Sweat Tea

I'm loving my new quilt! I had picked up a couple of half yard pieces of Moda's Hearty Good Wishes at the Statesville show. When I saw Amy Friend's pattern, Sweet Tea, I knew I wanted to make use my new fabric.

You can find her pattern HERE. It is super easy to read and she tells you how to press everything so it all nests in perfectly.

So now the only problem was how to make a lap quilt with 3 half yard cuts of fabric. Well, obviously it can't be done, so I started scouring the Internet. This great line of nautical type fabric was not easy to find or cheap, lol. I asked my friend, Lee, if she had seen it at any of the shops she teaches at. Sure enough, there were several bolts at Studio Stitch in Greensboro, far, far away. My husband is crazy about gas mileage so I ordered it over the phone and had them pop it in Gina's box. She did me a huge favor and brought it back with her when she went to pick up quilts.

Love the fish and the sea gulls.

I had also found these adorable foxes in Statesville. They look a little sleepy. Maybe they've been gorging on fish;)

Here's the back. I'm normally pretty cheap about backing fabric. I don't like to use batiks and I don't like to spend a fortune on fabric I won't see. Besides, I love the feel of muslin, so that is usually my go to. On this occasion though, I couldn't resist the white with blue fish. I got this yardage online, and it was super soft. You only live once, right?

Originally I was planning on some fancy quilting, but strangely enough, I really do like simple quilting, especially on a lap quilt. I stitched in the ditch and quilted a wainscoting type pattern across the rest. This light blue thread gives it a denim look, I think. I'm really like it.

I also tried out some Dream Poly batting. I wanted this quilt to be a bit warmer, and Dream Poly feels so nice. I'm not sure I'm happy with the results though. It feels a little stiffer than I'd like, but then again, I've yet to throw it in the wash, so fingers crossed.

And to top it off, striped binding. I've seen this on quilts before and really liked it. Most of the striped fabric at my local shop was blazing white, which wouldn't work with these creamy light center blocks, but I found some that had kind of an off white look. It clashes a little on the back, but I love the front! The stripes really give this quilt an extra pop! She'll get her fashion debut at guild and Fabric Therapy this week and then I'm putting her straight to use. She's going to look beautiful draped over the new sofa. Can't wait!