Black and White Quilt Finished

It’s done!! My Black and White Twelve Quilt, inspired by Piecework Collective’s Black and White quilt show in 2016, is the largest overprinted quilt I have tackled to date!

With the creative restrictions of black and white, I strayed from my standard light grey and white geometric quilt top and played with a different neutral: cream. Although it felt like a stretch at the time, I now regularly keep cream in my quilting line-up. The resulting subtle play between the cream and white and the dark grey and black adds gentle movement while imbuing the quilt with a warmth that a cooler lighter grey does not provide.

modern black and white quilt being screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough

For this quilt, I also experimented with piecing the quilt top halfway, screen printing blooms, and then finishing the piecing process. Previously I either printed on a completely pieced top or a completely pieced and quilted top, never part way through the piecing process! It definitely adds some waiting time as the screen printed blooms need to dry before the quilt can be stitched up further, but I love how this printing process causes the flowers to weave through the quilt, contrasting organic with the architectural.

modern black and white quilt screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough
modern black and white quilt screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough

The quilting took me years. Literally. Started in 2016, this quilt has been in process a long time, but while trying to finish my PhD last year, the seemingly endless straight-line quilting offered me a methodical and restful rhythm.

quilting plans for a modern black and white quilt screen-printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough
straight-line quilting on a modern black and white quilt screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough
modern black and white quilt screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough
modern black and white quilt screen printed with hydrangea blooms | by Kelsey Williams of Lovely and Enough

I am excited to have it finished at last, and I am pondering what it would mean to tackle a quilt of this magnitude again. Although I enjoyed the process, I think I may collaborate with a long-arm quilter next time. That said, it would be hard to let go of total control…I guess only time will tell!

Follow the progress of this quilt with the links below:

Piecing

Printing

Fresh Deconstructed Quilt Finish

Quilt: Lenten Twelves Two (2017)

Listening to While Quilting: Invisibilia (Season Three)

Favorite Part of Quilt: I love this quilt so much, it can't be just one.

Place for Improvement:

  • turning corners with serger and tucking in the loose ends
  • hiding white batting edges
printed and deconstructed modern wall quilt in fresh spring colors
 
printed and deconstructed modern wall quilt rearranged from grid to line
 

To read more about this Lenten Twelves series, follow the links below:

Introduction to Lenten Twelves

Lenten Twelves Two Progress (beginning)

Citrus Printing onto Lenten Twelve Two

Mustard Stripes Wall Quilt Completed

Quilt: Lenten Twelves One (2017)

Listening to While Quilting: Despacito (Remix Audio) ft. Justin Bieber on repeat

Favorite Part of Quilt: my first experiment with stripes printed on quilts

Place for Improvement: printing stripes with thinner ink for more even printing

mustard Lenten Twelves One printed, quilted, and faced

I have to write a lot for grad school. (One year from my PhD if anyone else is counting!) Because of that, writing on the blog does not bring me joy right now. However, formulas do, so in true scientist fashion, I am going to follow this formula of indexing my quilts with: the music/tv/podcast I was listening to while working on it, my favorite part of the quilt, and something I want to improve upon. Thanks for sticking with me.

mustard Lenten Twelves One modern quilt printed with stripes, quilted and faced
 
mustard Lenten Twelves One modern quilt quilted and faced
 
mustard Lenten Twelves One modern quilt printed with stripes, quilted and faced
 
mustard Lenten Twelves One modern quilt printed with stripes, quilted and faced

To read more about this Lenten Twelves series, follow the links below:

Introduction to Lenten Twelves

Lenten Twelves One Progress (beginning)

Printing Stripes on Quilts

Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring navy Pistachios

I can't get enough of the Modern Courthouse Baby quilt pattern. This is the fourth I have made. Someone needs to stop me. The pattern is just so perfect for highlighting a hand-printed panel while maintaining a minimal aesthetic.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough

This little guy was happy to be my quilt model while we were hanging out one afternoon. I mean, who wouldn't rather lay on a quilt on a warm fall day than go car shopping with mom and dad? And how perfect that he was wearing such a fun citron diaper, since I didn't manage to sneak any citron into this quilt. Pudgy thighs, stylish cloth diaper, quilt to be photographed: it was a match made in quilting heaven.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough
denim binding on a modern baby quilt | Lovely and Enough

Sometimes picking out binding and backing can prove tricky, but with my hand-dandy quilt consultant (aka boyfriend) along, it went very smoothly. First, he pulled this lovely lightweight denim off the shelf at Joann that matched perfectly. Navy with a bit of a fleck, I could not have chosen better myself. Then when I sliced it up, I realized the fabric is automatically on the bias. That is what I call WINNING in the binding fabric department.

For the back, I was hoping for a grey or navy lowkey print or solid. When the quilt consultant suggested robot for his nephew's quilt, I was rather skeptical. Robots? For a minimal modern quilt? However, after circling the store a second time, I started to appreciate the minimal nature of the robots he had chosen. As you can see below, robots won.

flannel robots for the back of a modern baby quilt | Lovely and Enough

This quilt should have arrived at is new home last week! I hope that the second little guy who gets to lie on it likes it just as much as the first.

modern minimal Courthouse Baby Quilt in grey and navy | Lovely and Enough

Check out the other versions of the Modern Courthouse Baby Quilt (named by their centers):

Minty Long-legged

Citron Hortensia

Navy and Citron Hortensia

Follow the progress of this quilt with the links below:

Piecing

Modern Courthouse Quilt | featuring citron Hortensia

I may have mentioned last week that I want to make a baby quilt for every one of my fabric designs. Here is the first. Let me tell you, I am just getting started.

Digging through my stash, I am realizing just how many colorways and test prints I have accomplished. There could be a lot of baby quilts in my future. Inspired by Hopewell's Courthouse Steps Baby Quilt and a quilt my mom made with my minty Longlegged print, I jumped right into the pile.

I paired some gorgeous buttery Art Gallery Pure Elements solids in Empire Yellow and Peach Sherbet with my very own Hortensia in citron (available for sale in my Etsy shop). Magically, I had a sumptuously soft peach floral stashed that went perfectly for the backing.

When I sat down to quilt it, I made a discovery. My stitch guide does not attach to my walking foot. How silly is that? (I have now seen Nicole of Modern Handcraft masking tape her guide to her foot, so I will try that next time.) Not to be stopped, I had a masking tape party with Paul and Mary of the Great British Bakeoff. Together we plowed our way through cakes, biscuits, and quilting. I have found my new favorite quilting companions!

Initially I thought a fun stripy citron binding would do the trick. However, the longer the stripes sat on the folded quilt, the more I felt they clashed with the backing. At the last second before walking out the door to sewing night, I traded the stripes for Pure Elements Apricot Crepe. The result is delicious.

Per encouragement from my mom, I practiced my machine binding skills to give it a sturdy washable finish. It truly is much faster to machine bind. (If you get it right the first time and don't take the whole thing out twice like I normally do.) I think I am going to keep practicing machine binding. It adds a quick and sturdy finish to quilt.

And on the next baby quilt! (Shh don't tell, but I've actually already finished the next one and will be sewing on the binding tomorrow night.) Can't stop. Won't stop. Have a lovely Tuesday.