adventures in paper piecing

So, remember that quilt guild I mentioned? Well, this past month at our meeting, we swapped strips for our orange challenge. I already had an idea in my mind for this orange quilt but, as ideas always do, it just keeps evolving. Maybe a bit of something here, or there...you know how it goes.

orange strips from the swap

I've been working on it trying out new techniques as I go, one of which is paper piecing. If you haven't heard of paper piecing, it's basically taking a design drawn out on a piece of paper and using that design as a guide in stitching your pieces together. It's a pretty interesting technique and one I hope to master get decent at because it really does open up some really crazy possibilities.

oops.

oops again. $&#%!

I'm not to the really crazy yet though. I've been working out some simple lettering. It took me a while to understand the directions - where to sew, what to cut and how to fold. But once I figured out one letter (after some serious screw ups), I was good to go on the rest.

So, this coming week, I'll be busy getting letters done for the orange challenge quilt. And maybe taking some pretty photos of my first completed quilt to show you guys.

finally...

my latest fabric purchase

I recently got into quilting. It's endlessly creative in that there are always new fabrics, new designs, new ways of putting things together that it's led to me constantly dream up new things I'd like to do or try. The best part: it satisfies my need for pretty while still staying useful. I love all that creative DIY stuff, but I find it hard to implement most of it in my own home because it doesn't serve a purpose (except looking pretty, which I guess qualifies, but I would prefer form and function - picky, I know). Don't remind me that I live in Vegas and my need for quilts spans about 3 months a year at most and, as my husband likes to point out, we only need one. I conveniently put this in the back of my head where I keep other things I'd like to not be reminded of - like how good cheese really is or that my baby brother will be in high school soon.

All that to say that I joined a quilt guild. And this next month, we are doing a fabric swap for the upcoming challenge. Pantone's color of the year is "Tangerine Tango" - a fiery reddish orange that is awesomely attractive and very bold. So, the guild decided to have an orange quilt challenge and I couldn't be more thrilled. I think I might be one of those weirdos that likes loves orange because it seems many people don't as I found out when searching for orange fabric to contribute to the swap (it is not an easily found color with much variety).

Today, the lovely UPS man arrived at my door fabric in hand. I ran upstairs afterwards and tore open the envelope to see it. It's lovely. I ordered extra because I love it so much and even though I'm not sure what I'll do with the remainder, I am so glad I ordered it. I know I have to cut this down into strips for the swap, but I'll put that off a little longer so I can just stare at it some more.

I also picked up these pretties. For some reason I am loving elephant fabrics recently and can't get enough.

A Quilting Dilemma

Last year, I was looking for a blanket to go in our spare bedroom. Our guest bathroom has this shower curtain, which I just love. I liked the bedspread, but it was a little matchy-matchy and I really wanted a quilt. There's just something about quilts that are warm and comfortable and isn't that what a guest bedroom should feel like?

I looked around for a quilt with no luck. But, I found this fabric collection that would just be the perfect compliment to the bathroom. So, I figured, I guess I'm going to quilt.

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After a few months of cutting and piecing and lots of internet searching, I now have my top and back pieced (this is the fabric I used for the backing) and ready to be sandwiched with my batting (Warm and Natural, a thin batting that only requires it be stitched every 10"). My question at this point is: should I machine quilt or tie it?

Right now, I'm leaning towards tying. First, because it is my first quilt and the thought of machine quilting a queen size quilt seems daunting (maybe try a lap size first?). Also, when I was younger, my mom had this very 1970's patchwork quilt that was, if I remember correctly, tied. And while the color choices were clearly dated (and never really that pretty to begin with, sorry mom), it was a cute little blanket. While I love the puckering that comes from quilting, I really do like the floppy, playful quality you get from tying. My only concern is that I've read that tying isn't really that stable - the ties can come undone, the batting can shift more easily - and so the quilt itself isn't as durable.

But...I did a little sample with some scraps and both quilted and tied it, just to see what each would look like. And now I can't decide. I love the tied look, especially for a scrappy patchwork quilt, but the puckers and poofs and pinches I got from quilting sure do look pretty nice.

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If I went the tying route,  I was planning to use either a red perle cotton thread or a light pink/peach one (shown above). The red would be a nice contrast to the backing fabric I think, but the light one wouldn't really be noticeable. Or I could do a combination of both. If I machine quilt it, I would go with a neutral color (white, shown above, is a little too bright, but an off white would work).

click to enlarge

 

What do you think, internets, should I take my time and try and machine quilt? This has already taken me quite some time, so I don't want to rush this last step just to get it done and regret it. Or should I tie it, be done with it, and start to enjoy using it?

Because let's be real, it's not a show piece. I want it to be used and loved, but I also don't want it to be falling apart either.