Fall 2014 Fall Bloggers Quilt Festival: Broken Dishes Part Deux

I was unsure where to best place Broken Dishes Part Deux in the Blogger's Quilt Festival, but finally settled on the large quilt category. I love how Amy sets up so many different categories for us to choose from. It's almost like going to several different quilt shows at once, only we don't have to worry about combing our hair or wearing matching socks.

Broken Dishes Part Deux

This is the quilt that I finished up for my daughters graduation back in June. It was actually started back in the spring of 2012 though. First, I had a stack of interesting {for me} fabrics challenging me to try and make something interesting out of them. They were an odd color combination, funky prints and definitely not falling within my normal comfort zone at all. But I couldn't quite stuff them back in the totes. They beckoned and promised really good things if I could find the right key. One day I stumbled across an antiquish looking quilt in a Fon's & Porter's Love of Quilting magazine, drooled a little and then bingo! Lights went on and, well... it's pretty obvious what happened next.

On the floor...

Once I got to the sashing {don't you just love that wide, bold sashing?}, it seemed obvious to go with a good black fabric. Some people immediately think white with these colors, but not me. Black is just so much fun to work with. Kind of moody, but usually well worth the effort.

Then I struggled with the cornerstones. Mixed colors? Gray? Hot pink? Finally I settled on a stack of mixed black squares that I had exchanged with my mother years ago for squares of a different color altogether. Because all the blacks are prints--a mix of black with white or gray--they come off as a lovely gray right there at the edges of the brighter blocks. Wonderful how they make the pieced blocks 'pop' next to that black sashing and yet still stay firmly in the background of the quilt.

Draped over the railing...

Although I didn't originally 'make' this quilt for my daughter, it was an obvious choice to finish up and give to her as a gift. Because of the time restraints, I machine quilted in the ditch at the edge of every block plus halfway through the sashing. Then I went back and shadow quilted on the inside of the broken dishes. I tried to be really sneaky in a right-out-in-the-open sort of way and it mostly worked. Because I'm always transitioning from one quilt to the next, she never was sure if this one was for her {even though she made plenty of noises about wanting it} until she saw it in her gift bag. Then her face lit up and I could tell she was absolutely thrilled to have it.

A bit closer look...

Yay! And she has used it every single day since. Gotta love when a quilt is well loved and used well! It's an old fashioned pattern, but I think it made the leap to the more modern prints very well. Very fun to make a more graphic looking quilt for once too.

If you're interested in my first entry into the Blogger's Quilt Festival, you can also read here. It's a different sort of quilt altogether!