Wednesday, January 28, 2009

A Great Day to Stay Indoors

My class yesterday was wonderful! I learned a bunch of new things which I hope to be able to incorporate in my future applique endeavors.

According to the news and weather forecasts, we are expecting a foot or more of snow to fall today. Thank goodness I don't have to go out anywhere so I don't even need to conjure up an excuse to spend the better part of the day in my sewing room. I'm still working on piecing together my BOM. Because it's a sampler and each block is a different size, I'm finding that the process is not as easy as I thought it would be. Patience, I know.

Just before Christmas, I received a call from my friend Barb who is a professional longarm quilter to say that my quilt was ready. Barb had my quilt since May and I told her when I dropped it off that I wasn't in a hurry and to do it when she could fit it into her schedule.

When I saw the project in the June 2008 issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine, I fell in love with the design. (Remember, magazines come out a couple of months before the actual issue month just in case some of you are wondering how she could have had my quilt in May when this was in the June issue. )

I knew it was going to be a challenge for me but I was determined. It took me 10 days to cut and piece the quilt and I did make some changes along the way to the original design. Here is the final result...



The pattern is called "Sweet Retreat" and was designed by Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Dry Goods. In her design, Holly had included some large floral setting squares which I opted to leave out. I don't know whether the next photo will show the wonderful quilting job that Barb did, but here's a closer look...


Prairie points, now what the heck are those? After much consternation I decided to give them a try because after all, I did spend all that time cutting out 156 - 2 1/2" squares. I found them a bit labor-intensive to complete but the final result was worth it...


I also added some narrow color coordinating borders to frame the quilt as I felt there was just a tad too much white...


And that's it! I love the quilt and it was definitely worth the effort.
on

13 comments:

  1. RGJanuary 28, 2009 at 6:52 PM

    Hi Kaaren,
    I love this quilt!! It's so soft and pretty!!
    Welcome to the world of blogging :c) It's fun!!
    Yes, Berninas are like Maytags...lol
    Will look forward to visiting again.
    hugs
    Robyn xx

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  2. SaraJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:17 PM

    Hi, welcome to blogland. I do believe it was Robyn that led me here! I love the quilt, so pretty and a great job! The borders are just gorgeous and I like the way they frame it! Thanks for joining us in blogland!

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  3. ShariJanuary 28, 2009 at 7:36 PM

    I'll add my welcome as well. Visiting and meeting new people is so much fun! I love your Sweet Retreat quilt. It is soft and elegant.
    Cheers!

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  4. CarlaJanuary 28, 2009 at 8:24 PM

    First of all, welcome! The quilt looks pretty but I can't enlarge the photos to really see. Where are the prairie points? I love them but yes, they are labor extensive.

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  5. Carrie P.January 28, 2009 at 8:26 PM

    Oh, your quilt is lovely. I am going to try prairie points on a round table topper I am getting ready to applique with wool on fabric. Any hints about the prarie points?

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  6. MargaretJanuary 28, 2009 at 10:16 PM

    G,Day, I came over from Daisy Quilts, I admire your quilt the wait was certainly wothwhile. Hoo Roo

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  7. JulieJanuary 29, 2009 at 4:11 AM

    hi! welcome to blogland. i'm another who has been led over here by robyn. love your work! look forward to seeing more of it.
    julie :)

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  8. Pieced PastimesJanuary 29, 2009 at 7:30 AM

    Kaaren - Thank-you for stopping by my blog and leaving such a nice compliment. I love this quilt - so pretty and delicate looking. I hope you will post your progress with many photos of that lovely BOM 'A Primitive Garden' you posted about as well.

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  9. UnknownJanuary 29, 2009 at 8:15 AM

    I came over from Daisy Quilts and I'm so glad I did . That is a really beautiful quilt , I love it .
    Clares Craftroom

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  10. a good yarnJanuary 30, 2009 at 5:12 PM

    Your version of this design is as stunning as the original. Soft and delicate, pretty but not overly so. Lots of little pieces to drive you mad! Nice quilting pattern too.

    Cheers...Ann :)

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  11. JuliaJanuary 30, 2009 at 11:12 PM

    Oh yes...I love this quilt!! It's so soft and pretty!!
    Welcome Kaaren..
    Julia ♥

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  12. Rose MarieFebruary 2, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    A lovely quilt .... soft and soothing!

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  13. SueSeptember 1, 2012 at 4:31 PM

    I'm over here drooling! Beautiful! I enjoy your blog so much that I decided to start at the beginning and read "up"!

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