Friday, August 3, 2018

Luster

I feel like this deserves a celebration. I finally finished my first curved piecing quilt!

The pattern is 9-Patch Arcs from Quilter's Mixology by Angela Pingel, and I love how the clever combination of 4-patches and 9-patches give this quilt a very interesting look. The fabric I used is Modern Background in Luster by Zen Chic. I absolutely love metallics, so working on this quilt was quite fun despite my frequent frustrations with the curved piecing!

I'm still lousy at curved piecing. My finished blocks are distorted severely, but I learned that the secret to curved piecing is also my secret to piecing perfect half-square triangles and flying geese: make them big and trim them down! I waste a lot more fabric this way, but if it's the only way that works for me, I'm taking it.

Even though I like to match thread most of the time, I don't generally quilt black on black. Not only is it difficult to see when I'm working on it, but it's also difficult to see the work when the quilt is finished. I used a golden yellow instead which was lots of fun, but even yellow seems to blend in!

In the background I quilted more densely with a matching thread. This part was so hard because I literally could not see where I was going. My machine's bright LED lights doesn't have an off switch, so in the areas of white thread on low-volume fabrics, I basically had to guesstimate.

The dot-to-dot designs I added ended up looking like different types of starbursts, which I had not planned, but that's the great thing about dot-to-dot designs. It always ends up looking like something!

Now that I've completed my first curved piecing quilt, I'm sure there will be more to come. I really love the way curves look, so it's worth the extra fabric to me!

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Linking up with: My Quilt Infatuation, Busy Hands Quilts, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, Cooking Up Quilts, Sew Can She, Powered by Quilting, and The Devoted Quilter.

10 comments:

  1. Well, you'd never know you struggle with curved piecing! Another fantastic quilt, Liz! I so enjoy seeing what you are creating. As always, your quilting is amazing. You must have a beautiful home; all your photos are gorgeous!

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  2. Absolutely gorgeous per usual! I think your curves look great! The contrasting areas of dot-to-dot and filler quilting is such a great addition to the design!

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  3. This is a gorgeous quilt and your stitching is amazing. The Lister fabric is one of my favorite lines.

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  4. I think it's stunning and it certainly doesn't look like you are lousy with curves based on how the quilt finished!

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  5. This is wonderful, Liz! Not only did you tackle curves, but tackled them in high contrast! No hiding behind blending colors here. I love the yellow thread on the black sections. I've been sorely tempted by that Zen Chic bundle. And thanks for sharing that you struggle with white thread on white fabrics. I do too, but rarely hear anyone else discuss that. It's hard to see where you're going, dang it! :)

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  6. I love this. It is bold and graphic and I love that you tried all that dot to dot. I would like to see a full shot of the whole quilt sometime. I love curves and have been doing all kinds over the last few years.

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  7. You might not have noticed this, Liz, but you definitely perfected the skill of curved piecing on this quilt!!! It is amazing. And I always admire your great quilting ideas. Golden thread on black is a brilliant idea. (BTW, are you sure you don't have an off switch for your machine's lights? I thought all APQS have a switch, on the way back side of the machine head, a tiny metal knob--flip right for light, center is off and flip left for black light. Double check.)

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  8. Beautiful quilt! The curved piecing and the quilting look amazing. I also oversize my curved piecing ans then trim, I think that it makes it much easier and more accurate.

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