Vintage Finish - Trip Around the World

Another vintage finish for this week - this was a twin size Trip Around the World Block that the owner desired to be sized up to a King size quilt!  It was a bit of a challenge because a king size quilt is pretty much a big square, so I needed to add a lot more border to the sides than to the top and bottom.

I started out by adding an 8inch section to each side using a matching piece of vintage fabric I scavenged from another top of my own.  I like that one much better without all the purple borders - and they matched this quilt perfectly!  Then I added more borders with three different reproduction prints.  The purple and orange floral is my favorite - it's just a happy print.

After I got the borders on came the ordeal of basting this huge quilt.  I used my dining room table, carefully centering the top along the edge of the backing and batting.  Then I pinned, carefully moved the quilt, pinned more, and so on until I got it done.  I did well - no wrinkles on the back side at all!

It took several days to do all the quilting.  I finished this one off using a meandering pattern as well.  I used a light purple 50 wt Aurifil on the top and tan on the bottom.  It worked out just great!

I used the last border fabric for the binding as well.  See the yellow and brown diamond at the top?  It's a different little touch to this quilt.

I'd love to know why the maker of this quilt added it.  I've never seen one like it.  It gives it a little more pizzazz.  I'm not sure if I would put it at the top of the bed or the bottom. I guess you could go either way!

On a king size bed you'll see that purple strip on the top of the mattress instead of the side.  It matches perfectly so I think it will look nice.

I'm glad to have this project done.  Next on my list is the Pineapple quilt I am making as a special order.  I nearly have the top together, so will hopefully get it quilted tomorrow.  My list is long for November, so I have to keep moving on!

I've got another vintage finish coming up later, but not next week.

Linking up with Myra for Finished or Not Friday on her blog - Busy Hands Quilting.  Come by and see what everyone else is working on!

Vintage Finish - Double wedding ring

Did you ever have a quilt that you just could not get excited about?  Something you couldn't sink your teeth into and work on with total joy?  One that had such issues that you just knew it was going to be a total disaster no matter what you did with it?  This is the story of one of those quilts!

This is a project that was passed on to me by my friend who has an alteration shop.  She had a customer come in with a stack of the pieced rings for a double wedding ring quilt - just the rings, no wedges or centers.  My friend decided to applique the ring sections onto a background fabric, then piece the squares into a queen size quilt.  When it landed in my lap I was not excited about it at all - I was really stuck on the fact that it was not being sewn together the "right" way.

After I machine appliqued some of the blocks, I grudgingly admitting that sewing these the traditional way would have been torture as the rings did not lay very flat and were not all the same size, plus the fabrics were not all quilting cottons, this is truly a scrap bag quilt.  After we ran out of the first background fabric and had to substitute a second fabric, I was even less enthused about how this was going o come together.  Finally we got enough blocks prepared to make a large enough top to fit a queen size bed and I had to grit my teeth and just start putting the blocks together.

As I sewed, I found that the look of the quilt really started to appeal to me, and when I finished the top I was surprised to find that I really loved the way it came out!  I decided to quilt it in a simple meander and when I was done found that I can say I wholeheartedly approve of the result.  It's traditional, and modern at the same time.  The alternating background really gives it a fun look, and you really can't tell that the blocks are not all the same size.

I have enough blocks left to make a matching lap quilt for the owners daughter, and a couple of pillows as well, so that's my plan for this rainy fall day!

 I ended up liking this project so much that I had to add it to my "bucket list" of quilts to make for myself.   I am on the lookout for a batch of these rings that I can buy to make my own quilt in the same way!  I'm sure that eventually I will find a nice batch of them at the right price.

What did I learn from making this quilt?  That sometimes thinking outside the box can have fabulous results.  What do you think?

I'm linking up with Myra at BusyHandsQuilts - join in and see some great projects!