Finished Quilt: Navy Baby

Ooh, how I love this quilt!

"Navy Baby" began with a need for a quilt for friends who are in the navy.  When I asked DH for color suggestions, he suggested navy, gold, and white (navy colors).  I began pulling stash and scraps, vaguely thinking I would make a tumbler quilt as is the rage of late.  I wanted to divide colors between blue and "not blue," or my golds and lights.

A search was begun for my Dresden plate ruler.  After searching in vain, I suspect I gave away the ruler when I hated making Dresdens.  Dang.  Then, I found the Sidekick ruler and thought maybe I could try it out (still in its packaging).  So, triangles.  Let's go!  (As a side note, I'm giving away my Sidekick ruler.  I didn't find it particularly friendly to those of us who are left-handed, so I don't imagine it will ever become a go-to ruler.)

I cut 3.5" strips because I wanted to include many fabrics and was worried 4.5" strips would result in too large a quilt and 2.5" would take forever!  I cut as many triangles as I could, then began piecing to determine how wide the rows should be.  21 triangles and 2 1/2 triangles seemed about right.

I ended the rows with extra blue to create a border, pressed all the seams open, and kicked myself for choosing an all-triangle quilt.

When it came to quilting, I froze.  How does one quilt a triangle quilt?  I considered straight lines on either side of the seam, but worried the intersections of all the triangles would be too bulky and end up puffing up and looking unsightly.  I considered straight lines in other patterns, but worried stitching through the intersections would break my thread or needle.  I considered a plain meander, but considered that chicken.  I can do better than a meander, right?  So I basted the quilt and pondered as I stitched all the triangles for ANOTHER all triangle quilt.  (What is wrong with me?)

I have long desired to practice feathers, as my last attempt, some years ago, was pretty pathetic.  I have plenty more experience quilting under my belt at this point, so I thought maybe, but then I balked.  What if I decided I didn't want to quilt feathers over the whole quilt?  Bleh, indecision.

Well, last Saturday, DH was occupied with cleaning outside and I had some free time.  I threw caution to the wind and quilted feathers across the corners, not in the same space or size.  Then, I filled in the remainder of the corners with a simple meander.  Next, I quilted to divide the remainder of the quilt into four uneven sections with a ribbon and a vine.  I filled each quadrant with a different pattern (stars, Cs, snail shells, and loops).  The intersections never caused a problem, so I worried completely for naught.  Done!

For the first time in machine quilting, I feel my quilting really adds something to the quilt.  This is no longer a simple rigidly geometric quilt, but a geometric quilt with a crazy amount of irregular texture.

I finished the quilt with a binding in two tones of gold, washed it, and am so excited to give it away.  Navy Baby finished approximately 40"x45".  I look forward to more bold quilting on my next quilt, whichever one that may be!

from the room of Zana's Ninis,
katie z.