Goldfish-a-swimin'

This quilt was made for a friend’s 40^th birthday!  I had such a great time piecing this quilt.  He picked out all the fabrics (actually bought them as well).  I love the color scheme of this quilt. 

He planned to use this quilt in his basement so it is backed with flannel.  Flannel is a bit tricky for backing as it does seem to have a bit more stretch.  Because of that I pieced the back more than needed to give me anchors. 

The entire top is free stitched.  I ditched and stippled the center of each square freehand.  Then, I outlined each square and stippled the white/goldfish fabric.  I freehand ditched the border and stippled it, with matching thread.  Then, I went back to each square and with my handy dandy chalk pen I marked two lines for straight stitching, that I also did freehand.

Did I mention that I love to quilt freehand?!  I find that it is so much more enjoyable as it gives me complete control of everything including stitch length.

counting turtles (instead of sheep)

 

Finishing the quilt for my son's bed was a big accomplishment because his feet have been sticking out the bottom of his blanket for some time now.  He now has a twin-size bedspread complete with matching sheets.  As I stated in an earlier post, I used a flat sheet for the back of the quilt, as well as some piecing on the front to coordinate.  When my younger son gets old enough to move from his crib, they will be sharing a room.  So I recently bought fabric to make him the same size and pattern quilt for that transition. 

 

This is a close-up picture to show the fabric and details of the quilting. 

 

I had to post this picture to show how little thread was left - I barely finished!