Blue and Gray Quilt: Part 2

This quilt is definitely my biggest project so far, and the one I'm most proud of. It's the culmination of over a year's worth of work, and entirely hand-stitched. 

When I started (and you can read more about that here), all I knew I wanted was a quilt with blue and gray in it. I spent a couple months collecting fabric from various stores, and decided to start simple with square blocks. The pattern alternates blue and gray and is symmetrical. It came out better than expected! When I first started quilting, I thought it would look too random because no two fabrics are alike, but the symmetry helps a lot. And the lack of similarities isn't necessarily bad; each piece of fabric has a unique story of where it's from and how I came to have it for my quilt.  

Each square is quilted with 3 concentric circles. The gray squares have blue thread and the blue squares have gray thread for the outer and inner most circles. 

Ultimately, what I got from this project was an even deeper appreciation for the handmade, especially quilts. It was difficult to sew this entire piece without a machine, but I'm very glad I did it. I feel more in touch with the quilt, because I know that every stitch was made by my hands. 

The outside is finished with a blue bias binding I found at the Alemany Flea Market in San Francisco...at least before September 2014...I've had it for a really long time...

But I'm most excited to do this again! Minus the handquilting. While making this quilt, I spent a lot of time looking at pictures and patterns for other quilts...maybe there's a new project on the horizon?

I will be submitting this piece in my portfolio for college apps, so here's the video that I'm using (it's a compilation of photos that are in this post):

And finally, a big thank you to my brother and our neighbor for holding the quilt while I bossed them around for photos. "A little higher! No, a little lower than that. Nope, that's too low. Stop moving!"

If you want to see more pictures of the quilting process, be sure to find me on Instagram @taftisseamstress. I was posting lots of close-ups as I was finishing up the project. 

I'll let you know when there's another quilt in the works!

-Taft W-K