The Kingfisher Quilt

 As I’ve just finished this quilt I though I’d dedicate a blog post about it.  Looking back at Instagram it seems that I started this in July 2018, so its been less than 3 years in the making (I have got ongoing projects that are older!). I had made a few projects with English Paper Piecing (EPP) and I’d seen this quilt on Tales of Cloth website.  It was a quilt along and as I’d recently retired I thought it would be a good project todo.  Rather than joining lots of hexagons together these were hexie’flowers’ on a diamond shaped background, the diamonds are then joined together. Here’s the link to the blog Stitched in Color  here.  The link to Tales of Cloth is here and there is a lot of inspiration for other EPP shapes. If you look on Instagram at the #kingfisherstitchalong you will see some lovely quilts made using this pattern.

I’ve used whatever I’ve had in stash wherever possible.  I bought a few low volume fabrics for the backgrounds as I went along too.  The border fabrics was purchased but the binding fabric was a half metre piece in my stash that juuusssttt about went around the finished quilt.

Here are some progress pictures 

The first few blocks

I had a lovely folder for my EPP blocks given to me from Marie at a retreat I went to back in October 2018. She’d included a hexie flower and that’s in the quilt and a few papers too, which came in useful.

The pictures are in the wrong order, but anyway this picture is of the blocks sewn together and the one above is showing the low volume hexies to create a contrast to the border.  The border needed a ‘something’ and a chance to make more hexies! I enjoyed the cutting out of the shapes and although I used a glue stick to turn the edges over they still needed to be hand sewn together and appliquéd onto background.  

Summer last year I had backing fabric (a rather pale yellow) and wadding to layer it up and baste (tack) it together but hadn’t any idea how I was going to quilt it.  It did hibernate until lockdown this year.  It had been on my Finish A Long lists for 2019, 2020 and this year.  With not going out anywhere it was a good chance to get stuck in and get it done! 

I decided to hand quilt using fine perle thread.  I have several skeins of thread, some solid coloured and some variegated and chose colours close to the theme of each hexi flower.  The narrow cream border was also stand stitched and the edge triangles too in a plain cream.  The low volume hexies were quilted around with a dusky lilac colour thread, which toned in well with the grey border fabric.  

So all that was left was the binding.  I did cut that at 2.25” wide and got just enough from a half metre of a grey mottled fabric that I had in stash.  That was machine sewn and I slips stitched that on Monday. All that remained was to take photos and a label (that’s still not done, but it will be).  

Above I’ve hung it on the washing line to photograph and it’s now on the bed! 

There are 322 coloured hexies and 128 low volume ones, so 450 in total. 

It’s 61” wide x 59” long.

Now to catch up with other UFO’s!