Look at this charity quilt — a Flannel Beauty! This quilt top was made by LaNan Eldridge. It started out as a kit that LaNan purchased a long time ago. She changed the pattern and was determined to get these pieces sewn into a quilt top. Have you ever purchased a kit or fabric and then years later decided you no longer liked the pattern or couldn’t remember why you bought the fabric?
I forwarded this quilt top to Cheryl in Dallas for quilting and binding — it was too big for my longarm frame. In the photo below, the Flannel Beauty gets loaded onto the longarm.
The excess batting and top goes underneath the longarm frame. Just a few swift kicks and it is out of the way. Cheryl’s little quilting buddy is providing oversight for this part of the project.
The blocks are set on point, and LaNan added a maroon flange to the outer perimeter of the blocks to separate them from the setting triangles.
The digital pattern is Crimson Rose, designed by Patricia Ritter and Jessica Schick. Many of the quilt fabrics have roses and other flowers.
Maroon thread is used for the quilting, but it doesn’t overwhelm the top because it contains so many bright colors.
You can see the quilting better from the back of the quilt.
Cheryl wanted a solid fabric for the binding, but she didn’t have any solids in maroon or forest green. She resolved that dilemma without a trip to the local quilt store by using the wrong side of this green fabric. This piece came from a sale on Christmas fabric many years ago.
This glittery fabric found the perfect place in this quilt binding.
After sewing the binding to the top of the quilt, Cheryl presses the binding open so it will fold over to the back easier.
Pinning the corners of binding makes it easier to feed them through the machine for the final pass of stitching. You can see that the final row of binding will be done from the back of the quilt.
Even though the final seam of the binding is sewn from the back, it looks good on the front, too.
At last, the Flannel Beauty is complete!
After quilting the top, Cheryl trimmed several inches from all sides to make it a better fit for the charity where it is headed next. The finished quilt is 82” x 94″.
With so many colors in the top, what is the backing like?
Cheryl pulled five different fabrics from her stash to piece the backing. This idea came from Pinterest, but it morphed a lot from the original pretty picture to the final design.
Each piece of the backing is a different size. This quilt is anything but boring!
Almost done. This quilt will get a label and a turn in the washing machine. It will be hand delivered to the House of Hope in Gainesville, Florida, ready to be claimed by a new resident.
I’m so glad that LaNan finally turned this old kit into a beautiful quilt. It will become an heirloom for a young woman who will soon arrive at the House of Hope.
Loved this Quilt Story. Both quilters worked so hard and between them created a super quilt! That maroon thread was exactly the right colour choice, also the rose quilting design. Well done, LeNan for using the reverse of the green Christmas fabric for the binding. Again perfect. Great backing too. So, well done ladies on a wonderful finish! Someone is going to have a super surprise when they receive this beauty.
A Great Story about teamwork to help another:)
Beautiful ladies, just beautiful.
Beautiful quilt with a great story! You all have inspired me to get back to work on some of the charity quilts I have started here at home. More projects finished!
I really enjoyed this blog today, it just reinforces the fact that we can do things to “kits” and make them work. I love the use of the back side of the green (so clever) and a glitzy binding and her use of the flange was something I would not of thought to use there.
Wonderful work LeNann and Cheryl. I know this work of love is going to be so appreciated by the one who receives it.
I am glad LaNan and Cheryl did their part to make this quilt for someone who needed a little hope.
Great job ladies! Thanks for showing the back of the quilt. That is a great idea, and one that will really help me use up some older fabric.
I have used the back of printed fabric as well, not for binding but for piecing. First time was by accident, left it in the quilt and it just looks like a muted version of the white print that was on the front of the fabric.
With all the big quilts you’ve done I’m surprised your frame won’t hold a quilt less than 90 inches!!! Haven’t you done queens plus?