bring a smile to someone!

Christie describeHappy said...

Really love how this quilt came out. The circle quilting really finished it off perfectly and I also have a lot of admiration for the story you shared. There is a lucky person out there just waiting to treasure your quilt I'm sure! Well done!

Amanda Jean said...

wow! that's some impressive quilting!!! your quilt is so very beautiful!

Anonymous said...

This is pretty awesome...love it.

Mama Spark said...

This is beautiful! I love how you quilted it too. Amazing!

Unknown said...

turned out awesome Krista. and the choice of celery binding and concentric ring quilting just works eh? another great finish!

--ginger. said...

Dangit this is lovely.

Anonymous said...

I can't tell you enough how much I love this quilt!

I know this post is older, but the game was awesome last night. Most of the family (except me) headed to Vancouver to soak the fun in.

Heather D. said...

This is just beautiful. I love the wonky set squares and the all the colours. The quilting is truly amazing as well.

Richard Healey said...

Just read your flicker tutorial on this. Thank you so much that is a great idea.

http://richardquilts.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I looked at your tutorial on Flickr and I think you have the guide installed upside down in the presser foot. Th tip of the guide should be pointing up.

Poppyprint said...

Thanks for your comment Anonymous. Normally yes, the guide would point up, but only one came with my machine, so when I use it on the other side of my presser foot, it has to point down.

Anonymous said...

Trying to figure out how to piece concentric circles and look where the internet brought me . . . To you, your lovely blog and quilt. Karma. I think I need to follow your shenanigans.

Hillary