UVA Quilt, Finished!!

It is finished!!! I finally finished my UVA quilt and despite all of its flaws I am in love with it. Since I loved the fabric so much I didn’t want to waste any and may have gone a little overboard with my squares. The quilt was originally suppose to be a lap quilt and ended up being 7’ x 6’ which is just perfect for two to snuggle under but much bigger than originally planned.

Below is a picture of the quilt right after I finished the basting process. With a quilt this size the basting process was difficult for a novice like me so I used quilt basting spray. I laid the backing out first and then the quilt batting on top of that. I cut the batting to size and folded it back so I could start spraying. I worked from the middle out to ensure there were no wrinkles. I then did the same for the top. It is still difficult for me to get all the wrinkles out but it turned out pretty well. Even though you do not need to secure your quilt sandwich with pins when using the basting spray it makes me more comfortable to add a few (as you can see in the picture).

My quilt sandwich ready to be quilted

I decided on straight line quilting each line about 2 inches apart. This took much longer than I expected and my walking foot quit on me by the end but I finished. None of my lines are perfectly straight and it will take more practice to learn how to handle such a large quilt while sewing but I am getting there.

Straight line quilting

 

Finally I had to sew on the border. I went with a yellow border to balance the orange and teal on the back of the quilt. I also like the contrast on the front with the large gray border. I use Elizabeth Hartman’s tutorial for attaching borders.

Pressing my border

And here it is! All finished.

My UVA Quilt

 

Believe it or not, I am already planning my next quilt. I have once again been inspired by Elizabeth Hartman’s Mod Sampler Quilt made by Goddess in Progress. She recommended it for a beginner and it is smaller than my UVA Quilt so hopefully it will take a little less time.