glittergoods: a day at the beach (in a log cabin)

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Oh, I love the colors in this quilt. I'd had the three main solids tucked away in stash for quite a while by the time I got around to actually starting in on things, & all I knew was that I was going to do another version of A Day at the Beach, this time incorporating log cabin squares, & that I wanted it to be a tiny bit unexpected.

The thing I really love about this pattern (really love, ok, I'm already thinking ahead to version three) is that you get the big bold stretches of color setting boundaries for whatever pieced work is happening in the (off) center, which means restrictions on size & color that I find really inspiring.

The pattern doesn't call for a pieced back, but at 65" x 75"*, you have to sew the fabric together somewhere in order to get the right size, so I decided to avoid a boring seam & instead add a pieced strip (much like the quilt top of the original ADatB pattern). I wish that it wasn't quite so close to the concentric-square quilting pattern (or, I guess, maybe I wish that it was right in the middle of it), but I think it looks pretty good -- although it did end up being a little bit of an object lesson on the importance of double-checking the straightness of your seams before basting everything together.

I used organic cotton batting in this quilt -- I mentioned before how wonderfully soft it is, & I have also learned that because it shrinks up a little more than a poly/cotton batting, the resulting quilt is a little squishier, too. When I look at it by itself, I think that it looks a lot more puckered than my first one (which used an 80/20 cotton/poly batting), but side-by-side, the difference is not that significant. This is a huge relief, because I had the complete trauma of the chalk lines not washing out the first time I washed it on Friday night, so I was up until all hours washing it two more times, finally resorting to stain spray & even a little (non-chlorine) bleach. The end result is that the chalk is gone (unless you look very closely), & the whole thing has a slight pleasantly-weathered look (which almost made me cry at first, but it was really really late & I like it well enough in the light of day), & I think I managed not to shrink it too much more than necessary.

*This being the only quilt I have ever made (twice) don't know if it's a standard throw size or what, but it's a terrific size if you need to throw it over someone six feet tall, & or make a tent for two small children, or spread it out flat on top of a queen-size bed without any hanging over.

Comments

amazingly, stunningly, jaw-droppingly gorgeous!

Posted by: lla | June 05, 2006 at 04:54 PM

Daria, everything about this is beautiful! I love the simplicity of the large pieces of colors and the addition of the log cabin is such a unique idea. I have been really wanting to do something log cabin-ish so much, but don't know if I'm ready to do another full on quilt, so this has inspired me to think of other ideas to maybe incorporate smaller amounts of it. The grid pattern of the quilting looks great, and I totally agree about the cotton batting shrinking up a bit more than a blend, I think that's how my latest quilt ended up so dimply. I love it!

Posted by: Blair | June 05, 2006 at 04:57 PM

What a great quilt!
I really love the colors & fabrics you chose. Job well done!
(I hope to be a future quilter.....I'm still battling my fear of my sewing machine....I have no fear of collecting fabric, however.)

Posted by: tuscanycastlegirl | June 06, 2006 at 04:30 AM