Lap of Luxe Quilt

I recently finished a quilt for my cousin Stephanie (a great customer of mine!), who needed a somewhat belated wedding gift for her sister and brother-in-law. When we first talked about colors, I was really obsessed with using a certain black solid that I sell in the shop, from Michael Miller's solids line, Cotton Couture. It is such a soft, deep, rich black. So I toyed with a lot of different quilt design ideas, and eventually decided that this just wasnt the time for that black (it'll happen though!).

We picked out teal, aqua, blue, grey, and white as the color scheme, and I added a few other fabrics that had a touch of black too, just so I didnt totally abandon my idea (although I think abandoning ideas is fine!).

Basting

I had just finished a quilt that was all improv pieced, no pattern, where I make squares and then fill in the background. I love doing quilts like that, but I really wanted a pattern for this one, so I could cut out a stack of pieces, sew them all together, and mindlessly follow directions. Nothing wrong with that! I found a pattern that uses half square triangles in an interesting way, and creates fairly large blocks, and I thought it would be perfect! (It's called the Lap of Luxe quilt, found on the Art Gallery blog, here).

Finished Quilt!

I made 30 blocks, which each measured 13 1/2" square I believe. I used a combo of fabrics from the store and older favorites I had at home. There is a good amount of Art Gallery fabrics, some Robert Kauffman, a little Anna Maria Horner. The background is made of 5 different light grey or white fabrics which I think keeps things interesting. I used to love all white backgrounds, but I've been more into the scrappier look lately for whatever reason.

Back

The back is something I was actually really excited about because it is still relatively straight! Usually my quilt backs go a bit diagonal, but I think having my big work table at the store helps, it is great to baste on! I used a big piece of Lotta Jansdotter print in the middle, with two panels of a graphic grey and white fabric along the sides.

Straight-line quilting

I quilted it by doing a straight line along either side of every seam. I like the tiny boxes it created, and I think it is just the right amount of quilting, about every 7". It gives it some quilted structure, but doesnt distract from the pattern.

Also, you cant really tell in the pictures but the binding is pieced too, I used 3 different greys, a stripe, a polka dots, and a cross-hatched one. They are subtly different, but I like how they look  a lot.

So now I just have to add the names and wedding date to the front and this baby will be all finished! I really liked using this pattern, and definitely recommend it, especially if you want a good looking quilt that doest take endless amounts of time.

I hope the recipients like it too!