I’m really happy to be sharing my finished version of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Sew Along quilt. The QAL, organised, by Melva Nolan was easy paced with blocks being published once every three weeks. Melva’s block designs were inspired by the writings of a Victorian relative, Marian Russell, who lived beside and traversed the Santa Fe Trail first as a young girl with her mother and later with her husband. Marian’s vivid memories made interesting reading as the QAL progressed.
I made the twelve blocks using fabrics from my collections of blue and neutral scraps. The outer pieced border is mainly made from my scraps too. The fabrics for the sashing, cornerstones, blue and grey borders and the binding were all purchased specially to complete this quilt. The pieced backing is a mix of fabrics from my stash and the left over fabrics from the sashing and borders.
I used Bosal ‘Stitch It’ 80% cotton/20% polyester wadding for the first time. I definitely recommend this wadding. The fibres used are evenly distributed and the wadding feels soft and smooth. It machine quilted very well and I was impressed with how little lint built up in my machine.
The quilting follows the same ‘hanging diamond’ pattern Melva used for her sample. I used a grey/blue Aurifil 50wt thread, No. 2770 and stitched the quilting lines 2½” apart. I don’t have a walking foot for Julie the Juki so I was relieved the fabrics stayed in place with very few puckers occurring. I credit the lack of ‘creep’ to the quality of the wadding more than the quality of my pin basting technique!
As you can probably see the quilt drapes very well. It is very snuggly and cuddly and at 57½” wide by 72″ long it is a useful size.
And of course, every quilt should have a label 😉
Linking with Michelle for the Beauties Pageant and with Wendy for the Peacock Party.
Allison