Charity Quilt Finish

We have another finish from Cheryl today.  WOW…She’s on a roll.

Look at what the volunteer quilters have completed recently.  This quilt top was made by Kristy Wilkinson.  She sent it to me in July 2016.  I forwarded the top to Cheryl in Dallas who did the quilting and binding this week.  

Many of you will recognize the pattern just based on the colors of Kristy’s quilt, below.

 

Do the black-white-pink rectangles look familiar?

 

Close-up of those luscious fabrics.

 

Look at Kristy’s precision in matching those intersections:  green and white 4-blocks sewn to green-white-black 4 blocks.  I can’t remember how many of these units were needed for this quilt, but I’m sure some of you readers do.

 

There are even a few flannels sprinkled throughout the top.

While the longarm machine was working, Cheryl cut out the bias binding.

 

A nice little pile of bias strips . . .

Bias strips are joined into a length to bind this quilt with some leftover.

After the quilt comes off the frame and is trimmed, it gets a row of stay-stitching about 1/8″ from the edge.  This makes it easier to attach the binding.

The binding is sewn to the front of the quilt top . . .

. . . and then flipped over to the back side and fastened through all layers of the quilt.

 

The finished binding passes muster.

This backyard display shows the quilt under a cloudy, overcast day in Dallas.  You already recognized this pattern as the Bonnie Hunter mystery from 2014, didn’t you?  Here it is….I wonder how many of you used the colors Bonnie recommended — or if you decided to go with another color scheme.  Personally, I like to use Civil War fabrics for the mystery quilts.

 

Ooooooh, don’t you love that pink border?  Kristy made this quilt 88″ x 88″, which is a great size for a full-size bed.

Isn’t that lime green backing just the ticket for this Grand Illusion?  You know how I feel about polka dots.

Kristy’s top was made in California, but the backing fabrics came from Texas.  Wonderful collaboration.

This top was quilted with a digital pattern called “Threadz” by Patricia Ritter.  Olive-colored variegated thread was used.

Almost done!  The label will be next be sewn by hand, then into the washing machine.  Finally, Federal Express will deliver this beautiful quilt to the House of Hope in Gainesville, Florida.

 

Cheryl’s 3-year old Boston Terrier loves the end of the quilting process when she can play with the backing and batting scraps.  She spends days rearranging those bits and pieces before the vacuum cleaner gets pulled out.

 

Cheryl in Dallas sent this message along with the pictures:

Jo, When I was in Florida during February, I stopped by the House of Hope.  The ladies there introduced me as The Quilt Lady.  One of the residents said “My quilt is PERFECT! I love it!”  She then gave me the World’s Biggest Hug.  It was so sweet.  Cheryl 

Thank you, Kristy and Cheryl, for your work on this beautiful Grand Illusion.  And for all of you blog-readers who have participated in any way in making a charity quilt, the World’s Biggest Hug is really for you!