Sunday, March 25, 2012

Finally Finished Supernova Quilt

Ahhh!  Finally finished my Supernova Quilt!  Here it is, hanging out in our park across the street.

 

This was so much fun to make, but it just took a while, as I was especially picky about getting everything lined up just so.  Even so, it's not perfect, but I love the color combinations and the fabrics I used for this one. 


Many thanks to Lee at Freshly Pieced for leaving her Supernova Quilt-Along tutorial up for a year :)  Her design is wonderful, and I am so thrilled to have stumbled upon it!  If you notice the very middle square, it looks like an eye. 



 This fabric is called Gatsby Abstract Masterpiece, and it was not fussy cut, but when I arrived at piecing this block (the last one I completed), I saw what looked like an "Egyptian eye" in the middle, and was worried that our friends would be creeped out by it.  Well, the Egyptian theme is also found in a lot of Art Deco art, so it's theme-appropriate.  Also, we hope they will imagine that we are always thinking of them rather than always watching them...


Here's my lovely assistant (AKA wife) modeling it for you.  I chose a palette of green/yellow, blue/teal, and raspberry/purple for this quilt, and used Kona Ash for the background.  I know this is a staple of the modern quilter, but it's the first time I worked with it and really love how it looks with these colors.  I quilted it using roughly a 1.5 inch stipple design.  Unfortunately, halfway through the quilting process I noticed that the needle tension had been bumped (by me) and was not set quite properly, leaving me with a lot of requilting to do in parts of the quilt.  Will my FMQ'ing woes ever end?!  Well, at least my technique is getting better and more consistent!


For the backing I wanted a contrast from the modern pieced top, so I went with a simple big stripe of alternating blues (it reminds me of Delft pottery).  I chose an old-school floral print because it reminds me of the sheets (in red) my parents had on their bed growing up, so it feels very homey and cozy. 




Binding is called Gatsby Circles from P & B Textiles.  It goes with the generally Art Deco theme I wanted with the fabric choices I made on the top, plus the circles are fun, and tie in the golds, blues, and greys on both the top and back.  I love Art Deco, and our friends who are getting this as a surprise gift do too, so we hope it's a big hit!  Again, I did a machine binding.  I always prefer hand bound, but time just doesn't permit right now.



I also wanted to show you this cream fabric, which has silver, bronze and gold dandelion seed heads on it (Imperial Collection Starburst Linen).  I love it.



See the resemblance?


So here it is in action on our bed.  Thanks for stopping by!

5 comments:

  1. patrick, it looks awesome!! really, it's so well balanced. great work, friend!

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  2. Патрик, потрясающие одеяла все без исключения, а супернова - это нежные, гармонично сбалансированные цвета, классические формы и сама тема - космическая, вечная. Ты не просто неутомимый труженник, но и талантище!Удачи тебе в новых великолепных проектах!

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  3. Thanks Kelly and Inessa for your sweet comments! I will be sad to part with this quilt! Guess that means I will be making a second supernova for myself!

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  4. ИНЕССА МитинаMarch 26, 2012 at 4:08 PM

    Great! And some more as with your skill and talent they will be different as the combination of colors is endless!Iwant a small, really tiny one either. A singer with the help of SINGER WILL SING A LOT OF WONDERFUL QUILT-OPERAS!

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  5. This is beautiful, Patrick! I love the color palette you chose, it looks fabulous with the Kona Ash background. And your piecing looks like it's lined up extremely well, I would never guess you are "newly minted." : ) Glad you enjoyed the quilt-along! Great job! : )

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