Dream On Quilt

Dream On, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I finished up my Dream On quilt last night! I am so happy to have this one finished! I made a last minute decision to use this in my thesis, so it needed to get done! I'll be comparing this quilt, which is made from new quilting fabric that is inspired by vintage sheets, to my star quilt that is made from real vintage sheets. I had a few lines already quilted but the majority of it was finished Sunday night and Monday. It's the biggest quilt I've made so far at 71"x88"! I love that I can get all snuggled under it with my feet sticking out! :)

Dream On, originally uploaded by jenib320.

This quilt is made from 4 charm packs of Dream On by Urban Chiks and 4 yards of Kona cotton solid in Corn Yellow. I also managed to find one of the actual vintage sheets used in the line, which I used for the backing. It was JUST big enough! You can see the backing sheet here!

Quiet, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I struggled for a long time to decide what to use the charm packs for. I don't particularly like precuts because I feel so limited. I originally thought I might just do a simple checkerboard quilt but that just didn't feel right. On a whim I decided to "go random!", which was really hard for me! I ended up cutting all the squares and putting them in a big paper bag. I tried my best to make each part of the piecing process random. Which was kind of nice as far as keeping it all organized goes!

Binding, originally uploaded by jenib320.

The binding was made using a few Dream On fat quarters from Amanda and part of a layer cake from Kerri! Thanks again ladies! I just love a good pieced binding. Originally I was simply going to use the fat quarters, but they were mostly pink/yellow, so I added in some blues and greens using the layer cake.

Dream On, originally uploaded by jenib320.

I had a bit of trouble quilting it. I simply did straight lines on either side of each seam horizontally and vertically. It was a little bulky to get through my machine. The center rows are a bit wonky. My pin basting didn't seem to be quite enough, I probably should have tried spray basting this one. Luckily, it washed up pretty well and hid a lot of the quilting imperfections! I also had a little trouble with my walking foot at first. It didn't seem to be doing it's job! the bottom was being pulled much faster than the top! I ended up cleaning my machine, oiling my walking foot and putting on a new needle and it was smooth sailing from there! :)

Dream On, originally uploaded by jenib320.

George had to test the quilt out for good measure! He approves!

Overall, I'm very happy with the way this quilt turned out. It's so bright and cheerful, perfect for summer. Even though it was hard at times for me to let go, I'm glad I went random!