Binalong {An almost finished quilt!}

I'm excited to share a new (and almost finished!) quilt with you today - the next installment in AGF Stitched (a collaboration between Art Gallery Fabrics and the Fat Quarter Shop). I made two quilts for AGF Stitched last year (Fractal and Welded) and they were both such fun projects to make, I jumped at the chance to participate again this year. I'm a huge fan of Art Gallery Fabrics (they are divine to work with), and the simple, graphic nature of this quilt design really appealed to me. Blithe is a free quilt pattern, and there is even a YouTube video to teach you how to make the blocks!

 I'm pleased to introduce you to my version of the Blithe quilt - a quilt I'm naming Binalong. I'm pretty sure this is the first quilt I've made that is essentially different shades and tints of a single colour, but I think it works quite well. This quilt design instantly made me think of waves and water, so I chose Cozumel Blue (an amazing rich aqua/teal solid) for the background along with a whole host of aqua, teal and blue fabrics from various Art Gallery collections. I sorted them by value, and planned the placement to give the quilt a sense of moving up through the sea.

I'm making this quilt for my 8 year old son, who loves all things beachy. And the colours are definitely reminiscent of our yearly holiday destination - Binalong Bay on the east coast of Tasmania. My son already has several quilts, but he's a bit of a fan of building a quilt nest on his bed - and as the weather is descending into Autumn I figure another layer on his bed won't hurt ;o).

The quilt top came together ridiculously quickly (I didn't time it precisely, but it was around 8 hours of sewing to put it together). I used triangles on a roll for the first time to make the HSTs for this quilt, and they certainly make it quick to put HSTs together! The quilting has been really fast as well. I decided to continue the sea theme and combine organic straight lines following the angle of the HSTs with some improv free motion quilting. I'm using a variegated pale blue Aurifil thread (40wt) for all the quilting. I've kept the quilting wide-spaced, so the quilt is beautifully drapey and soft - and I'm looking forward to seeing what the texture is like once it's washed. 

If you'd like to make your own version of Blithe, the Fat Quarter Shop have put together a kit featuring Chalk and Paint by Sew Caroline. This quilt finishes up at about 54" x 72" so it's a great size for a lap quilt. I'm hoping to finish the rest of the quilting later this week, and get the binding sewn on soon - I have a very impatient child asking me when it will be finished!!

I'll be back very soon with a free block tutorial and to share some of my student's work :o)

xx Jess