Ta Da! Park Bench Quilt Finish

I am letting you know right now that this is a picture laden post!  

But having spent a year piecing the blocks, MANY back-breaking long days standing at my longarm and a few late nights hand sewing the binding so I could write about the finish today, you can bet I am going to share every square inch of this quilt with you!

As soon as I saw Julie's (Jaybird Quilts) Park Bench quilt, it went right onto my Bucket List of quilts.   I love big bold blocks and this is one showy pattern!

By chance, I spied the kit on Craftsy for a really ridiculous price and instantly purchased it.  I think Julie did such a perfect job putting together this quilt, I just couldn't see how I could make it any better so I made it just like hers.

(Unfortunately, the kit is no longer available but Craftsy does have Julie's Gravity quilt kit and the rulers - which are brilliant by the way!)

I spent almost all of 2015 sewing up the hexagon blocks.  My goal was to sew up about two blocks a month.  That would leave me plenty of time tin the year to finish up the pieced background for the quilt top.

I finished up the flimsy around the end of January - right on schedule!

I had been reserving a large chunk of time in my February schedule to squeeze in this quilt between my client quilts.  I wanted to give it the custom quilt job it deserved.

Prior to quilting, I did re-watch Angela Walters Craftsy class Dot to Dot Quilting.  If you want to try some of the quilting seen on my quilt, she does a great job walking you through the process. 

This border was totally inspired by the class.

My goal on the quilting was to quilt each element differently.  I may have repeated designs but made slight changes so I could create a different look.  I also didn't want the quilting to be too dense.  While it is dense in a few areas, overall I wanted a cuddly quilt.

I loaded the quilt sideways on my frame and quilted an entire column of hexagons before moving the quilt.  I did use 5 different colors of thread on this quilt so there were a fair number of thread changes.

This first block in the middle column is one of my favorites.

This orange and blue one makes me smile too.  I started quilting the orange diamonds and decided I didn't like how I quilted the first one so I made a slight change on the rest.  Unlike a client quilt, I don't have to pick out that first diamond.  :)

And here are the last two blocks on the middle column.

If you were ever wondering what the view is like from underneath a longarm here you go.  After a long day of quilting, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get back up off the floor.  

It was a good thing I had my phone!

Starting on the third and final column of blocks.  

I am still meeting my goal of coming up with unique designs.

I like this block too.  Simple designs are sometimes the best!

 Just the final border to go!

And here it is - Fresh off the Frame!

Here is a picture of the back.  I have to admit it looks pretty cool.  Sometimes, I do piece my backing to use up fabrics but for custom quilting, I suggest just a single fabric so you can see the detail.  I used an orange crosshatch fabric for mine.  Enough pattern to hide the areas I back stitched but simple enough to let the quilting shine. 

 I will definitely be snuggling with this one tonight!

 Thanks for reading through to the end!

This finish was one of my first quarter goals for the 2016 Finish A Long.  I still have two more to get through!





 



Linking Up:

My Quilt Infatuation (Needle & Thread)
Free Motion Mavericks (Free Motion Mavericks)

Confessions of a Fabric Addict (Can I get a Whoop! Whoop!)

TGIFF (Thank Goodness it is Friday Finish)

Fabric Frenzy Friday

Crazy Mom Quilts (Finish it up Friday)
A Quilted Passion 
Sew can she
 A Quilter's Table (2016 FAL)

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