TGIFF: Blizzard, A Finished Quilt

Welcome one and all to TGIFF! Please share your finish for the week in the linky party below! I can't wait to see them :) I have an exciting finish to share today, too: Blizzard, a string quilt I pieced last winter and quilted this winter! This quilt is also one of my FAL Quarter 1 goals!

I designed the snowflake blocks and used some applique to make a wintery (ie, not Christmasy, as in, I-can-leave-it-on-my-couch-until-the-end-of-February) quilt. Thanks to Laurie Wisbrun's Brr! fabric and a healthy dose from my stash (ie my usual Pearl Bracelets and solids), it wasn't too difficult. Also, I considering naming this quilt "Flake" or "Flakey" but then it occurred to me how dandruffy that would sound. :P Ha, ha. Moving on.


Because it was only fitting, the husband and I ventured out into the fast-falling snow on Tuesday afternoon to take pictures of the quilt. IT WAS COLD. The cold and I don't mix (like, at all), but I was willing to do anything for a good quilt photo. Well, almost anything.

The "what were we thinking" face

When I designed the quilt, I wanted the snowflakes to actually look like snowflakes. I hesitated to sash them at all because the patterns and secondary patterns and tertiary (?) patterns were so darn cool. But, "half sash" I did, and I actually really love it. I guess that's all that matters in the end. Selfish sewing is for me to love! Plus, those patterns still exist, but the solids give the eye a rest.



I quilted this based on Barbara Persing's suggestion when she visited my guild: all-over swirls to signify wind. I also threw in some snowflakes to break up the monotony of quilting swirls on a large couch quilt. I quite like the snowflakes' randomness. See them above (especially clear in the large border)?

The husband was proud of this shot^^ :) Nice blur action!

For the 6 snowflake middles, I created a swirl using my FMQ foot, and alternated between pebbles and random squares for the white. Those polar bears just GET ME everytime.

This quilt also makes me want to watch the movie Frozen a zillion times. All the Nordic patterns... I can't.

Blizzard is backed in Anna Maria Horner flannel that was originally intended for some pajama pants. HA. Quilting flannel will get easier with my incoming Supreme Slider, so I hear, so flannel backing will definitely happen again (the husband hath requested). As you can see, I ran out of flannel, so I picked up some extra from the Intrepid Thread. I also left the AMH selvage in there, because you know I'm a quilty fangirl, and I don't use nearly enough selvages in my projects (though I hope to change that this year).

Finally, I bound it in a really light blue/white fabric. I love the small prints for binding! Kind of swirly, like the wind.

Thanks for reading about a quilt that's very special to me. I love seeing it and snuggling under it for a bit every day. :) If anyone is definitely interested in a tutorial, please let me know, and I will work on one!

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Show us the finishes!!

• Please visit other links for maximum comment love/sharing.
• Please link back to TGIFF in your blog post so your blog visitors can see all the other finishes this week. :) Sharing is caring.

Stay warm, everyone! Well, if you are in a heat wave... stay cool!