There’s still time to enter my giveaway for $50 to CSN stores! Click here!!
And, check out a great tutorial for the most adorable baby sun suit ever here on Savvy Stitch! Tell Emily I sent you!
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I’ve finally finished another quilt! It seems like it has been ages since I finished a large quilt, and in looking back at the archives, it has been since Christmas (Sammy’s quilt). I used my friend Dacia Ray’s Easy Beach Blanket Pattern (free!) and it worked great! I love the size of this blanket for beach-going (about 80″ x 55″). I was very envious of this quilt when Dacia would bring it for us to picnic on every 4th of July. Thankfully, my jealousy kicked her into gear for writing the pattern so that’s a plus!
I made this using all large scraps I had on hand. I like the random assortment of colors with a dominantly yellow/teal color scheme. It also has a tie on one end which allows me to roll it up and tote it to the beach (yeah right, I live in Seattle, let’s be honest: there is no beach-going…).
I tried something fun for quilting this. I did wonky straight lines, intersecting each other randomly along the way. I was hoping that the way it puckered up would mimic waves and I think it kind of worked. I haven’t washed it yet, and I suspect the puckering will become more dramatic once it shrinks.
Seeing it all rolled up like this makes me insanely happy. I know…I have a problem! I think there are support groups for this type of thing!
And one last photo, for fun. Here’s how I spent last Saturday hand-stitching on the binding. I love this part! Does anyone else love hand-stitching the binding or is this another support-group worthy quirk? Nevertheless, the weather was absolutely beautiful, the grass was green and I enjoyed myself thoroughly.
What’s your favorite part of the quilting process?
comeandseetheseitz.com 
The quilt looks great! The wonky quilting is really cool–please let us know how it looks once you wash it. 🙂
Favorite parts of the quilting process: picking out fabrics, daydreaming what to do with said fabrics, selecting a pattern, quilting with friends and snack breaks, arranging and rearranging pieces on the floor, and washing the quilt at the end. The binding is one of the difficult parts for me; the corners can be tricky and I find it hard to hide the stitches on the back of the binding.
Cool tip: I recently learned that one fold of ready-made binding is thicker than the other fold. When you sew the binding to the quilt, attach the thin side because when when you fold the binding over the edge of the quilt, you can stitch in the ditch and catch the other side of the binding with no problems.
I think this is the longest comment I have ever made. 🙂 Thanks for the link love!
Another great quilt, Sarah. If you need beach time, come visit us on the East Coast. Sooner or later, it will get hot, and we’re only 5 minutes from the ocean.
As to quilting…I haven’t done much yet. I made about 5 blocks that I do really like and I will probably get back to them again some day. I did enjoy designing the colors and pouring over dozens of designs, looking for the perfect ones!
Favorite part of quiliting: Getting such beautiful quilts from my crafty sister Sarah! Thanks again!
love it! it looks great! thanks for the link love. glad the tutorial worked! my favorite part of quilting is picking out fabrics and after the finished quilt comes out of the dryer! the beginning and end, of course. 🙂
So gorgeous, Sarah!
I love hand quilting. It takes ages but there is something so rewarding in it!
What a great looking beach blanket! I’ve been wanting to do the wonky type quilting for a while now! Maybe my next quilt 🙂
Hope you’re having a great summer!