First Finish of the Year: Patchwork Prism

Patchwork Prism | 70"x76"

I have fallen out of love with a few of the quilts I made during my first year of sewing, but I think the Patchwork Prism will always have my heart. This quilt represents one of my favorite things about quilting: being surrounded by beautiful colors all the time!

This quilt was made using Anna Maria Horner's absolutely gorgeous Patchwork Prism pattern. The pattern is available for free on AMH's website. I started this quilt top in May 2012, during the Patchwork Prism QAL. I obviously did not finish in time for the final link-up!

This scrappy quilt actually ended up creating more scrap material than it used. My scrap bin wasn't exactly overflowing at the time, so I ordered a couple of scrap packs from Hawthorne Threads to supplement my stash material. I really wanted to make this quilt!

As with many scrap quilts, the most time consuming part was all of the cutting. I cut the triangles in the most inefficient way possible and I am still finding fabric with triangle cutouts! I should have cut appropriately sized squares that could have been stacked and cut into multiple triangles at once. I used template plastic, but if I were to make another Patchwork Prism I would make it work with the Hex n More ruler or use the freezer paper method. I had great luck with printing and using freezer paper templates for the Best Friends quilt top.

This was my first experience sewing triangle blocks and sewing them was a little bit tricky at first.  If you haven't made a triangle quilt before, there are fantastic tutorials for cutting & sewing them at On the Windy Side and Sew Fresh Quilts.

The backing is Kona Charcoal, plus some grey and white scraps. At the time of quilt top completion, I was not sure how to translate my idea for backing into reality. I wanted it to be mostly solid, but I also wanted to echo a few of the hexagon shapes from the front. After more than a year of procrastination, it actually only took me a few hours to finish the backing!

I drew out the hexagon placement on the pattern's color map.  The original plan was to use colorful fabric for the hexagons, but I eventually decided on a monochromatic gray color scheme to create more contrast with the front. I cut the triangles to the appropriate size with the Hex N More ruler. In order to have the left side extend past the quilt top for basting, the four gray pieces at the edge of the quilt are rectangles with a 60° angle cut on one side.

I made three separate square blocks: big hexagon, medium hexagon and small hexagon. I joined the square blocks with big pieces of solid fabric, being careful to match the sizing of the front. I ended up moving the big hexagon up a row, so my original goal of the quilting lining up with both front and back fell to the wayside. I did get pretty close on the medium and small hexagons though!

The batting is Pellon Nature’s Touch 100% Cotton Batting. I chose this batting because the quilting distance can be up to 8"-10" apart. I had used it previously with the Starburst quilt.

For thread, I used Aurifil 50wt Medium Gray (2605). The medium gray thread struck a nice balance between the dark-colored back and the medium-colored front. It looked a little dark on the yellow fabric, but the contrast became less noticeable once I washed it and the fabric puffed up around the stitching.

I quilted 1/4"ish away from both sides of the seams. My piecing wasn't super precise, so I had to mark the lines on the quilt top instead of using my seams as guidelines. After working on baby quilts for the past few months, I forgot how unwieldy these larger quilts could be!

Post-Wash

The binding is Endless Chains in Teal from Pat Bravo's Alhambra II. I felt that a binding that contrasted with the quilt top too much would be distracting, so I chose a greenish blue that would blend with outer colors. I also like that it has a touch of warm yellow!

I have really enjoyed having the Simply Color 28wt thread collection on hand. I use 28wt thread to hand sew the binding to the back of the quilt. It is heavy enough that it feels really secure, but not so heavy that it is super visible or makes sewing the binding onerous. This thread collection coordinates with the binding colors I tend to use, so it has been so convenient to have these colors all in one box! For this quilt I used Aurifil Pale Turquoise Blue (5006), the last spool on the second row.

I love this quilt and I am so glad that I can use it now! You can see more Patchwork Prisms at the Janome + Anna Maria Horner Flickr group. It is fun to see all the different interpretations!

The two Backyard Baby quilts from my Finish Along 2014 Quarter 1 List are almost done. One is waiting for binding and the other is waiting for quilting. This may be the year of the finish after all!

This quilt is part of my Finish Along 2014 Quarter 1 List. I am linking up with Finish it Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts and with Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday which is being hosted at Quilt Matters this week!