Monday, May 7, 2012

Rainbow I Spy

No one is happier than I am that this quilt is finally finished, except perhaps its recipient, my daughter.
rainbow i spy

This project was one of my longest-standing WIPs. I began it in a Quilt Along in November, 2010. I worked on it at various retreats, but kept getting bumped by other projects.

The original design was intended to work with a charm pack (which are 5" squares) but I got all fancy and chose some 6½" I Spy charms I'd amassed, so it was a bit more work what with the calculating of all new cutting measurements and whatnot. The plus side is that the quilt ended up being more or less twin sized, which works well for Miss G's bed.

i spy closeup

You may or may not be able to see it, but the colour of the charms' frames is planned. I chose the 40 I Spy charms based on what colour each one "read". Then using the colour pairings as follows - white/black, red/violet, orange/blue, yellow/green - I alternated the colours of the frames to contrast then match the charm. So the blue charms have an inner frame of orange, and an outer frame of blue.

I'd originally planned to lay out the quilt with one outer frame colour per row, but I didn't like the layout once I saw it all together. So I switched it up, and laid the blocks out sequentially in ROYGBV order with the addition of black and white in the sequence so that it was BROYWGBV.

i spy binding

It's quilted very simply: in the ditch, and in diagonal lines. I didn't even bother marking the diagonal lines; just eyeballed it and they came out very nicely if I do say so myself. Thread is Aurifil 40wt in variegated colour 3817 ("Crayons"). Binding fabric is a neat sketchy black and white gingham from the Love Me Leave Me Not line by Ro Gregg for Northcott. I did a bias binding because I love how it looks with a gingham, and this quilt is going to get a lot of washing so I wanted something durable.

i spy back

This is a 100% stash quilt (YAY! Slash the Stash for May!), and even the striped fabric you see on the back is a repurposed IKEA duvet cover that we never ended up putting to use.

Linking up for the first time what seems like a very long time to {Sew} Modern MondayManic Monday and Fabric Tuesday (buttons on the left sidebar)! Woot!

16 comments:

  1. Well, it's about time!

    I kid, it looks fabulous, of course! I know your little girl will love studying the little pictures.

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  2. Woohoo for FFOs! (Finally Finished Objects) :)

    It turned out really cute. I have just started collecting charms for an I spy picnic blanket. I am going to bookmark yours for inspiration.

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  3. Awesome Felicity! Love the i-spy feature, and the gingham binding is great.

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  4. It's lovely Felicity! And so so satisfying to finish one of those long-time WIPs!

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  5. awesome finish! well worth all your extra calculations etc. for sure.

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  6. Very cool finish! That is one fun quilt. I especially love that binding.

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  7. Hi! I love your daughter's new quilt! You have made beautiful design with the colours and prints! x Teje

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  8. Wow, great job, Felicity! So fun and cuddly!

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  9. Congratulations on finishing this lovely quilt!

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  10. Awesome finish! What a cute idea to do the log cabin with the I-spy and that binding is fab!

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  11. Woo hoo!! It is done well before her college graduation! ;)

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  12. Hooray for long time wips being whipped into shape :) I am sure your daughter will love this, it is wonderful and colorful and everything that little girls need. Good job using up that stash as well!

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  13. This is wonderful! I am sure your daughter will love it for years to come. I haven't seen an eye spy done that way and i think it's great : )

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  14. Yay!!! I love finishes from WIP's! There is some strong sense of satisfaction from just using the stash, especially when it turns out this well!!! Bravo!

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  15. Yeah for using what you have! It's such a fun bright quilt! Thanks so much for linking up!

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