Indigo Dreams

Two lovely sunny days have cheered me up no end, so now I can show you the quilt I finished last Friday but couldn't photograph so couldn't post.  I am really happy with it for several reasons:

1.  I pieced the top a couple of years ago so it's great to have finished a UFO.

2. It uses a great collection of reproduction indigoes which even a couple of years ago had been in my stash for far too long.  The selvage just says 'Vintage Indigo by Harriet Hargrave for P&B Textiles' and the date is...2002.  Good thing fabric doesn't go off!



3. The design is a copy of a vintage quilt I saw in a book and longed to make.  I just have a photocopy which doesn't give any provenance (but I will keep looking).  It is simply described as Broken Dishes Variation 1875-1900, though there is a pattern for a similar quilt in different colours in Fons and Porter's Fat Quarter Friendly which is called Double X.






4. It is the first quilt I have quilted on my new Juki sewing machine.  I just quilted with a walking foot as I wanted a utility feel to the quilting and for nothing to detract from the graphic block design.  It is quite a big quilt for me, 75" x 88", and I would have struggled to get it through my old Bernina, but the new machine just crunched through all the seams and didn't miss a stitch.  The extra space under the arm and the needle down function are fab.




Sorry, I know lots of you probably have amazing machines because you all do such great work, but it is a real treat for me to upgrade and it's all thanks to my mum who has very generously given me an advance on all future Christmas and birthday presents for evermore.  Best present ever, Mum, thank you.



5. I had to wash it after I finished because the calico was looking a little grubby and it has to go into my LQS as I am hoping to teach it as a class - the indigo didn't run!  Three cheers for Harriet and P&B Textiles!

As you may have gathered from this, I am not a pre-washer: I have quite enough laundry to do for the family without washing my stash too.  But I admit I wasn't sure I had done the right thing this time.  I confess I washed the leftover fabric first with a colour catcher before risking the entire quilt, but I shouldn't have worried.
Good quality quilting fabric from a reputable manufacturer is worth every penny.

Now I am playing with colour and more contemporary fabrics - isn't quilting wonderful!