Modern Bliss in Blue

Here’s an older finish that I thought I’d show off a bit.

This was yet another Wedding Quilt for a family member gifted in 2018…how have I not posted this here yet?! This was for my cousin Jonathan and his wonderful wife Amy. What was really cool about this quilt, was that it was gifted at a Wedding Shower that happened to be at a Cabin on a lake up in Maine. The Cabin had a large loft area, so we were able to photograph it beautifully from there. It made for a great photo shoot.

Modern Bliss in Blue was made from the pattern “Modern Bliss” featured in the 2018 Edition of the Quilter’s Planner Magazine. Although liberties were taken with Color choices and placement, this Sampler Quilt Pattern was Designed by Cheryl Brickley of Meadow Mist Designs.

The quilt was very intricate with a ton of small pieces, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I will be writing more about this quilt later, as I want to show off the backs of each block. Your block backs are very important….and keeping them neat and tidy is also very crucial for a good finish.

Alright, let me quit yakking and show this baby off!

As you can see above, the original color scheme of this quilt was more traditional. I wanted to go a bit more funky with my colors for Jonathan and Amy for lots of reasons, but mostly because I thought they would prefer the Blues and I loved the way the greys and tans blended nicely. I recreated the design in EQ8 and as you can see from my Swatches, there was a LOT of time spent on making sure I had enough of each fabric to make this all work. If you can see any of the notations on my Swatch, you’ll see these were mostly Fat Quarters, half yard cuts and just plain old scraps…..so I needed to make sure it would all work before committing to it.

Here are some close up photos of the blocks to show you the detail. I utilized “white on white” batiks….okay, okay, they were more light blue on white, but you get the point….for a scrappy, but unified background fabric. I liked this method a lot. I feel like it gave more dimension than just one white fabric for all of the background.

Here are some shots of the whole quilt being sandwiched and hanging from the Loft mentioned earlier.

More recently, Jonathan has told me a funny story about this quilt that I thought I’d share. They live in Rhode Island and one winter storm they lost power and the house got cold. He went and grabbed this off of their bed and they curled up in it on the couch and kept warm in it. I was thrilled to here this story, because sometimes I worry about using the lower loft cotton batting….but it obviously served their purpose.

Another anecdote he shared with me was that he had a conniption when a friend of his went to change their baby’s diaper on the quilt. He lost it on this kid and went and grabbed a changing mat. This makes me happy on so many levels…..they love this quilt so much and it is such an heirloom to them they don’t want it ruined. I love that they appreciate and love this quilt as much as I loved making it for them. I know I am so blessed with a family that loves and appreciates my work. I know this is not the case for many people….I’ve heard the horror stories of wedding gifts being thrown back in people’s faces or going straight to thrift stores….it’s awful. I know how blessed I am. I love that my family loves my quilts.

Here are the happy recipients! So many new and exciting things have happened for them since this quilt was gifted…..spoiler alert….I’ll get around to showing you their baby quilt from a few year’s ago soon!

Here’s the details on Modern Bliss in Blue

Title: Modern Bliss in Blue
Pattern:  Modern Bliss in Blue is made from the pattern “Modern Bliss” featured in the 2018 Edition of the Quilter’s Planner Magazine. Although liberties were taken with Color choices and placement, this Sampler Quilt Pattern was Designed by Cheryl Brickley of Meadow Mist Designs
Size: King, finished ~90″ x 102″
Fabric: mostly from the stash, whites for the background were purchased at Quilter’s Attic in Pine Bush, NY
Piecing: Machine stitched on Betsy, the Bernina 560
Cutting: by hand with rotary cutter
Quilting: Tied with Takhi Cotton Classic, 100% cotton yarn purchased at Cornwall Yarn Shop
Backing: I think it was 108, but can’t remember
Label: Hand Embroidered by Anne Lemin of Quilted Lovelies, hand stitched by Danika to attach to quilt
Batting: Warm and Natural, by The Warm Company (I think)
Finished Date: August 2018
Total Hours: ~84 hours