Flashback friday: Our bed quilt

Today's IG QuiltFest prompt is On the Bed, which is prompting me to show off our bed quilt. 

However, the light in our bedroom is not great, so these photos are also not great. :) 

Our bed quilt is double-sided. I knew I wanted custom machine quilting which would be expensive, so I chose to piece both sides, which gives me two different looks and discourages me from making another queen-size bed quilt anytime soon! 

This is the original side. I went Kaffe-crazy at my first Quilt Festival in 2005. I started sewing this top in 2007, and then we moved, had a baby, etc., and it sat for a while. I finished piecing it in 2011. 

And then it sat again (another baby, job change...). In 2015, I came up with a plan for the opposite side, still incorporating Kaffe fabrics, but also having a cleaner, more modern look. 

 My friend Sharon Brule machine quilted it. I gave her loose instructions--no feathers (I'm not a fan!) and to try to quilt within the squares and rectangles on the patchwork side. I love how it turned out! 

Every time I need to replace the sheets on our bed, I struggle with choosing a color. I have to share these, because I found them at Target this winter, and I love them! 

Here's a little Flashback Friday to when i was hand sewing the binding on this quilt. It was June 2015 and I had a helper. :) That helper is now 5-1/2 and learning to read. Time flies. 

Here's a more vibrant photo that shows both sides of the quilt. I love snuggling under this in the bed every night! 

psst...if the pillowcases and binding look familiar, it's the red/purple version of the green stripe I'm using in my scrappy Star Crossing QAL. It's not too late to join! Find the details here.

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June ALYOF: Bound!

When I posted my ALYOF goal for June, I was trying to decide between the reddish Kaffe stripe I had originally picked out to bind my new bed quilt and the greenish version. I bought the greenish version and waited patiently for it to arrive (about June 16th...half the month gone!). And guess what? I didn't like it as much as the red. I really like the contrast of the red against the periwinkle side of the quilt, and I like how the binding is similar in value to the brown, so it's more subtle on the busier side of the quilt.

So now I have 1 yard of a greenish Kaffe stripe. Darn. I guess I'll have to figure out some way to use it...

So life got in the way, as it often does, and I machine stitched the binding to the quilt top last night (June 29). Leaving me--yep--one day to hand sew the binding to the back side of the quilt. 

Guess what I did today? 

:)

Actually, it worked out really well. My babysitter had to leave early, and the two bigger boys were riding bikes while the little guy hung out with me. We've had a fairly cool June here in Michigan, so having the edge of a quilt resting on my legs wasn't too hot (note to self for next time though--don't bind queen-size quilts in summer!). 

Here is my sewing buddy, who mostly sat and filled his face while I stitched. He and I are both sitting on my first quilt ever, which is our outdoor quilt.

I had to take a picture when I got to this point. How can you not smile at these colors and fabrics? I also fell in love with the quilting all over again. Can't wait to put this on my bed!

Thrilled to have this done--this is one of those things that could have sat for quite a while, waiting to be finished, but it's D-O-N-E!!!

June ALYOF Goal

My June goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes is to bind my new bed quilt! I've had it back from the machine quilter since the end of April and it's still folded up on my studio floor, waiting for a binding. Here it is again, both sides:

And here are my binding choices. I was originally leaning toward the red one, but now I'm thinking the green might be a better choice (I put all 4 choices down below so you can see). I want the binding to contrast, and the red will contrast nicely with both sides, but there's not a ton of red on the pieced side of the quilt. The green will contrast with both sides, and there's enough green in both sides of the quilt that I think it makes sense. What would you choose?