It is with great relief that I pronounce my bow tie quilt completed. Begun over two years ago as part of the 100 Day Summer Sewalong, it is hand-pieced, hand-quilted and fully hand-bound. Ever since I learned my maternal grandma made bow tie quilts, I knew I needed to try my hand at one too. And since back in the 1940s or so, she most likely stitched hers by hand, so did I.
It was in May 2021 that I prepped bow tie blocks to hand-piece. It's been so long, I had forgotten I had used a tutorial by Wynn Tan of Zakka Art to cut out the blocks. For background, I used Kona Enchanted, the 2020 Kona Color of the Year. And for the bow ties, I used a custom 6" charm pack I'd purchased from Katie Pedersen @sewkatiedid years ago....a mix of wonderfully varied purple prints that played off the Enchanted nicely. That only got me so far though, so I incorporated a Social by Melody Miller charm pack and some scraps to bring me to 100 unique fabrics. There are a few from the Social charm pack that are the same pattern but different colorways, and I think that worked out ok. I began piecing with Aurifil 50wt, but soon switched to Aurifil 28wt, and it worked great. [ETA: looking back, I realized I began piecing with 50wt, then 40wt, finally realizing that 28wt would be a better choice.]
The quilt's backing is made simply from lengths of Kona Enchanted. I just didn't feel like I needed to deal with hand-piecing a complex back for this one. And I switched up from my normal batt, Warm & White, and purchased a throw-size of Quilter's Dream Request batting that I knew would be great for hand-quilting. And for that stitching, I chose Aurifil 12wt 4093 [Jade], which worked beautifully.
Probably the most tedious of all the hand-stitching was sewing the binding onto the front of the quilt. But once that was done, I was able to stitch the binding to the back in just a couple of evenings.
The quilt finished at 54" square, and is soft and cozy.
5/18/21 - 100 Day Sewalong Prep
6/30/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 30
7/20/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 50
8/20/21 - 100 Day Summer Sewalong :: Day 80
7/25/22 - Aurifil Artisan Challenge :: On the Go
11/14/22 - Bow Tie Progress
6/28/23 - 2023 Summer Sewalong
Congratulations on your amazing finish, it's a beauty with an interesting history. Good choice on the Quilter's Dream batting too, it makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like it is a soft and snuggly quilt. I did wonder what hand sewing the binding to the front of the quilt would be like: did you go through all the layers? That was probably pretty hard on your fingers/hands if so! Congratulations on this finish and for exploring the connection back to your grandmother.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely a project to be proud of! Big congratulations. I still love that you picked such a unique background. xo
ReplyDeleteCongrats!! This is amazing!!
ReplyDeleteLovely--a work of love! Well done--as usual! You are amazing--and your Grandma must have been too!
ReplyDeleteBlessing and love~