Saturday, February 11, 2017

Flamingos en Provence Flimsy

Yesterday I sewed the last long seam to finish the pieced centre of my version of Bonnie Hunter's 2016 mystery quilt, En Provence (now available to buy as a digital pattern, right here). Bonnie's quilt has 16 blocks, and I simplified it to nine:


Since I still wanted a bed sized quilt, my plan was to sew a pieced border that would transition to my flamingo feature fabric from Iza Pearl. I carried the cornerstone diamonds out into the low volume border:


The diamonds were outlined with one of the flamingo collection fabrics, a leafy green blender. I love how it looks in the photo above, but it did get lost a little when I sewed on the final wide border today:

Flamingos en Provence flimsy, 86" x 86" (218 x 218 cm)

I do kind of wish now that I had made it full size, with all sixteen green blocks and less border. But, I just have a few strings left from my two main white fabrics, so it's done! And I like it.

Huge thanks to Bonnie for another great mystery! And thank you to all the other mystery participants too -- this year I picked up a few good ideas from other quilters in the link up:

  • Let the seam allowances go the way they want. A couple of Allietare makers said this last year too, but this is the first time I tried it. It is much easier and faster to just twist the seam allowances as needed so they all butt together.
  • Sew in quadrants. When you sew together the quilt in four quadrants, and then join them at the end, there is only ever one long seam. That made it easier and faster, and it's going to be a big help as I finish Allietare, too.
  • Count down the pieces. A couple of quilters counted down how many pieces they had left to sew, until the whole thing was in one piece. I thought that would be motivating, and it was! When there are a lot of pieces, the seams are short, so it feels like fast progress. And when the seams get longer, you are also down to the last 20 or 15 or 10 pieces, and the end is in sight. Worked for me!



So, I'm thrilled to be done pretty much on schedule. I had hoped to be done by the end of January for OMG, but my fall back position was always Bonnie's final link up in February. It'll start on Monday, right here.

To see all my previous posts on this project, please click here.

And now I am done with schedules for the year! But the list is still long -- Allietare, Hanami and Hen Party are my first priorities, and my next "new" quilt is still going to be Prairie Star, with new improved fabrics and hopefully, better feng shui. Stay tuned!

34 comments:

  1. I've enjoyed watching your progress on this quilt. I particularly love the flamingo fabric, I'm becoming a sucker for flamingo fat quarters! The circle pattern really is clear on your quilt, which is a lovely point of interest. I'm really keen on your partial circles around the edges:) this quilt is just super :) thanks for sharing with us:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much! I'm a little ahead of the curve, now it seems that flamingo is the colour of the year! So, I think we'll all be seeing a lot more of them. :D

      Delete
  2. Gosh, that turned out GREAT! The flamingo fabric just made it! That was a great mystery project Bonnie shared. Good for you to have a flimsy!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Terry! This really was another great design from Bonnie. And I'm thrilled to have it done in a relatively timely manner! Feels like progress. :D

      Delete
  3. Well, FYI, after reflection I am definitely going to cut down that border a bit, maybe to 3".

    ReplyDelete
  4. I love it! I like the look of the half circles in the border. You are talking about cutting it down, maybe add a green border instead?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like your variation, especially the way you've created circles. I also like your border; it blends into the center very well.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Beautiful! I like the way you carried the cornerstone diamonds into the border and the way the flamingos in the semi-circles blend into the border. I think you have just the right balance of things standing out and blending together.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Monica this has worksed breautifully you must be delighted with it too

    ReplyDelete
  8. I love the cornerstone starts, especially the way you brought them into the border. I always like to see a bit of innovation in borders, they can get so boring and detract from the overall design. Yours is lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your quilt turned out so lovely--very tropical!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm in awe of the complexity and detail. There are o many ways of looking at it. It also has a sense of calm about it. It's rest-inducing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think "rest-inducing" is a good quality for a bed quilt, actually. I've been thinking about that a lot lately. Different than a wall quilt. This one is now looking like it may end up on the sofa, though. We'll see. Thanks, Jillian!

      Delete
  11. It makes you smile thinking about flamingos en Provence. Your quilt finish is fun and delightful!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Your fabrics are just gorgeous! I love flamingos.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Beautiful whatever size it ended up! Mine is still in pieces as I have been distracted by other things! Will get back to it at some point. Guild retreat coming up in October but surely before then? I call this one of yours Flamingoed.

    ReplyDelete
  14. This is lovely; I do like your green instead of purple. I've never dared to change the colours; I'm afraid I'll lose the contrast if I don't follow Bonnie's instructions. Perhaps I'll try it next year too.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Great change to the Borders. I love the curves you created. A Beautiful way to incorporate your Flamingos.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Your choice of color is awesome and I love your transition to the border print.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I love how yours turned out, the muted colors are so relaxing!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Dorothy. It is actually pretty bright, you know. But still relaxing, I think!

      Delete
  18. Your quilt turned out great. It reminds me of spring and a flowerbed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Bente! Yes, I keep thinking of lily pads. :D

      Delete
  19. Bravo i love your colours and the result is fantastic. Xx

    ReplyDelete
  20. Lovely! Your colours work well, and I love the flamingos.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Hands down, you win the prize for the most innovative color/fabric interpretation of this mystery! Very, very pretty!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Bravo on a beautiful, on schedule finish. I love the way the cornerstone pieces wrap around the larger circles; they take on a lovely concave line that adds a graceful movement to the piece. Great job as always.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! Yes, that curve that you get from the Tri Recs piece is so nice, isn't it? I'm sure I'll use it again somewhere. I'm so glad to have kept up with this one!

      Delete
  23. Great job--unusual and very pretty colors, and great borders that work!

    ReplyDelete
  24. A lovely soft scalloped look to your borders, fabulous fabrics. A big pat on the back for finishing in time for the link up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Jeanette! You are right, finishing on time is by far my biggest breakthrough on this one!

      Delete

I'm told Blogger has been bouncing some comments, so if it happens to you I'm sorry! But the settings look right so I can't explain it. In any case, thanks for reading!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...