Flocks of HSTs

Reporting to you from sleep-deprived new baby land....

No, I didn't finish this quilt immediately after giving birth - that would be crazy talk! - but I hadn't managed to post about it yet, so here ya go :)

My first do. Good stitches quilt finish! {Last update found here and block tutorial found here}

 

The cross hatch quilting worked out beautifully, both for avoiding puckers and for allowing the quilt enough space to crinkle up nicely.

I used Pellon's Nature's Touch batting. I've been trying out some different battings this year and really like this one, Hobbs 80/20 and Hobbs cotton battings. I think they are all so much more luxurious than Warm & Natural! (no one throw sticks at me....lol)

Someone asked me about why I'm not a huge Warm and White/Natural fan (but they were a no-reply blogger, so I'm addressing it briefly here). Even though this specific Pellon batting is 100% cotton, it almost looks like a poly-blend (now that it's done) because of how thick it is - advertised as 1/4" loft, it's the thickest cotton batting I've come across. I really like the the look of high loft batting because of the way it emphasizes quilting. In actuality, I find that only some parts of the batting are actually that thick - not the entirety of the batting. However, it is so much denser than the Warm & White/Natural brand that it still ends up being wayyyy better of a batting. The quilts I make with it seem a little heavier/more robust, and I think they are much warmer than Warm & White quilts are. Just in my opinion :) It's also cheaper than Warm & White and available at Jo-Ann's. Done and done. Never going back now!

 

See the wonderful texture it got?

I got some good feedback from you guys about the Hera marker (see comments on this post) - some of you also disliked how violent you had to be towards your fabric. Suggestions for crisper lines included marking before creating the quilt sandwich and starching the quilt top first - I'll have to try those techniques to see if they help! Thanks for your thoughts!

I tried a slightly different machine binding method since my Juki doesn't do a zig zag (sad face!) - I sewed the binding to the back first, flipped it over to the front and gave it an ample fold. That way, I didn't have to worry about the stitching hopping on and off the binding in the back - it was cleanly off all the way around.

I have never managed to do the whole stitch-in-the-ditch so it'll catch on the other side method well. I have to go back in a million places where I missed the binding on the other side, it takes a lot of time to go fix it all up, and it doesn't look great. So I'd rather fold it over, stitch it on the top and see where it ends up on the back, with the goal of being completely off the binding (I just prefer how that looks). It worked pretty well; I'll probably be using this method in the future.

And some fun birds for the back :) But not geese. After all, these are actually HSTs, not geese!

It's been a really long time since I completely finished a quilt, so it felt really nice to finish this one - doubly so, since it's going to charity and helping my sewing room look cleaner!

Linking up to Finish it up Friday.