Part 4 - Orla Complete!

Right, back to my Orla Kiely quilt :)

Backing done, it was time for the quilting. When I first designed this quilt I'd hoped to copy the Orla design in free motion quilting in the sashing. Unfortunately this plan didn't work out because although my free-motion skills improved with some practice, they still left much to be desired! So instead I decided to go with a simple curve which I could achieve with my normal sewing machine foot. Plans made, I started marking the quilt:

How? My pretty Ikea bucket was the perfect size!

After a quick fail (trying to quilt curves with a broken sewing machine pedal does not work well, trust me), beautiful curves started to appear :) Cue lots of excited grinning!

As you can see, I also quilted two straight lines through each of the squares. I ended up with some pretty cool patterns:

 Flower

Leaves on a stem

And a simple square appearing in the middle of each block

And so, without any further ado (I first emailed Moira about this quilt back in June after seeing this post of hers!), here is the finished quilt!

 

 The front

Quilting close-up

The back

 Casually hanging out on the sofa

  Grow :)

Love that the two sides go so well together

 Label :) My first attempt at 'proper' applique, went pretty well

 Loving the Orla

So there we go! I fell in love with this quilt as I made it - is it weird to get that wrapped up (emotionally, instead of literally) in a quilt?! Anyway, it's well loved in a great home now. I hope you've enjoyed watching it appear :) Now I really need to get on with making a quilt for Laurence and I that I can keep!

On a less mushy note, here's an out-take from when I asked Laurence to help me get a picture of 'the back'. You can tell I married him for his sense of humour, right :P

I'll be linking up to Manic Monday and Made by you Monday when the link-ups appear :)