My MFA Quilt Along Quilt
When I saw the news about the MFA Quilt Along, I knew I had to join. I am a sucker for modern quilting and each block in this quilt looked amazing!
This quilt is so bright, it was hard to get an accurate photo, so hopefully you can get the feel of how festive and fun this color palette really is. The finished quilt measures 60” x 60” — a perfect throw size quilt.
I chose to use Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cottons in Persimmon, Cinnamon, Marmalade, Putty, Hunter, and Pear. I wanted a color palette that could work for a Christmas look, but possibly be versatile enough to extend throughout the year. I think these colors were perfect for that objective.
Mod Water Lily
This block was designed by @xoxosew. I love this so much, I’m thinking about making an entire quilt using only this block!
Huntington Stairs
This fun block was designed by @the.weekendquilter. The name stole my heart, as it reminds me of the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens — one of my favorite places to visit as a child, and still a favorite in my heart.
Checkerboard Dance Floor
Designed by @satomi_quilts, this block surprised me by how easy it was to assemble. I love the itty bitty squares - very fun! When I trimmed this down to 12” instead of 12 1/2” square (read more about this below), I did lose the tiny Pear colored squares on the far left side of the block. I don’t think anyone would notice this but me, so it’s all good!
Floating Lines
Just as the name indicates, this block, designed by @mrsporfiria, is made up of lines - easy and very modern! When this piece was incorporated into the quilt top, the Persimmon lines disappeared into the Persimmon background, which really did give the appearance of floating lines.
City Dweller
This block, designed by @strawberrycreekquilts, is made up of half square triangles. The color variation in the triangles draws your eye to the two contrasting border colors. Very cool!
Mid-Century Modern House
I really want to make an entire quilt out of this block! So cool, so fun! Designed by @benmillet, this block mimics the look of the iconic mid-century modern houses that can still be found across the U.S.
Mirror Star
I think my favorite part of the entire quilt along was. making the miniature star at the center of this block. It was so satisfying! The Mirror Star Block was designed by @marygoroundquilts.
Flying Field
Okay, this one, designed by @cottonandjoy, threw me for a loop! It looked deceptively simple - I mean, I can make flying geese in my sleep! However, the different color placements required my full attention, which meant I needed to turn of my podcast and focus. I love how it turned out!
Scissor Cut Ring
This block, designed by @broadclothstudio, was another doozy for me. I have seen these blocks and they have always intimidated me - for good reason. My brain had the hardest time understanding the cutting instructions. I did get it completed, but you can see my points are totally off. I’m not one to obsess over things like that — getting it done at all was an accomplishment I’m super proud of!
The only trouble I ran into with this quilt was that one of my blocks ended up squaring up at barely 12”. I didn’t have time to redo it (which really would have been the easier thing to do), so I ended up trimming all of my blocks to 12”. This left my quilt top a little smaller than I wanted, which led me to whip up some flying geese to act as an additional border extension. Seriously, all of the extra work when I could have simple redone the block! Lol! However, I am so glad it turned out this way because I love the flying geese border!
I took the quilt top with me up to the hills one one of my shorter hikes and snapped this photo. I love the triumphant looking shadow — that’s exactly how I felt when I finished this beauty! And of course the doggy photo bomb is a treat — my four-legged hiking companion, Tim, obviously lacks a sense of direction — the camera is the other way, buddy:)
I love the addition of the flying geese on the two corners. It isn’t overpowering, but adds just the right amount of interest and serves as the extension I needed to make the quilt just a little larger. The inner border consists of 8” strips of the Riley Blake Designs Confetti Cotton in Persimmon. The outer flying geese border is 4 1/2” wide.
A super modern quilt called for simple, clean straight line quilting. I sewed the lines at a slight angle for additional interest, using painter’s tape to mark the first line, and eyeballing the remaining lines, using previous lines as my guide.
The binding is the same Hunter Confetti Cotton I used throughout the quilt. Can I just say again how much I love the flying geese corners? I love happy accidents and this happy accident is one of the very best.
There she is! My #mfaqal quilt! Can’t wait to get her washed and ready to snuggle by the fireplace throughout the holiday season. Happy Quilting!