A few years ago I saw a quilt hanging on the wall in my local quilt store using the Shadowbox pattern. I immediately thought it would make a nice design to show off my two weaknesses when it comes to fabric…..asian prints and my favourite colour….blue.
I cut and pieced the quilt fairly quickly. When I put the borders on I decided that I would try a mitred corner for the first time. I sewed on each border strip and stopped my seams a quarter inch from the end and that’s where I gave up. The quilt top sat for almost two years waiting for me to finish the mitre…now that is procrastination at its finest. Finally in early 2014 I picked up the top and completed the mitres in just minutes. I can’t believe that I let is sit for so long because I did not want to tackle the corners……it was so quick and easy.
I was so excited that it was ready for quilting I was ready to run downstairs, throw it on the frame and start playing……but then reality hit me. The back of the top was a a big tangle of threads and frayed fabric strands. It was so bad that it took me a whole day just to trim it up. Look at the pile of thready mess I ended up with.
It finished up as a monster 104″ x 116″ king size quilt. I made my own pantograph for it. It is clam shell shape with 3 grass like fronds coming from the bottom left corner. I saw a similar design on line but it was a digitized pattern and I don’t have the computer module for my longarm so I couldn’t buy it. I used the old fashioned, pencil, graph paper and the bottom of a jar to make my design.
And of course a quilt wouldn’t be complete without a picture of Tilly sitting on it while I hand sew the binding.
Life In The Dog House 